Trevor K

Yeah, I don't think I would go south of the Missouri River. The lakes in the northern part of the state can be pretty good. I don't know if anything can beat a good farm pond though.

You can ice fish lakes in the northern part of the state most years. I've ice fished on Mozingo in the northwest part of the state and it is 1000 acres.

Cooper Creek boat ramp has a public fishing dock.

might try something like this http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/315,3806R_Boyt-Harness-Wader-Bag-Nylon-Mesh.html

I think the stamps were really cool. I wish they would bring them back

haha! That scene from Forrest Gump just popped into my head.

I guess there is no way to know for sure, but my guess is that it is a house cat. I just don't buy into the idea that a lot of people say they see mountain lions all the time and nobody ever seems to have a good picture. And with all the trail cams in the woods these day you would think more pictures would turn up. I've heard people even say they've seen "black panthers" in Missouri, but that animal isn't even native to North America, so I don't really believe those reports either. I do believe that at any given time there may be a few individual mountain lions roaming through the state, but there is just no evidence to support there being a breeding population. Seems like there are more reports of mountain lions here than in areas that have known populations.

It's hard to really tell what that is since there is nothing in the picture to give it any scale. Maybe it is a mountain lion. Maybe it's a house cat. There is really no way to know from that picture. That is just my opinion though.

Been there. Not many things that will make me angry faster than when people do stuff like that.

I noticed it seemed really crowded when I was down at Lilley's this past weekend (first time I've stayed there, but don't want to stay anywhere else now). I only get to go down there once or twice a year, so I'm always just happy if I can catch a fish below the dam. Even I don't fish the outlets though for the exact reason you guys are talking about. Seems like over half the fish that people catch from there are foul hooked. I was lucky enough to get a few small fish and one nice 18 inch rainbow, which I was pretty excited about since I don't get down there much. So I did take a picture of it, but the fish never left the net and was in the water the whole time. I handled it as little and as gently as possible and it took off like a rocket when I let it out of the net. I guess I don't really know where I am going with this, but I do think that people need to be more careful in how they handle the fish they catch. I'm sure a lot of people just don't realize what they are doing or don't care. Maybe there is some way to educate people on the proper way to handle a fish if you intend to release it.

I've never even heard of anything like this and have no idea how I would react if I ever saw one.

I seem to have a lot of trouble getting the pictures to load on most of the fly recipes for some reason. This is especially true on the older ones. On a side note I was down this past weekend and did use a peppy scud below the dam for a little bit. I'm far from an expert up there, so I didn't catch a ton of fish. I did pick up a couple small fish and one nice 18in rainbow on the peppy scud though.

I was in a personal pontoon last summer fishing a really clear pond and had several crappie and bluegill on a stringer to take home and fry later. Well, I was sitting there with my feet in the water. Next thing I know I look down and there is a huge snapping turtle coming up from the bottom right at me. I learned right then just how fast I could paddle away from an area. That was definately not what I wanted to see right below me.

Sounds like you had a run in with a beaver flytyer.

I always struggle with this as well. I've always had trouble when I've gone down to Taney in the past and I think this is the exact reason why. Hopefully I'll change that next week though.

Man, sounds like you guys are hammering them down there. You're making it a difficult couple weeks of waiting until I can get down there. Save a few fish for me.

I hear ya about living in Iowa. I live in Iowa myself and it is tough to get a lot of practice in with the fly rod.

http://www.mostateparks.com/tablerock.htm That is the website for Table Rock State Park. On the top right there is a drop down menu where you can find information on camping and fees. I believe it is $13 for a basic campsite. You can even reserve a campsite online. Like I said before, I've camped there and it works out great if you are looking to fish below the dam.

Great advice from everyone! I'll be down there the 21st through the 24th. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up a few fish and have some pictures to post.

I've done quite a bit of electrofishing before and it does look like the fish are "attracted" to the rod. Many times they will even run into it. So I would guess that is most likely what they were using.

Wow, this is exactly the type of info I was hoping to get! Thanks so much to everyone! So from reading on here and looking at the article that Brian wrote it seems that I will be able to get away with a 9ft tapered leader and be able to tie the top fly directly to it. Is that the case or do I need to go longer than that? I liked the idea that JDC gave about just using fluorocarbon and adding tippet onto it as well. I may have to try out the hopper/dropper rigs that several people on here have mentioned. I've done well in places using hopper patterns, but never tried adding the dropper fly. I can't thank you guys enough!

I've camped at Table Rock State Park before and it worked out great if you are looking to fish below the dam on Taney. I believe there is also access to Table Rock there as well if that is more your liking.

I'll second that. This exactly what I've been having trouble with. How to rig and fish the flies is the hardest part for me. Thanks for all the advice so far though. Everyone on here is great help. Hopefully I'll be able to put the advice to go use.

Hey Guys, I've been down to Taney several times before and had some success, but nothing spectacular. I'm hoping to change that here in a few weeks when I'm staying at Lilley's. I have had pretty good success on the Green River and several other smaller rivers in Utah, so it's not that I'm a horrible at fly fishing. I always seems to have a tough time on Taney though. I broke down and hired a guide to fish the Thompson River on a recent trip to CO. I feel like I learned a lot on that trip, so I'm hoping I can apply it to Taney on my upcoming trip. In the past I have done ok with scuds and from reading the Taney articles and fishing reports on here seem to indicate that those are the go to flies along with zebra midges and san juan worms. I'm not looking for anybody to give up any secret techniques or anything. Any advice on length and size of leaders and tippet to use or just how to rig up and fish in general would be appreciated though. I don't need to catch a fish on every cast or anything, but a bite every once in a while is always nice. Thanks in advance!

Where were you staying during your trip? I was staying in Grand Lake Sept. 11-18. I only got 3 parts of the grand slam though. I only fished for about half an hour for cuts and couldn't keep away from the browns that were moving up the stream to spawn. Beautiful area though. Awesome looking fish.