Seth

What did you have done to the Gator? New big block?

If you are strictly fishing shallow rivers, then a pair of powerpole/talons would probably work great. A few guys in the river bass clubs that I fish have them and seem to really like them. One thing that is VERY nice about having them on the rivers is when you beach the boat. No worries trying to drag the boat up far enough or finding something to tie off to to keep it form floating away. Just powerpole/talon down and the boat isn't going anywhere. I fish a lot of water while targetting crappie and trout that would be too deep for Powerpole/Talons to work properly so the trolling motor was a much better investment for me.

I didn't notice any. If I had to guess, it will have to get really cold for an extended period of time before shad start dying. It has been fairly mild since November up until the past week. It was only 9 days ago that it was 65 and sunny while fishing the Boswell on Taneycomo.

We fished the trophy area for a little while yesterday morning before heading back. As luck would have it, we got up there right as they went from 2 to 4 units and fishing was tough. Our drift from the cable down to just above the Narrows produced two trout and three smallmouth with only one for sure missed bite. A buddy was drifting along with us and I think he also caught two trout on his drift. There has to be a secret to catching those fish as soon as that water kicks up, but I sure don't have a clue what it is right now. Once the water stabilizes for a few hours, I can usually start getting bit again.

Another vote for the Ultrex and spot lock. I’ve used mine several days on Taneycomo in the past few weeks as well as one trip for bass on the Gasconade and I love it! I also spent a little time on this past Friday trolling crankbaits on taneycomo and it was great for that as well. Set the speed and heading and focus on watching the rods. Get hooked up, slow down the speed, reel in fish, handle fish, toss out bait and go back to trolling speed. It just makes so many things WAY more convenient!

Two fished up.

We struggled early for quality bites, but finally figured something out about an hour before they turned on 4 units. Most of what we weighed came during that one hour spell and then the bite died as soon as generation increased. After 4 units came on, we found some fish willing to bite near Monkey island, but they didn’t have any size to them. Sculpin/orange and sculpin/ginger jigs were our best lures. My partner caught several on a black/gold rooster tail and I picked up a few on a countdown rapala.

Hopefully it stays down at 2 units or even lower for the weekend. More importantly, I hope those fish snap out of their funk! Maybe this snow storm will get them active. I've never had a bad fishing trip when it was snowing.

I'll have to try one this weekend. I'm sure I will have to make another donut run before coming home or I may get in trouble by those depending on me. We're big on the maple bacon and fruit pie filled donuts.

I know it's late, but we ended up stopping at Hurts for a donut run followed by eating dinner at Mel's Hard Luck Diner. I've never ate there before and figured we would try it. The food was decent, but a bit pricey. I'm sure there was a bit of an upcharge to cover the talent since the waiters/waitresses could sing really well. I'll stick to Dana's next time.

Gigging on Taneycomo has become more popular and I'm sure that it has definitely had an impact on the numbers.

They were definitely in some sort of a funk. I have never had as much trouble hooking and landing fish as we did today. I even broke out some powerbait for the first time in years for the last few hours. It wouldn’t take long to get bit, but I bet we missed ten fish for every one we hooked up with. I’m not sure how that is even possible with a treble hook. It was definitely a new one for me. I’ll be ready for redemption next weekend at the Masters!

We have always just caught them while fishing crawlers or corn for trout. Most of the time that is off of Lazy valleys dock or up near short Creek I’ve never never went down stream and targetted them anywhere special. I don’t think the numbers are like they used to be because we don’t seem to catch mearly as many as we used too.

They are pretty good, but I actually prefer the traditional nacho appetizer that Flat Creek Resort in Cape Fair sells as an appetizer. Those things are ridiculous! Danas is still one of my favorite places to eat here in Branson.

I don’t know about that. Video game fishing is a blast to me.

Trying to put yourself in to a diabetic coma also works when you don’t catch anything at all.

Not much offends me in this world, but seeing somebody hold a spinning reel upside down and reeling it backwards is one of them.

When you catch a lunker trout, be sure to handle with care and release it for the next angler. Afterwards, go up to the strip and eat a Cakes and Creams Supreme to celebrate.

If you are a spin fisherman, the best thing you can do is learn to fish a jig on Taneycomo. A 6-6.5' rod with a decent backbone is required for straight line fishing a jig. Use 2# line for 1/32-1/16oz and 4# for a 1/8oz jig. Taneycomo trout love the color pink! A pink Trout Magnet or Berkley power worm fished beneath and indicator is a great way to catch a lot of trout. When the water is generating, focus on current seams formed by structure, creek mouths, etc. Trout will school up here during heavy generation and scatter out in the area when the water is off. Fishing is typically the toughest when there is no generation, zero wind and bright, blue skies. Overcast with generation or enough wind to impart a decent ripple on the waters surface are usually best. Fishing jigs, Trout Magnets, Power Worms, midges, etc beneath a float works best with a ripple on the waters surface. This will impart action to your lure. When trout are midging, a great way to catch them is to fish a zebra midge, micro jig or any other small lure a foot or two beneath an indicator. Ease up to the midging fish and throw near them. Many times the trout will bite right away, but sometimes you will have to twitch the lure a few times to try and get them to strike. Brown trout are a cover oriented fish. An effective way to target them is to throw jerk baits and crank baits around the plentiful wood cover that gathers on outside and inside bends. Live bait such as night crawlers, minnows and sculpins tend to produce better quality trout on average than power bait or salmon eggs When fishing night crawlers, don't forget to inject air in to the worm to make it float up off the bottom when targeting trout. Taneycomo also has a good population of white suckers. If you also want the opportunity to catch them, leave the air out of the worm and let it wiggle on the bottom. For up to date generation patterns as well as the predicted patterns for the upcoming days, you can use the USACE Little Rock app. You can also go to https://www.swpa.gov/generationschedules.aspx . Watch the daily One Cast episode on the Lilley's Landing Facebook page or YouTube channel for up to date fishing reports.

@snagged in outlet 3 just come fish the Boswell on Taneycomo. I'll be your invite.

Way to go, Bob! The one year I actually had nothing going on and could have made it!

I've used a MH/F, M/F and a M/M for jerkbaiting and I couldn't tell that I missed or lost any more or less fish than the other. I'd just go to pop the lure and there would be a fish on the other end. I was using 10-14# mono though and not fluorocarbon.

I hate to hear that Bob. I've ran in to issues with them not being in stock as well in the past. I'm not sure if they are just in that high of demand or what, but I ended up getting store credit for a broken one and then got lucky and stumbled across them on sale at the Columbia BPS store and got two for $20 more than the price of one at full price.

@Toby from MO just got it on his new rig, but I'm not sure how much time he has spent using it so far.

My fiance landed a 45# blue out of a local park lake on a medium fast bass rig spooled up with 12 or 14# mono. This was also from the bank so no chasing the fish down either. It almost spooled her on the initial run. She eventually wore it down and I waded in waist deep, grabbed hold of the head and wrestled it up the bank. That is still one of the coolest moments we have had together. I’m not sure if I was even 20 in this picture....