Using Boat On Taney

[Guest kevinkirk]

I was down there last week and watched a myriad of boats of every type go by the landing. Everything from pontoons to little 20hp johns, jet skis, jet BOATS, bass boats, house boats, ride the ducks and you name it. WOW.

My question is this, please describe one to four generators running and how that affects using a boat there. What horsepower does it take to run upriver with all 4 running? And

How far can you run upriver with one, two, three and four online?

I am going to get a jet drive boat so I can run shallow so just needing info.

Also, at the rebar hole, at what level do you have to watch for hull punctures if ever?

You guys are great

[Guest kevinkirk]

All the locals must be out fishing. No answers. I will repost on here to keep it current so someone can find it when they get home.

I am also interested in water depths from the dam down to powersite. Anyone have any general info as to how the river changes as you go downstream.

Also, what is the bottom like down thru there? Is it bedrock or rocks scattered? Or gravel or ??

[Bman]

We touched on this before, but here it tis:

I have a 1752 jet jon w a 90/65 2 stroke it runs fine upstream no matter what the flow is.

No generation I can run all the way to cable, but don't because of respect to wade fishermen.

With 1 unit you will still see a bit of rebar showing altough it is easy to miss. 2 units normally covers rebar but watch your troller around there.

2 units hard to 4 units... go anywhere ya want.

Running a jet up stream of Fall Creek, on plane if ya don't see it, ya won't hit it. Just watch where ya jump up on plane and shut down. There are big rocks in the channel up to look out or Andy's place. Up by the KOA there's some big logs and rock. Just below MDC boat ramp gets rocky & shallow but no prob without generation, if on plane. Around the corner to Big Hole no prob. except watch out & be respectful of waders. I dont go any further than big hole with no generation because of waders. Often I never go above Pt Royale because of waders. I'm VERY respectful of waders, watch your wake! Especially if thay are waded deep near the top of their waders...other wise rocks may appear from the sky!

[Guest kevinkirk]

Can someone give me the depths from the cable down to powersite? Cant tell from the bank. Just thinking

[Phil Lilley]

When I first started posting articles on OA I wanted to answer as many questions as possible. I think I did. At least I covered most if not all of your questions, Kevin. Not to knock your questions but I know this has all been covered in past articles and topics.

It's impossible to answer your depth question as asked. At power pool the water at the cable is 4-6 feet maybe and 60 feet at Powersite (??) Trav? Not sure. At full generation add 8-10 feet at the top and ???? feet at the bottom- may be 4 feet? Not sure.

Rebar- you just have to see it and experience it to know and even then, we hold our breath at times.

HP- our 25 hp props do fine with 4 units. But if you're using a jet- it would have to be at least a 40 hp I'd say.

Bottom- gravel, mud and bed rock. Mainly gravel.

[Guest kevinkirk]

When I first started posting articles on OA I wanted to answer as many questions as possible. I think I did. At least I covered most if not all of your questions, Kevin. Not to knock your questions but I know this has all been covered in past articles and topics.

It's impossible to answer your depth question as asked. At power pool the water at the cable is 4-6 feet maybe and 60 feet at Powersite (??) Trav? Not sure. At full generation add 8-10 feet at the top and ???? feet at the bottom- may be 4 feet? Not sure.

Rebar- you just have to see it and experience it to know and even then, we hold our breath at times.

HP- our 25 hp props do fine with 4 units. But if you're using a jet- it would have to be at least a 40 hp I'd say.

Bottom- gravel, mud and bed rock. Mainly gravel.

Thanks Phil. I am trying to gain as much knowledge about Taney BEFORE I move there and its my only way to maintain my sanity here in dry old kansas while waiting for that to happen. hah. It is so beautiful there. The times I have been there I have not been able to fish as I dont have a boat and wife along and we are busy looking for houses and property so the only thing I get to do is sit on the Landing and watch the water pass by ...my mouth watering. Sat there last weekend and watched a family catching trout one after another and a guy in boat catching them on fly same deal and all I could do was watch. Was pure torture.

I am trying to get a feel for it tho as I still believe it is underfished in a lot of ways. I know you guys who are local fish it very well but that deep water has to have some monsters in it, honestly. If not trout, then walleye. Sometimes we bypass the obvious becasue we have done things the same for so many years or dont want to waste time learning something new. I am the same. I might bring a new perspective to that being from out of the area, who knows. I do know that on the big rivers of the NW the trout are in that deep water but just take a whole diff approach.

I have never used them before but do you see anyone using COWBELLS to trolll with. ?> That is not the most fun I can imagine as they are so heavy etc. but in Colorado they hammer the fish on them.

Kevin

[loo10]

I have never used them before but do you see anyone using COWBELLS to trolll with. ?> That is not the most fun I can imagine as they are so heavy etc. but in Colorado they hammer the fish on them.

"I got a fever!

And the only thing that'll cure it....is more cowbell Baby!"

Saturday Night Live skit

(You either get it or you don't.) hee-hee

[bigredbirdfan]

Is there a channel map (before or after the flood gates) for sale at Lilleys?

[MOFish]

I have never used them before but do you see anyone using COWBELLS to trolll with.

I used a cowbell ONCE on Taney back the second or third time I fished there, and caught fish. I also caught the laughs of the guys I was with who thought I was crazy.

Dad taught me to troll with cowbells on lakes in western Colorado (Blue Mesa, Island Lake, Ridgeway and Crawford reservoirs) and they DO catch trout. The key is the speed of the boat and the type of rod used. Taney is really too shallow to effectively use cowbells on the upper stretches, from the bridges to the dam. They might work fairly well from Branson landing down to Powersite. We used nightcrawler pieces for live bait, or small treble hook spoons (Daredevils?) when the worms were gone.

For anyone who wants to try it, I would suggest getting the smallest, shortest brass cowbell rig you can find. Bigger rigs run deeper because of the weight. The leader to your hook (or spoon) needs to be six to eight inches long. Using a six to six-six medium casting rod and ten pound test, start trolling slowly and let the cowbell spin out behind the boat until you have fifteen to thirty feet of line out. The more line out, the deeper the rig runs as well. Hold the rod perpendicular to the boat, and just a bit tip high to keep the line away from your motor. You can use rod holders, but we preferred to handle the rods ourselves. Two guys - one rod on each side of the boat. Three guys - one holds the rod high so the line passes directly over the motor. He'll need to let out more line to reach the same depth.

The speed of the boat should be just fast enought that the tip of the rod twitches to or three times per second as it transfers the vibrations of the spoons up to your rod. If the rod tip isn't twitching, you need to adjust your speed. This is a fairly SLOW troll. Dad uses a 6 h.p. motor on his boat and a low-pitch prop to get his speed down. I think it's around 2 to 2.5 mph. If the rod bends a lot with no tip twitch, you're going too fast.

Finally, if you don't pick up fish after five minutes, let out five more feet of line at a time (after five minutes) until you find the right depth. You'll know when a fish hits the worm or spoon.

I would only try this when the water is OFF because boat speed control is so critical.

[streamer]

Kevin,

You might have seen me down at lilleys this past weekend, I was in the 2072 Alumacraft tunnel with a slip on the right end of the dock. If you think you need a jet on taney, that's your opinion, I dont think it's needed though. I've been down there many times and never seen Phil run a jet! A jet would be handy to get past the big hole up to the cable, but with wade fisherman, thats not a reallity. Just take a little time to learn the river and its channel and you can get by with a good shallow prop boat. I personally dont like jets because of the price of fuel, and how much they drink. They are some thirsty critters! Once I put my jackplate on my tunnel with my triple cupped prop; my boat will run shallow enough to make it up to the bighole without generation. That's as far as you can ever hope to run with less than 2 units because of waders. I've been out there wading deep with 1 to 2 units running. Standing against that current, a boat wake would've sent me down river, I've had some close calls with boat wakes while wading. Knowing that, I give waders there space when I'm in the boat. There are some places I fish that a jet boat would be awsome. For instance: Snagging for spoonbill west of Nixa this spring, the boat hull has a couple of dents from that trip! If I'd had a jet, I could have ran across those 3 inch gravel and bolder bars. Once you figure taney out, you'll be ok without the jet. Of couse I'm the guy saying this after running on a weekend with 4 units and some flood gate action. Hope this helps and let me know when you'll be down there next. I'm usually looking for someone to fish with when I'm down.