Fishing Is Tough

[Snow Fly]

A group of us fished Taney on Saturday and my brother was telling me about the 17" Bow he caught and said it looked like a torpedo..........long and no meat any where on the fish.....

[soggyfeet]

Were all the trout looking like this or could you tell if they were isolated at a certian part of the lake. Like up by the dam do the fish have these same bumps?

[Greg]

I fished up by the dam for a couple of hours Sunday evening. The fishing was not good. I managed 4 fish in that period and that was more than anyone fishing near me. None of the fish I caught was of any size but the ones I did catch didn't look bad. But this was way up towards the dam - between outlet 1 and the cable.

Yes I think this whole year is a bust. Can't remember a year like this in the last 30. Bring on 2009. It has to be better.

Greg

[fly2fish]

Were all the trout looking like this or could you tell if they were isolated at a certian part of the lake. Like up by the dam do the fish have these same bumps?

Thursday night I fished with a buddy from work and his step dad and a friend of mine that was in town for a conference at the Chataeu on the Lake, I caught 2 rainbows just over 17" and both were fat and stocky, fought well. One when I released it just laid there upside down but when I touched it, it took off like a shot. Friday night fished with Leonard, after his dad and aunt left, we went to outlet 1 and caught several more up to 18" all looked healthy and needed little to no reviving.

HC

[Phil Lilley]

If you're catching them in the outlets, I'd think these fish would be in good shape cause they're in good water and there is scuds and hatchery food there in the outflow.

I've also caught some rainbows out in the lake that fight good and are in good shape. Vince said some of the rainbows he's cleaned this week are full of moss.

[fly2fish]

If you're catching them in the outlets, I'd think these fish would be in good shape cause they're in good water and there is scuds and hatchery food there in the outflow.

I've also caught some rainbows out in the lake that fight good and are in good shape. Vince said some of the rainbows he's cleaned this week are full of moss.

\

Most were caught up from outlet 1 on white jigs (bright moon both nights). Since they are eating scuds during the day and there is a lot of moss on the bottom, they are bound to be getting moss along with the scuds. At night they were taking the jigs just sitting on the bottom also, just letting it bump, bump, bump, stop, hit.

I think this has been a really good year for fishing, at least it has been more exciting than just your norm when 99.9% of the fish you catch are going to be trout, this year you don't know what you have until you see it. It was nice catching the walleyes, smallmouth, kentuckies, googleeye, crappie, white bass, meanmouths, and some caught gar, spoonbill, and catfish. The people that did not come this year because of the constant high water missed out on some good fishing if they had been willing to put down the flyrod for a while and use the spinning rod.

HC

[Trevor K]

So are the outlets about the only place where it's possible to consistently catch fish right? I'll be down this weekend. I don't really care if I catch a ton of fish, I'd just like to hook a few. Any advice?

[bigredbirdfan]

Arkansas has suspended releasing fish due to low DO levels. Any talk of the same at the Shepard of the Hills Facility?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I was up last week and saw a ton of dead fish on the bottom. Here's a picture of a dead brown I saw while drifting down past outlet three. Decided to get the camera out and take a picture of this one.

This brown was probably six pounds from the looks of it.

[Greg]

\

I think this has been a really good year for fishing, at least it has been more exciting than just your norm when 99.9% of the fish you catch are going to be trout, this year you don't know what you have until you see it. It was nice catching the walleyes, smallmouth, kentuckies, googleeye, crappie, white bass, meanmouths, and some caught gar, spoonbill, and catfish. The people that did not come this year because of the constant high water missed out on some good fishing if they had been willing to put down the flyrod for a while and use the spinning rod.

HC

I'm sure you are right in that respect. Personally though especially for those of us that wade - I just don't enjoy fishing the high water even though I've had some fairly decent days this year. I enjoy wading the whole upper lake. When they are running 3-4 generators you are stuck fishing just a few areas mainly near the outlets. Just not my cup of tea.

Phil - I wasn't fishing in the outlet either I was above #1. But maybe the DO content is better up that close to the dam? I'm sure the temp is probably somewhat lower.

Greg