Dead Fish

[Tightline]

The fish I caught at the dam friday were all in good shape and fought hard.I wouldn't say Taney is in bad shape,its just not fishing like we are use to.

Above the rebar there doesn't seem to be as many fish as usual and far less big fish than usual to me.

The high water this year created some fantastic fishing from a boat,by far my best year drifting.I think Taney has faired better than most in this very strange year.

The USGS Real Time water data at the School of the Ozarks shows the dissolved oxygen has jumped up to about 7 ppm along with a jump in microisms per cubic cent since last friday. Maybe it will start getting back to normal.

[duckydoty]

The fish in the lower areas have been fighting hard. Lots of leaps and good runs. I have seen a few dead fish and have noticed that there are not as many fish in the upper areas like there use to be. Hopefully Table Rock will turn over soon and help out a bit. I wonder what all this high water has done to the sowbug and scud populations??? I have started to see a lot of fish midge again in certain areas. That is a good sign. I was turning over some rocks the other day and noticed a lot of little light colored leeches. Have any of you seen those before??

duckydoty

[Leonard]

I think the fishing has been good.... a little on the slow side...but over all considering the year we had with all the high water.

as far as the dead fish... Im sure it more the just 1 factor...

mishandling.. over fighting/playing... maybe something they ate

the reason I say that is ive seen those trout try to eat bluegill before, and we now have a lot of them there. A few years ago I saw a brown about 17-18inches with on in it mouth. It swam aroun for about 2 days, and the I saw it dead.. it still had the bluegill hanging out of its mouth. But.. the brown tried to swollow it tail first. I think it fins got logged in it somehow.

DuckyDoty..

those little leeches you are talking about are called Planariums (sp?)...

try this..

I'll post the receipe in fly tying...

but Im sure you can see how easy they are to tie..

Leonard

[Jeremy Hunt]

When I was there the most disturbing thing I saw was how much it filled in where most the trout would old in. Maybe that's also why we are seeing less fish up top. I know trout can hold in shallow water, but with more pressure from wade fisherman and the fact that it's real shallow probably keeps them out of harms way and more downstream. I'm sure at night they'll start working their way up, but if the water was deeper I think it would hold alot more fish. I'm happy to hear the midge activity is back and the fish are fighting hard.

Right below chute two going down to rebar hole use to have a deep channel. That’s is completely gone and that lane store a lot of fish, not so much. Even the rebar hole that is a nice deep channel that cut through to the gauntlet hole and then to big hole has changed. It spreads out a lot sooner then it did before. I haven’t fished it because it’s always packed with tons of people. I wonder if that’s storing a lot of big fish still. On a good note, the water that used to be shallow on the opposite side of the bank as your walking up to the cable line is so deep you can’t wade it, but in a pontoon boat I bet at night that’s where some big fish are now. Slow current which allows you to swing some streamers and work a lot of water. I've always done good on mickey finn's and black nose dace's.

Duckydoty,

Downstream, how's lookout and the water behind the island? Is it holding tons of fish?

[Dave Cook]

I fished the Lookout area last week. There are plenty of fish. One thing I've noticed the last few weeks is that fishing woolies and streamers usually gets the "healthy" fish to strike. Good fighters.

In the main channel at the top of Lookout island, the current was very strong and the water was knee deep on Friday when they turned the water off. On Saturday, when the water was off, it was about a foot higher and very little current. So does that mean they have raised the lake down at Powersite?

[duckydoty]

Lots of fish below lookout. That is where some of the best fighters are. Lots of midging going on today.

duckydoty

[Phil Lilley]

Today?!?!? I knew I should have went fishing!!!

DD- call me next time you go and have room.

[duckydoty]

Yes, Phil, you should have went fishing yesterday. I'm fixing to head up north for the big deer hunt and will be back the middle of next week. We can go fishing then

Duckydoty

[Bman]

Has anyone heard anything from the hatchery concerning Browns coming up the ladder?

[Guest kevinkirk]

Having become more educated by reading your posts and seeing the numbers of fisherman crowding the water there, do any of you think that the numbers of fisherman have any affect on the trout? I know if they are pressured in Colorado, they dont do well and in fact, die off or vacate areas of the streams. Too many flies and lures and stomping around and thru their lairs, upsetting the insect supply, bottom environment, etc.

Just curious as I had no idea how many ppl fished below the dam there until recently. I used to fly fish there and there just wasnt anyone down there much. Not like now. I do know that the places we used to fish where I live, have all sunken to new lows as the pressure increased. Once ppl find out about fish biting or opportunities to catch them, they will fish it til its all gone, literally. I do apprec the reluctance to talk bout Bull shoals. People will go there next and fish it out.

We cannot imagine lakes that large being affected to that extent but they are. When I fished Table Rock 15 yrs ago, we always got lots and lots of bass and crappie and channels. Now it is MUCH harder to find good fish.

Does anyone else see this trend there?

I dont know the answer but I do know that if you keep getting the numbers of ppl down there with the knowledge about fishing that is available to each of us, the fish cannot survive the pressure.