What's Up With The Corp Engineers?

[Greg]

I live a lot closer than you do flyfishn - but the corps and their generation schedules frustrate the heck out of me too. Sometimes regardless of how you look at it their generation schedules just don't make sense. But they don't ask any of us do they?

I know the drought several years back wasn't really a good thing overall - but it sure was good for wading the tailwaters around here (Taney, White, and Norfork). During that time frame you could plan a trip most any day and feel pretty secure that you could wade and fish.

Greg

[Phil Lilley]

"BTW, I had the some head honcho for the Red River Lock and Dams tell me flat out that it wasn't ever about the fishing and that any fishing that resulted from COE projects was a bonus."

That about sums it up......

[hornyheadchub]

Yes, I am mad if you cannot tell...... I live 4 hours away from TC and I am extremely thrilled when I have the opportunity to come down and fish one of my favorite places. When they generate 24/7, kind of puts a damper on wading! We arrived late on Friday evening and they shut off the generators at 10pm......I knew we should have gone down and fished for a bit, but we didnt! What a mistake! Woke up around 5 (stayed at Pointe Royale) and heard the faint sound of the horns going off.........and as of 4pm when we left on Monday afternoon, they were still running 4 generators!!!

When life gives you lemons...learn how to fish from a boat.

I used to have the same attitude as you when it comes to generation putting the brakes on my wade fishing. But then I saw the light...I learned how to fish from a boat.

It's a dream when you can..

1. pull off a 200 yard perfect dead drift right through some of the fishiest water on the lake- most of which you could never even reach when the generators were off.

2. cast soft-hackles all day long into an eddy to feeding fish.

3. stay warm and dry all day and cover more water than you ever dreamed of on foot

4. have access to fish the likes of which are NEVER feeding in low water. Those resident/educated fish that have avoided a hook/heron for a decade are much more likely to be caught in the higher flows which generate more dislodged food and struggling truck fish (to eat).

5. Have a cooler of your favorite beverages and a bite to eat right next to you.

Do yourself a favor, the next time the Corps. blows you out of the water, get right back in by renting a boat from any of the marinas along the lake.

Wade fishing is great, but boat fishing will make a believer out of you once you get the hang of it. Try starting with 9-15' leaders, and lightweight jigs with a #4 or #6 split shot a couple of feet above the fly, and use an indicator until you get the feel of the take....you might just get 'yer arms yanked off.

HHC

[DoveTail]

I think a boat is the answer to Taneycomo.

[LWD]

As a frequenter of Mark Twain Lake in NE MO, the Corp gets cursed on a regular basis, but of course for a much different reason. As primarily a flood control lake, the primary time for controlling floods is in the spring, and guess what the money fish is on Twain. Crappie. All too often the floods coincide with the spring spawn, which needs a stable water level till the eggs hatch, and of course you know what wins out. Flood control. When we're fortunate, the corp can hold the lake level till the spawn is over, but if there's any significant rain, then a whole new generation of crappie gets wiped out. And of course about 3 years later, the crappie fishing isn't as good as it could have been. There's actually more consideration given to shad on Twain than any other fish, because it is the primary source of food for so many sport fish. I've talked to the corp people several times, and yes they are aware of the impact of the water level fluctating so much, they do try to maintain the lake level when they can in cooperation with the Mo Dept of Conservation, but they have to do what they have to do. There's a lot of good people working for the corp, even fishermen that are as frustrated with it as anyone else, unfortunately they're stuck by the rules of their system. It can be very frustrating, especially for the business owners, at least we do have the lake, it wouldn't even be there if it wasn't for flood control.

Oh yeah, and when the corp is releasing water, they get cursed by the fishermen (especially bass fishermen), because the draw down turns the fish off. You just can't please everyone all the time......

Just for the record, I've done my share of cursing the corp for a variety of reasons.

[Thom]

When life gives you lemons...learn how to fish from a boat.

I used to have the same attitude as you when it comes to generation putting the brakes on my wade fishing. But then I saw the light...I learned how to fish from a boat.

It's a dream when you can..

Absolutely a trip saver. I usually pull my boat down but when I don't feel like putting a boat in .... I can rent one of those green jon's that Phil has for 1/2 day and fish very very reasonably. along with the ways mentioned You also can fish from a boat behind the Islands at lookout or fall creek and find slow water and just at the seam in the current where it slow down and swirls back. You can also anchor just inside fall creek out of the swift water. It is a hoot and just about any way you fish will produce in each of these places.. Also drifting down toward Branson is also good with jig and float or midges etc always seem to produce fish.

Curtis will fix you up on the dock and the nice folks in the office will get you set up there in quick order. Hassle free and what a great place to filet a few for the skillet in their indoor and outdoor cleaning stations.

[Jeremy Hunt]

You know, I couldn’t agree more. I have a drift boat and a supreme and I still WANT SOME WADABLE WATER!! I sure miss the low water spells we had in the past. It seems like we are all still suffering from the high water we had last year. When it is low, it’s been something else. We shouldn’t be to far off from low water again. I think this week we will see lower water levels, but who really knows.

[Captain Kirk]

The Springfield paper had a good article about the floods in it sunday. Very interesting read and it reminded me WHY the dam was built. Flood control and the power generation was a second added benefit. Thank God for what we have of that as it helps reduce our need for coal and oil power plants. Wish we had a thousand more dams like Table Rock, or a million.

It destroyed a lot of land and that was a bad thing for some, but the benefits outweigh the negatives. Its like the wind generation story. There is lots of ppl against it out in Kansas saying its ugly or whatever, but anything to reduce our dependence on foreign oil is a godsend. Our comfort or our fishing is not worth the life of one soldier in the middle east.

WE are in a bind for electricity with our current use. Look at the schools and cities and how they have increased their use. Air conditioning, gyms open long hours, computers, and on and on. Our own use is phenomenal. So many appliances now.

Back to the topic, the paper explained the Mississippi compact and how that affects us here even. And that the Corps has to balance all their actions against that and need for electricity. Fishing is just a byproduct for sure. None of us want to go without electricity when we are home so its just part of the deal. I wait and wait to fish down there myself. Been high all spring. The paper also said we are set up for a repeat of last year. I hope not. But one big rain of 5 inches would send the lake to full again or over full maybe. Ground is soaked up currently and so a lot more runs off.

Boating Taney is more and more the norm, I guess if you want to catch a trout. Trolling rapalas the other day, a guy limited his whole boat out pretty fast.

[vanven]

I am convinced they have some agreement with my boss and do it out of spite when i want to take 3 day weekends.

-Jerod

[DoveTail]

I am convinced they have some agreement with my boss and do it out of spite when i want to take 3 day weekends.

-Jerod