Quick Help?

[Doug Weston]

I am working the FLW tour thing At Branson for the National guard. I plan to bring my boat down there and fish a little on taneycomo for black bass mostly. I won't have much time, so I was wondering if someone could give me a starting point as far as what to look for and technique for this time of year there. I don't have time to really search the archives here so if someone could be so kind I would appreciate it. Thanks

Doug

[Troy Gregg]

I am working the FLW tour thing At Branson for the National guard. I plan to bring my boat down there and fish a little on taneycomo for black bass mostly. I won't have much time, so I was wondering if someone could give me a starting point as far as what to look for and technique for this time of year there. I don't have time to really search the archives here so if someone could be so kind I would appreciate it. Thanks

Doug

Doug, I havn't been out on Taney lately, so I can't give you a for sure pointer... Depends on where you are wanting to put in and where you fish really.

I would throw a jerkbait and a 3/8oz jig at the rock banks on the lower end. A 4 1/2" rogue would be by lure of choice, I wouldn't go any bigger than that though, the fish are finicky enough about that big of a rogue.

If you're lucky maybe trav will offer his two pennies, he is pretty much the authority of the lower end

[Trav]

Troy is mistaken about the authority stuff. I spend too much time fighting authority to admit I may be one. There is still a reason they call it fishing instead of catching, especially when it comes to the Lower Taney.

I can direct you in some direction though. This time of year, the Bass are going to be all over the place. If I was to go out tomorrow, I would look for them in the inlets/coves. Not so much against the banks but like I said they will be scattered until we start getting warm rains. The rain lately has been pretty chilly still. Think four to eight feet on average.

I would not use anything larger than three inches at anytime of year on this lake. I have much more success with small finesse types. Jerk baits work well and if the sun is out and it is warm, a Senko is always good to pick up a couple. If the wind is up, fish the docks that are getting pounded the hardest. Flip tubes and little quarter ounce spinner baits. Think silver and/or blue on everything. Those are my confidence colors. Not saying other colors won’t work though.

I will say this, fish with the confidence you have in your own favorite lures and colors. You will probably catch just as many fish this time of year as you would with my suggestions.

And think small.

[Doug Weston]

I got to go out today for about an hour. I did not wet a line though. Thanks for the information. I went down to Forsythe by boat and I found quite a bit of timber there. I wanted to start there. Being essentially river fish, will they be deep? the water temp seemed to be about 48 give or take.

Doug

[Trav]

Doug,

Keep in mind that Taneycomo is a cold water fishery. The main lake rarely gets above sixty. These bass have different tendencies.

I know, I know, you’re thinking bass are bass. And they are to an extent but not in the Lower Taney. I have had more than a few local bass guys (mostly in-laws, cousins) tell me that ‘this body of water is too much work’ and/or ‘you can have this cold water crap’. My neighbors have told me similar stories and even I have to agree with its local moniker, ‘the monster’, for it has sent me to the dock shaking my head in frustration on many occasions. Most tourists try the Lower for a day or two and never return.

Monster or not, it is predictable. The fact remains. The water temp never really changes on the main lake so it does make it consistent. The bass don’t react to the spawn the same, they don’t feed the same, and they don’t socialize the same.

Spawn is almost 100% percent determined by the length of daylight versus night hours. Temperature isn’t so much of an important factor. Bass even try to spawn in the fall when the hours of daylight matches the actual spawn in the spring. It is a natural occurrence to see a female try to bed in the fall. Odd, I know.

So throw your temperature gauge out of the boat. It is moot.

There are no feeding binges either. The bass here don’t group and chase. They are either cruisers or ambushers. I relate them to sharks most the time. They wander from location to location and never set down roots. You will never see more than a few of them together. The ambushers are actually bass following instinct. This is where we get into a bass will be a bass. In the summer, they will get territorial and stack up like fence posts.

It is a river more than it is a lake. Think like this. You want to fish in areas that get the least amount of current water and the largest amount of runoff, especially this time of year. Only leaves you inlets, coves, areas behind islands, and non channel banks.

And think small presentation! I can’t emphasis this enough.

[bigredbirdfan]

So throw your temperature gauge out of the boat. It is moot.

I use mine to tell where the temperature is too warm for trout in the summer, that's it.

Like the man said concentrate on where warmer water would come into taney this time of year.

[Whodat]

I usually just stick my hand in the water to tell the temp!

[bigredbirdfan]

I usually just stick my hand in the water to tell the temp!

Whodat: Next time see if someone can help you keep it under.

[Trav]

BigRed,

Whodat said his 'hand' not his head