3/15 Fishing Report

[Phil Lilley]

We may be seeing a change in generation patterns here on Lake Taneycomo.  Saturday the water was off for part of the afternoon and tomorrow they are scheduled to shut it down mid morning and leave it off for most of the day.  The area lakes are all below power pool, and with mild temperatures in the forecast, this may be a pattern we’ll see until spring rains come and change lake levels.  Can you count on this?  Very hard to say, but it does make sense.

Since the cold weather broke, we’ve seen a lot of fishing pressure on our trout.  But the good thing is that less pressure during a very cold and wet winter means there is an abundance of rainbows in the lake right now, even though hundreds are being caught each day.  We’ve seen evidence of this in our fishing, and in witnessing how everyone at the resort fares each day.  Most are catching trout on various baits and lures.

When the water is running and you can get a boat to the cable below the dam, drifting flies and working lures has yielded some nice rainbows and a few browns.  A gentleman told me he had landed and released a 21-inch brown Saturday close to the first island below the dam.  He used a sculpin-colored one-eighth ounce jig when the water was running.  While fishing this past weekend, I saw a couple of large rainbows cruising the flats above Fall Creek, so there’s trophy trout around to target. 

No one has reported seeing any thread fin shad coming through the dam.  It’s still not too late in the season for a run—I’ve seen them as late as May in the past.  Water temperatures on Table Rock are still in the low 40’s to high 30’s while Taney’s water temp is hovering around 40 degrees.

When fishing jigs during generation, I’d try white as well as darker colors—brown, black, olive and sculpin, not to leave out ginger, gray and pink.  My favorite is still the sculpin/ginger combo.  When the flow really slows or even when it’s off, I drop to a 3/32nd -ounce on four-pound line or a one-sixteenth ounce on two-pound line and work it off the bottom.  I reduce the jig size because I can work shallow water with no movement more slowly than when I’m using a heavier jig.

With no generation we can go to a jig-and-float rig and try our micro jigs and marabou jigs.  Some of the guides run a double rig using a beaded egg fly and a zebra midge under a float.  The egg acts as an attractor and the midge (#14 red, black or green) is the bait.  I’d drop to two-pound leader at least when using small flies.

Fly fishing—we’ve seen huge midge matches the last couple of weeks when the water has dropped; the rainbows have been keying in on them.  Saturday when I was up fishing the flats below Lookout, I watched as trout were all over the top, some just nosing the surface picking off flies while others ran and whacked midges that were buzzing across the surface to dry their wings before flight.  See video.

Drop a zebra midge under a very small indicator 12 inches deep and cast it close to where you see a trout rise.  No movement is necessary; just hope the trout will notice your midge in the mist of all the other real bugs.  Leave it for 20 seconds and then find another active rainbow and cast at him.  If they get picky, drop down to a size #16 hook or even a #18.  If it’s sunny, tie on a bright primrose and pearl or another shiny-bodied midge.  Strip a soft hackle or wooly bugger if the surface is choppy.

Below Fall Creek, inflated night crawlers are the best way to catch bigger rainbows, either with generation or without.  Gulp Powerbait will catch a limit of stocker rainbows pretty easily most days using a white egg and another color such as orange or pink.  Spoons and spinners have really worked well all winter, but you do usually catch fresh stockers on these lures.

Fishing down lake is still generally worthwhile.  Most of our guides have been fishing between the bridges, and even the tournament anglers caught their biggest trout at the mouths of Turkey and Coon Creeks and in front of the Landing.

On dark, rainy days,  go trophy brown hunting and throw some big stick baits around docks and dead trees.  You may even hang a big bass.

For the coming weeks, keep an eye on rain in the White River Region and watch how it affects lake levels.  Use OzarkAnglers.Com and its links to keep track of levels as well as up to date fishing reports.

[TroutRinger]

Thanks for the detailed report. I'll be down at the dam on Friday especially if the current weather forecast holds up.

EDIT

If one wanted to go after bigger fish (browns or rainbows), how is the area around the boat ramp by the dam? Last Thursday I caught a 15ish inch bow on a brown trout jerkbait there as well as 5 other 10 or so inchers. I wonder if Brown Trout or Rainbow trout colored would work better?

[Phil Lilley]

Good area... I'd try both. Depends on light I'd say.