Taneycomo Fishing Report

[Bill Babler]

Guided upper taney with Tim Paige yesterday. 3 persons each so we had boats full, to fish the restricted area. Weather was a little of this and a little of that with rain, clouds and quite a bit of heat in the afternoon. No wind or water flow before quitting time so we fished flat water for the most part.

Fishing was way better than it should have been for the conditions. Both guide boats caught and released over 100 trout, all caught on a sculpin and flo-orange 1/2 micro jig. We fished the jig just off the bottom,usually about 3ft.

Tried every scud pattern I had along with zebra midges and some alphebet bugs that a friend of mine gave me from one of the local guides. Nothing and I mean nothing even held a candle to the 256 oz. micro. It is a size 14 and a very compact perfectly weighted bug that hangs extremely natural and looks identical to sculpin fry. The flo orange head just seems to be a fantastic attractant. Just a slight shake of the rod tip to activate the strike indicator would induce a bite, and the bites were not soft yesterday, they wanted it.

Fish were extrely active and most would shoot out of the water when they felt the steel. With the flat water, I could see a lot of the fish that ate the nympth. They would swim up to the bug and wait for any movement. As soon as it twitched they would grab it.

We had been catching a few fish on a big beaded egg fly even on flat water, but no deal yesterday, they just wanted that sculpin micro. Spoke to a couple of locals that were fishing the same water, and both thought it was really tough.

There always seems to be a bug they will bite, even when it's tough, you just have to stay with it and not be afraid to change and move.

[Phil Lilley]

Only problem- you won't buy these anywhere. Babler had them special made and didn't order enough. We sold out in a couple of days. He's ordered a bunch more- hopefully will be in soon.

If you see him on the water, pull up and ask him for one. He's such a nice guy he may 'rent' you one for an hour.

[Snowflake]

Phil,

Are you going to have them in this weekend?

The family is heading down to Taney over the weekend.

Just curious.

[WebFreeman]

Only problem- you won't buy these anywhere. Babler had them special made and didn't order enough. We sold out in a couple of days. He's ordered a bunch more- hopefully will be in soon.

Phil, do you have a picture of it that's in focus? Seems like it would easy enough to tie, even for someone like me. Did you say on another post that they weren't lead-heads and weren't marabou?

[Murdoc]

A buddy and I got down to the fly area about 5:30pm. Water was very calm. Lots of two stepping going on!! I counted about 10 people doing it. They didn't need to be shuffling. We tied on a weighted sow bug size 14 and had a ball!! The fish were very active. Had several jump like Phil said. You could stand and watch the fish work the bottom everywhere.

[Bill Babler]

We won't have any in this weekend. They are on order. We do have olive and olive with a copper and gold head and they work extremely well also. If water is moving pink with a bright chrome head is unbeatable, we have those in stock.

If you think you can tie this bug, give it a try. The head of the bug is flat molded tungsten with florecent body paint and a hand painted two part eye with iris and inner eye. It is then clear coated to an extreme shine. I have never had the paint chip or discolor on any I have ever used. I have never had one of these jigs, come apart that were made by the original maker. 1 of these bugs will litterly catch 100's of fish and keep fishing.

Most fly tiers won't mess with them just for the reason that one will last for days of fishing. No money in that. Initial cost at over $3.00 each still isn't as much as the couple of dozen hand tied bugs you would use for the life of 1 micro jig.

The scud patterns I tie are tied off on 3 different steps and glued twice and I will tell you, no one puts a bug together like that for resale. It will still take 2 dozen of those to give you the durability of 1 micro jig.

The head resembles an egg shape, only a bit flatter on the sides. The total length of the jig including the hackle and tail is 5/16th inch. the total depth of the jig including hook shank is 1/8th inch.

The hook is a mustad size 14 straight shank with a jig eye designed only for micro as I know. The hook is extremely fine and chemical sharpened. The tail and body material are hen hackle, extremely fine and the body and tail are attached to the head with srink wrap. The head has a molded body to hold the srink wrap and a design also to attach the tail. Lucky Strike makes a similar jig and sells them at walmart, They come completely apart after a couple of fish. The srink wrap fall off

Everyone from Lucky Strike to Tim Buck Too has tried to tie this jig, and no one has even gotten close to the way it PRESENTS ITSELF IN THE WATER. If you are thinking of tieing it on a lead head or using maribou as a tail, forget it, way to thick and heavy on the tail and way to light on the lead head.

The closest material to the hen hackle I can find is bunny zonker, and it is still way thicker. You can sit this jig in a glass of water and the tail will trimble with the glass sitting still. It is so fine and well designed, the ammount of hackle used in the tail is extremely fine and miniscule.

Phil had some great maribou micro type, hand tied jigs in sculpin with the orange head and they worked really well, but I believe he is out of those also. They would catch about 3 for every 10 the original micro would catch.

We had caught so many fish yesterday that I had my client in the front try one of the maribous and the gal in the middle of the boat, continue with a regular micro and the client in the back try one of the maribous. She easily caught more fish and got more bites than both her brother and dad got on both sides of her combined. Both said give me back my sculpin micro. They immediatly evened the slate and got the same number of bites.

This nympth is fantastic from Clay Banks to Branson and works at it's best in the lower stretch of the restricted area on moving or flat water.

These jigs arn't a secret they have been around for 20 years. Sales in Arkansas, Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and California are in the 10's of thousands per year. A book has even been written on the presentation of the miro as it is fished on the White River. Nothing will touch it below Beaver Dam thru the restricted zone.

This new color is just really hot on taney right now. The Olive and the Copper and Olive have been our standby for 10 years.

Phil should have some in by the 23rd. We didn't know how the new color would work so only ordered 10 doz and that was a mistake, on my part.

If some of you are interested give Phil a call or email and let him know how many your want and that will help us keep our inventory in check Thanks./

[WebFreeman]

We won't have any in this weekend. They are on order. We do have olive and olive with a copper and gold head and they work extremely well also. If water is moving pink with a bright chrome head is unbeatable, we have those in stock.

If you think you can tie this bug, give it a try. The head of the bug is flat molded tungsten with florecent body paint and a hand painted two part eye with iris and inner eye. It is then clear coated to an extreme shine. I have never had the paint chip or discolor on any I have ever used. I have never had one of these jigs, come apart that were made by the original maker. 1 of these bugs will litterly catch 100's of fish and keep fishing.

Most fly tiers won't mess with them just for the reason that one will last for days of fishing. No money in that. Initial cost at over $3.00 each still isn't as much as the couple of dozen hand tied bugs you would use for the life of 1 micro jig.

The scud patterns I tie are tied off on 3 different steps and glued twice and I will tell you, no one puts a bug together like that for resale. It will still take 2 dozen of those to give you the durability of 1 micro jig.

The head resembles an egg shape, only a bit flatter on the sides. The total length of the jig including the hackle and tail is 5/16th inch. the total depth of the jig including hook shank is 1/8th inch.

The hook is a mustad size 14 straight shank with a jig eye designed only for micro as I know. The hook is extremely fine and chemical sharpened. The tail and body material are hen hackle, extremely fine and the body and tail are attached to the head with srink wrap. The head has a molded body to hold the srink wrap and a design also to attach the tail. Lucky Strike makes a similar jig and sells them at walmart, They come completely apart after a couple of fish. The srink wrap fall off

Everyone from Lucky Strike to Tim Buck Too has tried to tie this jig, and no one has even gotten close to the way it PRESENTS ITSELF IN THE WATER. If you are thinking of tieing it on a lead head or using maribou as a tail, forget it, way to thick and heavy on the tail and way to light on the lead head.

The closest material to the hen hackle I can find is bunny zonker, and it is still way thicker. You can sit this jig in a glass of water and the tail will trimble with the glass sitting still. It is so fine and well designed, the ammount of hackle used in the tail is extremely fine and miniscule.

Phil had some great maribou micro type, hand tied jigs in sculpin with the orange head and they worked really well, but I believe he is out of those also. They would catch about 3 for every 10 the original micro would catch.

We had caught so many fish yesterday that I had my client in the front try one of the maribous and the gal in the middle of the boat, continue with a regular micro and the client in the back try one of the maribous. She easily caught more fish and got more bites than both her brother and dad got on both sides of her combined. Both said give me back my sculpin micro. They immediatly evened the slate and got the same number of bites.

This nympth is fantastic from Clay Banks to Branson and works at it's best in the lower stretch of the restricted area on moving or flat water.

These jigs arn't a secret they have been around for 20 years. Sales in Arkansas, Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and California are in the 10's of thousands per year. A book has even been written on the presentation of the miro as it is fished on the White River. Nothing will touch it below Beaver Dam thru the restricted zone.

This new color is just really hot on taney right now. The Olive and the Copper and Olive have been our standby for 10 years.

Phil should have some in by the 23rd. We didn't know how the new color would work so only ordered 10 doz and that was a mistake, on my part.

If some of you are interested give Phil a call or email and let him know how many your want and that will help us keep our inventory in check Thanks./

Nevermind. I think I'll save my nickels and hope I don't break one off.

[Micheal Kyle]

Thanks for the history and tying lesson of the micro jig Ha/Ha

[Troutn]

Wow! A whole lot of useful information about something so small. Oh the things we do to catch a fish.

[Snowflake]

Bill or Phil,

Where can I get some of the olive micro jigs this weekend?