Got Tough... But Here's My Report

[Phil Lilley]

Got out yesterday late morning and found the trout to be tough.

MDC shocked on Wednesday night for their annual survey so may be we can blame it on that.

But it's been pretty good up to Wednesday. It does seem like the trout have taken a beating from Fall to Short Creek but that's been the case all summer.

Some of the out of town guys came in yesterday for the tournament this weekend. They were surprised how tough it was yesterday. I told them it was just a day... today's a new day.

Here's the report.

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/crooks_brown_500.jpg" width="500" height="200"><br>Just checked weather.com's 10-day forecast for the Branson area, and it says we're in for some lower temperatures this next week. May be we've seen the end of triple digits this summer. Good for the angler even though the trout have not seemed to care. What this will affect is generation patterns. We may see less flows. Instead of four units later in the afternoon, we may see two units or fewer. But you never know with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Today one unit has been running all day with a planned bump up to three units later.</p>

<p>Trout fishing continues to be good. August usually is one of the slowest months of the year here on Taney. MDC still stocks a year-high 90,000 rainbow this month, but for whatever reason, they usually don't bite as well in the dog days of summer. But they have been biting very well. Large rainbows are still being caught above and below Fall Creek. Here's at Lilleys' Landing, we had two rainbows weighing more than seven pounds caught this past week, one off the dock and one out in a boat. A 12-pound rainbow was caught off the dock and released.</p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/crooks_brown_350.jpg" width="250" height="265" hspace="6" vspace="6" align="right">We are selling about 120 dozen night crawlers a week right now and, yes, night crawlers are the best bait for sure. Like this morning, with one unit running, the best thing to do is to start drifting at the mouth of Fall Creek, with four-pound line, a small #8 short-shanked bronze hook and a #7 split shot pinched on the line 18 inches above the hook. Hook the worm one time in the collar and break off the tail leaving the same length of worm hanging off each side of the hook. Inject some air in the night crawler so it floats off the bottom. Set your boat sideways in the current and throw out upstream. If you're not hitting the bottom, increase the amount of line you have out. If that doesn't work, increase the size of the split shot until you get a good roll on the bottom.</p>

<p>You can use Gulp Power Eggs the same way, but night crawlers will catch more and bigger trout. Use one white along with one other color--orange, pink or yellow.</p>

<p>Some of the guides did find some nice-sized rainbows just up from, through and down from Scotty's Dock this past week, but there are a lot of smaller rainbows down there, too. The smaller ones will take a spoon or spinner cast and retrieved slowly.</p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/big_rainbow_off_dock_250.jpg" width="250" height="195" hspace="6" vspace="6" align="left">It still amazes me how many large rainbows are down in our area of the lake (by Lilleys' Landing). My fishing buddy Vince was done with a trip on Sunday and was fishing out in front of our place about 1 p.m. I called him to pick me up and we fished down to Cooper Creek -- on the bluff side. He was throwing a Sluggo (plastic jerk bait) for browns and I was casting a 1/8th-ounce black jig. With one unit running the water was barely moving. He had several follows but no takers. I caught a couple of rainbows, then hooked a heavy fish. First I thought it might be a smallmouth bass but getting a look at it, I saw the fluorescent rainbow flash. With two-pound line it took a while to land, but it was a solid 19-inch rainbow weighing more than four pounds. It had avoided a lot of Power Bait over the past eight to 12 months to grow to that size!</p>

<p>There should be less fog on the water both in the mornings and in the evenings with cooler temps and less humidity, so getting out early won't be so difficult. Shouldn't be foggy at night either if you want to get out and do some night fishing, either wading below the dam or out in a boat.</p>

<p>Above Fall Creek in the trophy area, fishing has been twice as good as normal. Some of our guides are starting as early as 6:15 a.m. when the trout seem to bite best. Fishing a micro jig in black, olive or tan under a float four- to five-feet deep using two-pound line (a must) has been great, but the trout have been alittle picky about how it's presented. At times they like it dead in the water with no movement, but some times they like it twitched every 5-10 seconds to project a little life. The strikes can be slight or hard, so you have to watch the float closely. One problem many anglers have is keeping the line slack to a minimum and keeping the rod tip pointed at the float. If these two things aren't watched, setting the hook is futile.</p>

<p>Fly fishing is still very good, out of a boat or wading below the dam. Of course, the water needs to be down, not running, for the best wading, but out of a boat it doesn't matter. They're still eating a scud pattern the best, but you have to get it to the bottom and keep it moving to have the best success. Number 12 in gray, olive and brown if the water is running and #14 to #18 is it's not. You can get away with using 5 or 6x tippet if the water is running but if it's not, use 7x. Zebra midges in red, black or olive are working well, too, especially when the water is off with no generation. Fish close to the surface if trout are midging or taking midges off the surface and fish them 12 to 36 inches below an indicator if they're not.</p>

[Trevor K]

Man, those pictures make me excited for my trip down there in Oct. Hopefully there are still a few nice ones biting then.

[Thom]

Man, those pictures make me excited for my trip down there in Oct. Hopefully there are still a few nice ones biting then.

[/quote

They will be. October and November are great months and much less pressure if you fish from a boat. All of the above info works just keep changing up on what you are using and watch the surface and bottom for action and act accordingly. It blows my mind that hatches are coming off the water all fall and winter. I love the midge fishing that Phil described. An attractor San Jaun worm or egg fly on top and Zebra midge about 12 to 18 Inches below the surface suspended on the smallest indicator that will float the flies. If they are dimpling the top hold on for some non stop fun. If the bite is slow adjust the midge shallower or deeper until they start taking. Be sure to keep the slack out of the line and any small movement or rocking of the indicator set the hook and hold on.

I hope to make another trip about that time of year also.