Fishing Report

[Phil Lilley]

<p>The Missouri Department of Conservation performs a survey on our trout each August.&nbsp; Agents take out special boats at night that are equipped to electro-shock fish, stunning them so that they can be netted, weighed, measured and released.&nbsp; These counts and measurements are then calculated and compared to past years to see how our trout are faring.&nbsp; You can download a copy of this study by clicking HERE or you can see an html version HERE.&nbsp; The study confirms what we’ve been seeing for the past 10 months . . .&nbsp; that our rainbows and now browns are doing very, very well.&nbsp; I was surprised to see the numbers on the brown trout.&nbsp; It goes to show how healthy they are in the lake.</p><p>The Missouri Department of Conservation performs a survey on our trout each August.&nbsp; Agents take out special boats at night that are equipped to electro-shock fish, stunning them so that they can be netted, weighed, measured and released.&nbsp; These counts and measurements are then calculated and compared to past years to see how our trout are faring.&nbsp; You can download a copy of this study by clicking <a href="http://ozarkanglers.com/taneycomo/taney_2010.pdf" target="_blank">HERE</a> or you can see an html version <a href="http://ozarkanglers.com/taneycomo/taney_2010.pdf" target="_blank">HERE</a>.&nbsp; The study confirms what we’ve been seeing for the past 10 months . . .&nbsp; that our rainbows and now browns are doing very, very well.&nbsp; I was surprised to see the numbers on the brown trout.&nbsp; It goes to show how healthy they are in the lake.</p>

<p>I have not been up below the dam yet to check the fishing there with the water off, but I’ve heard firsthand that there are a lot of good rainbows up there, many 20-inchers or more.&nbsp; Some are being caught and most are released.&nbsp; I’ve also heard that the bigger streamers are doing pretty good on these bigger fish, daytime and at night.&nbsp; We’re starting to stock some of the bigger streamers in our shop—, Rainy’s Deer Hair Mottled Sculpins, Galloup’s Articulated Monkeys, Dungeons, Zoo Cougars, Bottom’s Ups and Articulated Fatheads, Mike’s Pec’s and Organ Donors.&nbsp; We already carry all of Keeney’s nighttime patterns as well as the regular buggers and sculpin patterns.&nbsp; I’m looking for more articulated fly patterns that work well on larger trout—if you have any suggestions, please drop me an email.</p>

<p>Below the dam, the usual fly patterns are working:&nbsp; scuds and sow bugs in varied shades of gray, olive, brown and tan.&nbsp; Try a bug with some “shine” in the dubbing like Hareline’s Ice Dub when the sun is bright—this seems to draw more bites.&nbsp; If there’s a chop on the water, strip a soft hackle or wooly bugger.&nbsp; Soft hackles can vary in size from #14 to #18. Try red, orange, yellow, black and olive.&nbsp; In buggers, I use the good old colors like olive, black and brown.&nbsp; If trout are midging or dimpling the surface, throw a zebra midge at them.&nbsp; Set it anywhere from 6 to 12 inches under a very small indicator and target fish that make the dimple.&nbsp; I think most anglers are still using 6x tippet, but later in the fall, most of us have to go to 7x because the trout get wary of anglers and their flies as pressure mounts on their territory.</p>

<p>From a boat fishing the trophy area below Lookout Island, jig and float is still king.&nbsp; I tell people who are heading out to fish this area, to take a light and a dark micro jig and try both.&nbsp; One of them will work. If they lay off the one you’re using, throw the other one.&nbsp; The dark jigs would be sculpin, olive, brown or black and the light ones would be tan, peach and ginger.&nbsp; Turner’s Micro Jigs are working great, but I fished Saturday with my fishing buddy, Vince, and we did really well using a brown jig we tie using a small, I’d say a 1/125-ounce jig.&nbsp; We don’t use but a tiny bit of marabou with no collar.&nbsp; It doesn’t look like much, especially wet, but the rainbows sure liked it.&nbsp; We did tie on a two-pound tippet or 6x onto our four-pound line for such small jigs and set our floats at about five feet deep.</p>

<p>Below Fall Creek, air-injected night crawlers are still catching the nicer rainbows but they have stocked a lot of small rainbows lately.&nbsp; We’re seeing a ton of rainbows about 10 inches long.&nbsp; There are still some nicer rainbows in the lake; just seems like you have to catch 10 small ones before reeling in a decent fish to clean.&nbsp; Now if you’re not careful to release your trout properly, you’ll kill a lot of rainbows.&nbsp; If the hook is buried in the fish’s throat, don’t touch the fish -- just cut the line close to the trout’s face and release it.&nbsp; It’s better to leave the hook in the fish rather than trying to dig it out.</p>

<p>Afternoons and evenings have been better times for fishing than the mornings lately.&nbsp; Once the water starts running, the trout start feeding.&nbsp; Drifting night crawlers and Gulp Powerbait, using one white and one other color (pink, orange or yellow) are the best baits.&nbsp; Use a big enough hook to hold two balls.&nbsp; Don’t worry about hiding the hook.</p>

[back2roots]

Thank you for the report Phil and for ALL the things you do to make this an EXCELLENT site.

We are hoping to make a trip down this weekend to do a bit of clean-up at our place....would like to get some fishing in too.

Have a GREAT week!

Bill

[Gatorjet]

Thanks Phil, sounds great. We will be down Thursday. Nick and Mandy to. How is the fishing off the dock. Mandy wants to do some fishing, but with Kaylee due the middle of November I don't want Mandy in the boat!

[Phil Lilley]

They are catching a few off the dock. Mainly small rainbows.

[Phil Lilley]

Drove to the dam this morning- got out at 8 am. No generation. Not that many people there fishing. Started above #2 and worked the slow moving current with a scud, then a thread midge. No takers. Moved down below rebar and tried the same plus soft hackles- nothing. Chop on the water - still nothing. Got one bite. Saw a few caught- the fish just weren't hungry.

Back out in my boat at 3. Didn't do that good till I switched to my little brown jig under a float. Caught a few nice rainbows before heading in.