Fishing Report

[Phil Lilley]

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/jamie2.jpg" width="250" height="269" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right">The theme of this record is like a broken record . . . wait it is a broken record. Our beatiful fall weather hasn't changed in weeks with a high blue sky, 75-85 degrees, no rain and only a little wind. Generation patterns . . . again, hardly any change. Most days, water is running any where from a half unit to two units, 25-85 megawatts, and varying during the day. Some days the generation starts at 3 p.m. and runs through the night. On others it starts at midnight and runs through the next day. The only consistent pattern is that there's no pattern at all. Little water runs on weekends, but not always, except that there is usually no generation most of the day on Sundays.</p>

<p>Fishing -- if anything it has slowed a bit. That's what we're hearing from guests and guides alike. But the minute or hour you think there's no trout in the lake, they turn on, and you can catch a bunch of nice rainbows. It's still fishing. Not biting? In the fall, low oxygen in the water usually gets blamed, but the rainbows I have caught fought hard and swam off quickly, indicating they have plenty of oxygen. The other reason suggested for the slowdown was fewer rainbows in the lake, but the Missouri Department of Conservation is still stocking. Fishing pressure has actually decreased the last week, too, and will continue to decrease in the coming weeks.</p>

<p>Night crawlers are still king, by far. We're carrying live minnows due to so many requests, but I don't think they're working any better than worms or Power Bait. The Gulp variety is still catching some rainbows but mostly smaller ones. And we do have some real small rainbows swimming around right now. I caught one last evening that didn't stretch to four inches. I was drifitng a san juan worm and a scud using a small split shot and felt something kind of like bumping gravel, but not quite. But not big enough to be a real fish? It was. It didn't stop bumping in a weird way, so I reeled it in and fought a fish on the hook. They are small!</p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/jamie1.jpg" width="250" height="201" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right">I have a new recipe for a drift rig I want to share. I've been using it lately and I think it's a great rig. Tie the normal rig with a hook or fly on one end and a loop closer to the other end, but leave off the bell weight. Instead, make a loop, loop it through and make a small, simple knot in the line real close to the end of the line. That's it. Then pinch a split shot on the line and slide it down to the knot. What makes this better is, first, if your weight snags on the bottom, the shot will just pull loose. Tie another knot and pinch on another shot. This also allows you to change size of split shots easily. I really like this since our generation has been changing so much during the day lately. If it slows I can put on a smaller shot. If it speeds up, I can pinch on a little bigger shot. No, I don't have these in our tackle shop yet, but I'm working on getting them tied up.</p>

<p>I used one of these rigs yesterday, drifitng a light brown san juan worm, medium chinelle, 6x tippet, #10 hook and a #14 dead peppy scud on the bottom and caught some real nice rainbows. I boated to the dam about 11 a.m., after water started running at 9 a.m. There was just enough water to get all the way to the cable, although I was holding my breath running through the rebar area. I threw a 1/8-ounce sculpin jig from the cable down past rebar and caught five rainbows in the 15-to 18-inch range. They hit hard and fought hard. They were hungry. No browns. I didn't do as well through the big hole area but caught a few smaller rainbows down closer to the boat ramp. I worked the KOA stretch with no results. Started drifting my worm and scud at Lookout and quickly boated an 18-inch rainbow. It jumped three times and made five hard runs. I was amazed that this fish was this full of fight this time of year, pleasantly surprised. Caught six more rainbows before heading back to the resort, all in the slot. I could see our small rainbows as I drifted down, but I guess the big ones were getting to the flies first. Same result in the evening, but I found the dinks, too.</p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/doty1.jpg" width="250" height="188" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right">Night fishing below the dam has been a mixed bag. With water running so much at night, it's been tough for most who aren't used to fishing at night. There's some room at outlets #1 and #2, but tangles and trees cause most anglers to head back to a warm bed and dreams of doing better at daylight. But if you do catch the water down, there's a variety of flies to try and ways to work them. I would think the big browns would go after a larger fly but you know, we've been catching big browns at night on smaller wooly buggers for years. On moonlit nights like last night, don't be scared to try a white streamer. Check out my last report for a list of night time flies we have in the shop. Or, as I tell people when they ask about the flies in their own collection -- give them a try! They'll probably work.</p>

<p>To try night fishing, first, carry a light but keep it off the water you're fishing . . . and off the water others are fishing. Light will spook fish and they will leave the area--quickly. Second, don't be in a big hurry to wade out in the water. A lot of these trout cruise the banks for sculpin. Third, don't crowd the angler who's already in the water. Remember, there's current. If you wade in just below someone who's fishing, you're probably standing where he was casting. Keep a long space between each other or don't wade out very far.</p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2010/doty2.jpg" width="250" height="188" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right">If the water isn't running, in the area above Fall Creek, micro jigs in olive, tan or black are working. Fish them four-to six-feet deep under an indicator. These are also working below Fall Creek. We've been getting a good midge hatch in the evenings, and rainbows have been taking them off the surface. Tie on a zebra midge in red or black, #14 or #16's and place an indicator 12 inches from the fly. Target these midging trout as they rise. You can throw this rig with a fly rod or spin cast rod and reel.</p>

<p>Scuds imitate freshwater shrimp, which are the staple food for our trout. Shrimp live mainly in the upper end of the lake where it's shallow, but they are found throughout the lake living in gravel and dead, lying timbers. Beaded scuds can be used under an indicator, just like a micro or marabou jig, and worked close to dead trees and steeper banks and docks.</p>

<p>Scuds are a great fly to use above Fall Creek just off the flats in the channel. If the water is off, you can use a tandem rig (two flies about 18 inches apart) under an indicator. Set the depth according to the water you're fishing, and make sure your flies are on the bottom. Use a weighted scud or use split shots to get them down. Move the indicator every 10 to 15 seconds to make the flies hop off the bottom. Scuds swim and do come off the bottom when swimming. You're flies should mimic these bugs as closely as possible to attract a bite. If the indicator moves in the slightest, set the hook!</p>

[Gatorjet]

Great report as usual Phil. I didn't get to do a lot of fishing this trip. More Branson stuff with the wife this time. I did get out Friday morning, and Saturday afternoon. I fished below Lookout mostly with 3/32 oz sculpin/olive PJ's jigs. I didn't do to well at all Friday. I stayed just below Lookout Island, and caught a few 12-14 inch rainbows. Saturday I fished a little farther down. A small area between the "pink" house on the bluff to just below the under construction house just down lake. I did a little better, but no "picture" fish. I had to drag the jig slowly on the bottom, and the bite was very light. I missed more hits than I connected on because they were so light. I did set a personal record though. The smallest Trout I have ever caught, or seen for that matter, on Taneycomo. Couldn't have been 4 inches long! Where are these sardines coming from? Natural reproduction? Escaping from the hatchery?

I have one question for you Phil. Where exactly is the rebar. The maps look like it's around the ramp below the hatchery. I don't usually go up there when the water is low enough for wading. The Gator isn't as stealthy as Bman's River Pro, and I don't want to disturb the fly fishermen. I would like to run up there sometime when it's not busy. I've bounced off of boulders, and stumps. Jumped over logs, and slid over shallow gravel. But rebar! Gator Ka-Bobs, no thanks.

[fly2fish]

I have one question for you Phil. Where exactly is the rebar. The maps look like it's around the ramp below the hatchery.

Rebar is about 20 yards up from the big stump between the boat ramp and outlet 2. The rebar is in the short stretch where the channel turns north (when the water is down) right out in front of the outlet 3 steps.

F2F