Fishing Report Dec 13-15Th

[hookinear]

Went down to Lilleys Landing for a little winter getaway. Got there around noon on Monday checked in and down to the water I went. First thing I noticed was the lack of people. Second thing I noticed, the reason for the lack of people: HIGH WATER! It could just be that it was a monday and not too many people were out and about. Fished above and below outlet 1 for the most part. Tried throwing a grey scud under an indicator but the water was moving pretty fast and when I finally got the indicator to slow down they didnt seem too interested. So I switched to an olive woolly and threw it out into 1 and let it swing over the ledge in front of 1. Did fairly well. Had lots of quick takes, probably landed 15 or so smaller fish in about an 2hrs. Decided to call it a night and get everything ready for the next day, when the water was supposed to be off for a couple hours.

Water report tuesday morning said the water was going to be shutting down around 1230, and then be completely off until 6, so I was hoping to get some good wade fishing in. Got to the parking lot at 1, right as the water was dropping. Started off at outlet 1 throwing the woolly again and the fish wanted nothing to do with it. Decided to change color and tied on a red pine squirrel. Only had 6 fish to hand in an hr, but every fish was pushing 18 inches with the biggest being right at 19 inches and really thick. Had a lot of follows with the red one but not the action I was looking for. Decided maybe the olive color would work out better so I put on an olive pine squirrel. That seemed to do the trick because the fishing was red hot the rest of the day ( even though the weather was the exact opposite) Fished the flats between outlets 1 and 2 mostly and didnt have to move the until the water came on. They were hitting on short strips, long strips with pauses, even dead drifting and letting it swing in the current. Between 2-6 that afternoon I would say I brought around 50-60 fish to hand. Most of them were in the 14-16 inch range with only 2 or 3 pushing 18 inches.

Next morning met up with some friends and decided to brave the cold and take out the boat and try and combat the high water up by the dam. Got up to the dam and started off by drifting a peach egg with a grey scud trailing it with our fly rods. Fishing was really good and active by the dam, but the size of the fish werent there so decided to drift down a little farther and see if we could pick up some bigger fish before the water started dropping. Floated down behind the old koa and drifted micro jigs under small floats. Nothing too big until we drifted down past Andys house. Got into 3 fish on 3 casts. All rainbows hitting 19 21 and 22 inches. Only the 22 inch one was thik though, the other two were really skinny and almost looked like snakes when they were at the surface.

Yet again another good fishing trip at Taneycomo and I cannot wait to go back soon. Maybe even hit up one of the tournaments in Jan or Feb. My advice would be to head out to Taney whenever you get the chance. It may be cold out but the lack of fishing pressure sure makes for a very active fishing trip.

Hookinear

[Born to Fish]

Thanks for the post. Sounds like it was a fun trip. It's always great to fish Taney when you get a chance even if you have to be flexible at times. It's nice to have a world class fishery that close to home.

Glenn C.