Taneycomo Fishing Report

[Bill Babler]

Upper taney was about as good as it can get today, with the power generation, if you were doing the right thing.

I am not seeing lots of fish in the river and I believe even though small, some of these little snots have been there long enough to know right from wrong.

The generation rate was a bit confusing as I would no sooner make a run on the dam and it would seem, that there was very little volume or depth and a very fast flow, and I would have to back off. Be very careful during these conditions. You can get in trouble in a hurry.

The water was running gin clear all the way to Riverlake, Bob Cline said it was as clear as he had seen it in 30 years in the area.

During most fast flow times egg flys or bright sanjuan worms are more than enough to catch those tricksters on the upper end, but not so much today.

Lots of boats and lots of fly fishing using bright patterns and they were just struggling. The drift boat guides were on the phones to each other, and I heard 1 say, don't come down here, we haven't caught a fish all day, its just horrible. He was in the tailrace across from Point Royal, and had beat the same stretch of water to pieces for about 2 hrs.

When the generators come on line you flat don't want to be in a drift boat stuck behind an island.

If you will move with the fish, you are in business, always a new customer.

Rod and Will Sanders, a couple of my regular victims were with me today and we drifted size 10 and 12 weighted scuds in ginger, and the trout just ate them up. About 60 really nice fish on a 4 hr. trip with about 90% being slot fish.

The fish were absolutely not interested in brights in the super clear water, they wanted real food. Ran the scud on both a drift rig on a spinning rod and also drifted it under an indicator on a spinning rod.

The fly had to be on the bottom or you just would not get bit. With the current these fish had their belleys stuck to the bottom. On my spinning rods, I was running 9ft. of tippet in 2lb. vanish to the weighted fly with no additional weight, however, I don't believe extra weight would have hurt a thing.

The drift rigs were 1'4 oz with the scud attached about a foot below a bright bead as an attractant.

This pattern has worked for me more than once on clear fast moving water, It is an absolute staple in the rivers we fish in Alaska, on the very same water we had here today. We did not see another boat or fisherman catch a fish all morning, and from speaking to the bait guides, they caught from 1 to a couple of fish all morning.

Try this pattern from the dam thru fall creek, when the water is running clear, fast and cold.

[Danoinark]

Thanks for the tips, Bill. Question about using flys with spinning or spincast gear. My six year old grandson is biting to go "fly" fishing with me. He can cast the spinning gear. But what is a typical rig for fishing flies this way. 2 or 4 lb test, 5x-7x tippet, with a bubble and or some splitshot to get a nymph down? I remember fishing this way years ago, but I sure can't dig out the technique in my aging memory bank

Dano

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

Dano, I'm not Bill, but I'll tell you how I do it for my Granddaughter. It seems to work, but Bill may have some other suggestions that I'd be happy to read about myself. Anyway I use two pound test with a bubble attached, then 5x or 6x tippet from the bubble to the fly. Add weight as you would with your fly rod to get the nymph to the right depth.

[Bill Babler]

We are using a 7'2" rod designed by the Rod Shop in Kansas City, it has an extremely fast tip, with a solid middle section and extreme strength in the butt portion, with extremely long cork handles.

Before most all the rods that were used before this were ultra lite, but were extremely wimpy and buggy whippy. This rod is the real deal for jig and float.

How to fish this method is probably our biggest topic at the seminars that Phil and I do and I will try to explain our setup.

First off you need a full size spinning reel with good line capacity, I am a shimiano man and use only stradic's in the 1000, or 1500 versions, these reels also have a marvelous drag system.

Spool the reel with 4 lb. fluorocarbon, you don't need to over fill the spool, just about 2/3 full. The fluorocarbon throws like a rock and remains memory free and is all I will use. Lots of good brands out there.

From the main line, I place a foam strike indicator on the line and then use a no 12 swivel below the float. I will also insert a small finish nail in the bottom of the float or a small split to help it throw. I tried a tungsten bead on the line but it cut the line and would not work. Float colors of either chartreuse or flo-orange work best.

From there, depending on conditions I use 2lb. fluorocarbon to my fly, judging the length of the tippet on the speed and condition of the water.

For actively midging fish I usually go about 2ft. of tippet, on most other times I try and stay near the bottom If I can. On extreme fast water, i will throw 9 to 10 ft. of the tippet material on the 7ft rod with no problem, that's how I got them yesterday. This is where the swivel really comes in handy, when throwing this much line, it prevents twists in your tippet material.

The main thing to remember is you have to stay in contact from your rod to the strike indicator, at all times and cannot let your attention be diverted, as the fish even on a fast flow, just will not hook themselves.

Keep your slack picked up without drag on the indicator and you will catch fish. I am constantly shocking the indicator will little rod tip snaps, this tells me I'm on the indicator and ready for a hook set. If I twitch the tip and the indicator doesn't move, you need to pick up the slack.

Start on no flow or soft moving water, and then graduate to full flow. On full flow, fish the fly down stream from the boat with no drag and you will have a blast.

As a footnote for the most part, I am adding on weight to the line to get the fly down. I either use weighted nymphs or micro jigs. If you attach even splits to the tippet and they hit the bottom they will just add another element to the tippet to catch the bottom and foreign material. I have had way better success with weighted bugs.

Fluorocarbon sinks and that also helps get your trout appetizers to the bottom.

[Danoinark]

Bill, thanks for the tips and info...Dano