Current Fishing And Lake Report, Lake Taneycomo

[Phil Lilley]

There is an important issue that must be addressed first off in my report. The boards are still off down at Powersite Dam. These boards are four-foot tall and run across the length of the top of Powersite. When the boards are down, this lets more water through to Bull Shoals at normal levels. So if Table Rock Dam shut off all generation, our water level would be more than four feet lower than normal at no generation. The lake would drain out to the lower level at Powersite, four feet below normal. When two or even four units are running at Table Rock, or 110 to 220 megawatts, our lake level is lower than if the boards were up, and the flow faster.

Two reasons I explain this: In the mornings this week, there has not been much water running. This makes boating above Fall Creek tricky, even for the professional guides. The channel hasn't changed, but with lower levels, there are things in the channel that come into play. The gravel bar at Fall Creek claimed several props just Thursday morning. The challenge is heightened because our water isn't as clear as most years. It's stained to where you can't see much past 18-24 inches. That means you can't see prop hazards coming very far ahead. If you're boating up to the cable at the dam, you really have to watch. Most guides are stopping at the Big Hole.

Since my last report, the water level has dropped even more. Most mornings start with one unit (50 megawatts) and building to three units (150 mw) by late in the day. The current up towards the dam is quick and deceiving. You might think it's deep, but it's actually more shallow than normal. Our guides are drifting a peach egg fly with a #12 or #10 gray scud chaser on a drift rig. Use a one-fourth ounce bell weight or just a small split shot to get it down. They guides report going through a lot of rigs and flies because of the wood debris on the bottom left from the high water. The only way to avoid the entanglement is to use as little weight as possible and still get your fly to the bottom.

White jigs have made a comeback this week. But instead of using 1/8th-ounce, we've gone to 3/32nd- or 1/16th-ounce because the water isn't as deep. Now later in the day when generation is up, go to the 18th-ounce. But don't leave your dark jigs at home, though, because you still might need them.

Fly fishing is a little easier in this flow. You don't have to set your float so deep. We’ve had reports of a red or fl pink san juan worm working pretty well, too.

I got out this morning to head up and take some images of trees and the gravel bars to include in this report. Don’t ever write a fishing report and then go out and fish before posting it… you’ll want to make changes. I’ve had to amend this report quite a bit this evening. I took a fishing rod with me “just in case” and lucky that I did.

I boated up to the red house on the bluff, about a mile past Fall Creek and started drifting and working a 1/8th-ounce white jig along the bluff bank. The water was low and the current was slow. There were trout smashing something on the surface along the edge of the bank—and I didn’t take my fly rod!! Darn!!!! May have been cicadas but I’m not sure. But they really liked my white jigs. I caught 6 rainbows before I got to the Narrows, 2 were over 20 inches. The others were about 18 inches. It was amazing. Drifted on down close to Fall Creek and took some pics of the trees in the water and the gravel that had piled up around and behind them. They had created some deep holes too- all on the shallow side of the lake.

The Narrows is where the lake’s channel swings from the right to the left heading upstream above Fall Creek. This area has changed dramatically. Before the flood, the area on the right was a large flat of gravel extending from the west bank almost all the way across the lake to the channel which was narrow. The flat was pretty uniformed and flat with no drop offs. Now the flat appears to be much shallower—as a matter of fact at normal lake level, when the water is off (701.3), this flat gravel bar may be all the way out of the water. But now with the water running, it flows over the bar and dumps into a long hole, dropping off 4 to 6 feet immediately. This drop runs at a 45 degree angle upstream till it meets the channel which I think is more shallow than it was before the flood.

When the water is running, there’s also a new shoot of water flowing on the opposite side of the lake there—really cool! It’s not wide but wide enough to hold fish. It dumps in right where the big chunk rock start on that west bank. It’s hard to say what that will look like when the water is off.

The water along that chunk rock bank is pretty deep now- to up 9 feet in places.

When I ran up the channel at the Narrows, the channel didn’t seem to be as deep as it once was—my depth finder said 4 to 5 feet deep with a little water running. The bank on the east side has been eroded badly and there are trees laying down all along the edge. I did manage to catch several nice rainbows where the water eddied behind the trees. At the bottom where the gravel used to flatten out, there is another big tree that has created a high bar and several deep pockets of water.

Bill Babler, one of our guides, told me his clients have hooked and lost or landed some very big trout this past week. We've heard other stories of big rainbows and browns being caught or seen above and below Fall Creek. I mention this so you won’t be surprised if you do hook something that at first feels like a snag. Don't break it off without making sure.

Just today, I’ve had 3 individuals come in the shop and say they caught and released rainbows over 20-inches today. One young man who’s staying here has been showing off a picture of him holding a 31-inch brown he caught yesterday at outlet #1. I believe Chuck Gries was guiding him and his dad.

Below Fall Creek, some very impressive limits of rainbows have been caught and brought in. It seems that the high water has dispersed large trout throughout the lake. You never know when and where you might hook one and on what.

Stick baits have been working exceptionally well, maybe because of the stained water. Trout see something flashing through the water and have little time to identify the bait. Rapalas are the most popular and easiest to find. F-7 or 9 and CD-5 and 7's are the best size. Silver//black, gold/black and rainbow colors are the best styles. Pointers and Rogues are also good stick baits. Work these against bluff banks, any bluff banks above and below Fall Creek.

Drifting Gulp Power Bait and night crawlers continues to catch many good rainbows. The best drift is from Cooper Creek down. Early in the mornings when the flow is the slowest, you don't need much weight at all to drop the bait down. The current is very slow, almost non-existent. Stay in the middle of the lake since there are a lot of trees down along the banks, especially along the bluff banks.

We've seen a bunch of 14- to 17-inch rainbows caught below Cooper Creek on bait as well on jigs. A good report came in today about catching 17- to 21-inch rainbows down by Monkey Island on white or black 1/8th-ounce jigs working them off the bottom.

One of the rainbows I caught this am on a white jig.

These next images are of the gravel bar at the Narrows. I marked where the drop off is all along the bottom side of the bar.

These are of the east bank, where it's eroded away.

The east bank below the Narrows-

Below Fall Creek, mainly on the east bank-

This is where Buster's Log was- just above the ramp at Riverpointe.

Between Short Creek and Trout Hollow - trees in the water.

[Rolan Duffield]

Phil: this is a great article and pictures describing the current conditions at Taney and informing us about the changes. Thanks for posting this.

Rolan