More News And Info

[Phil Lilley]

Well, they left the water off all morning this morning so I got on the keyboard and sent an email out to see why they were not running water. It's killing a bunch of bugs leaving the gravel bars so far out of the water in the heat and sun.

Several calls were made between MDC, the Corp and SPA and I guess the Corp and SPA have agreed to run water everyday from 8 am to 8 pm and if they need to leave the water off some periods they'll leave it off at night.

It may take a day or two to get into this schedule so it may be off again this week.

I drove to the dam and checked out the levels and changes.

First - we may have a new "normal" lake level. It's at 702.1 right now. The old level was 701.3 feet. The area at rebar is the most noticeable change- it looks like it's higher and holding the water back at a high level, which makes the 702.1 level make sense. There's hardly any current from the dam to rebar now and it is deeper. Walking across the lake at outlet #2- used to be about 30 inches is now 40+. It looks deeper to. The bank across from outlet #2- there's little gravel there next to the island. The lake is wider.

At rebar, it's not one shoot but 3- and you could say 4. All are shallow and dump off into a deep hole. Not sure how deep it is.

Here are the pics.

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-outlet1-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-down-from-outlet1-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-outlet1.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-leonard-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-up-from-outlet-2-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-down-from-outlet-2-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-outlet-2-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-far-bank-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-outlet3-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-outlet3b-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-new-rebar1-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-where-rebar-used-to-be-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-rebar5-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-rebar7-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-rebar8-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-rebar10-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-back-shoot-at-rebar-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-shoot-below-rebar-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-shoot-below-rebarb-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-down-from-rebar-800.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

Down at the boat ramp, the lake is definitely deeper and wider. The lower end is a definite shoot. I didn't walk down there but it looks awesome. Could be the best shoot on the upper lake, replacing rebar.

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-mdc-boat-ramp-up.jpg" width="800" height="533"></p>

<p><img src="http://forums.ozarkanglers.com/images/2011/taneycomo_upper_end-mdc-boat-ramp-panaramic.jpg" width="1000" height="238"></p>

[Trout Commander]

What is the big concern for the bugs now after the flood as opposed to before? Is it killing more bugs or more profits with the water being off?

[Dave Cook]

What bothers me is how they shut the water off, not the fact that they turn it off. They still leave fish stranded. The first two nights they turned it off this past weekend, sculpin were all over the bank up by outlet 1. In years past, I have on more than one occassion found brown trout over 10 lbs stranded on the bar below outlet 3.

Thanks for the pictures Phil. I didn't stick around long enough last weekend to checkout the view during the daytime.

[Indiana Trout]

So is there any wadeable water left down by the ramp or is it a giant scour hole now?

[Leonard]

WOW.. picture 1 and 4 needs taken down...

before I get in trouble.....

Fishing was great today... The guy standing next to me had a blast fishing the PMS..

we probably caught close to 30-40 fish before they turned the water on

[Trout Commander]

What bothers me is how they shut the water off, not the fact that they turn it off. They still leave fish stranded. The first two nights they turned it off this past weekend, sculpin were all over the bank up by outlet 1. In years past, I have on more than one occassion found brown trout over 10 lbs stranded on the bar below outlet 3.

This is a legitimate concern, that I share.

[flyrodman]

Last time I went, I came across a little tiny pool with a 1 1/2 pound rainbow inside which i rescued. After I released it I felt the pool and it was very warm, a couple more hours in there and the trout would have died

[TroutRinger]

WOW, what a change! With all those changes to the bank, what would be your estimate as to the highest level where one could still wade?

[Phil Lilley]

I think it's too early to make any guesses on the highest level for wading... my mind is spinning already from all the changes, not just the ones up below the dam.

Whether you believe the changes are positive or not, they're here to stay. So I chose to see it all as positive - making the best of it.

The drawdown- I don't think it's avoidable. Fish are going to die when the water goes down regardless how they do it. Unfortunately, bugs will to. It's the nature of the beast.

I am still absolutely amazed how many quality bows are in the lake right now.

I took Paul Clark and my buddy Coy fishing this afternoon after the water started - white jigs below the dam. I tossed the jig out twice to show Paul- he's not a fisherman. I hooked 2 rainbows, both 18 solid inches. He tried... I took the rod and worked the jig one more time so he could see and wham- another 19 inch rainbow. It took him a while but he ended up catching a 19 inch rainbow on his last cast.

I didn't fish much cause I could not help hooking a rainbow within 10 seconds of dropping the jig down. I was helping Paul get the hang of it. We did catch some 11-13 inchers, mainly when Paul drifted a shad fly on the bottom. They seemed to like the shad fly while the larger ones liked the jig.

Did I mention I caught a 26-inch rainbow yesterday? I took a sports writer out for a few hours for a story.

I'm telling you... this is by far the best shape these trout, on Taneycomo, have EVER been in, at least since I've been here.

Looks like they're not running water tomorrow morning... I'd head over if you can. May not see a lot of down water again for weeks. I was surprised how few were out this morning.

[mwfischer]

Amazing. Honestly why I think I like Taney so much (Grew up a bass fisherman at LOZ). It's a different lake every time we visit. To think below the dam looked like this just 6 weeks ago.