Sept 16 Fishing Report

[Phil Lilley]

<p><img src="http://ozarkanglers.com/taneycomo/images/Lookout-Island-Lake_Taneycomo-on-OzarkAnglers.Com.jpg" width="500" height="203"></p>

<p>We’re all hopeful that fall temperatures have set in this time.&nbsp; Going from triple digits one day to the lower 40’s at night in less than 48 hours is pretty drastic . . . but welcomed after everyone’s long, hot summer.&nbsp; I bet our trout needed the break from the high temps and the lake water warming to the 60’s.&nbsp; Actually it’s not been far off 60 degrees flowing out of Table Rock Dam.</p>

<p>Dissolved oxygen levels are now an issue at Lake Taneycomo.&nbsp; It happens every fall right about now, but we are dealing with it nicely since the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers pumps liquid oxygen into the turbines as they run.&nbsp; If you peek at the Corps’ chart, you’ll see dissolved oxygen measuring from four to eight parts per million, which is a healthy level for trout.&nbsp; When the water was not running, levels plummeted to less than two parts per million.&nbsp; Basically, the only oxygen infusing the lake when there’s no generation is from the hatchery outlets and from sunlight and wind.&nbsp; But we, the trout, go through this every fall and do just fine.&nbsp; Sometimes, though, fishing -- or catching -- suffers.</p>

<p>So it’s been a bit slow, but not bad.&nbsp; I’ve watched a deck boat with two women and a man drift from the cable below the dam down to the MDC boat ramp the last few days, and they have caught numerous trout.&nbsp; I think they have been using an egg/scud combo without much weight.&nbsp; The women have tossed their lines out to give more line, and then set the hook.&nbsp; I’ve also seen a group of three guys in a jon boat fishing a jig and float with fly rods, drifting from Lookout to Fall Creek and catching trout.&nbsp; I was surprised at how shallow they were setting their floats, not more than four-feet deep.&nbsp; That’s not as deep as I’d normally recommend, BUT they were catching fish.</p>

<p>Our guides are drifting night crawlers from Short Creek to our place and doing pretty well.&nbsp; Now all this depends on, yes, running water, and enough running water to make a real drift.&nbsp; I’d certainly shoot some air in the worms to make them float no matter if you’re drifting or sitting still.&nbsp; Set the weight about 24 inches from the hook and that’s how far you’re floating the worm off the bottom.</p>

<p>One other thing -- if you’re drifting, don’t use much weight.&nbsp; Use just enough to get to the bottom of the lake and that’s all.&nbsp; If you use too much, you’ll bump the bottom too hard and you won’t be able to feel the bite; you’re probably going to get snagged up more often.</p>

<p>Wednesday I caught some decent rainbows on a 3/32nd-ounce sculpin jig fishing from the cable down to Fall Creek, mainly the deep banks.&nbsp; Fish were striking short but were not very aggressive, so I missed a lot of strikes.&nbsp; I just should have been quicker and paid more attention.&nbsp; Thursday I got out of the boat and waded at the Narrows and at Lookout Island.&nbsp; I drifted mainly scuds -- gray #14 weighted -- and made sure to drag them on the bottom.&nbsp; I did better at the Narrows but did see quite a few rainbows behind the island at Lookout.&nbsp; I also stripped soft hackles off the bottom end of the island and did real well on mostly small rainbows.&nbsp; I threw a dry at them the other day, at all the usual bluff places, and didn’t have a looker.</p>