Fish Outing

[Phil Lilley]

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Hadn't been on the water in more than a week and only once since the boulders had been placed in the upper lake.  And hadn't been out since they filled the lake back up from the low levels, having drawn the lake down so that Powersite Dam could be worked on.  Boated to the dam about 1:00 p.m. with friends Tom Johnson and Chuck Puckett (local gents).

They were running 3 units but running them at low capacity, about 50 megawatts or the equivalent of one full unit.  As the afternoon wore on, they dropped it to 30 mw I'd say, looking at the level and current of the lake.

We didn't have any trouble getting up to the cable.  The rocks, placed in the lake a couple of weeks ago, were under the surface far enough they were not an issue.  The rocks, though, themselves have already turned dark in the water so they're hard to make out.

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We started by throwing 1/8th oz jigs straight, two of us threw white and one olive.  The white jigs did better above rebar and the dark jigs did better from rebar past the boat ramp all afternoon.  Below the cable, we caught a few good rainbows but caught a few smallies, 2 whites, a walleye and a gizzard shad, all on the white jigs.

After we fished the upper water for about 90 minutes, we drifted down below rebar and started drifting the lower area, down to Trophy Run.  The wind had picked up a bit so I strung a float and added a 1/16th oz jig and adjusted the depth depending on where we were drifting.  I kept it real close to on the bottom, not off the bottom much if  could help it.  We drifted the middle and both sides and I think we did better on the north side.

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We used olive, brown and sculpin colors, some with orange heads and all did well.  We had triples on 4 times and landed probably about 40 trout before heading back in at 4:30 p.m..  We had one rainbow over 20 inches and several 17-18 inches.  They fought fair but could still tell they were oxygen deprived although a few fought hard and jumped.  The water water fish fought very hard--they don't seem to be affected by the low DO like trout.

The jig and float technique using heavier jigs (1/16th oz) is a new thing for me.  I tried them a couple of weeks ago while fishing around the boulders for the first time.  We work the floats/jigs just like we did the smaller jigs but I probably work these jigs more often and harder than the smaller ones.  Many times I'd get the bite on the first drop--as the jig is dropping after the cast.  The strikes were hard- no question about if your were getting a bite.  The float would shoot under but you'd have to watch your slack in the line or you'd miss the fish.  You'd set the hook and only be pulling slack line instead of the fish.

<img title="Lake Taneycomo on OzarkAnglers.Com " src="http://www.ozarkanglers.com/lake-taneycomo/files/2011/11/Lake-Taneycomo-on-OzarkAnglers.Com-5.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="261" />

[Zeke Kuehn]

Sounds like a Great Day!

[loo10]

The third photo looks more like a sauger than a walleye; with all the spots. Are saugers in the White River system?

[Phil Lilley]

Not that I know of.

[brother dave]

Nice