Lilleys' Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report, July 13

[Phil Lilley]

This is Phil Lilley with the Lake Taneycomo fishing report. Trout fishing has picked up dramatically this week with the Shepherd of the Hills stocking several thousand rainbows this week in the Branson Landing to Cooper Creek area. According to hatchery manager, Clint Hale, his rainbows has been averaging 11.1 inches long which is above average for our lake. Water temperature is 47 when the water is running from Table Rock but it warms up quickly in our hot sun. Today the water in from of our resort was 59 degrees before they started running water about 6 p.m.

Generation the last few days has been different almost every day. The SWA schedule has NOT been correct so it's anyone's guess what they'll do with the water, especially in the afternoon/evening. Mornings--they've been leaving the water off and it's been off by 10 p.m. each night.

Two of our guides called in fishing reports within the last 24 hours and both have said trout fishing has been very good on a numbers of different baits, flies and lures. Steve Dicky said in his REPORT that he's been fishing both morning and evenings and catching fish on #18 copper dun and black Zebra Midges as well as weighted gray #18 scuds when the water is not running and worms, orange Gulp eggs and Trout Magnets when the water is running. Best area to drift and bait fish is from the Cooper Creek flat down through the Landing and the best area to fish fish in around the Narrows down to Fall Creek.

Kris Nelson says in his REPORT that micro jigs in any colors was his go-to lure yesterday, keeping it on the bottom as close as possible. Fly fishing was slower today because of a bright sun and no wind but he caught them on Zebra Midges ruby, rust, black and copper colors probably #16 or #18.

When fly fishing, best to use fluorocarbon 6x or 7x and if you're using monofilament, definitely use 7x. Our water is very clear. If there's no wind, our trout will look any fly over twice before taking it. Line size makes a difference.

I've been driving to the dam this week and wet wading, fly fishing during the day. If there's a chop, no problem catching fish. If the surface is slick, it's a challenge. Best to seek out some current. I waded in above the MDC boat ramp a couple of times late morning and did fair, catching a few rainbows on small midges. Again, 7x is a must. This morning I broke off 2 trout on the hook set and landed only 3 rainbows in a couple of hours of fishing. Don't get me wrong--I love a challenge and I love sight fishing. In other words, I don't mind not catching very many fish if I'm seeing fish and they're responding to my presentation occasionally.

Midges that were working the best were #22 and #24 black or gray thread midges, #24 olive WD40, #18 Trout Crack and a #20 black/cooper Zebra Midge. I was fishing in 3 feet of water or less, setting my fly 3 feet under the foam indicator. Trout were picking it up and running, thus a quick hook set meant a break off if not careful.

Fished in the Rebar area yesterday and did fair. Trout appeared to be feeding on something subsurface but I couldn't duplicate it. I caught a few on a #18 dark Trout Crack. Lincoln, who was fishing the faster water at the end of the chute, was picking them up by casting over to the south side of the stream, into the dead pockets with a #18 black Zebra Midge and mending his line so the rig would stay in the pocket long enough for the fly to get down to the fish. Others were catching trout below their feet in the fast water... I won't elaborate.

Today, I fished the heart of the afternoon, boating above Fall Creek and stopped short of the Narrows. Bright sun, intermittent wind. Using spin cast, I tied on 5 feet of Vanish 2-pound tippet to the end of my 4-pound line, slid a carrot float up the line then tied on a 1/125th-ounce brown/orange head marabou jig, setting the float at 5 feet deep. Catching was good! Even with a slick surface, those rainbows were sucking on our jigs and we caught quite a few rainbows in the 3 hours we were out. We stayed between the end of the Narrows and the boat ramp above Fall Creek.

Best for last...