Fishing Buddy Report Jan. 28-30 Plus

[Gatorjet]

I arrived Monday afternoon, and needed to get a little work done on the Gator before hitting the water. By the time I got it in the water I didn't get to do any fishing Monday.

Tuesday morning I boated up to Fall Creek. With reports of inflated night crawlers being the top bait at the time, coupled with great success with them there on thanksgiving weekend I thought I'd give 'em a try. Not much success with the crawlers. Mostly short bites by small fish just tapping the worm off the #6 Circle hook I use to help keep from having the fish swallow the hook. One chunky 10" fish was hooked in the hour or so I tried. I couldn't stand it any longer, and switched to a white 1/16 oz PJ,s jig. I fished along the rip rap just below the marina with a couple missed strikes, and one fat 15 inch rainbow. I continued to work along the bluff below Fall Creek with a couple more fish a bit smaller being caught. As the clouds started to build, and the weather band radio kept telling me of approaching storms I moved closer to Lilleys' Landing. Again I fished the white 1/16 oz jig. More swimming it about 4 feet deep than hopping along the bottom. A technique that has worked well for me in the past in that area. I didn't get to fish long before the thunder rolled a bit, and it started to rain. Not wanting to be sitting in the lake in a 20' aluminum lightning rod I headed back to the dock. but not before getting a good hit from a beautiful 18" or more bow that made a giant leap with hang time like he was posing for a picture. the big problem was when he went back into the water, my jig entered the water about two feet away. Oh well, that's fishing.

Wednesday was a total bust. The heavy rains Tuesday afternoon, and the steady rain from about noon to midnight muddied the lake to make it look more like a muddy farm pond than Taneycomo Coupled with the lack of generation, the dingy water just stayed there Also with much colder temperatures, and steady 30 mph winds there wasn't much use in even going out. I took Phil's advise when I asked him what he would do with muddy water, colt temperatures, and high winds. "Stay in the cabin and keep warm"!

Thursday morning was quite chilly and I couldn't get my two partners that arrived the day before to get out early. the didn't have much interest in muddy water, and cold temperatures. We did get out in the afternoon, and again headed up to Fall Creek again. Only because we hoped for a bit cleaner water. It was a bit less muddy, and fishing was a bit better as well. Between the three of us we managed a fish less than two limits of decent keepers that my friend wanted to take home. several on glitter chartreuse Gulp eggs, a couple on crawlers, and three on a gold Flatfish my friend Dave was using. a lot more smaller, under 12" fish were caught as well.

Friday, with Dave wanting to fish from the dock with his pal that arrived thursday night, and be closer to a warm cabin, Nick and I were able to check out some places for the R.A.W. tournament being held Saturday. Now it was time to get serious, and really check things out. My first stop was at a place I did well in last April, and May near the Cooper Creek ramp. At first we didn't have much action, but did finally get a couple pretty good fish on black/olive Zig Jigs. We didn't stay anywhere too long, just hit a fish or to and moved.I used a bit of bass fishing thinking because of the still stained water. Dark jigs, and even though there was no generation, larger 1/8 ounce sizes for a more bulkier, more visible lure. Monkey Island also gave up several keepers, as well as a lot of smaller fish. I did try something just a bit different Again for a bigger profile, and more vibration I tried a Jake's Wobbler. In Gold to get the maximum of flash. Three casts, three 12-14 inch fish in the narrow channel in front of Monkey Island.

As far as Saturday, Similar locations as Friday, Same lures, except no Wobbler, and a switch to white jigs in the late afternoon gave us a tournament winning 8 fish total of 8.38 pounds with the largest fish 1.8, and another maybe the .8 less. Lots of fish just under what we weighed as well. I'd say maybe 25-30 fish total for the day, with only 4 or 5 "silver bullets". Should have used my counter.

Thanks Phil, and everybody at Lilleys' Landing for a great week on Taneycomo. Even with the weather issue it's always a wonderful time staying there, and enjoying everything about Branson, Taneycomo, and Lilley's Landing.

Bob Wehnert

[perchjerker]

Nice report.Congrat's on the tournament. Trying to get a trip down there next week if weather holds out.Sounds like I could follow your patterns and have a jump on the guess work. Thanks