Lilleys' Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report, March 8

[Phil Lilley]

by Darin Schildknecht

This week has been great for wade fishing. The Southwestern Power Administration has not run any generators in the past few days, and it has been warm and comfortable to fish. The rest of the week also looks good as far as the weather, but, of course, that doesn’t always mean good fishing.

I went out earlier this week and had a great time. I waded the Lookout Island area for about three hours. The weather was nice; it was about 50 degrees and sunny. There were more people there than normal, but there was still plenty of room for everyone to have their own space. The main area I fished was at the top end of the island just above the tree that is in the water, the most upstream one. If you walk out to the middle of the lake there is a hump that is about knee deep and is a great place to fish from. Standing there you can fish all around you.

The first fly I tried was the Miracle Fly and the fish did not want it. They would come right up to it and turn away almost every time. I did catch a couple but wasn’t satisfied. I switched to a #16 Rusty or Harvester midge and it was on. Pretty much every cast the fish were eating it. If I missed the first strike, I would just let it keep drifting and another would com pick it up. Most of the fish were small but it was still a lot of fun.

Another guy that was fishing close by me came over and we talked for a little bit. He was catching them pretty well, too. He was using a small soft hackle, not sure what size, and he was catching a lot of fish that way. He was casting at a 45 degree angle downstream, letting it swing and then stripping it back. Most of the fish hit it while he was stripping it back.

Fishing a midge is very easy. Using a five-weight rod is the norm around here with a nine-foot tapered leader. I always use Rio Fluoroflex 6x tippet when fishing a midge. Just add about two feet of this to the end of you leader and you are set. A Palsa stick on strike indicator is the best indicator I have found to use with a midge. I set it about 12- to 18-inches deep and just dead drift it.