Lilleys' Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report, March 28

[Phil Lilley]

Cold weather might hurt bass, crappie and white bass fishing, but it doesn't affect trout fishing. They like the cold! It was amazing how many anglers braved the snow and cold last week -- but they were rewarded catching rainbows and a few browns.

Generation, again, has been sporadic. Today one half to one full unit ran all day, but most days there has been no generation. No real rhyme or reason when and why they run so it's hard to predict. Table Rock Lake has come up from its winter low levels to just 2.5 feet below power pool and with rains in the forecast, we may see more generation in the month of April. So if you're wanting to wade and fly fish below the dam, you better come soon to take advantage of the low water.

If the water is running, it's not running very hard at all. You can drift but you'll need to use very little weight or you'll get hung on the bottom. I'd use just a split shot above the hook a couple of feet, may be a #7 or #3/0. Wind makes a difference, too. If it's windy, you may need to put a #4 split on the line.

Below Fall Creek, night crawlers or minnows are doing the best, catching bigger rainbows and a few sub-legal brown trout. PowerBait Gulp eggs, using one white and one either pink or chartreuse on a #6 hook are good, too, but we're catching a lot of small rainbows. There are nice ones out there, believe me; you just have to work for them.

Above Fall Creek, drift with an egg fly, #12 gray scuds or a pink san juan worm.

Jig-and-float is working regardless if the water is running water or not. A brown, orange head 1/125-ounce jig if the water is not running or a 1/32-ounce jig if the water is running have been the best. Fish jigs four to seven feet under a float. I'd for sure try the shallow side of the lake from Fall to Short Creek. This side doesn't get a lot of pressure and it does hold trout. Micro jigs are working, too. Trout Magnets below Fall Creek when it's windy have been effective as well.

I fished this afternoon from 4:30 until 6 p.m. The water was running at 25 megawatts with one half unit generating. I drifted from Lookout Island down to the Narrows. The wind was blowing pretty strong out of the west, so it was pushing me towards the bluff bank. I held the boat's nose to the west and upstream, letting the current move past me. This helped me keep track of the jig better, casting with the wind towards the middle of the lake.


One of my "netted" rainbows, about 15 inches long.

I used several colors--sculpin, sculpin/peach, white and olive and did best on the sculpin. I started with an 1/8-ounce but went to a 3/32-ounce when I figured out I didn't have to be right on the bottom to get bit. I probably boated more than 30 rainbows. Five rainbows I had to net because they were too big to lift (probably rainbows longer than 14 inches) and the rest were small, less than 13 inches. This flow is my favorite condition for throwing jigs.


This rainbow is about 12 inches long. One nice thing about most of the trout I caught is that their bellies seemed to be full. So they're getting plenty to eat.

Fly fishing below the dam when the water is off has been pretty rewarding. Again, there are a ton of rainbows in the lake right now, but most are small, less than 12 inches long. Typically, the smaller trout are more aggressive and bite more quickly. You have to catch a bunch of trout to get one or two nice ones.

Our usual fly picks are doing well, such as scuds in different shades of gray, olive, tan and orange. I'd use larger ones in faster water (outlets and rebar), #12's, and smaller ones in slower water, #16 to #20's. In the flat areas, try a zebra midge under a float -- P&P's, rustys, uglys, reds and blacks, in #16 and #18's. If it's really calm, go to #20's. Set the indicator depth where you think the trout are holding.

If it's windy, strip a soft hackle, cracklebacks or wooly buggers. Also try a pine squirrel, white, olive or black in the rebar area where the water is the swiftest.