Lilleys' Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report, April 6

[Phil Lilley]

Trout fishing has toughened up the last few days.  Fairly heavy generation has made both getting to the fish and getting them to bite a challenge, most of the time.  Then there's a few times during each day and places where the trout bite like crazy.  That's what all of us keep coming back for.  Problem is, the last week, those places and times are far and few between.

Generation:  They've been running 2 to 3 units first thing in the morning, then gearing back to one to even a half unit the rest of the day.  There was one day this past week when they left the water off all afternoon.  I don't see anything in the works that would change that pattern for a while.  Water temperature is 44 degrees coming from Table Rock which is warmer than a few weeks ago.  That's a good thing.

When the water runs for so long, our trout tend to seek out places where they can sit out of the fast water.  That may be along the bank, in creeks or on the bottom behind big or small objects.  The way trout are built, sleek and slender, they don't need a very large object to sit behind.  That's where we are looking to get our bait and lures.

The creeks, Roark, Turkey and Coon, have been hammered pretty hard the last few weeks.  Simply there's seems not to be many trout left in them.  But there are some and they're being caught on either Gulp Eggs on a jig head, a marabou jig or minnow under a float.  There's also come crappie and white bass being caught in Roark and Turkey Creeks.

I have to interject something here at this point.  I've owned Lilleys' Landing for almost 31 years and I have seen a pattern, a mindset, that frustrates me.

First, fishing is fishing.  If you take a trip to the same water, say once a year, you're going to have good years and bad years of "catching".  When some anglers have good trips, where they're catching a lot of fish, they tend to "double dip" or catch and keep more than their possession limit, and at times, more than even their daily limit.

In the last couple of weekends, I've seen groups of fishermen keep way more than their limit.  It almost seems like they're "making up for those years when they don't catch many".  What this does, quite simply, is rob the next guy who comes to fish.  I see it happen on our dock quite often.  Because most of this lake is "put and take",  you'll only catch trout when they're there.  If they've all been caught out, then fishing is poor.

Over all the years, there have been times I have reported my own guests to the authorities but only after they've been warned.  I have also encouraged other anglers who voice concern about this kind of activity to call an agent and make a report.

Poaching hurts other anglers chances of catching their limit of trout here on Lake Taneycomo.  It's selfish, it's illegal and it should not be tolerated by anyone.

Morning fishing, when the water is running the hardest, has been slow, but when they cut the flow back, the trout seems to come alive.  Drifting Gulp Eggs, one white egg and one either pink or chartreuse on a hook, has been the best along with night crawlers.  Best areas have been drifting from Monkey Island past the bridges and Fall Creek to Trout Hollow.

I still think the best live bait to use is one white Gulp Egg and a half night crawler.  Slid the egg onto the hook and up the line.  Pinch a worm in half and hook it once in the middle of the half, the worm hanging off of both ends.  Then slide the egg back down on top of the worm.  Works good off our dock too.



There's been quite a few rainbows, nice rainbows, holding on the flat from Short Creek to Trout Hollow.  They're catching them drifting and using either a pink or chartreuse Trout Magnet under a float 4 to 6 feet deep.  I've tried this a couple of times the last few days and was surprised the size and quality of rainbows I was catching.  I used my spinning rod one evening and my fly rod the next.  Both worked well.  I would think a marabou or micro jig would work too although I haven't tried it.

Anglers who fished out of the resort this weekend struggled to catch trout but most caught their limits.  One positive thing is that the size of our trout are still bigger than normal.  Some of the rainbows I caught on the Trout Magnet in the Short Creek area were 12 to 14 inches.  Still catching some dark males which usually average 13 inches or more.

The wind has really hampered "catching" this week, yesterday being the exception.  There's few remedies for wind when fishing out of a boat except finding a stretch where it's not as windy, getting along the bank and tying up or anchoring or going up in one of the creeks that's sheltered from the wind.  Wind causes problems... it's hard to control a boat, especially a pontoon.  Combine current with wind and it's hard to keep your bait or lure where it's supposed to be.  It's best, I think, to get out very early in the morning before the wind starts and plan on staying out till dark when the winds start to die down.

Some things I do in my boat when it's windy are:

    
• Try my hardest to keep the boat moving the same speed as the current if I'm drifting bait or flies on the bottom.  Watch floating leaves on the surface as a gauge and move at the same pace.

    
• If I'm throwing a small lure like a jig of spoon, slow the boat down just a little and let the lure swing downstream of the boat with the rod tip low so the wind won't affect the lure's action.  Watch the line, especially close to where the line enters with water and look for it to twitch or pop.  That's a bite.

    
• It's harder but you really have to watch where your line is at all times in conjunction with the boat.  If you're the boat operator, you have to be real good at multitasking to do that!

    
• Be aware of how the wind is blowing your line above the water.  If it's putting a big bow in your line, drop your rod tip closer to the water's surface.

In the trophy area, I believe we have some of the nicest trout we've had up there in a long time.  They're just hard to catch right now.  I think the cold water has caused them not to eat a lot.  They're held up out of the current and biding their time and eating occasionally.  With the water running almost all the time, they don't have to move far to eat something that drifts by them.



I've been throwing jigs at them all week both in the trophy area and below and mixed results.  I'm still catching quite a few brown trout, especially when I'm using white jigs.  When I boat up into the trophy area (water running), I usually go all the way up to the cable below the dam and start there but lately I haven't because I just don't get bit till I'm almost down to the MDC boat ramp almost a mile below the dam.

Couple of thoughts - we know there's been shad come through the turbines this winter.  When that happens, the trout below the dam gorge themselves on the virtually free food and look for more.  They usually hit anything white for the next month hoping it's another shad drifting by but this year isn't the case at all.  It's not that I'm not catching fish on white jigs, it's the location I'm catching them in - and NOT catching them in.

I'm throwing white 1/8th ounce jigs when the water is running along the bluff banks, close to the bank, and catching trout from the MDC boat ramp down to the top of Trophy Run, then from Lookout Island down to the Narrows.  I'm doing fair fishing the bluff bank from Fall Creek Marina down to Trout Hollow and not as well fishing the bluff bank from the old Sun Valley Resort down to Cooper Creek.



BUT yesterday afternoon was the exception, and confirmed something I have believed all along.  I took Darrell Bentley, a friend of mine, out fishing yesterday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m..  The sun was out and very bright.  They were running 80 mw with the lake level at 705.7 feet.  The wind was calm.

We started at the cable.  I threw an 1/8th ounce white jig and Darrell tried his gold tinsel 1/16th ounce jig.  Darrell works at Reed's Fly Shop just outside Montauk State Park.  I've never tried any tinsel jig before and gold is for sure something I've never thought about using.  Darrell said he uses gold when it's sunny and silver when it's cloudy.  I had my doubts that our trout would find his gold tinsel jig appealing.  I was wrong.



Darrell put 2 rainbows in the boat before I got a bite on my white jig.  I was impressed.  Then I caught one, and then another.  We hadn't drifted past the island yet and already put 5 very nice rainbows to the net.  We continued to drift down and did well.  Made a couple of drifts before our time had ended, catching some quality rainbows up to 17 inches.

So they're still up there!  Again, it's being in the right place at the right time throwing the right lures, flies or bait at them!  And that includes gold tinsel jigs!

[mikeak]

wow,nice report thanks.

Mike

[perchjerker]

Nice report Phil. Thanks for all the good info. You are right about some folks who just have to keep all they can get to the net. I fish and catch a lot of trout but only about twice a year I keep some of the large ones for "Smokin". If they wouldn't keep so many the next trip might be as fun as the successful one they just had. As always keep those reports coming, they sure do make lunch time at work more enjoyable. Especialy if the old trout licker Jackson is in them. Best of Luck. The Old Perchjerker...

[troutenhausen]

Phil,

We were down this past weekend, Thurs-Sun, and the fishing was the slowest I can remember. We did catch some nice size trout, but it was difficult to put a pattern together or find a consistent method or location. I was convinced that the cold front put those pesky trout's jaws on lock down, and most people we spoke to had the same experience. The bridges were our most productive spots; thanks for the advice and the reports you post! Heading back in two weeks, praying for some fair weather!