2-Hour Trip Uplake, Midafternoon, May 31

[Phil Lilley]

Hadn't been out on Taney very much the last week so when Ryan came in to relieve me from dock duties, I jumped in a boat and ran uplake.

Bright sun and a little breeze, Water temp 54 degrees and clear.

Didn't see much chop of the water till I got up to the Narrows- didn't see any above it so I stopped there. Very few people out fishing this afternoon- a couple of guides is all above Fall Creek.

Steve Dickey has said that he's seeing a lot of scuds in rainbow's bellies when he cleans them- those caught just below Fall Creek. He thinks the scuds have made a comeback and the rainbows are gorging themselves on them. That's why we're seeing big, fat rainbows right now. He may be right!

I tied on a big scud, thinking about what Steve had said. A #12 peppy scud, gray with a little antron mixed in. I also tied on a #14 squirrel, natural scud below it about 18 inches. Used 6x fluorocarbon tippet to both. Pinched a palsa about 36 inches from the first scud and started fishing the gravel flat up off the channel above the Narrows.

Fish on. And so it was for the next 2 hours. Breeze would stop and the water would go slick- it didn't matter.

There were schools of rainbows up there, moving up and down the lake. I'd say the biggest school numbered 500 trout- it was huge! I thought they would be fresh stockers, and they might have been, but the rainbows I caught when they'd move through my flies were 13 inches plus and colored up good, no stockers. So I'm not sure...

Most of the rainbows I caught were older residents- been in the lake enough to have some color and a good size belly. It was only after I drifted below the Narrows I caught some real small rainbows.

I saw several big bodied rainbows too. I missed one I saw swimming circles around my flies. I set the hook too early, not waiting on the indicator to move. Then I hooked one that took off- super! A nice one!! He made 3 long runs, then a short one. He'd come up to the surface and just pull sideways so I picked up my camera and started taking rapid shots of him, hoping to get lucky and get a good one (see 2 pics). Yes, I messed around with them in photoshop.

Landed her, tried to get a picture of it- hard to do by myself. But did and let her go. I'd say 19 inches- not 20 though.

Finished up and headed in.

[mikeak]

Thanks for the report-exciting

[Travis Swift]

Can you idle a bass boat up past fall creek with no or little flow?

[Quillback]

That's some great fishing!

[Phil Lilley]

Can you idle a bass boat up past fall creek with no or little flow?

Sure. Just have to know where the channel is. Just let me know next time you're here and I'll run up there with you and show you.

[Travis Swift]

We are coming down tomorrow for the week and I need to stop in and refill the jig supply so I might holler at you. I've been up there alot in the last but not since the flood so I know the channel has changed some. We are staying with you the week of Thanksgiving as well so it would be handy to know for then also.

[Lancer09]

Phil, hope you don't mind, I had a long report typed out for the same day but I guess I didn't save it. I'll summarize here.

Saturday was good. Fish were fat. Ate scuds. Upper end is really stupid mossy and could use a flush of water. Got lowholed on more than one occasion. Left.