Lilleys' Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report, Sept 11

[Phil Lilley]

Although we've had a big change in our air temperature this week, generation patterns on Lake Taneycomo are close to the same, so far.  Today's temperature shouldn't climb much over 70 degrees, and dam operators are scheduled to run 25 megawatts until about 2 p.m., increasing to up to 125 mw for a couple of hours.  This has been the pattern the last couple of weeks -- either water off or running 25 mw until early afternoon, then up to 3 or 4 units for 2-3 hours, then backing off, shutting down by dark.  Full generation is 220 mw.

There seem to be plenty of rainbows in the upper lake right now with the water temperature  holding at 48 -- both are good signs for catching trout.  This time of year we usually see a rise in water temperature, into the mid 50's, while the dissolved oxygen (DO) drops.  This is a seasonal occurrence.  Low water temperatures helps because cooler water holds oxygen better than warmer water but we will see our DO drop as we get into October and November.

When the water is running later in the afternoon, I've noticed anglers drifting out in front of the resort catching rainbows using Gulp Eggs, using a white egg and another color such as pink, orange or chartreuse.

I ventured out this morning while they were running 25 mw of water (about a half unit) and found rainbows in some areas but not all over.  We've been doing well fishing from Fall to Short Creek but not for me today.  I tried throwing jigs, and drifting night crawlers and a trout magnet under a float, but only garnered a couple of bites.  I did catch one rainbow and one small brown on a sculpin/orange, 3/32nd-ounce jig.



On the way back to the resort I tried a couple of areas and found a school of rainbows in a spot where we usually find them -- above the resort where the bluff (opposite the resort) ends and at the first dock.  I caught several nice rainbows on a pink/white Trout Magnet under a float seven-foot deep but missed a dozen strikes.  When I drifted about 200 yards past the dock, the bites stopped.

Guide Bill Babler reported catching some nice rainbows below Fall Creek yesterday on air-injected night crawlers (I must not have been holding my mouth right today!).  Night crawlers usually catch bigger fish here.  They also will catch more brown trout, so be careful to identify your catch and release browns under 20 inches.

Guide Steve Dickey is still catching mostly rainbows in the trophy area using a Miracle fly (egg fly on a jig head) under a float with a Zebra Midge or scud dropper.  When the water is running harder in the afternoon, he's drifting a #12 gray scud, an egg fly or a San Juan worm using a drift rig and doing very well.  He's drifting from Lookout down to Fall Creek.