Suggestions for Truman Tailwater

[Bill Butts]

Randall~

Sorry I missed your post.

The tailwater below both Bagnell and Truman can be red hot when you time it right. As you know, that is big water when they are releasing strong flows.

It would seem to be potentially frustrating to try to stand among a bunch of other fishermen along the bank and attempt to cast and retrieve flies.

However, for either of those fisheries I would definitely suggest the use of a power boat or maybe a kayak to fish a little ways downstream away from the crowd.

Most of those fish like to hold just off the edge of a current line particularly in deep eddies. You will find concentrations of them more commonly in that type water even though you might find them in the faster current at times. I assure you that it isn't necessary to fish up close to the dam to find concentrations of fish. I would also explore the tributaries that feed into those large river basins, too.

From where you live, there are numerous fisheries with White Bass that are accessible in the spring thru fall, however for the two larger cousins the opportunities are fewer.

Missouri -- I will outline several for you below, but during the winter you have an excellent fishery at the Thomas Hill Res. warmwater discharge, which contains both Whites and Hybrids as well as all the usual lake species.

LOZ -- tributaries in the Spring, like the Gravois and Big and Little Niangua.

Truman -- virtually all the free-flowing tributaries in the spring, but particularly the Sac, Deepwater, Pomme De Terre and Osage arms.

Mark Twain -- again, the free-flowing tributaries in the spring.

Illinois -- there are several fisheries within your 2 hour driving preference.

The IL DNR has an excellent website with fairly good details about the individual fisheries. Some have just Whites, but some have all 3 species.

There are also a few that have power plants with warmwater discharges, that are good in the winter months. (eg-- Baldwin Lake)

Tackle.

Of all the places listed above, the largest tackle needed would be on the tailwaters of Bagnell and Truman, due to the river and fish size. For those, I would suggest an 8 wt. rod with a very fast tip and a quality reel with at least 150 yds. of 20# backing. A 15' type 3 sink-tip fly line is the most useful, with a short leader not exceeding 4'.

For most of the other places, a fast tip 7 wt. rod would be very adequate, and not too heavy for your White Bass fishing, though most folks prefer a 6 wt. for stream fishing in the Spring. A 7 is your best all-around rod, until you get into larger fish (over 10# Hybrids and Stripers) and windy conditions. If you want some specific brand and model info, let me know.

Flies are relatively simple. The Clouser Deep Minnow pattern is the most popular fly pattern, though several others are very good. The Clouser is very simple to tie, sinks quickly and presents an effective baitfish profile that is very effective.

For clear to slightly dingy water, I usually stick with colors like gray/white, blue/white, olive/cream; whereas, in murky to very murky water I use chartreuse/white or chartreuse/orange for additional visibility.

Sizes I will suggest by length, not hook size, since the size of the baitfish is the key. For Whites, a good size range is 2 - 3.5", for Hybrids and Stripers up to about 10# a good range is 3-5", and if you're looking for the big boys flies from 4 to 8" need to be carried.

All the above is certainly a broad-brush overview, so please let me know what further questions you have.

It's important, too, to have a source(s) for your tackle and fly materials that understand this specialty niche' of our sport, so I would be happy to suggest some good folks for that when the time comes, if you request.

Hope you find this helpful.

Bill

[Tightline]

Bill B, is the clouser minnow all that you would suggest for whites? I have fished for white bass all my life but never with a fly rod, this will be my first year.I have watched the fly fishers tear the whites up for about a 2 week period every year,seems they can do no wrong during that time.

What about micro jigs? Thanks TL

[jim murphy]

Randall,

I may not be the expert temperate bass fly fisherman that Bill Butts is , but I can tell you that you can catch whites and hybrids below Truman whether from the bank or from a boat. Unfortunately, the trees and crowds have grown from when I lived and started fishing there in the early 80's. When the crowds are small you can fish several good areas walking the bank, just watch your backcast and keep it up. Your best angling opportunity is from a boat, you can fish either side of the river, dependent on which and how many generators they are running. As well as, you can control your drift with a trolling motor.

Defintely an 8 to 10 weight is needed to fish there. The only time I use a floating line is when there is no water or less than 1 generator running, just watch out for the gar. The remainder of the time I use a sinking line, like the 24' DC series by Rio, and if you only went with one, I would recommend the 200 grain. Right now they are releasing about 16,000 cfs and I would use a 300 to 400 grain line.

Fly recommendations, take a lot. Hang ups are frequent, as you know from throwing sassy shad and other jighead type lures. Clouser minnows are a good start, but, when using the heavy sinking lines recommended, you can use flies with a little less weight, they have more action and more movement in the current. The flies I like are Whitlock's Sheep Shad and Waker Shad, Davy Wotton Shad, and a new fly I am creating and still modifying called the Twisted Sheep. The size of the fly can be anywhere from 2 to 6 inches in length. Fly colors, I primarily stick with 2, shad and chartreuse.

Good luck, I hope this information helps.

jim

[Bill Butts]

Tightlines~

Many fly fishers still use jig patterns for White Bass, but I carry some and rarely use them. Before the popularity of the Clouser Minnow caught on in this area, jigs were the most popular. You can still get lots of strikes on them, but my issue has been that it has always been difficult or impossible to find jig hooks in sizes 8 and 6 that are strong enough to consistently hook and hold large White Bass, which means Hybrids and Stripers are out of the question.

The inverted (up-riding hook like a jig), lead-eyed deep minnow style pattern is just a very consistent and durable producer for catching these fish. I tie them in many sizes (size 8 to 4/0...and 1.5" to 8" long), materials (some with traditional bucktail but more of them with synthetic material), densities (from very sparse neutral colors for clear water to very heavily dressed bright colors for very murky water), and colors, so you can tie a great selection of flies within the same basic style of fly. I do tie and carry other patterns and agree that Jim Murphy's suggestions are excellent, too.

When we started catching larger Stripers and Hybrids (in the 10#+ category), we began having a few issues with not getting a good hook set, even with the best hooks available. Subsequent research and discussion with some friends that have caught lots of large Stripers on flies indicated that down-riding hooks provide a better overall hookup ratio on fish with tough boney mouths.

Overall, you will find that the toughest aspect of catching these fish is finding them.

So, I keep the flies reasonably simple most of the time and concentrate on learning more about finding the fish by networking with as many folks as I can find that are knowledgable and willing to share info, in addition to my own experience.

Hope some of this is helpful.

Bill

[Randall]

Thanks for the replies and all the info.

Bill, i'll probably end up asking lots more questions, but for now, i'm gonna let what you've said sink in and tie some stuff up.

[Tightline]

Thanks Bill, will also probably be asking more questions.

[Randall]

Bill, i'm ready to look at the 7-9 weight rods, reels, and lines. what would you suggest for the stereotypical broke college kid?