Lilleys' Taneycomo Fishing Report, June 30

[Phil Lilley]

 

We've had a pretty wild summer!  Flood gates, warm, fast water and lots of great fishing -- IF you can get out in a boat and drift.  That's the only problem with a tailwater fishery... you're at the mercy of generation and rain runoff.

 

Our generators are fixed.  All four units are online and the Corp is making good use of them.  All 4 units will run until Table Rock's level drops to around 917 feet which right now they have about a one and three-quarters to go.  But I think we'll see a backing off of the flow here in the next day or two, before it hits that magic mark.

 

Water temperature is a chilly 45 degrees and the clarity is very good, almost too good.  But with this much water running, clarity isn't a problem.  If they slow it down or stop the water, then you might think about going to 2-pound line, especially if the trout get fussy on you.

 

Night crawlers is king!  We went through more than a hundred dozen worms in 5 days this past week.  Out trout are liking them, drifting them on the bottom from our place (Lilleys' Landing) downstream to the bridges.  Stay in the middle of the lake!!!!  You will not get snagged as much if you do.

 

If you're throwing jigs, throw 1/8th ounce and work the INSIDE banks where the water is slower.  You can work the bluff or outside banks but it's tougher fishing.  Throw in the slack pockets and let the jig drop deep as you can.

 

I've been throwing dark colors while trying white and ginger and not having much luck.  Sculpin by itself or a mix of sculpin and ginger or peach is working.  Brown or orange head.

 

Since back from my trip to visit my son and his wife in Boston, I've fished the bank across from the mouth of Fall Creek a couple of times and had great success!  Here's a video, hopefully showing where and how I approach this stretch.

 

 

I did boat to the dam with a long-time resort guest, Brian Workman from the KC area, and he hooked and landing a real nice rainbow on a sculpin/orange jig.

 

 

We worked on down to Fall Creek and caught a few but didn't do as well as we've been doing.  Then we hit the bank across from Fall Creek and that's where we starting catching fish consistently.

 

Note: The top pictures were supplied by Captain Steve Dickey, one of our fishing guides.

[Travis Swift]

I would like to piggy back this report if Phil doesn't care. I found alot of fish Monday at the mouth of turkey creek but not back in it. Trout magnet under a float was best followed by a white 1/8th ounce jig. Also trying lower taney for the first time and I'm finding alot of nice fish from Roark down to Bee creek fishing a trout magnet as well as an 1/8th ounce jig. Today I was able to find some fish between the bridges this morning all on a 1/8th ounce jig as well. This afternoon I ran up to the cable and caught a few nice fiah on 1/8th ounce jigs. The slack water created by look out island is holding a ton of fish as well. On my 1/8th ounce jigs the sculpin and peach with an orange head is out fishing white 10 to 1 although the white trout magnet is my go to bait and color down stream in the slower water. Hope this helps, here the rest of the week so I'll report back in.

[Phil Lilley]

Thanks for that! I would like to go down and fish that water Roark down but wouldn't have a clue where to start.

[champ187xr6]

Nice reports men.

[Travis Swift]

Phil I'm clueless also this is the first time in almost 30 years of fishing taneycomo that I've fished that far. I'll give up se more info in saying that I'm catching them on the resorts/kanaku camp side so far. I couldn't get anything going on the other side. I'm suprise by the numbers and size though both have been adequate to me. Last evening I caught about 20 to 25 in the last hour of light up to about 16 inches on the trout magnet. Took the family on a joy ride to Rockaway beach tonight. I had never been there. I found where the gold mine is located so i may try it tomorrow. Pretty interesting on the way back we found a spoonbill of nearly 40 pounds floating dead. I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

[Gatorjet]

It seems to me that the trput are just "where they are" a lot of times. Of course there are certain places that are better than others, but then again even those honey holes don't produce while other places do.

Across from Kanakuk produced a lot better for us than the other side. Or right down the middle. The Landing, along the seawall from the fish house to the paddlewheel produced well, then next trip, nothing. But the middle of the lake around the cruise boat docks was great. The mouth of Turkey creek, great one day. Next trip about a month later, nothing. But the middle of the lake just below the no wake bouys at Scotty's was great. The odd thing, weather, temps, and flow were all very similar.

Even a change in lure type with very little change in presentation, and color can make a difference.

Pre fishing for a tournament I caught more fish on a pink/white Trout Magnet under a float than my son caught on a straight pink 1/80 oz jig under a float. But the next day I didn't catch a single fish. Not even a take on the Magnet for the first hour and a half. But he caught a half dozen on the pink jig fished exactly the same. I switched to the jig, and added my share to our weigh in total.

So I guess what I'm saying is have your places, and techniques, but don't try to key on just one if you aren't catching fish. And don't count out trying something, or some place new. We did quite well in a tournament once by fishing somewhere we would not have tried except it was a very windy day, and we were tired of fighting the wind, and found a place much calmer.

[Phil Lilley]

Years ago we were fishing Sinko's on the west side of the lake across from Lakeshore - for bass - and catching a few. Caught a 22 inch brown... it ate the worm so deep it bled out- nothing we could have done. It happens.

It's so far down there for me and I have to pick and choose my times out. Then there's the FOG! Mid day trips usually don't produce unless it's cloudy, windy or both.

[JestersHK]

Thanks for the reports guys! Nice fish. Love seeing those Browns.

[Travis Swift]

Woke up this morning to no fog. So I made the 19 minute run to the dam. First cast I caught an 18 inch rainbow right at the cable on a white jig. Caught several more on another drift with a sculpin/peach. Wind made it terrible hard to feel the bites. Decided to take a page out of Phils book of tricks and explore for some slack water. My new Tracker will drift shallow so I went up the slough by pointe royale. Bingo...quality rainbows and tons of them. You can see them and they can see you. You have to be in stealth mode almost like hunting. Long casts, light line and being super quiet I was able to catch some really beautiful 18 inch bows that were fat and full of color. Get a few fish and the gig is up though. Went back to the eddie behind look out and caught several really quality fish there as well. Cloud cover really helped this morning and the chop on the water helped for the back water fish to not be as spooky. Stopped by lilleys on my run back down river to stock back up on scuplin/peach and shoot the breeze with Phil....no Phil on the dock but got my jigs atleast they have run so much water of late that it's not rocket science, find some slack water out of the current and they are there.

[Phil Lilley]

Yea my wife is coming home today from a 2 week tour with her mom and 2 sisters so I'm - you guessed it - cleaning house and running errands. Busy day. No fishing... but I think I will run up right now and drift the near bank.

Fog's out...

I should be around tomorrow for most of the day.