Quick Taneycomo Report

[Phil Lilley]

Wanted to get a quick report in before the weekend.

Trout fishing has been very good the last few days.  It seems like MDC has stocked a ton of rainbows- and I mean a ton this week.  But I'm not real sure that's the case.  Yes, I do think they stocked but generation has slowed a lot and has made it easier to get to the fish and I think that plays a big part in "catchability".  Let me explain my reasoning.

When their running 4 units full, the volume and flow of water through our lake makes it harder for most anglers to present a lure, a fly or bait to fish "where they live".  Even for us season anglers, catching slows to a snail pace it seems.  But as soon as the flow relents, the "catching" picks up because... there's more fish?  Or is it because lake conditions are more favorable to "catching".  I think the latter.

Flows are less, water isn't as deep, trout seem to be feeding on midges where we can see them now and target them. 

As for catching, it's been good this week.  There are a lot of rainbows from Monkey Island down through the Branson Landing, especially in the Landing area.  Bill Babler reported catching them on a dry fly while actively feeding on the surface the other day.  He said it didn't matter what the fly was as long as it was about a size #14 with a Zebra Midge dropped below it about a foot.  Tony Weldele said his clients caught rainbows on a sculpin jig around the Fish House up to Scotty's.

So if these fish are actively feeding as reported on the surface, a rooster tail or a spoon should work just as well as jigs and flies.

We're still seeing fish caught on white jigs from Lilleys' Landing up to the dam.  White is the color... just like sculpin was the color for most of the winter up to now.  With the lower flow, I doubt if we'll see many shad come through the turbines but they are still keying in on anything white.

Looks like this weekend is going to be pretty crazy as far as boat traffic... I've heard of 2 big groups of anglers staying down lake from us having tournaments this Saturday, as well as our tournament which should have up to 50 boats.  One nice thing is almost all of our teams will be fishing below Fall Creek so the trophy area should be fairly sane.

Be careful out there!

[Jeff Polys]

How will that boat pressure affect the fish? We have always been weary about coming down weeks after big tournaments. Do trout have a pretty short memories?  It seems more tournament anglers are catch and release. 

With Beaver above power pool and table rock slightly above, I find the generation pattern interesting. As you said on one cast, Taneycomo is in a interesting situation. They could release more, but they can only do what Bull Shoals can handle. A limited generation is the best bet, I would assume this to to continue for a few weeks. At least until Bulls Shoals can properly discharge and get back to power pool. 

Thank you for all of the tips. I am hoping watching one cast everyday for a month gives me the competitive advantage over my buddies. At least I will be able to talk the talk.