Lilley's Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report, August 31

[Travis Swift]

33 minutes ago, Ryan Miloshewski said:

I have noticed the jerkbait bite this year is very hit or miss. Wonder if they're getting used to the constant barrage? I noticed I got a lot more bites just letting the lure float with the current. Make two or three jerks and just let it ride (instead of the ferocious jerking usually done). 

the day in april that we caught like 22 browns in one day on jerkbaits they were biting it on the pause like you would bass fish in the winter.  Let it set for like 5 seconds between jerks and that's when they would hit it.  I figured it was cause the gates had been open and they had been seeing dead shad but maybe not?  I know it was the first time that they wanted it that way instead of the constant jerks.  You gotta experiment for sure to see what they want.  And they wanted a specific color that day also, that made a big big difference as well. 

[Seth]

11 minutes ago, Devan S. said:

I'd be the first to admit we didn't/don't know what we were doing. We basically drifted more or less dead center and cast upstream to either side bank and worked them back to the boat. Trying to avoid letting the lure get way behind the boat and having to work against the current.We tried a couple drifts closer to the bluff side banks but really felt like with the short casts we weren't covering much water so we backed off and threw longer casts. 

If you're after browns, it's usually best to be in tighter to cover. Rainbows can be anywhere. I've caught some nice rainbows all the way to Lilley's on jerkbaits out in the middle of the river when it has been overcast and the fish were up closer to the surface. Great way to cover lots of water since you can fish a jerkbait fast. Personally, I prefer to fish the shallow side more so than the bluff side between Fall Creek and on down just below Short Creek. The exception is when they are moving a BUNCH of water. This will push the fish up tight to the banks in the eddies after the water has been on for a bit. That's when I've had my best luck fishing the bluff side. With that said, my buddy caught a 20" brown in the early afternoon on a 70 degree and sunny day with zero generation a few years ago during our first Masters tournament about 6" off the bank so you really just never know.

[Smallie Seeker]

3 hours ago, Seth said:

With that said, my buddy caught a 20" brown in the early afternoon on a 70 degree and sunny day with zero generation a few years ago during our first Masters tournament about 6" off the bank so you really just never know.

Exactly how my 20" Taney brown was caught last year. Mid-day, sunny, no generation and cast a foot off the bluff wall. 

[JestersHK]

Sadly I have not been able to fish Taney this year as much as I usually do with family and work stuff just burying me...  I will say the jerk bite at night follows allot of what others have said.  It's been very hit or miss.  They are either on fire or we are slinging all night for very little returns. 

Fishing jerks in the daytime I really only fish them on over cast crappy weather days, I will say you need to slow it down compared to how you fish them for bass.  Let them sit in the current and work the eddy lines.  As you're bringing them through the current let them sit and work when they hit the faster seams.  This is the most likely area I get bites.

As Seth stated you gotta get up in there too.  Allot of times you'll pull followers right off the banks, and if you do hook a smaller bow be ready to hang on as I think if I'd left that bow in the water for just a few more seconds I'd of had my hands full with a big brownie. 

Last thing is just a huge endorsement to @duckydoty and what he's done with his jerkbaits.  Book a trip with him and get your hands on some.  I've caught a bunch of fish on rapallas and others, but the 606 pattern he paints is money.  It not only catches more fish, but it's caught some big browns including our big one from last December.  It's a true matching of the hatch so to speak, and in my experience there's no competition out there.  I think the smaller size and the aggressive wobble set it apart from just about anything else on Taney.  Even a 606 not painted by Duane has been a great fall back lure so much so that I rarely will tie on a rapalla anymore...

[JestersHK]

23 minutes ago, Smallie Seeker said:

Exactly how my 20" Taney brown was caught last year. 

On Jerkbaits only?  Not sure.  Duanes got some for sure.  I know I have at least one brownie at 24in but that one came on a jig.  Seth's tourney partner had a 21in but also on jig.  I think I have 1 or 2 rainbows this year on the jerkbait that were over 20, but will have to go back and look to verify... @Travis Swift had a few browns over 20 I believe and he had an awesome day during the CAM tourney where he lit them up with the jerkbaits!

[Smallie Seeker]

9 minutes ago, JestersHK said:

On Jerkbaits only?  

No 3/32 sculpin jig under a float. 

[Smallie Seeker]

I need to contact Duane and see what weekends he has open between Nov. and Feb. 

[JestersHK]

1 hour ago, Smallie Seeker said:

No 3/32 sculpin jig under a float. 

This one was on a solid grey 3/32 during the CAM tourney.

[Devan S.]

On Taney is the suspension or even depth of a jerkbait critical?

It seemed even with the 110 my lure was only maybe running 3-4 feet and due to the current there was no way it was actually suspending. All of my jerkbaits are bright colors. Maybe I need more dark colors(similar to the sculpin colors) that would be a little more realistic? 

Seems like unless theres shad present the darker colors tend to be the direction the big fish go. 

[JestersHK]

2 hours ago, Devan S. said:

On Taney is the suspension or even depth of a jerkbait critical?

It seemed even with the 110 my lure was only maybe running 3-4 feet and due to the current there was no way it was actually suspending. All of my jerkbaits are bright colors. Maybe I need more dark colors(similar to the sculpin colors) that would be a little more realistic? 

Seems like unless theres shad present the darker colors tend to be the direction the big fish go. 

The pearlescent white J8 2 hook rapalla was always a go to if they had gates open and shad coming through.  I mostly throw jerks at night so I'm not a good judge of suspending type baits or even the larger baits.  I rarely throw a 3 hook jerk bait sticking to the smaller ones and fishing them allot slower at night versus during the day where you would fish them more aggressively.

For me anyways when I fished an aggressive retrieve at night we caught allot of fish which were not trout. The walleye, smallies, and white bass were generally on the ends of my line after speeding up the retrieve.

As for color, the darker sculpin and trout patterns work best on trout.  Super shiny exotic bright colors being the walleye to the table.  Again just my sample size and b my experience if you are getting out there in the dark.  The other guys who fish more from a boat and during the day can hopefully chime in.