Report

[Travis Swift]

Got there Wed afternoon and left Sunday morning.  Both boats averaged 25 to 50 fish a morning which is pretty slow for us.  Still had a blast and caught some good fish. Had a couple over 20 inches, lost a 6+ pounder and a bunch of 16 to 18 inchers. Also had about a dozen browns for the trip. Fish fought super hard for this time of year.  We caught them mainly sight fishing megaworms and on microjigs.  Big excitement the last day as we were floating along in some shallow water in the restricted zome and I looked down and saw what we call a "submarine"..... It was a 30+ pound brown trout.  Freak of nature big, I thought they were gone from there but I saw it with my own eyes twice. It was fixated on a dead bow on the bottom and kept coming back to it like it was a prize.  It finally spooked and a few seconds later my buddy in the other boat hooked a 16 inch brown and the giant submarine brown went for it and tboned the 16 incher twice trying to eat it as he was reeling it in!  It was exciting to say the least. Be back in a couple months, can't wait! On a side note we played golf down there for the first time on our man trip and we played Branson Hills. It was so amazing we played it twice. Cut in to our fishing time but what a beautiful course! 

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

Did you have any big glide baits with ya to throw at that brown

[Travis Swift]

10 hours ago, aarchdale@coresleep.com said:

Did you have any big glide baits with ya to throw at that brown

I took all my big bass stuff outta my boat for this trip and just had trout stuff trying to relax.  I immediately regretted that decision when I saw him.  I'm sure you could catch a big one on one but you would have to dedicate a lot of time to it.  If I ever get to move there I'm going to do that though! 

[Tom C]

Wow nice catch.  If I may ask, what were using to catch 25 fish a day, I catch about half that after fishing for 5 days fishing from a boat..  

 

[Seth]

1 hour ago, Tom C said:

Wow nice catch.  If I may ask, what were using to catch 25 fish a day, I catch about half that after fishing for 5 days fishing from a boat..  

 

What bait/lure are you using and where are you fishing? Sculping/ginger and black jigs are my go to. A pink power worm under a float will wreck stockers as well. The flats between Fall and Short Creek, just above Lilleys Landing and just below Cooper Creek access, head of Monkey Island and flat between Scotty's and the powerlines just below the 65 bridge are usually full of fish.

[Travis Swift]

1 hour ago, Tom C said:

Wow nice catch.  If I may ask, what were using to catch 25 fish a day, I catch about half that after fishing for 5 days fishing from a boat..  

 

95% of the time we were fishing in the restricted zone.  Sight fishing with Megaworms and Micro Jigs.  2 pound test line with a 6.5x tippet or straight 4 pound fluorocarbon is a must.  I would say we averaged 40 in a 4 hour morning and that is very slow for what we are used to.  Not being arrogant just being honest.  We come 5 or more times a year for the last 35 years though so we do have extensive experience.  Light line is a must and honestly the fluorocarbon and or tippet truly helps these days with the pressure these fish see.  What Seth posted is a great info as well, he knows exactly what he is doing and will back up my number estimate as well.  Our microjigs were sculpin/amber with an orange head or sculpin/wine with a green pumpkin head.  I make and tie them and tend to use slightly different colors to give the fish a different look than they usually see.  Megaworms anything bright, polarized glasses is a must as it's a 100% sight fishing deal on that.  

[JestersHK]

Nice catching buddy,  and I think there's enough of us here to vouch for your numbers.  I'm more excited you saw a tank up there... those are the ones that get my heartbeat going lol.   

Light line and glasses are a must of you're sight fishing... I switched to green glass especially just for Taney.  Give me just a little bit extra down in the column.  

Thanks for the report. 

[Travis Swift]

6 minutes ago, JestersHK said:

Nice catching buddy,  and I think there's enough of us here to vouch for your numbers.  I'm more excited you saw a tank up there... those are the ones that get my heartbeat going lol.   

Light line and glasses are a must of you're sight fishing... I switched to green glass especially just for Taney.  Give me just a little bit extra down in the column.  

Thanks for the report. 

Thanks DJ and yes sir I went to green Costa's several years back.  Make a big difference for sure.  I've seen quite a few of those submarines but this maybe was the biggest.  It was certainly my best look at one, usually its just a glance but we were within about 3 feet of him for a good long while a couple times.  I hardly even casted at him like a dummy as I was more excited just to see him and was pretty much in awe.  I figured the gig was up by that point anyway.  Gets the ol' heart beating knowing they are still in there!  

[Tom C]

 

4 hours ago, Seth said:

What bait/lure are you using and where are you fishing? Sculping/ginger and black jigs are my go to. A pink power worm under a float will wreck stockers as well. The flats between Fall and Short Creek, just above Lilleys Landing and just below Cooper Creek access, head of Monkey Island and flat between Scotty's and the powerlines just below the 65 bridge are usually full of fish.

I fish from the dam down to Lilley's where I stay.  Using Lilley's jigs (various olives, white, black), Signature Series Jerkbaits, and drift with eggs, scuds, and San Juan Worms.  

I'll be back down in November.  Looks like I need to get some of Lilley's new micro jigs, mop/mega worms, and a better pair of polarized sunglasses.  Thanks for the help!

[Seth]

52 minutes ago, Tom C said:

 

I fish from the dam down to Lilley's where I stay.  Using Lilley's jigs (various olives, white, black), Signature Series Jerkbaits, and drift with eggs, scuds, and San Juan Worms.  

I'll be back down in November.  Looks like I need to get some of Lilley's new micro jigs, mop/mega worms, and a better pair of polarized sunglasses.  Thanks for the help!

I've found that it's usually easier to catch numbers below the trophy area than above. It really just depends what you're going for. Hard to be the flat just above the narrows. It's chock full fish and great if you want to try your hand at sight fishing.