Bank Fishing in a few Weeks

[WestCentralFisher]

Going to be in Branson June 18-21. It will not necessarily be a fishing trip as such, but I do anticipate having a couple hours to fish each day. 

Long story short, any tips on places to fish without access to a boat would be helpful. To put this bluntly, will be there with the lady friend, who I would like to introduce to trout fishing, so on this particular case all I need is a place where one can sit on a bank and/or a dock and stand a fair chance of catching a few stockers. Anything beyond that is gravy.

I would prefer public/free, but I am not opposed to paying a few bucks for access if that's what it takes. Obviously I am watching the water conditions closely as well.

I trout fish a lot, but mostly on smaller spring fed streams, so big water like Taney is just a little foreign to me. So any help is massively appreciated.

[Ryan Miloshewski]

If they are running water heavily, your best bet is any of the docks/areas down at the Landing and Cooper Creek dock. If no water is running, Fall Creek dock or Lilleys' Landing dock would be good as well.

If you are using artificial lures and flies, below the dam at Shepherd of the Hills access is good with no flow or one unit running. Just make sure you read the regulations and be aware of changing water flows. It comes up fast.

Just watch the flows. As Phil and others have said here, the USACE is holding Table Rock and right now, which means there will likely be some sustained heavy flows in the near future. Next three days they are scheduled to run 2-3 units constantly. 

[Dutch]

We used to do a lot of bank fishing just above the Power Site dam down by Rock Away Beach.

[WestCentralFisher]

Well, the high water, and my extreme lack of knowing how to fish such big water gave me a good run for my money, but I did catch my first Taneycomo trout. It was quite beautiful, and there were a bunch of eagles. Also a lot of people for a Thursday morning lol

[snagged in outlet 3]

Cooper creek dock?

[WestCentralFisher]

15 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Cooper creek dock?

Yup!

[snagged in outlet 3]

1 hour ago, WestCentralFisher said:

Yup!

Next time try the Landing behind the rock groyn.  

[WestCentralFisher]

Thanks. May get there tomorrow. 

By my standards, the water was just so hard to read. I was also surprised that I didn't see really anything cruising in the shallower water. I finally figured out the slower pockets+lots and lots of weight is the ticket, but I never exactly started reeling them in hand over fist. 

One thing that happened that I am choosing to say was funny and not annoying. At one point, an older couple came in on their boat, and they were struggling a bit with the fishing and said it had been slow. We talked a little about fishing, just a normal friendly conversation.

At this point, someone who I'm guessing was a guide (his name and phone number were on the boat) came by the boat dock, and loudly interjected that he'd caught 40 and no, it wasn't slow.

Yes, sir, I am sure you are much more dialed in on catching Taneycomo trout than me, a guy who has never been here, doesn't have a boat, and knows nothing whatsoever about rivers bigger than the Niangua and was sneaking in a couple hours of fishing on an anniversary trip. You really showed me.

Thankfully I had the willpower to just ignore the guy.  

[WestCentralFisher]

Explored the lower part of the lake yesterday afternoon near Powersite/Forsyth. Very, very pretty down there, and so much less crowded and chaotic. This part of the lake is definitely more my cup of tea. Didn't catch or see any trout down there, but it was quite fun fishing for panfish and bass.

That evening, just took a drive to see the incredible scenery in that area and get a break from the Branson area crowds. Made it as far as Ava. We didn't stop and fish it, but I am definitely adding Beaver Creek to my list of Ozark streams to fish. It looked very inviting. On the contrary, upper Bull Shoals is so badly flooded. After being on Taneycomo which was high but appeared relatively "normal" I was blown away by what I saw. One of the routes we were going to drive on was very much under the lake. I hope everyone is as alright as they can be. 

[navery]

Forsyth might be flooded right now, but there are big fish there right now. Fished for an hour off the bank just for fun. Pic is 4th cast. If you have a boat and can find a launch, there are even bigger there currently.