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Phil Lilley
Phil Lilley

By Phil Lilley •

Lilley's Lake Taneycomo fishing report, October 6

by Blake Wilson

Fall has officially descended on the Ozarks area after September stayed unseasonably warm.  A recent front has brought the desirable fall temperatures with a two-week forecast of lows at night in the 40s. We should expect to see the leaves make their beautiful color transition in the middle of October. 

Fishing for the month of September was still on par with August.  There were still days where the trout just did not want to eat, accompanied by days when they ate well.

Water temperature is still holding at 51 to 52 degrees early morning, rising to 54 or so by the end of the day.  Oxygen levels are being well-maintained, with an average of four parts per million most of the time.  There have been some nights that the records show lower than that, but for the most part, they were good for this time of the year.

While there were not quite as many trophy catch & release certificates issued in September, that did not stop some very impressive browns from making the trophy board. Featured in photos here are two 30-plus browns caught in one night of fishing with Leonard Keeney and his sculpin patterns. Since the browns have moved up for their annual mating pattern, many big ones are being spotted and caught both day and night wading below the dam.

Capt. Brett Rader of Chartered Waters Guide Service reported that he has switched from his small mini-jigs to fishing a double scud rig in the shallow water of the trophy area in the last week or two.

Nightcrawlers are still reigning supreme in the bait world here on Lake Taneycomo.  I have also had success recently adding yellow PowerBait with nightcrawlers. Others, too, have reported success with just the yellow PowerBait.

The 1/32-ounce Lilleys jig in black combinations and sculpin has continued to catch fish consistently, day and night.  Capt. Steve Dickey and other guides also indicate that first thing in the morning the bite is still the best.

Keeney’s sculpin streamers have been working round the clock, producing both numbers and quality fish below the dam when the water is off. The late evening and night bites have been good on jerkbaits and 1/32-ounce jigs over the last few weeks, with the jigs surpassing at night; however, both have been successful.

As the temperatures drop, we should expect to see less water generation in the afternoons — and potentially days in a row with no generation at all.

Please don’t forget good fish handling techniques this time of year!  Keep your fish in the water following their fight so they have ample time to recover before you release them.

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Phil Lilley
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I would add a couple of things.  With the weather shift we should see more wind.  I don't think I've ever seen a full month of September with virtually no wind except for a storm.  Wind really helps the daytime bite, no matter what you're using to catch trout.

A chop on the surface enhances the jig-and-float bite, the jig bite in general, stripping streamers, soft hackles and cracklebacks and throwing jerk baits.  It doesn't hurt the dry fly bite either.

Black is still the best color for jigs, under a float or thrown straight.

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trythisonemv
30 minutes ago, Phil Lilley said:

I would add a couple of things.  With the weather shift we should see more wind.  I don't think I've ever seen a full month of September with virtually no wind except for a storm.  Wind really helps the daytime bite, no matter what you're using to catch trout.

A chop on the surface enhances the jig-and-float bite, the jig bite in general, stripping streamers, soft hackles and cracklebacks and throwing jerk baits.  It doesn't hurt the dry fly bite either.

Black is still the best color for jigs, under a float or thrown straight.

I slayed the browns up in trophy area Thursday phil. Giants ... including a 26 inch two 25 in and total of 10 browns over 3 lbs and lost a couple mega giants.  One would've 10 to 12 lbs. 

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Phil Lilley
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I haven't set foot wading below the dam this year.  Not sure why except I don't want to join the crowds.  I need to go up there and at least see how the lake has changed.  It looks like the flow at Rebar has changed since last year.  It splits up going the old channel as well as over the middle bar.

How did you fish and where?

Tim Homesley has been sending me pics for 2 weeks of the fish he's catching.  He starts at outlet 1 and sight fishes down to outlet 2.  I think he uses various types of mega worms.  That would be fun.

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trythisonemv
2 minutes ago, Phil Lilley said:

I haven't set foot wading below the dam this year.  Not sure why except I don't want to join the crowds.  I need to go up there and at least see how the lake has changed.  It looks like the flow at Rebar has changed since last year.  It splits up going the old channel as well as over the middle bar.

How did you fish and where?

Tim Homesley has been sending me pics for 2 weeks of the fish he's catching.  He starts at outlet 1 and sight fishes down to outlet 2.  I think he uses various types of mega worms.  That would be fun.

I sight fished scuds on 6 x Tippett size 16 and 14 gray and tan.  Mostly around outlet 2 as that is where the most big browns were congregated.  I caught a few before sun up below three but didn't see any biggies on either side of the split. The ultra low flow made it easy to see fish and the rain masked the cast as well as the larger Tippett. Scud unweighted with tiny split shot six inches above. Up stream cast on tight line keeping contact with bottom was key. Good 36 inches in front of fish on the cast . I just picked out fish and tried my best to keep it in their lane. Saw some monsters and caught some really nice fish. 

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trythisonemv
1 hour ago, laker67 said:

Rick must have been my good luck charm.  Caught several of these, but the only big ones were got-aways.

Sandy

 

TaneyOctober2023.thumb.jpg.a5aea5f6ba1393365cea8256addb87f6.jpg

You landed some really nice rainbows and that one nice brown that flipped and flapped and escaped before I got turned around to take a picture. Also didnt help that PETA was there foul hooking all the browns and scaring them away while protesting your photo op 😂 

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