Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report - Branson Mo 2/24/09

Generation is being dictated by lake levels. Table Rock Lake is still one foot above power pool and pretty much holding even with all the water that's leaving the lake through Table Rock Dam. I would think real soon the outflow will catch up with the inflow and we'll see Table Rock's level drop below 915 and we'll see a reprieve in water release on Lake Taneycomo. That's what alot of anglers have been hoping for.

Trout fishing on the lake has slowed compared to a few weeks ago. The white jig isn't working it's magic below the dam. As far as I can tell we've only had one short run of shad come through the turbines although shad are still dying in large numbers on the big lake above, as well as Bull Shoals below. We're hopeful for another run... a lengthy run of shad this spring. But for now we have to deal with generation and with rain in the forecast this week, that generation may continue.

Some of our guides found a bunch of trout in feeder creeks this week. Turkey and Roark Creeks were the best, especially Roark Creek above the second bridge. There's a hole there that normally holds trout in the winter and spring during high water. Actually trout can be anywhere and everywhere in Roark up to where the creek actually enters the lake level above the condos there. But they seem to like to hold at the second bridge. Jig and float, jig and float with a gulp power egg on a jig head and spoons were the best this past week. I did try the area tonight and found a few rainbows on white 1/32nd jig under a float 5 feet deep. They were a nice size.

There's been some trout around the Fish House, Bass Pro's float restaurant on the lake. Spoons and jig and float work there too. In the mouth of Turkey Creek are some rainbows... and up in the creek you'll find some bass too.

Drifting Gulp eggs still the number one, best way to catch a limit of rainbows in short fashion. The stretch above and below Monkey Island is holding alot of stocker rainbows. For larger rainbows, drift between Fall Creek and Short Creek.

Below the dam, our guides have been drifting a tandem rig tying an egg fly on a drift rig with a trailing #10 tan scud off the egg 18 inches. The gravel stretch from Lookout to Fall Creek, staying in the middle of the lake, is producing some nice, plump 11-1/2 inchers, just right for keeping.

Remember- your 2008 fishing licenses will expire on March 1, 2009.

Fishing Report on Lake Taneycomo in Branson 2/15/09

Rain, rain, rain... have we had enough of the wet stuff for a while? After last year's record floods here in the Ozarks, each rain event now has us all sitting alittle uneasy. By the looks of things, the Corp isn't going to let our lakes get much higher than power pool levels. All four White River Lakes jumped over power pool-

Beaver - 1121.8 ~ 1.4 feet over

Table Rock - 916.5 ~ 1.5 feet over

Bull Shoals - 567.6 ~ 3.6 feet over

Norfork - 555.7 ~ 3.7 feet over

It appears the plan is to get them down as quickly as possible thus lots of generation for the tailwaters. Beaver isn't running too much, Table Rock is generating all 4 units, Bull Shoals is running 7 units and Norfork 2 units during the day. We should expect the same till lake levels draw close to power pool.

For Taneycomo, that means heavy generation for at least 4 or 5 days. By next weekend, we should see a repreive to at least portions of the day seeing less than full tilt to no generation during the middle of the day. That's been the pattern at least. Just don't hold me to it. You never know with the Corp. In their behalf, they have a very hard job guessing what mother nature is going to throw at us.

I've been getting out pretty much everyday, boating to the dam and fishing the high water using, of course, white jigs. This isn't the only technique that's catching fish at the dam. Drifting a variety of flies is working too as well as small crank baits and spoons. Scuds, which is a freshwater shrimp pattern. When the water is down, we use smaller sizes but with this volumn of water, the size is bumped up. Scuds in #14's to #10's -- gray, olive and tan. San Juan worm in red, brown and tan. Egg flies in peach, yellow, white and fl. orange. Anything you use here has to be on the bottom - that's where the fish are holding. Sometimes they will come up for a floating shad but for the most part, they're on the bottom holding out of the current.

I believe there was a run of thread fin shad that flowed through the turbines at Table Rock dam late last week, a tasty meal for our trout below the dam. I don't think it was a big run but big enough to trigger a feeding frenzy, hitting anything white we threw at them. For the first part of this week, fishing was great. Lots of nice rainbows and a few browns all caught on white jigs. Now that they're running all 4 units, it's gotten alittle tougher simply because it's harder to get a jig down to the bottom and harder to feel the bite. Add cold wind and it really gets tough.

The frequency shad come through the dam is unknown. There's not a pattern or circumstance that we can watch and guess when this may happen. But there's a good chance we may see spirts of shad flow through for the next month or we may not see any more shad. We'll see.

Below Fall Creek, boaters are still doing well drifting Gulp eggs, night crawlers and minnows. But the best fishing seems to be down lake from Monkey Island down through the bridges. One good reason is the volumn of water we're seeing. That and this is the area where most of the rainbows are stocked. Bill Babler fished with a client the other day. They tried up below the dam for a couple of hours and did fair. It was when the wind was blowing uplake, making it hard for the client to feel the bites. So they boated down to the Landing and caught some real nice rainbows using a jig and float, setting the jig 5-6 feet deep. Bill likes using pink jigs... because the do work.

Rainbows are still running good size. We're still catching quite a few male rainbows. Not seeing many browns, even at the dam.

Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report - Branson 2/8/09

Can you believe this weather? What a reprieve from the bitter winter ice storm we all had just 2 weeks ago. Mild temperatures brought out the fisherpeople over the weekend, at least here on Lake Taneycomo. But our trout didn't mind cause they still bit pretty good.

Generation has been anyone's guess. Water was off for most of the week last week but lake levels rose an average of 2 feet as the ice melted so the Corp saw the need to run 2 units for most of the weekend. Anglers who were coming to wade below the dam Saturday and Sunday were not happy. They were confined to the outlets for thier fishing unless they gave in and rented a boat. Looks like this trend may continue this week with some water running most of the day until lake levels drop a bit (Table Rock).

I think our trout have seen some thread fin shad come through the dam from Table Rock Lake. I understand TR's water temp dipped below 40 degrees last week and that usually triggers a shad kill. Shad get sucked thru the turbines at Table Rock Dam and into Taneycomo and our trout absolutely LOVE them. Consequently, they will hit almost anything white and shiny. I prefer to throw white 1/8th oz jigs and I did this evening for a couple of hours before dark.

I boated to the dam about 4:30 pm today. The warm weather was way too inviting not to go out. Very little wind and I'd say less than 2 units running, I started with a white 1/8th oz jigs at the cable. Not much at first, broke off the white jig on the bottom so I grabbed my other rod which had a sculpin 1/8th oz jig on it and began throwing it. Caught a couple of rainbows on the first drift down... I noticed the water dropping so I didn't drift past rebar hole- boated back up to the cable to try that stretch again. I really like throwing a white jig simply because I believe I have a better chance to catch a brown trout than throwing any other color so I tied a white jig back on. Glad I did. The trout wouldn't leave it alone! Bites on every cast and fish-on on almost every cast.

As I drifted past rebar, I kept hitting the trolling motor to slow myself down. I wanted to fish as much as this water as I could. Pulled in behind the root wad that sits in the channel below rebar and casted out in the channel there for a while, catching 5 or 6 rainbows and one brown. I should have taken a pic or two of some of the trout- they were nice, 15 inch plus and colored up beautifully. But I couldn't stop fishing... just too good and I was hoping for a bigger fish to take the jig.

Drifted on down to the KOA (now Trophy Run Development) and kept hooking rainbows plus 2 more browns. Talked to Rich Looten before heading in for the night.

The water never did shut down like I thought it might. Kept running one unit which was perfect.

This weekend, the guys and gals were doing real well throwing "hardware", or spoons, spinners and crankbaits. "Lots of trolling going on", someone in our shop reported Saturday afternoon. That was part of our recommendation to our guests was to troll slowly with Cleos, Spin-a-Lures and F-5 or F-7 Rapalas. But don't limit yourself just to Rapalas... try whatever you have in your tackle box. Troll from Monkey Island down past Branson and even down around Rockaway Beach. There seems to be alot of trout in the lake right now... all over the place.

I reported last week that we had alot of really nice rainbows weighed in at our fishing tournament last Saturday. We hosted another fishing tournament this weekend but this time is was a private contest with a few more entries- 39 teams. Although I think the weather and water conditions were better for fishing (catching), the trout didn't agree. Better: water was running slightly, cloudy and some wind. Not as good: Sunny, no water and not much wind (the Saturday before). Everyone caught trout... still heavier trout than in years past but not as heavy as last Saturday's weights. Here's the top totals:

1- Bob Dwiggins and Bill Freise won with 8.94 pounds

2- Knopfel and Niemoeler with 8.34

3- Jerry Dudley and Colton Neel - 8.28

4- Gerry Dwiggins and Bruce Wucher - 8.24

5- Riffel and Whiteman - 8-12

6- Neel and Merget - 7.98

7- Greifzu and Johnston - 7.92

8- Greifzu and Regot - 7.64

9- Burckhardt and Biermann - 7.54

10- Wehnert and Wehnert - 7.46

Eight trout were weighed. No keeper brown trout were caught. Big rainbow was a 2.86 lb caught by the Riffel/Whiteman team. Five more teams weighed in over 7 pounds and 8 teams over 6 pounds.

Most of the trout were caught either trolling or casting lures although live bait was legal at this contest.

With the water running, Bill Beck reported drifted egg flies on the bottom from Lookout to Fall Creek and catching alot of nice rainbows today. Peach and yellow are the best colors. Just use a split shot to get it to the bottom. With only 2 units or less running, the current isn't that fast and it isn't that deep so you don't need alot of weight.

Same thing from Fall Creek down - drift a Gulp Power Egg on the bottom using a split shot. Use a white and another color on the same hook- pink, orange or yellow. Also try a night crawler or a minnow using the same rig. When the water stops, same rig, shoot some air into a night crawler and fish it tight-line on the bottom, casting it just off the channel on the flat side of the lake.

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Branson Trout Unlimited Chapter Meeting in Springfield Feb 10th

Our local Trout Unlimited Chapter is hosting an informative meeting 7 p.m. Feb 10 at the MDC Springfield Nature Center in south Springfield. Brian Sloss is a guide and outfitter on the Elevenpoint River. He knows the river like no other. OzarkAnglers is sponsoring the event.

If you're not familiar with the Elevenpoint, it's located in south central Missouri and runs through Mark Twain National Forest. It's fed by some of the largest springs in the state and has some incredible cold and warm water fishing. It's stocked with rainbow trout and also has a very good population of smallmouth bass.

Our next meeting will be at the Springfield Nature Center. At 7 p.m. Thursday, March 5, Bill Babler and friends will talk on bass and all other fishing on Table Rock Lake.

Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report 2/2/09

Guessing generation seems to be the biggest question we get here at Lilleys’ Landing Resort in Branson, Missouri. It’s hard but not impossible. We look at past patterns, like last week and this weekend. Last week’s temperatures were cold but not sub zero. Most of the time they were hovering around 30 degrees. Generation was moderate with a few down times but not many. The weekend- warm temps and no generation. This week- 50’s and 60’s starting Thursday through the weekend so I’d say very little generation and lots of down water. If there’s any generation it will be like from 7 am till 9 or 10 am and then a little in the evening.

Last week I reported seeing lots of nice rainbows. This past weekend, the Masters Trout Tournament proved the reports right on. We have never seen average weights at any trout tournament on Taneycomo like Saturday’s, never! Here’s the weights (8 trout):

Dwiggins/Wucher - 11.22 with a 4.12 lb rainbow (Gerry Dwiggins)

2. Lutz/Fitshenery - 10.92

3. Allen/Allen - 9.92

4. Canter/Canter - 9.40

Gregg/Peele - 9.04

Dudley/Neal - 8.96

Weldele/Cross - 8.70

Boswell/Kalkbrenner - 8.68

Burckhardt/Black - 8.64

Daniels/Hattfield - 8.54

R Dwiggins/Freise - 8.38

Backer/Godefroid - 7.90

Hittler/Dietl - 7.68

Beam/Topolsky - 7.62

Rasnick/Rasnick - 7.46

Slagle/Hunter - 7.16

Cartwright/Sullivan - 7.04

Hawkins/Hawkins - 7.04

Bracy/Bracy - 6.38

Steuck/Billings - 6.14

Ray/Fricke - 5.74

Fuhrman/Taylor - 5.56

Dressel/Kotomos - 5.12

Wheeler/Wheeler - 5.02

Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery must have stocked a bunch of nice trout here in the last few weeks downstream. Most of them are still down around the bridges but they are slowly making their way up.

Guys in the tournament caught a majority of their trout down. One team trolled crank baits and spoons (like cleos) all day between the highway 65 bridge and the business 65 bridge. Others threw an 1/8th oz jig straight, no float, and works the docks on either side of the lake around the bridges. But some of the good rainbows were caught further uplake - around Fall Creek and Short Creek and around the resorts like Cooper Creek.

In short, fishing was very good on Saturday.

Now today (Monday, 2/1/09), fishing was alittle slow. OK — real slow by my standards. Another blue bird day with little wind, but running water which I was looking forward to fishing. Two units this morning early (7:30 am) backing off to about 1.5 units by 9 am. Boated to the dam and started with, yes, an 1/8th oz white jig. Was catching trout on them a couple of weeks ago and heard there may be some shad coming through the dam so white jig was the logical choice. Water running perfect - white jigs - I’m excited! But the trout were not. Not a bite first drift, not until almost the boat ramp. Then I picked up a couple of rainbows before heading back up.

Second drift, nothing again till the Big Hole area where I picked up another rainbow, this time a nice rainbow (pic). Better drift but still not up to par. Drifted down to past Lookout thinking they might wake up and did fair. Nothing large but did see a couple of those big, dark males we’ve been talking about.

Back to the dam and tried a sculpin colored jig, then purple, then back to white. All they’d look at was a white jig. Just an off day. It happens.

If I were getting out and fishing below Fall Creek with bait, I’d for sure bring a minnow bucket and drift a minnow on the bottom right down the middle of the lake. I like a challenge and fishing minnows and night crawlers is a challenge — to me anyhow. May be I make it a challenge by the way I rig the baits. Using a minnow, I hook it through the lower lip and up in to and through the upper lip. The challenge is hooking the trout as he’s trying to suck the minnow off the hook. I hold my rod high while drifting so when the bite starts, I can let the rod down as the trout is tugging at the minnow. After letting the rod tip down most of the way, I set the hook. Same with the night crawler. I hook it through the collar and break the worm in half, letting the worm dangle off both sides of the hook. Letting the trout take the worm gives me a better chance at hooking it.

Power Gulp Eggs, you don’t have to let the trout have it at all. Set the hook immediately. Don’t wait a second.