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.
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