Haven't written a fishing report in almost a month. May be a record... not a good one I guess. Between traveling and home projects, I've only just gotten out on the lake the last couple of evenings.
This was quite a July, wasn't it? Sure love this global cooling. Fish do too. Generation has been different almost everyday. We check the charts every afternoon to see what they will do the next day - alot of our guests come in and check. It's been pretty accurate. Most mornings it's off and running in the afternoon - up to 4 units. I've heard the same thing everyone has heard about Beaver Lake being dropped resulting in more generation here but we haven't seen it yet. Table Rock is in good shape, not high at all, so we'll see what happens here in the next couple of weeks.
Fly fishing below the dam has been fair to good- depends on the day and time of day. Still catching rainbows on dries - beetles and ants, some midges. With all the rain we're having, san juan worms in brown and tan are working good in the swifter moving water and with the water running. Scuds in #18's and #20's in tan, olive and brown have been good but have to use 7x tippet to do any good, especially in sunny weather.
From a boat, they're using either micro jigs or small 1/125th oz jigs under a float when the water is off both above Fall Creek and below. No wind, the bite has been REAL light, barely moving the float so you really have to pay attention. And again, 2 lb line a must. Change colors if you're not getting bit. Vince reported NOT catching fish on olive but changed to sculpin and did good. There's not much difference in those colors... but it made a difference for Vince. If they stop hitting one color, don't keep fishing it, change. Change depths too.
Evenings are great to get out on Lake Taneycomo. Very little boat traffic and it's been great out there, very mild and little fog. The water starts to drop out about 7 pm. I've been fishing from Lookout to Fall Creek throwing 3/32nd oz jigs and working the middle to channel side of the lake. I tried a white jig and they ran from it. Best color has been a combo sculpin/ginger jig. There seems to be pockets or schools of trout holding here and there, not spread out throughout the area. I'd go for several hundred yards without a bite then get 3 or 4 trout in a row. The size of the rainbows I'm catching are still very good. Had one pushing 19 inches the other day. All are fighting real well. Now I have gone to using 2 lb line. I usually do in the fall months when the water gets gin clear and the trout get alittle fussy about the line size. I've been telling anglers who are fishing below the dam the same thing - go to 7x flourocarbon and you'll get bit more often. I did see some fish taking dries off the surface as the water dropped out last evening along the bluff bank. I didn't have my fly rod or I would have tossed a beetle or elk hair at them. It's getting time for dry fly fishing to get REAL hot. Fun times!
Below Fall Creek, Bill's been catching some REAL nice rainbows on night crawlers, water running or not. Anchor in the middle of the lake and throw to the channel when the water is not running. Inject the worm with air using a blow bottle. Four pound line is ok but 2 pound will catch you more fish. Also, I'd think you'd do well working 1/8th oz jigs along the bluff bank while the water is running. If these are rainbows that have come out of the trophy area, they should take a jig well. Dark earth colors the best- brown, sculpin, olive and combinations work best right now. Of course, jig and float will work in this area too. Best when there's a chop on the water but if it's slick, pay close attention to the float because they might not move it much on the bite. Water off, they've been catching rainbow on gulp power bait, anchoring on the shallow side and throwing to the middle from Short Creek up to Fall Creek. Anchor off the channel and you won't have boats running over you all day.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
1st Annual Guns and Hoses Fishing Tournament
What: A fishing tournament on Lake Taneycomo in Branson, Missouri sponsored by Lilleys' Landing Resort and Marina
Why: To raise money for the Branson Fire and Police auxiliary funds to help support our community. Where: Lilleys’ Landing Resort & Marina, 367 River Lane, Branson, MO A free lunch will be provided after the weigh-in!When: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, August 29th, 2009 Enter your two-man team by emailing Megan@lilleyslanding.com for an entry form. Then drop off or mail in your completed copy of the entry form and your $75 entry fee to Branson Fire and Rescue attn: Kory Klein, 110 Crosby Street, Branson, MO 65616 Prizes will be awarded for 1st through 3rd places and big fish. Each boat that enters will get a raffle ticket, and additional raffle tickets can be purchased for $5. If you register before the tournament day, you also get an extra raffle ticket! 50% off boat rentals will be provided by Lilleys’ Landing for tournament teams.
To reserve a boat rental call 417-334-6380. If you need any assistance contact Kory Klein (417) 294-3319
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report 6/28/09 - Branson, MO
Another glorious week has passed here on Lake Taneycomo. It's been hot! Temperatures have hovered close to 100 each day but I can honestly say the trout fishing has been equally hot as well.
Yes, there's a reason I'm bringing it up. Yesterday I had a group of boys out fishing above Short Creek. There were three jon boats with an adult and 3 boys, most of them under the age of 10, in each boat. We were anchored well off the channel, allowing boats plenty of room to boat by. There were other boats up and down the lake pretty much doing the same thing. Most boats heading up and down the lake were safe boaters, moving through at slow speeds as to not to throw big wakes at us. But there was one boat that didn't slow down and he didn't keep a safe distance from our first boat in line. He buzzed by within 20 feet of our boat. He even had a small boy with him. I yelled to slow down and I got a hand jester like, "what's the big deal"? Put the shoes on the other foot- had someone did that to him, he'd be ticked. Bottom line, he put those boys in danger by his boating practice and the awful thing about it he knew no different.
Fishing... sorry for the soap box episode.
Oh yea- did I mention generation? The only generation we've seen has been from about 2-3 pm till dark, running up the lake about 6 feet or 3-4 units and then dropping out about the time they get it up and rolling. Up slow and then back down slow. Interesting pattern. Now this coming week, we might see a bit of a change. With temperature dropping to the upper 80's and low 90's, we may see days with no generation at all.
Lincoln Hunt, a good friend of ours from Dallas, is up for a visit. He likes to wet wade below the dam (no waders, saddles or just wading boats). He's been up there almost everyday this week hammering the rainbows. He's using mainly #20 black zebra midges under a dry fly indicator about 12 inches deep. I got up there one day this past week and caught a nice 18 inch rainbow on a #16 olive elk hair caddis but it was the only taker on the caddis. The best area, reported Lincoln, was below Rebar.
I've also heard using small scuds - #20's - have been working well in the Rebar Hole but you got to get there early - 6 am - to get a good spot. If you get there too late, you might be referred to as a slob for not getting out of bed before dawn. Sorry- inside joke.
Get out in a boat and run above Fall Creek into the trophy area for some great jig and float action. Best jig is still the tan 1/256th oz micro jig although that little brown jig Vince tied for me has done well too. It's a jig he tied himself but he got the jigs from an online store - http://heartlandflygear.com. I ordered and received some of the jig heads and they look marvelous! I've already tried a few, using just a bit of marabou. I think that's the key to these small jigs... you can use too much and these jigs lose their effectiveness. Heartland Fly Gear has an incredible inventory of all sizes of jig heads... plus he's a member of our forum to boot. Check it out.
Again, I'm tying on 2-3 feet of 2 lb Vanish as a tippet. Water is clear and most mornings it's real still. Need that smaller line to attract more bites! And oh yes... the talk is you have to use 7x fluorocarbon below the dam no matter what wet fly you're using. 6x won't cut it. Although I did catch my nice rainbow on 6x but that was a dry. When using a dry, you have to match the size of fly to the size of tippet or you're going to have a twisted mess.
If you catch the water running, don't be scared to throw a medium crank bait like a rapala F-5 or F-7 against the bluff banks below Fall Creek.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report 6/22/09 - Branson, MO
Not much change in the fishing, catching and fishing conditions on Lake Taneycomo this week. Generation, if anything, has lessened in the past few days. Water has been off most mornings and staying off into the afternoon. They've been bumping the flow up to 2-3 units by 4 or 5 pm but dropping it in late evening and off by dark. This is a surprise to me really... unseasonable hot temperatures I would think force the Corp to run lots of water to meet an increase of power demand but they evidently have other sources of power they are drawing on, ie. coal burning plants. We'll see if this generation pattern continues.
It seems like MDC is keeping ahead of anglers demands for trout. Fish keep being caught and kept and nice ones too. We've seen lots of nice stringers come in to the dock this past week, most caught below Fall Creek on Gulp Eggs and worms. We've been boating up past Fall Creek and fishing the trophy area where we're finding an abundance of rainbows to catch. And the number of rainbows below the dam is very good too. We'll see if these numbers hold through the hottest part of the summer- July and August.
Above Fall Creek, we're still catching big numbers of trout, mainly rainbows, on small jigs under a float. Micros in the 1/25th size in tan or olive under an indicator 3-4 feet deep- best! I learned from Bill Babler to keep a spool of #2 lb Vanish line in my bag. I use 4 lb XL Trilene green line on my spin reels but when I'm using this jig and float method and especially using small micro jigs, I find it's best to add 2-3 feet of #2 lb Vanish to the end of the 4 lb. I get more strikes adding the tippet to the line. I use a triple surgeon’s knot to connect the lines. The link points to a double knot- I just add another loop-through for the triple knot.
My fishing buddy Vince and I went fishing the other evening. He had these small jigs, about the size of a micro jig, but these were lead-ball head and he tied just a bit of marabou onto the body. We used brown jigs and man the rainbows really loved them. We sat in the Narrows about 3/4 miles above Fall Creek and caught trout after trout for over an hour before dark. He said a friend of his found them on the internet... I'm looking for them now!
Same guys fishing last week caught some great rainbows while the water was running on small crank baits thrown against the bluff bank below Fall Creek. We usually throw Rapalas F-5's or F-7's and use several colors including black/silver, black/gold and rainbow.
Power bait colors... well that has varied quite a bit this week. Had some guys come in and say they really caught them good off the Cooper Creek Public Dock on yellow nuggets. Most anglers are using a combination of white and pink Gulp Egg off our docks and up near Short Creek. I've seen some people trolling small crank baits, rooster tails and jigs and doing pretty good. And been selling alot of spoons- Colorado gold and rainbow styles.
Fly fishing below the dam has stayed very good over the past week. Down water has given waders access to the upper end most days which is nice. Grey scuds #16 and #18, san juan worm, cracklebacks have been hot I'm told and thread midge in black and tan #20 and #22. Zebra midge under an indicator 12 inches fished from the Big Hole area down to the boat ramp- excellent- especially when rainbows are actively feeding on midges in the film. Also soft hackles in #18's reds, blacks and yellow stripped quickly if there's a chop on the water.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Large Rainbow Caught 6/2/09 - Branson, MO
John Boudreaux caught this 20 inch and 5 almost 6 lb rainbow trout on a white jig upstream from Lilleys' Landing on Lake Taneycomo in Branson, Missouri!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report 6/1/09 - Branson, MO
I saw something yesterday that I haven't seen in a number of years, may be ever on our lake. There was no generation, water was still. No wind and high, bright sun. A glassy lake surface allowed me to see everything in the water at some distance. I was guiding a couple from the St Louis area, fishing the trophy area above Fall Creek. The lake up there is fairly shallow and with the gin clear water, we could see into the water very easily. What we saw were schools of rainbows, large and small. But as we caught what we thought were "small stockers", upon netting these trout we realized they were large trout, most over 15 inches and very heavy. So what were the "large" trout we were seeing? Very large rainbows.
For over a year we've seen heavy generation day after day after day. For years I have said generation creates a healthy tailwater -- more food is produced for fish and that is evident right not by the condition of our trout. They are fat and colorful. And not just up in the trophy area. We've seen limits of rainbows brought to the dock by anglers who are fishing below Fall Creek, catching most of the nicer rainbows on night crawlers.
So how are we catching some of these trophies? Up in the trophy area, with these blue bird days of high sun and little wind, throwing a 3/32nd oz jig straight and hopping it sharply just off the bottom is how we found to catch them yesterday. We were using a sculpin/ginger or sulpin/peach jig yesterday. By using a jig with a little light color in the jig, we could see the jig in the water as we worked it back to the boat. We could also see the rainbows chasing and nipping at the jig, sometimes over and over and over but not really taking the jig in its mouth. But if more than one rainbows was pursuing the jig, the competition factor would cause them to be more aggressive and one would take the jig more often than coming up with no bite at all. It was fun to watch.
We've been trying to start our morning trips at 6 am and really you can get out even earlier than 6 but for most folks, 6 am is early enough. We're trying to get out before the sun gets up and over the water. Fishing really drops off when it gets bright out, especially with little or no wind. Now if the wind picks up and we get a chop on the water, the fish come alive. We saw this again yesterday. Bill Babler had 3 fly fishing clients. They were fishing above us in close proximity. They were struggling to get bit with the flat water but when a breeze would come through, breaking up the surface just slightly, they'd all have a trout on the line. Chop on the water makes a HUGE difference, even when bait fishing.
Early in the morning above Fall Creek, we've been fishing a tan or olive micro jig or a #14 red zebra under an indicator 3 to 4 feet deep in the shade of the bluff either using a fly rod or spin rod. Use 2 lb test for more hookups, especially when the sun comes up over the water you're fishing. Bill's also using a combo with an egg fly on a small jig hook and tying a #14 gray scud OR a #14 red zebra under the egg about 18 inches. You can also throw that straight jig and catch them too. If you're not into flies that much, a simple marabou jig will work -- colors: olive, brown, brown/orange, sculpin and vary the choices with either a dark head or an orange head. Size: 1/125th, 1/100th, 1/80th but unless they're running water I would go any heavier than a 1/80th oz. If they are running water I use a 1/32nd oz jig under a float.
Later in the morning and on into the afternoon, I'd try a dry along the bluff bank. I notice the fish were really getting active along the bank yesterday about noon and if I had fly fishers in the boat, we would have tossed a #8 stimulator at them and I bet they would have loved it.
Below Fall Creek, air injected night crawlers fishing in the middle of the lake between Fall Creek and Lilleys' Landing has been deadly. Don't wind the worm on the hook in a ball -- hook it one time in the collar of the worm, letting it hang off the hook on both sides, pinching off the tail. Inject air in the head of the worm so that it floats. Set the weight about 12 to 18 inches from the bait so that it floats that distance from the bottom. Don't use any line heavier than 4 lb and for best chances to catch fish, use 2 lb line. Remember, if the fish swallows the hook and you wish to release the fish, don't touch the fish... NEVER handle a trout when releasing it with a dry rag or a dry hand! Simply cut the line close to the fish's mouth and let it drop back in the water. The hook will work it's way out or dissolve eventually.
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Thursday, May 28, 2009
Lake taneycomo Fishing Report 5/26/09 - Branson, MO
Finally... a real good fishing report. For Taneycomo, it's been long overdue.
It might be expected - for there to be a bunch of rainbows in the lake for a holiday weekend like Memorial Day weekend. It's a good thing. Shepherd of the Hills did their job well, stocking much loved and sought after rainbows the week before.
At least our guests here at the Landing (Lilleys', not Branson) were happy with their "catching", even though the weather wasn't the nicest.
Rumors of big rainbows abound from 2 to 4 pounders being caught off the dock plus a 10 pound rainbow caught above Fall Creek by a client fishing with one of our guides.
I guided with Bill Babler both Saturday and Sunday. Armed with fly rods and silver scuds, we pounded the water between Lookout and Fall Creek both mornings and came up with alot of nice rainbows on each drift. We set our #14 scuds anywhere from 8 to 12 feet below an indicator and tried to stay in the middle-to-shallow side of the lake. Sunday morning the bite was light - the rainbows weren't taking it and running but spitting it out rather quickly, causing quick releases.
Down lake, night crawlers drifted on the bottom was great from Fall Creek down past Short Creek. Anglers picked up some real nice, colorful rainbows on this drift. Minnows too. The larger rainbows that have been in the lake for a long period seemed to go after more natural baits, not the power baits. They seemed to catch more of the freshly stocked rainbows.
Even drifting below our place downstream was very good using Gulp white with pink eggs.
Back to the trophy area, drifting jigs under a float worked well for one of our guides- Vince Elfrink and his clients. He started out with ginger1/50th oz jigs under a float Sunday morning, then quickly switching to pink jigs when the generation was bumped up from one unit to two. One of his clients caught over 40 rainbows that morning.
Throwing 1/8th oz jigs straight was also good this weekend, using white, sculpin, scuplin/peach and brown jigs. Most worked the bluff banks but some just worked the bottom of the lake, staying in the middle.
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