| ||||||
Sunday, November 22, 2009
State Record Brown Trout Broken on Taneycomo in Branson, MO
Today was a good fishing day. It was a good catching day. Any day is good to be out on the water and not in the office, right? I think Scott Sandusky believes that. He caught a big fish today!
He had his spin reel set to wind backwards -- he didn't trust the drag. Smart guy. This fish didn't want to play. He took off for the far bank, spinning off so much line, so fast, that it was all Scott could do release the handle and watch his line fly off his reel. Then he stopped.
State Record Brown Trout Broken on Taneycomo in Branson, MO
| ||||||
Monday, November 9, 2009
Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report 11/9/09 - Branson, MO
Generation here on Taneycomo is back to pre-monsoon patterns and soon will change again if the rain holds off. Change again? Table Rock's levels are dropping everyday and soon will drop to the point the Corp will slow down the flow and probably will shut turbines down. I know a lot of anglers who will welcome that!
Right now they are running 4 units but each one is running about half so you could say they're only running 2 units. They're running them all day and all night. Water is stained and 55 degrees. Stained is unusual for this time a year. It's due to the hard rains we've had. My sources say that Table Rock is showing signs of turning over. If that's the case, it's very, very early. One sign is the warming of the water. Last week it was 53 degrees.
Now for the fishing. It's been real good. Seems like there's lots of rainbows in the lake right now and they're biting most of the time. Had guests come in yesterday and today and say it didn't make much difference what they used, they'd catch trout. Gulp eggs in all four colors, night crawlers and other lures like medium to small crank baits and spoons. Silver CD5 Rapalas were the hot bait this weekend. Also white, sculpin and brown jigs.
Slower current has made it easier to get the bait to the bottom, especially down in our area of the lake. The speed of the water is slow and when there's no wind, like today, drift fishing is pleasant. I got this evening and drifted the trophy area... laid the rod down for a while and just enjoyed the sunset and peacefulness of the lake.
Last week, I got out before and after the flood gates were shut down and did pretty good on drifting #10 gray scuds from Lookout Island down past Short Creek (yes Short Creek). HAS to be on the bottom to get bit. It was my experience that most of the rainbows were small, less than 12 inches. It seems like we go through periods when we don't see many nice rainbows. The dinks have taken over. It's not that they aren't there, they just don't bite all the time. The small, freshly stocked rainbows -- they seem to bite most of the time.
As I mentioned, I caught quite a few below Fall Creek drifting scuds on the bottom. Surprised? Shouldn't be. There's scuds all through the lake, not just below the dam.
This evening, I got out and fished the bluff bank from Lookout down using 1/8th oz jigs. Snags tied with trout. I lost 4 jigs and caught 4 rainbows. But this time, 3 of 4 were big rainbows -- over 17 inches each. They weren't biting very well, I have to admit, but it was incredible being on the lake.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report 10/11/09 - Branson, MO
Boy what a week makes. We were thinking this was going to be an awesome fall fishing season in the respect of fly fishing for browns below the dam followed by great rainbow fishing. Thought we were done with high water but no... 5-8 inches later and we're right back where we were a year ago. Well, almost.
Been having discussions on the forum about water temp and DO levels below the dam. It's 61 degrees at the cable on the south or gates side of the lake and 50 on the north or turbine side. Most of the readings further downstream are 55 degrees. DO (dissolved oxygen) levels are over 8 ppm on the gate side which is great- and the temp isn't that bad either for our trout. On the turbine side the COE is injecting liquid O2 to keep the DO levels up so really this is nothing like last year when we had about the same flow but 70+ coming over the dam and 65 thru the turbines.
Table Rock was thought to crest at 927 but looking at the chart right now it looks like it's crested at 923. Talked to a COE guy this evening and although isn't an official, he thinks they will leave the gates open till Table Rock is down to 917. No guesses when that might be but I'd think it will be a better part of a week. He also said they might release more water thru the gates.
Wade fishing below the dam is extremely limited. The water is up in the trees for the most part with some standing room at outlets 1 and 2. I did see guys catching trout in both sites today.
I got out yesterday morning right after they opened the gates. Lots of trash, leaves and grass in the lake made it tough to fish. This afternoon, we got out again. We caught a good number of rainbows in the first mile of the lake below the dam on 1/8th oz white marabou jigs. It had to be on the bottom and with the wind blowing upstream, that was a hard trick. But to do that well under the circumstances, we did well meaning the trout were hitting hard enough we could feel the bites. That's a good thing!
We also drifted red san juans and #10 scuds from Lookout down past the flats on the shallow side and caught a few rainbows. Again, they are eating- just have to get the fly to the bottom and keep it there.
Below Fall Creek, same thing. Stay in the middle of the lake and use enough weight to get the bait to the bottom. Gulp eggs and night crawlers should work great. If the wind stops, catching will improve.
Sorry I couldn't come up with a rosy report. Not many people like to fish in this kind of current. It's scary to some and I don't blame them. But if you're careful, you shouldn't have any problems.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report 9/21/09 - Branson, MO
Not a whole lot has changed in the past week here in southwest Missouri except a little rain on Saturday. Well, a lot of rain. Monett is cleaning up after local flooding, which is a town not too far down the road. Looking on our lake level page - SPA's Generation Site - I see that our area lakes rose from six inches to two feet. Taneycomo officials ran water all day Saturday and into the night, which turned out to be a huge blessing to those who fished Sunday. The rain washed muddy water and trash into the lake from creeks in the upper end, but the generation moved it on down lake. Sunday morning we had nice clear water greeting us, and fishing was pretty fulfilling for our anglers here.
Table Rock and Beaver lakes came up about six inches which was nothing to be alarmed about. We should not see any change in generation patterns this week because of the rains. But with more rain in the forecast, you never know what may happen.
Today's generation, Monday, usually dictates what we MIGHT see the rest of the week. The Southwest Power Administration chart reported no water would run until late this afternoon -- but nothing doing. One unit was running early and another unit was added about noon. Right now there are at least two units running. One nice thing about this hard generation is that it will clean out the lake a bit. So it's hard to say what the generation will be the rest of the week.
This morning Guide Bill Babler reported catching a lot of rainbows drifting from Fall Creek down to Trout Hollow using night crawlers. His clients caught their limits early and then caught and released the rest of the morning. Bill said their rainbows were good quality and fought hard. So if the water is running, this technique would be worth a try.
Yesterday, there was no current all morning. Guides reported doing very well using small micro jigs in tan or olive from the former KOA Campground site down to past Fall Creek, fishing them with two-pound line and four- to five-feet deep. There are two ways to work these -- let them sit with no movement or twitch them just a tiny bit every 10 seconds. Trout don't seem to be drawn by too much movement.
The normal Gulp Power Baits are still working. The Missouri Department of Conservation stocked twice last week and there seem to be plenty of rainbows caught in front of and off our dock here at Lilleys' Landing.
As far as fly fishing below the dam, well, I heard several reports from Sunday . . . one good and some bad. The good one was a guy stripping woolies off the point at the big hole; he did well, and he said others were catching trout, too. But others fishing below the big hole down to the former KOA said it was very slow. Farther down towards Lookout and below fishing picked back up and was excellent for most of the morning but slowed down in the afternoon after the water started.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report 9/14/09 - Branson, MO
This fishing report is going to sound like a broken record, basically because this report is going to sound a lot like my report from 2 weeks ago. Conditions haven't changed and neither has the fishing itself. It's still very good, rainbows are nice and fat and generation patterns are still about the same at the first of September.
This is one reason I haven't written a new report since September 3rd. Another reason - Marsha and I drove to Port Arthur, Texas last week to be with our daughter Sara and her husband Josh for the birth of their first child, our first grandchild, Jeriah Caden Clark. Good excuse - right?! We think so. Yes, I took my fishing rods with me but they were never unpacked. Good redfish fishin' in Port Arthur but that will have to wait for another visit!
Water is still cold and clear. Generation has been mixed but off most days with some water in the late afternoon and evening. Still funny how some people root for the water to run, even though fishing is so good. I think most anglers limited out off our dock today on rainbows (4), most using power bait is all colors and styles. I saw quite a few variations this evening. Didn't seem to matter. Quite a few rainbows midging late in the afternoon today in front of the dock. One thing I've noticed over the years is that rainbows will take midges and other insects off the surface in and on the edge of the leaf trail in the lake during autumn. A leaf trail is where a breeze pushes fallen leaves into a line in the lake, most of the time close to or against the bank. Rainbows love fallen leaves and the insects they deliver. And they love my black or red zebra midge, #14, just below a small indicator tossed just in the right place at the right time. Lots of fun! I target a rainbow just after he's taken a midge with my fly rod -- make the cast and watch for the take.
Jigs worked pretty well this week for some. Of course I'm partial to jigs -- I love to fish with them. But one guests of our had a great time last week trying jigs out for the first time. Here's his report:
We arrived at Lilleys last Saturday and now we have to leave tomorrow but while we were here I wanted to let all know that the fishing was great!
We - my wife and I - fished primarily from the Trophy area to the boat ramp...she was using pink and white power bait with good success.
I couldnt buy a bite on pumped nite crawlers so I decided to do something different....I started casting and bumping a 1/8th brown jig......when i started this the size of the fish went up dramatically. When we got back to Lilleys I was in the office and telling what I had caught fish on when Lisa told me that Bill had similar success on a Cinnamon jig.....well I figure if Bill is using it I had to buy a couple and give it a try.
Then the ultimate fishing event happened.....at least for me......on Friday we went just past the boat ramp 200 yards and I had cast out when i saw a flash of silver and my line started coming off my reel like crazy. I knew that I had a big one and she didn't want to come in at all....I fought her for at least 10 minutes to get her to the boat....my wife had the trout net....when I finally got her close enough I told her " you are going to need a bigger net" Thank goodness we had the old stand by.
You know your marriage is pretty solid when you can "guide" your wife to where the largest Trout you have EVER caught is racing all over the place and she keeps saying I cant see it....I tell here to watch the line.....and she says I cant see it! She is looking right and the fish is racing left....I think you ge the picture.
Needless to say I uttered only one cuss word when I thought she had grabbed my line and then she finally landed the trout. For the record I was using 2 lb line ...... the Trout was 18" long weighing in at 4 lbs according to Curtis.
No we didn't keep her, the fish that is - after all of the pictures and such I let her go under Lilleys dock to live to be caught another day.
By the way I have went up to that area all week and bumped either a brown or cinnamon jig and the bite has been fantastic!
While I'm copying and posting fishing reports, here's another from our guide, Bill Babler:
Fished Taney a couple of days this past week, with wonderful results. Also had the opportunity to traverse most of the upper part, taking clients from the restricted zone down to the Landing for lunch each day.
Seemed the entire upper end was catching extremely nice fish, and I'm sure it was a hangover from some very nice stocking right before the Holiday weekend. Fishing should remain good through the Fall, as it most usually does.
Restricted Zone on still flat water the ginger micro in 256th. oz. really seems to be the best nymph. Chuck from Anglers and Archery is still catching them on an egg pattern and always is doing well when I see him on the water.
Moving water for the first hr. after generation starts is really almost unfishable due to high volumes of moss on the upper section, but then as it dissipates, and the flow stabilizes pink micro's in 128th. or egg patterns are catching huge numbers of quality rainbows.
Seems we have a 20 plus inch fish on every trip to the top. Didn't say we got them to the boat, but we are seeing and getting clobbered by the biggin's.
Fall Creek through Branson, it pretty much seems as anything will work, with the brighter colors of powerbait being preferred by these fresh fish. Just driving through the boat traffic going to downtown, it seemed everyone had fish on or in baskets hanging from their boats.
Rainy cool weather this next week, should keep the fishing at a top level, until the stock of fresh fish gets depleted. As long as MDC keeps feeding the Branson Landing area to Cooper Creek, it should be great.
I have to add my personal fishing report from Saturday and this evening. Lilleys' Landing hosted a fishing weekend for the Ozark FFF Chapter out of St Louis. Brian Shaffer filled in for me Friday night with a Taneycomo Talk at the pavilion which I heard was a huge success. Then Saturday we fed them lunch at the Hatchery Shelter below the dam. I got to fish a little after lunch with Bob from the club. They had ran water Saturday morning, which confused everyone. But it was off by 1 pm and down by 2 pm. Bob and I walked down to the Narrows below the root wad and found lots of nice rainbows holding in the current. Problem was they weren't agreeable. Darrell from River Run had already set Bob up with a scud/san juan rig so I had him dead drift first the shallow, close water and then the center of the channel. He quickly hooked one rainbow and then a little later another. That would be all the action for Bob. I wondered down alittle further and caught one rainbow on a brown 1/100th jig- and that was it. I fish an egg fly and then a red san juan up by the root wad just so I could see what the heck they would do when I drifted it by their face. Most would ignore it, some would move and some would dart over to investigate but all refused any fly I threw at them. The only people catching fish were 2 kickers in the rebar hole and one other guy fishing to the side of them. It just was slow.
This evening I boated up to the red house in the trophy area- on the bluff- or what I call dry wash. Surface was slick, very dark and cloudy and a little mist. No one else on the water the whole time I was up there... really nice. I started and ended with a brown 1/100th oz jig under a palsa indicator 4 feet. The rainbows absolutely loved it. I caught over 30-35 rainbows in 90 minutes, lost 3 jigs and missed many more bites. Ended the slow drift down at the Narrows. Nothing huge- 14 inches was the biggest but most were 13-14 inch, fat and fought hard. Most jumped at least once when hooked.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Lake Taneycomo Fishing Report 9/03/09 - Branson, MO
But I think come this weekend, they will not run much, if any at all. The weather forecast says highs are going to be in the mid 70's which is unbelievable for this time of year. So the power demand shouldn't be high and they usually don't run water on weekends. So my prediction is very little to no generation this holiday weekend.
Trout fishing here on Taneycomo has been flat - great! I contribute it to the weather. Cooler temperatures seems to agree with our trout here, as well as other species of fish in area lakes. Plus it just seems like there's a lot of rainbows in the lake right now. I took a pontoon ride to the Branson Landing last evening with friends, ate at the Fish House and boated back after dark. Cruising down, a watched for midging rainbows and did see quite a few from Taneycomo Acres down to the bridges. Coming back, I could see more rises, especially in the Monkey Island area. That's evidence that there's big schools of rainbows in these areas actively feeding on bugs on the surface. If I were fishing last night, I'd try several things... cast a rooster tail, throw a jig and float or just cast a jig straight, probably a small jig like a 1/16th or even a 1/32nd oz if I had light enough line to throw it and work it close to the surface. The idea is to keep the lure close to the surface where the rainbows were cruising for midges.
Now during the day, most of these rainbows are close to the bottom, especially if it's bright out. So I'd go with bait - either night crawlers or Power Bait. Our water is clear so have to go with no larger than 4 pound line, small weights and small hooks. For worms, I use a #6 or #8 short shanked hook and for Power Bait I use a #8 hook. Colors of Power Bait - if I'm using Gulp Eggs, I putting a white egg on with another color... yellow, pink or orange. Some of the nuggets and paste are working too. Berkly has a hatchery nuggets that's brown which is doing pretty well. Anytime we have a big rainbow caught off the dock, the bait it was caught on becomes the hot bait of the week. There was a big rainbow caught last week on the brown nuggets so we've been selling a lot of brown hatchery nuggets.
Fishing up in the trophy area has continued to be very good. We've been seeing a lot of very nice rainbows up there and they've been biting pretty consistently. With this flow, we've been using a jig and float with an olive or pink jig fished 4-6 feet deep and drifted basically down the middle of the lake from Lookout down to Fall Creek. There are a couple of hot spots above Lookout but for the most part I haven't done that well up there so I've been starting my drift at Lookout. Of course, I like working a jig straight, no float, off the bottom as well. Sculpin has been the best color in the 3/32nd oz size and working it in the deeper water, channel side of the lake.
Hope everyone has a relaxing and enjoyable holiday weekend!
