Editors General Comments: Very little affects the fishing on LakeTaneycomo like the generation of power at the Table Rock Dam. Call 417-336-5083 for up to the moment information on generation and lake levels or click here. August 7- At 0550- 1 generator(s) on, Table Rock is at 916.8 and Taneycomo at 704.0.
Editor’s Observation: The normal pattern of having the water off until the 0830-1000 time period has changed. Best chance for water off conditions for any period would be to be on the water at first light.
Trophy Trout Area: Special Regulations apply to the Trophy Trout Area running from Table Rock Dam to the mouth of Fall Creek. Click here for an overview of these regulations.
Fly Fishing Only by River Run Outfitters (Dam to Fall Creek)- July 28 – Last week continued to have some tough days. Trips were catching fish, but they really had to work for them. Saturday and Sunday seemed to turn the tide. Fished Saturday with one generator and caught fish on the red midge and the rust zebra. After the water was off for a little while, the fish started coming up and we each had a 30-40 fish afternoon on soft hackles and crackle backs. Best crackle back was the holographic green in a size 14. Soft hackles were partridge and orange and the dark olive. Sunday was another good day. Size 18 L’il Easy, and a holographic silver crackle back were our best flies. In the late afternoon I fished the crackle back in about 1-2 feet of water. Cast straight downstream as far as I could and retrieved with a strip-strip, then pause action. In that shallow of water, the strikes were explosive. Several times I would have a strike and miss it but kept the fly in action and get another take. Several nicer, 16-18 inch Rainbows caught this way. Also caught a couple 13-14 inch Browns. Yesterday, one of our boats caught a beautiful 21 inch Brown on the red tunghead midge. Fish are hitting much better than last week during the high water. Reports from some of our customers that they were doing very well in the Hatchery area with Renegades, size 14 over the weekend. Also know that crackle backs were working well in this area, bright colors, sizes 12 or 14. When the water is up and you don’t have a boat the chute areas will probably be your best bets. Scuds, sowbugs and San Juan worms are good choices for the chute area.
Fly Fishing and Spin Fishing By Chartered Waters Guide Service and Fly Shop – July 29 – Today’s trip was with Bob and his two 12 yr old twin boys Steven and Ben. You might think that would be confusing but you do little things to keep names straight. Ben had blue shoes and Steven’s were white. Plus Ben was in the back of the boat so we kept it straight most of the time. Dad was just spectating so the boys caught the fish. They caught them really well today starting @ 7:00 with two units going we fished #14 and #16 pink and coral Soft Shelled Scuds below a float for about 2 hours. Two units are soooo good using this method. It was just nonstop and it usually is catching some quality 18 and 19 rainbows. They caught about 5 – 6 in that range (a couple just missing 20″) and countless slot fish (13 – 17 “). Ben also caught one little brown today (pictured). These guys picked up the spinning rods really well and were pumping in those big fish by the end of the day like pros. Great action all day even when 4 units came on around 10:00. We switched to the bottom rigs then and continued to catch many quality fish for the remainder or their half day trip. I showed the group some of the scuds the fish were spitting up and they found that very interesting seeing the array of sizes and colors. I found a couple of very dark (black?) scuds and a few that were black and orange…kind of spotty looking. I’m going to have to tie one of those and try it out. That was indeed a new color scheme for a scud. Maybe it was a dead and drying out scud before being washed away with the water? The kids wondered how many fish they caught. I guessed about 50 – 60 fish and with out prompting it, Dad guessed about the same. Not bad for a couple of 12 yr olds who have never caught a trout before and never used a spinning rod. We did see Glen and his family motoring up to the dam and we exchanged some info. 4 units were going at the time so I told them their set ups should be good to go. As we motored up we passed them on their first drift down and they had already caught about 6 – 8 fish including a 17 1/2” rainbow for Glen. They were having fun and catching a lot of fish. Later in the day he was saying he’d be by for more scuds so I think I made another believer. That’s cool! I love to see the satisfaction on peoples faces when they are getting it done. There’s a little more satisfaction when you do it all by yourself. They caught the fish, I just kind of pointed them in the right direction.
Gary‘s Current Report: August 1- Howard Couch reported catching between 12 and 15 fish on July 31 between about 0645 and 0845 using the 128th ounce White Thread Jig from the 21 mile marker down. He used a spin-float system with with indicator set betwen 4 and 4 1/2 feet all the way down. Water came on about 0800 and he caught fish using the same set up for about 30 minutes until the speed of the current made eating breakfast more enjoyable than fishing.
Guide Bob Klein: Bob Klein, the not pretty half of the former owners of Main Street Marina, Bob and Jackie Klein, is still guiding as “Bob’s Guide Service.” On
Water Off Conditions (not generating power from Table Rock Dam) – Air injected night crawlers or Orange and Chartreuse Power Eggs, with the Chartreuse on shank of hook and the Orange on tip. Fish them off the bottom with no heavier than 4 pound leader, size 8 or smaller hooks, and just enough split shot to cast. Place the shot so that the bait floats 12-18 inches off the bottom. Spin-A-Lures and Little Cleos have been working well.
Water On Conditions – Orange and Chartreuse Power eggs with the Chartreuse on shank of hook and the Orange on tip, white Power Eggs, or inflated night crawlers bounced off the bottom using the standard “Lake Taneycomo Drift Rig.” which is readily available at all Marinas and most resorts on the Lake.
Get Your Lake Taneycomo Questions Answered:Bob, Gary, Brett, and Stan will be monitoring the Outdoor Activities Forum on the Branson.Com Message Board . If you have any fishing questions on LakeTaneycomo just ask.Use the word “Taneycomo” in the Search Function and enter it in all your posts so they’ll show up.
