Editors General Comments: The fishing is great!! In the last week it seems that the water generation on Lake Taneycomo has changed drastically. The water is off for large segments of the day and comes on in the p.m. after 1300, May 12 – 0400 Zero generators on, Taneycomo is at 701.6 and Table Rock is at 912.3 The water was off most of Saturday and Sunday. They started one at about 1810.. May 9 – 0515 Zero generators on, Taneycomo is at 701.7 and Table Rock is at 912.2 The water was off most of Saturday and Sunday. They started one at about 1810..
Very little affects the fishing on
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 – May 11 – Water came on this Saturday about 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 a.m. that night. But it was a low 1 generator and very fishable. Sunday it was off until 6:00 p.m. and again it was only one generator for about 7 hours. Monday off all day and yesterday they turned on two generators at 3:00 p.m. and off at 10:00 p.m. last night. Expect they will turn it on again this afternoon.
Trips out every day. In a word, I would have to describe fishing as “unbelievable”. Everyone is catching 30-100 fish an outing, depending on heir ability to get a fly into the water, get a half way decent drift, set the hook and play the fish. I had two ladies on a half day wade trip Saturday and they each landed well over 30 fish and missed or “pick and rolled” at least that many. Only the second time they have fly fished in three years. Lots of our customers are coming in exhausted from catching so many fish. They only thing we noted over the weekend was that the fish were very color selective. Early in the day Saturday, the olive zebra was working almost very drift. About 11:30 a.m. they flat shut off, so we changed to the rusty. We were off and catching again!
Later that day they shut off again so we changed to the black, with the same scenario….off and catching. Yesterday was a little slower than it was over the weekend, especially in the late morning and early afternoon. However, I just had two gentlemen leave our shop who had never fished this water until yesterday say they caught double digits yesterday morning and again in the afternoon….almost all on the rusty size 18 zebra midge. Stan’s trip yesterday morning are fairly new folks. They fished the midges Monday and yesterday learned how to fish soft hackles (which they really loved!) and did very well with them. The only downside on the fishery right now is the amount of moss is on the bottom. When they do turn on some water, it is really messy! Lots of moss moving and the water get dingy for a while.
Fly Fishing and Spin Fishing By Chartered Waters Guide Service and Fly Shop .-
May 11 – Excerpts from wading trip near dam on May 11…We fished pretty small today, mixing in #18’s and 20’s of X-Gray Bit Scuds, rust, black, olive and dark olive of the same. Ginger and olive G-Bugs, B-52’s and ginger/olive SG-Bugs all caught fish well. Red Smidges and ginger/wine 2-Smidges in #20 and #22’s caught some fish though there still aren’t a lot of migding trout to be found. I showed these guys how I sight cast for fish going to no weight (maybe a #10 when there was a little current) and no to half a palsa float casting to specific fish. They got a kick out of that and they all made several successful hookups with their target fish, seeing the fish take the fly and not watching the float. Conditions were pretty good for that with little wind and sunshine. It’s my favorite way to fish, especially when you’re looking for bigger fish…
Gary’s Comments – May 8 – Fished for about 45 minutes in the morning before I spotted lightening and went in. Fished exclusively with the he size 12 River Run Peach Furbug and caught seven fish with three of them in the 15-18 inch range. I went back out at about 1730, started with the River Run Peach Furbug from
I used a 8 ½ foot spinning rod and 6x Orvis Mirage Tippet with the indicator set at a depth of about 4-4 ½ feet. It didn’t make any difference whether I was fishing in 8 feet of water or 4 feet of water, the depth of the indicator was left the same.
Guide Bob Klein of “Bob’s Guide Service” – May 8– Reported no change from last report. Fishing is fishing good to excellent. From Fall Creek to Short Creek use night crawlers and minnows. From Short Creek to Branson drift bubblegum and white power bait or night crawlers. From Branson to
Water Off Conditions (not generating power from Table Rock Dam) – Air injected night crawlers or
Water On Conditions – Orange and Chartreuse Power eggs with the Chartreuse on shank of hook and the Orange on tip, white Power Eggs, bubble gum power bait, 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.
An excellent place to get your Lake Taneycomo Questions answered, or any question relating to the fishing and other outdoor topics in the Branson area, is the “Branson Outdoors Activities Forum” which is monitored by your editor and other local outdoor enthusiasts.
