[Editors Note: The most comprehensive fishing report available for Branson’s Lake Taneycomo submitted by people who fish the lake on just about a daily basis. As used in this report “Trophy Area” refers the portion of Branson’s Lake Taneycomo between the mouth of Fall Creek and the base of Table Rock Dam. It is the primary wade fishing area, a trophy management area and has special regulations and limits in effect within the area.]
Lake Taneycomo Trophy Area – Fly Fishing – by Carolyn Parker, River Run Outfitters
Fishing was certainly better over the weekend than the week days before. Jim had some customers from the Jefferson City area out all day Saturday. They had a fun day and worked all kinds of patterns, wet and dry, and caught some fish and missed a whole bunch! However, they did manage to boat a nice 20 inch rainbow on a black wooly bugger. Carolyn had a two-day school with a cowboy and his son from Oklahoma. Unbelievable, but one of the guys was roll casting the entire belly section of his fly line within no time. He said it was just like something they do when they are roping cattle. They worked on nymphing/midging, streamers and even dries and caught fish on every technique.
So here is the list of flies that brought fish up for us. If you are looking for that rare dry fly action on Taneycomo, try small black ants or a size 14 yellow hopper pattern in the skinny water where you see the fish working, probably close to the banks. The best zebra midges were black, rusty, and the rusty dun in size 18, and when the water is higher, the red midge is still holding its own in sizes from 12-18. In higher generation and flows, the big pink San Juan, the peach egg or fur bug, and olive marabou jig worked well on the way down to Fall Creek. Fish seem to be holding better in the old river channel along the high bank above the Fall Creek area. Several times last week the fish stacked in shallow current were readily taking tan b-bugs or tan and gray scuds size 16-18. Finally, the streamers fished on the intermediate sinking leaders wound up catching more fish with the fog on (and sometimes other times of the day!). Try a size 10 olive wooly bugger or bug eye bugger in olive or black or an olive floozie.
Last week it really depended on where you are and how and what you are fishing if the fishing was good. Based on the folks coming into the shop, fishing was tough in the upper area near the Hatchery. Our guides also reported fishing was slow in the mornings and then picked up as the water level stabilized after that crazy bump in generation for about an hour at 6 am. Last Tuesday through Thursday after being off in the mornings, all units would come on between one and two in the afternoon. This weekend the generation was off until 4 Sunday afternoon. This morning two units are running instead of the low one predicted with more units to come up this afternoon at one. Hope to and expect to see similar patterns to last week again for you wading fly fishers.
Submitted by Carolyn Parker, River Run Outfitters
Lake Taneycomo by Eric Prey, FocusedFishing.com
The generation has been fairly consistent over the past week; a small amount of current in the morning followed by an increase in the afternoon. When the water is running jigs continue to be a great option; ginger, olive and sculpin have been top colors, the more current the heavier jig. During slack water night crawlers with a small amount of air injected into them rigged on a split shot or drift rig will produce. As always Gulp or Power Bait eggs are a good choice regardless of current.
Submitted by Eric Prey, Focused Fishing
Lake Taneycomo By Steve Dickey, AnglersAdvantage.net
Fishing continues to be good on Taneycomo. On the days when the water is off, the bite is very good from 6-11 a.m. Use night crawlers from Fall Creek to the Branson Landing; chartreuse or yellow power bait and 1/80th oz. sculpin jigs have also been bringing the fish in. In the Trophy Area, zebra midges size 16-18, micro jigs 1/100th oz. and size #20 scuds below an indicator are all working well. Better fish are caught in the early morning or in the evening.
Submitted by Steve Dickey, AnglersAdvantage.net
Lake Taneycomo by Phil Lilly, Ozark Anglers
Just checked weather.com’s 10-day forecast for the Branson area, and it says we’re in for some lower temperatures this next week. May be we’ve seen the end of triple digits this summer. Good for the angler even though the trout have not seemed to care. What this will affect is generation patterns. We may see less flows. Instead of four units later in the afternoon, we may see two units or fewer. But you never know with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Today one unit has been running all day with a planned bump up to three units later.
Trout fishing continues to be good. August usually is one of the slowest months of the year here on Taney. MDC still stocks a year-high 90,000 rainbow this month, but for whatever reason, they usually don’t bite as well in the dog days of summer. But they have been biting very well. Large rainbows are still being caught above and below Fall Creek. Here’s at Lilleys’ Landing, we had two rainbows weighing more than seven pounds caught this past week, one off the dock and one out in a boat. A 12-pound rainbow was caught off the dock and released.
We are selling about 120 dozen night crawlers a week right now and, yes, night crawlers are the best bait for sure. Like this morning, with one unit running, the best thing to do is to start drifting at the mouth of Fall Creek, with four-pound line, a small #8 short-shanked bronze hook and a #7 split shot pinched on the line 18 inches above the hook. Hook the worm one time in the collar and break off the tail leaving the same length of worm hanging off each side of the hook. Inject some air in the night crawler so it floats off the bottom. Set your boat sideways in the current and throw out upstream. If you’re not hitting the bottom, increase the amount of line you have out. If that doesn’t work, increase the size of the split shot until you get a good roll on the bottom.
You can use Gulp Power Eggs the same way, but night crawlers will catch more and bigger trout. Use one white along with one other color–orange, pink or yellow.
Some of the guides did find some nice-sized rainbows just up from, through and down from Scotty’s Dock this past week, but there are a lot of smaller rainbows down there, too. The smaller ones will take a spoon or spinner cast and retrieved slowly.
It still amazes me how many large rainbows are down in our area of the lake (by Lilleys’ Landing). My fishing buddy Vince was done with a trip on Sunday and was fishing out in front of our place about 1 p.m. I called him to pick me up and we fished down to Cooper Creek — on the bluff side. He was throwing a Sluggo (plastic jerk bait) for browns and I was casting a 1/8th-ounce black jig. With one unit running the water was barely moving. He had several follows but no takers. I caught a couple of rainbows, then hooked a heavy fish. First I thought it might be a smallmouth bass but getting a look at it, I saw the fluorescent rainbow flash. With two-pound line it took a while to land, but it was a solid 19-inch rainbow weighing more than four pounds. It had avoided a lot of Power Bait over the past eight to 12 months to grow to that size!
There should be less fog on the water both in the mornings and in the evenings with cooler temps and less humidity, so getting out early won’t be so difficult. Shouldn’t be foggy at night either if you want to get out and do some night fishing, either wading below the dam or out in a boat.
Above Fall Creek in the trophy area, fishing has been twice as good as normal. Some of our guides are starting as early as 6:15 a.m. when the trout seem to bite best. Fishing a micro jig in black, olive or tan under a float four- to five-feet deep using two-pound line (a must) has been great, but the trout have been alittle picky about how it’s presented. At times they like it dead in the water with no movement, but some times they like it twitched every 5-10 seconds to project a little life. The strikes can be slight or hard, so you have to watch the float closely. One problem many anglers have is keeping the line slack to a minimum and keeping the rod tip pointed at the float. If these two things aren’t watched, setting the hook is futile.
Fly fishing is still very good, out of a boat or wading below the dam. Of course, the water needs to be down, not running, for the best wading, but out of a boat it doesn’t matter. They’re still eating a scud pattern the best, but you have to get it to the bottom and keep it moving to have the best success. Number 12 in gray, olive and brown if the water is running and #14 to #18 is it’s not. You can get away with using 5 or 6x tippet if the water is running but if it’s not, use 7x. Zebra midges in red, black or olive are working well, too, especially when the water is off with no generation. Fish close to the surface if trout are midging or taking midges off the surface and fish them 12 to 36 inches below an indicator if they’re not.
Submitted to multiple sources by Phil Lilley, Ozark Anglers
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