Today was another good day on the river. It was pretty much the same story as yesterday, but with a little twist. I took out Steve P from the forum and one of my clients I guide on the White named Dale. It was a very educational trip and I enjoyed it. We worked on some casting techniques along with presentations. There were times we didn’t fish for an hour just having fun with the cast. I really enjoy casting just as much as I do fishing. I think you need to make time for both and practice does make a big difference. If you only cast when you go fishing it’s going to take a lot longer to get the fundamentals of the cast down. I can’t emphasis enough to practice at home even if you don’t have water to fish. That way you’re not learning as you fish, you’re just fishing.
The water is still dirty so I hope they run some water to flush it out. It was really hard to spot fish today. Even in low water it was difficult. I don’t know about you, but I love to watch trout come over and hit the fly and I couldn‘t do that today. It just adds to the day of fishing. I’m glad to say the presentations I showed Dale and Steve paid off. Every time I looked up they had a fish on so hats off to you guys. I had a good time.
The twist of the day was throwing sculpins
at the end. It’s been awhile since I tied on a sculpin on so it felt good to catch some trout on it. I love the take because they hit with aggression and if your not paying attention you can get your rod yanked out of your hand. The fish we caught were bigger in size than anything else we threw at them all day. Nothing too big, but they were real pretty in color. We fished until 4pm and decided to call it a day. The wind picked up and it got a lot colder than earlier in the day and I was also starving. That’s not a good combination in my book. So there you have it in a nut shell.
I’m going to Roaring tomorrow with Steve and his wife Megan. I’m hoping to get some shots of some bald eagles and also get Megan on a big fish. That’s what Steve wants so we’ll see what happens. I think it will be a great day for dries so it should be a lot of fun.
After tomorrows trip I guess you can say "I got my fix" for a few days so I’ll be back plugging away at getting some more how-to-steps online. I stopped with the thunder creek minnow and the zonker so that’s what will be going up first. I do have a lot of great patterns to still get up so be looking for those.
December 29th 2007
Taneycomo
Fishing is still in full swing as far as I’m concerned. I can’t speak for everybody, but I am seeing alot of rods bent and I’m seeing some that aren’t. I took a guy named Tim for three hours and we had no problem getting bites. We started fishing the bank I like to call brown boulevard throwing size 20 bead head midges. I think the first or second cast he made he hooked up instantly. Right then and there I knew it would be a great day of fishing.
Our plan was to make this more of a learning day and not so much a catching day. I guess you could say the plan switched from that. We only made it as far as the point because time went by so fast hooking up with fish. It’s hard to leave a spot when the fishing is so good. With that being said, we did try other patterns just to see if trout would hit those as well. But the main goal was to educate him about the river and where some of the areas to catch trout are that most people can’t. Since this river is becoming so congested with fisherman now days it’s becoming harder to fish the main spots that were so fun to catch fish at. My motto is oh well if they’re open then I’ll fish them, but if not I guess I’ll have to catch fish behind fisherman that are way out in the water. It’s funny to see somebody charge in the water to get to a spot they’re used to fishing. I just wonder when they will challenge themselves to learn more about the river because they’re really is better fishing besides the chutes and the typical rebar hole where everybody goes. I’m sure it has to do with ten trout being easier to catch than in areas that have no current to present flies to fish. But the sad part is, that’s where you can have some of you’re best fishing and not only that, it could be some of the most memorable moments you have on tailwaters. Since this is a midge fishery for the most part midges are an abundance and hatch all in the water column, but where they are picked off the most would be on the sides of the bank in the calmer water. And that makes since to me for the insect itself, but also for the trout because they can pick them off easier then in current. There’s nothing more fun then to see a fish bust the surface in twelve inches of water or less when you go to set the hook on a small midge that they had no idea was under an indicator. Maybe I’m rambling on about it, but it’s some of the best fishing I think when fishing during the day at Taneycomo. And you can always find a place to fish because most people are standing in the water and not focusing on fishing the bank for rising fish eating emerging midges.
Last but not least we did fish the egg also and had extremely good luck on that to. These fish were hitting it on the fall which was weird because we threw it in dead water with absolutely no current to create any drift. I would say it has everything to do with the dissolve oxygen content. Since the lake recently turned over the D.O. is great right now. One of the guys that recently joined the forum went fishing last night and caught a 24 inch female fishing in-between chute one and chute two throwing a orange streamer. I don’t remember what it was, but orange is a color I don’t throw much so that tells me they are eating everything. I would go tonight, but I have another trip tomorrow. I’m excited about it because I know fishing going to be great. Low water as been the norm right now so expect that if your coming down.
One more thing to say before I go to bed. I saw a brown today with a rainbow almost all the way down his mouth. The funny thing was this fish wasn’t too big. I would say less then twenty inches and the trout he had must have been over ten inches. This fish was chomping down on this thing just cruising along the bank. When I went to get my camera out to take I picture I noticed when I went to turn it on it says I had no memory stick. That was a big bummer because this would’ve been a great picture to show you along with some of the fish we caught. We ended up catching two browns and the rest being rainbows between 10-16 inches.
FISHING SPECIAL
Here lately I’ve had a lot of calls asking if I have a winter rate. I’ve never tried it, but I guess I will. So here’s what I have. Until March 15th I will do a deal where you can go out with me on a hourly rate which will be $30.00. You can go out for one hour if you want or you can go longer. Either way this will be a great advantage for people who want to learn this river. And to be honest, you don’t need much time to learn the river. A few hours with me and you’re good to go. Take advantage of this because it won’t last forever. I guess you can say it’s my New Year’s present.
December 28th 2007
Overall Conditions at Taneycomo
Good things to say about the fishing. The water has been off for the last week and the oxygen levels are great. The trout don’t seem to matter what you throw, but midges to me are still the key for high numbers. The lake just turned over so hopefully we will have a shad kill pretty soon. So be ready for that because it’s usually something that happens real fast and then it’s over. And it can happen several times if they leave the water off and then run it. Seagulls are on stand-by as well. I’m seeing a lot up at the dam and that’s typical this time of year.
The crowd seems to be there so expect that if you’re fishing the hot spots. I suggest fishing downstream if you want to get away from the crowd. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Throw wooly buggers if the weather is yucky. Windy and cold is great right now if you like fishing streamers. Make sure you stay in the small sizes though (10-12). Stripping cracklebacks real fast right under the film is attracting a lot of smaller fish, but every once in awhile you get a bigger one. I recently added the sparrow pattern to the site that is a real killer for trout anywhere you go. It’s a Michigan pattern, but it sure works around here to. I’ve had good luck with this pattern in olive fishing below the rebar hole stripping it back in the deeper water.
Presentation technique:
I’ve had really good luck fishing this sparrow with a lead fly being a (streamer) weighted and the dropper (sparrow) fly as the bottom fly. I’m usually fishing slack water that is deeper. The big hole is a great spot fishing streamer flies. I usually fish a size10 beadhead wooly bugger (4x) and tie about two feet of tippet (5x) to the bend of the hook. Swinging them and stripping back on the swing. Be ready for the hit usually on the swing or while your stripping the line in.
Where’s the big fish at?
I haven’t seen too many big fish up at the dam in the last week or so. There’s a few hanging in the rebar hole, brown boulevard and at the cable (the stopping point where you can’t go up any further) in the main channel (where there’s current). I think you’ll have more luck catching these guys at the rebar hole. I hooked one the other day, but didn’t have him on long. I think he hasn’t been hooked in a while because he got off in a hurry. It was still exciting to see because I was fishing to him and got to see the take.
Chute One
I don’t know what happened because I don’t fish up top that much wading, but I noticed the bank is gone. As you’re walking down the steps you will see what I’m talking about. It looks like they either dug it out or the bank eroded and caved in. It looks like it would be good fishing if the water came up, but either way you look at it, its not good.
December 25th 2007 Taneycomo
First of all I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
It’s always been a tradition of mine to hit the river after the morning festivities. My dad and I started fishing around 11pm. When we got there we only noticed a few cars in the parking lot up at chute two so I decided to hang up top since I don’t get to fish it as much because of all the crowds now days. That’s one thing I was hoping for on the drive down. And sure enough we did. It reminded me of the old days when you could go down there and fish anywhere you wanted without really crowding anyone out. As soon as I got there and rigged, I started walking the trail and noticed new signs all over explaining the river and the ways of the trout. It was good to see our tax dollars at work. They also built a fence around the new brown project that looks really nice. You’ll see it next time your down. This hatchery is sure coming together from back in the day.
When I got to the TU stairs I noticed the rebar stretch was open and nobody was fishing it. I also ran into Brad Wright which was a shock in itself. I’m glad to see him back fishing and I’m sure a lot of other people do to. We didn’t talk much because I wanted to hurry up and fish that area to see if there were any big fish holding in this stretch. I didn’t see anything too big, but I did see some browns that were still holding on some reds. I caught a lot of fish on the egg with one really nice bow that was probably in the 17 inch class. After fishing there for an hour I decided to head up stream and see what the fish were doing at brown boulevard. As soon as I got up there I noticed two really nice browns that were in the 22+ inch range that were holding right up against the bank, but as soon as I went to make a cast those fish moved out and didn’t want no part of me so I picked on the other ones that did. I was fishing a rusty midge about six inches under my pulsa catching a lot of bows. Nothing of any size though.
After I gave a few a sore lip I ventured my way right up to the cable above chute one to see if I could see any big fish holding up there. Well, I didn’t but, I did see something very disappointing to me and that was seeing a father teaching is little boy how to kick rocks. There’s not much you can do except think to yourself and know one day they will grow out of that. There’s only so much fun you can have doing that before you say to yourself, there has to be a better way. I still had the midge on and the fish were still going nuts on it. If you’ve ever fished up there then you know there’s not much current on the bank towards you so the drift can be difficult if you’re trying to fish something on the bottom. Unless you get out a ways and cast in the center of the river where the main channel is your not going to do to well fishing nymphs. Now midges on the other hand you can. I don’t remember how many fish I caught up there in dead slack water, but I know it was a lot. All small fish, but who cares when you’ve been stuck in the house working on this site for the most part anything is nice. I decided to call it a day about 1:30 because I had to go eat with the family. I wish I had more time because I could’ve thought of all kinds of things to do today because the spots were open to fish.
Until next time is what we say when we leave the river. With saying that, I’ll be back for another round in the future.
And again, thank you to everyone who order the Christmas special. It’s inspired me to put up new ones so be looking for that.
Fly Tying
I should have some more patterns up tomorrow. Thunder creek minnow, black nose dace, mickey finn, and the zonker.
December 19th 2007 Taneycomo
Long awaited fishing report is finally here. I had to take a break from all the tying and uploading etc. Building a site is time consuming. I wish it could go faster, but I guess that’s how it is. I’m still excited with the progress of it.
With saying that, Taneycomo has not been generating the last two days. I’m sure a lot of you are happy about that. It’s midge city down there right now. I didn’t try too many patterns because the midge I was throwing was on fire. I fished downstream so I don’t know what’s going on up top. The rusty midge, disco midge, rs2, loop wing emerger in the on olive, black and brown and wd40’s was about all I fished. I spent a lot of time fishing the edges of the bank for fish holding in ten inches of water or less. Spotting fish and fishing to the fish your trying for is so rewarding when you actually catch it.
I’m not seeing a lot of big browns, but the rainbows are everywhere. You won’t be disappointed in what you catch either. The average rainbow I caught today was between 14-17 inches. I had the most luck fishing my fly right under the indicator. I set the rusty midge about four inches under the indicator and you wouldn’t believe the hits I got. Because I was fishing so shallow when I went to set the hook you would see some explosive hits. You would’ve thought the fish were bigger from all the commotion they would make. Great stuff. The loop wings and rs2 were fished on the top like a dry (rs2 in the film). The best way to fish these are by making an upstream cast parallel to the bank and strip in the slack line as the fly is coming back towards you. They take it real slow so you have to be ready. The wd40 and disco midge are fished on the bottom. The wd40 is the only one I fish like a scud. The disco midge is fished dead still on the bottom. We like to call this “heave it and leave it.” You literally cast it towards the bank and leave it. The fish will swim by and pick it up. It might take a minute, but don’t pick it up and recast all the time. You have to be stealthy so the fish don’t swim out. The more cast you make the more fish know something isn’t right. And make sure you use palsa stick-ons for the indicator. When I’m fishing real shallow water I like to use half of one. I think the reason why this fly works so good is it’s flashy so they can see it. The best colors are pearl and red flash for the bodies. I’ll get some steps up shortly on these patterns.
For the guys coming up next week that emailed me. That’s what I would work on tying. For night time flies I would stick to black flies with flash for the body. Especially if you plan on fishing up top by chute one or two. Since they installed the new lights under the pavilion the trout seem to like white and flashier flies more than they used to. And big fish are usually the ones that get fooled. Don’t forget about dace patterns to. Mickey Finn’s and black nose daces are really deadly patterns. I don’t know why more people don’t fish these. Also tie thunder creek minnows with bucktail in combinations of chartreuse/white, brown/white, black/white and believe it or not pink/white.
More and more I hear pine cone squirrel this and pine squirrel that and that seems to be programmed in our minds so that’s what everybody is fishing. Don’t get me wrong, they work and are very consistent patterns, but I thought I would put some patterns that were big fish producers back ten years ago that are being forgot about. I hardly see or hear people fishing and talking about these patterns anymore. Another fly we need to remember is the zonker and zuddler minnows. Umpqua quit making the zuddler so it’s getting harder to find. This is one you can’t forget about EVER. Make sure you remember this fly. It will catch you a big one if you fish it enough.
Fly Tying
These patterns that I just mentioned are the ones I’ll be focusing on getting up for step-by-step instructions. I have the loop wing emerger and rs2 up already so go check them out and make sure you have them for Taney. The winter has some of the best midge fishing around and the trout are tearing them up right now!!!!
December 11th 2007 Taneycomo
I’m still not doing much fishing because I’m updating the site with new fly tying recipes. I actually posted four more today. It’s a lot of work getting these done right. I want to make sure I write the instructions as detailed as I can so everyone can understand them. It’s no fun to see a fly you want to tie, but can’t tie it because they left a bunch of steps out along with pictures. I know lately they’ve been generating water everyday. It’s up and down as far as how many generators they have going so make sure you call if your driving down. If you do get stuck fishing high water and you’re wading I would fish along the bank and drift bead head midge patterns. Find softer water if you can. The best water to fish is one or two units. If you get stuck fishing three or four it’s going to be difficult and your best bet is the outlets. I’m sure you can get a spot. Not many people fishing right now. Try the bank up above outlet one. You will see a lot of fish concentrated on that bank. There’s an eddy up there that holds a ton of trout. Also there’s a trail that is below the boat ramp that leads to the top of a set of stairs. Walk down those stairs and you’ll see a bunch of trout midging. It’s also one of those spots that is the best in one or two units if your stuck fishing the banks. Three or four is too much down there as well. Other than that, that’s pretty much it. I do plan on fishing this weekend. I have trips Friday and Saturday if everything goes as plan. If not I’m sure I’ll be stuck fishing Roaring River. And that’s not a bad thing. After all this rain we just had I’m sure it pulled out the big boys in the thirteen pound range or bigger. That’s what I’m waiting for. We had some chances last year so I’m hoping this year will be the same. I’ll keep you posted
Tying
The fly patterns I posted today are some pretty good ones to learn how to tie. I’ve caught fish on them everywhere I go. Proven patterns that are guaranteed to catch you fish in areas your not used to. Tie one on and hold on tight. To see them in full size go to the forum under fly recipes to check them out.
December 4th 2007
Taneycomo
Here lately I’ve been home plugging away at how-to-steps and trying to post them so I don’t have much in the way of fishing reports. The only time I’ll be fishing right now is at Roaring River because the fishing there is the best, as far as landing a bunch of big fish throughout the day. My dad has been running down to the boat ramp in the evenings throwing a few times hooking up on some average rainbows. Nothing big, but he said the fish are going nuts on bead head thread midge patterns fishing them in the film or 18 inches under the indicator.
I hope everyone’s having fun with some of these steps I’m putting up. If there’s something you’re needing help with or want to learn how to tie. You can go to my
forum and request it on the recipe page. I’ll do my best on getting the content you need to get it done. All I can say is I’m having a blast uploading new content every day. Keep checking back!!!