Anytime I get to fish Lake Taneycomo is a good time! There's a lot of fish, many of the fish are good sized (to me at least), and the scenery is beautiful. What more could you ask for? However, it's not all rainbows and unicorns. I found that out on Saturday. I knew the water was going to be high but that also meant that I was going to be able to take a boat to locations I had never fished before. I thought that the fish would be hitting on white lures in the trophy area but the size of the trophy area was significantly larger due to the four generators and two flood gates moving water. It appeared a little daunting prior to hitting the water but a healthy amount of pre fishing trip optimism can do wonders.
The theme of ups and downs continued throughout the day. Don't get me wrong, you will read other fishing reports where people will claim that they slayed all day...and they probably did. You will also read that other folks struck out entirely, which is also possible. Our day was somewhere in between.
The idea of using a fly rod was almost nonexistent on this particular day. I could have ran a 12 foot leader with a bunch of lead, a huge indicator, and picked moss off flies all day but that didn't sound like my cup of tea. It sucks being stubborn by the way. I instead opted for some heavy jigs fished on a spinning rod. I chose to fish Lilley's marabou jigs and it was the right choice. Every fish that we caught came on a 3/32 or 1/8 ounce jig with the 1/8 ounce jig outperforming its counterpart. White was also the color of choice. I was thinking that olive would be an option with the overcast skies but there must have been plenty of shad coming through the dam.
Oddly enough, the first fish I caught would end up being the biggest of the day. It was a beautiful 17 inch rainbow and was the highlight of the trip. When that fish hit, my confidence went through the roof and I thought that we were on the pattern. While we were indeed on the right track, the bites were few and far between. We were probably fishing the wrong spots and I will be the first to admit that my jigging skills are less that stellar. I chalk the low production up to my lack of experience and not the conditions. At one point we went a few hours without a bite and I'll be honest, I was ready to quit. I know! It probably sounds as strange to read that as it was to type. However, my stubbornness came out on top. It's great to be stubborn by the way. Eventually, Wendy and I found a groove just downstream from the boat ramp along the north shore. I was able to pull about 5 fish out of there with many of them being beautiful and one of them in the 15-16 inch range. I ended the day with 8-9 fish.
It was a roller coaster of a day but it still produced some good memories. Sure, we all want to boat 40 fish or more in a day, but how many of those will you remember? Days like these make you appreciate every bite and every fish that ends up in the net. It also helps to put things in perspective and bring about some humility which, in turn, presents learning opportunities. Sometimes you just have to take some lumps and appreciate the rare success for a bitter-sweet day. I take that back. Any day on Lake Tanecyomo is sweet...as long as you boat at least a few.
Link to Lilley's Hand-Tied Marabou Jigs: https://lilleyslanding.com/marabou-jigs/
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