Fly Fishing Lake Taneycomo- Part 1- The The "Small Fish"

Wendy and I had the pleasure of taking a small honeymoon in Branson last weekend.  She actually surprised me with the trip and were able to stay at my buddy Chris's condo in Branson for next to no cost.  She even went to the trouble to reserve a boat for a day as well.  While I absolutely love to wade and fish up by Table Rock Dam, the water conditions hardly ever make that a possibility.  We almost always reserve a boat at Lilly's Landing because we just expect water to be coming through the dam.  As luck would have it though, we had the delight to cancel that reservation.  The dam was hardly generating any water at all during our time there and we got to wade and fish my favorite fishing spot in the world!

An added bonus was the presence of some HUGE brown trout.  They come up to the dam in October because they think it is time to spawn, albeit they are unsuccessful most of the time.  I have been told that fluctuating water levels ruin any nests.  However, they were there and BUSY!  They were chasing, swimming up hatchery outlets, and breeching all over the place.  While it was fun to see them, I also understood that their mindset was not on feeding and more on breeding.  While some were still being caught, the chances of hooking into a big one seemed low...but not impossible.  

We each caught a few fish when we arrived on Saturday afternoon on small white jigs under indicators.  I landed a brown, which was something I hadn't done in a long time and was really exciting.  Wendy caught a few more on Sunday on the white jig and even caught her first and second brown as well!  She had NEVER caught a brown and was thrilled to land a two!  On the other hand, I struggled mightily.  I ended up catching one fish on a standard and one on a sculpin pattern.  I owe a HUGE thanks to the nice gentleman from Gardner, Kansas, that gave me the fly and some advice on how to fish it!  It was an adrenaline rush to watch a rainbow swim from 20 feet away and hammer that sculpin.  We went and got some lunch and a nap before heading back to fish later that afternoon.  What happened later that day is something that I will never forget...but I will post about that tomorrow.