Last weekend, my wife Wendy and I headed down to Lake Taneycomo in Branson, Missouri, to fly fishing for rainbow and brown trout. This was our third fall trip down to Taneycomo. We went once for a small honeymoon and again last year for our anniversary. On the first trip, I caught a really nice 23 inch, 6-7 pound brown. On the second trip, Wendy caught a really nice 22 inch, 4 pound brown. We were hoping to replicate these results. We caught both fish without a guide and were hoping that our do-it-yourself method would continue to produce nice fish for us.
To make a long post short, we did not replicate our prior results. Don't get me wrong, we caught some fish but the numbers were small, as well as most of the fish. We caught exclusively rainbows as opposed to almost exclusively browns last year. Through conversations with other folks (some being guides that know the lake extremely well) we found out that the water was low and hand been low for quite some time. We also found out that the brown trout spawn happened earlier than usual this year. When those two conditions combine, it can be a recipe for some tough fishing but not impossible.
We caught most of our fish on small jigs under strike indicators. We caught them on white thread jigs, standards (black bodies and tails with a chartreuse head) and mega worms. We caught them in deeper parts of runs as well as near the bank around boulders. I wish that I would have swung some soft hackles through some faster water, but I came up with that idea on the way home, unfortunately.
Regardless, it was still a fun time on the water with my wife. The weather was perfect, we didn't get skunked, and responsibilities of the world faded away for awhile. It has been said that trout live in pretty places. To me, Lake Taneycomo is a beautiful place with beautiful fish as well. While we didn't bring home any stories or pictures of trophy fish, we brought home some good memories and minds that were more relaxed than when we left Kansas City.
No comments:
Post a Comment