Wading and Fly Fishing Upper Lake Taneycomo

A little over a week ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) Media Camp.  CFM is an amazing organization that is dedicated promoting conservation and opportunities for those that love the outdoors in Missouri.  While I will get into how things went during the media camp in a future post, this post is about what happened before the program started.  I was fortunate enough to get to Branson, where the camp was being held, a little early and since a minimal amount of water was coming through Table Rock Dam, I was able to fish the "trophy area" near the dam.

I arrived right before sunrise on Sunday, Feb. 8 and had most of the area near the parking lot to myself.  I was able to fish around the first and second outlets, which are usually pretty productive.  This trip was no different.  At some point, I quit counting how many fish I caught but if I had to guess, it was probably in the 20-25 fish range and that came over a two hour period.  I didn't catch a fish on every cast but it was consistent and kept me locked in on my fishing more than if the fishing varied from hot to cold.  

I exclusively fished a small, white thread jig about 18 inches under an indicator...until I lost it in a tree at the end of my time.  The takes were aggressive and as a result, I didn't lose many fish.  Hooksets were solid and the fights were epic.  The U.S. Corps of Engineers was running half of a unit which made for active fish, long drifts, and just enough current to keep the fish active.  The biggest fish I caught was 17-18 inches long and put up a heck of a fight.  I caught males and females with some of them being brilliantly colored with others having more chrome than color.  

This spot is, without a doubt, my favorite place to fish.  You can fish it in a boat if the water is up and you can fish it in waders when the water is down.  You can fish jigs, nymphs, or wet flies.  You can spot and stalk, dredge deep holes, and fish the riffles all in a morning.  There are folks to socialize with or you can find some solitude.  I caught the biggest brown of my life on a fly rod and so did my wife.  It is has a sentimental quality that I love and the fishing is usually pretty good too.  It's a unique stretch of water that I love with all my heart.