June 17 Fishing Report

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Taneycomo’s generation pattern has held consistent this past week, great for anglers eager to fish a certain way, i.e. boating, wading, fly fishing or bait fishing. It helps to know what to buy and pack for the trip. Catching continues to be very, very good for most, regardless of how they fish. There has been no generation in the mornings with one to two turbines kicking on in the afternoon about 3 p.m. and continuing until about dark. Water temperatures vary from 43 to 50, depending on where you are on the lake.

The trophy area has been by far the most productive area on the lake, but it’s been hit pretty hard by anglers, especially fishing guides who have been very busy with trips. Our water is very clear right now, so dropping to two-pound test is a must, especially when using small flies and jigs. For spin fishing, tie on 36 inches of two-pound tippet using a triple surgeon’s knot (make a loop with both lines laid over each other and pass the tippet and main line through the loop three times, pull tight). Guides fishing from boats above Fall Creek are using several jigs and flies to catch rainbows: Turner’s micro 1/265th-ounce olive or tan jigs, #16 red, black or rust zebra midges or gray #14 scuds are by far the best. Fish these under a float. The depth depends on the specific water you’re fishing. Jigs and zebras need to be fished off the bottom, but the scuds need to be fished on the bottom, twitched or moved to make them look like they’re swimming off the bottom. Move around if you’re not getting bit. Rainbows are schooling together up there, and there are areas where there are no fish.

Below the dam, you’ll find slow moving and fast water. In fast water, you can get away with using heavier tippet (5 or 6x), but in the slower areas you may have to use 7x and smaller flies. Scuds are the best because that’s the main food they’re seeing. If it’s sunny, use a scud with a little flash or glimmer in the dubbing. If it’s cloudy and rainy, use an olive or brown scud. You need to drag a scud on the bottom, either using a weighted fly or split shots to drop it down. San Juan worms work great, especially after a shower. In the riffles, strip a soft hackle, Crackleback or small woolly. Our trout are starting to look up a bit . . . when the water is dropping out in the evenings (generation is slowing down), use a Big Ugly or Chernobyl Ant — something big and something our trout haven’t seen before. Night fly fishing is very good, stripping big streamers like black and purple Hibernators and big leeches and woolly buggers.

Below Fall Creek, air-injected night crawlers are still catching the larger rainbows while PowerBait Gulp eggs are catching a lot of good rainbows. Again, if you want to catch more fish, use smaller line. Four-pound is fine and you will catch trout but, for a challenge and to catch more fish, try tying on alittle two-pound tippet. The jig-and-float technique is working well in the deeper water, too. For micro jigs, use two-pound line. For marabou 1/125-ounce to 1/50-ounce you can get away with four-pound line. Set your floats at five to six-feet deep. Move the float every 10 seconds to give the jig action and watch for the slightest movement. Rainbows usually just come up and mouth the jigs, tasting it. You’ll need to be quick on the set. Good colors are olive, tan, black, black/yellow, and sculpin with an orange head.

In the evenings when the water is running, try an 1/8th-ounce marabou jig and work the bluff banks from Fall Creek down. Using white this week, I’ve hooked some nice rainbows and browns up to 22-inches long and witnessed one brown about 34 inches come up to chase a small rainbow. I guess you should pack a big rainbow-colored Rapala in the boat ready to throw if you find yourself in that situation! It’s rare, but it does happen.