May 15 Fishing Report

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Weather fronts have missed us for the most part for the past few weeks, veering off to the north or south and dumping rains in other areas besides ours. Well they’ve found us. Yes, we needed the rain but not this much. And to be honest, it could have been worse. After the last couple of years of mega rainfall and floods, I watch each system closely, trying to get a handle on how much rain it will dump in our White River Basin area of northeast Arkansas and southwest Missouri. Rainfall affects generation and generation dictates how we fish here on Lake Taneycomo. That’s why I always start out my reports on generation patterns, the past, present and predicted future.

After what I would call nice periods of differing flow patterns from no generation in the mornings, and one to two units in the afternoons, it looks like we’re back to the 24/7 one-unit flow with the level about 705 feet, four feet high. Not a bad flow at all for drifting but pretty tough if you want to wade or fish from the bank below the dam. Table Rock was rising already from water from Beaver Lake. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to drop Beaver’s levels here in the last 10 days, and Table Rock came up about 24 inches. With the rain from the last few days, it looks like Table Rock will clear 919, four feet over power pool. We’ll see what the Corps wants to do — dump the upper lakes quickly or gradually. This will dictate our flows for the next 10 days.

Trout fishing continues to be very good, despite the rain and increased flows. Yesterday, as heavy rain pushed muddy water into the lake from feeder streams, fishermen I talked to continued to do well using Powerbait Gulp Eggs in the dirty water and jigs and crank baits in the clear water. They said within a couple of hours the water had cleared up in the creek,s and they started catching trout on just about everything they threw at them.

Moss and algae from Table Rock is an annual problem in May. Don’t ask me the name of this moss, but there are a couple of different variations — some stringy and some just blobs of green muck. It’s always the worse right when the water starts after being off for a while; then it clears somewhat. The fish don’t mind it, but it just makes fishing a little difficult. I was out for an hour this morning and fished a jig across from our dock and didn’t have any moss issues.

We continue to sell a ton of 1/8-ounce sculpin-colored jigs out of the shop. Most of the fishing guides are having their clients throw jigs now because the trout are eating them so well. Bait-wise, night crawlers are always the best thing to use during or after a good rain. I’ve heard of a couple of nice rainbows caught off our dock yesterday — one topping three pounds and the other more than seven pounds, both on night crawlers. Still looking for pics.

Drifting bait in this slow current can be tricky. The key is using the right amount of weight. A drift rig with a small bell weight is the best, but a simple hook and split shot still works almost as well. Of course, we use four-pound line most of the time here. Our water is pretty clear right now. Use only enough weight to throw it out or drop it straight down off the boat. Make sure the weight stays in contact with the bottom but not too much so that you can’t feel the bite of the trout. I usually have several packages of split shot in differing sizes so that I get the right weight.

When using night crawlers, use a half a worm, and break it off. Hook the worm once, leaving both halves hanging off each end of the hook. Don’t worry about hiding the hook — it does not matter. Inject air into the worm, making it float off the bottom. We sell a product called a “Blow Bottle” which works well. You can also use one floating Gulp Egg at the head of the hook to float the worm off the bottom.