Taneycomo Troutfest

Guide Bill Babler with a pretty Taneycomo brown trout, one of
many browns and rainbows that couldn't resists a Rebel Tracdown
Ghost Minnow today.

Yesterday I talked about my excitement about the return of the Rebel Tracdown Ghost Minnow and mentioned that I had one tied on for today's fishing. Well, when I got off the water this afternoon, the same bait was tied to the same rod (as was a larger Tracdown Minnow I had tied on another rod). I fished those two rods and two baits exclusively today and caught rainbows and browns all day. No giants, but plenty of stout pretty fish like the brown in the photo, which is being held by guide Bill Babler.

Babler, who has been guiding in this area for more than three decades, definitely knew where to take Lawrence Taylor of Rebel Lures and where we needed to aim our casts. We covered a lot of water today, but he took us to very specific stretches of bank that Babler considered right for our jerkbait approach or where he felt like we had a better-than-average big fish opportunity. I fished the Tracdown Ghost Minnow exclusively after lunch and was thrilled with the way it darts and with the way the small barbless trebles hook and hold trout. Ironically, the one best fish I lost today was on the larger Tracdown Minnow, which has regular barbed trebles. A 17- or 18-inch brown did two big jumps and on the second jump we had a parting of ways.

I've really enjoyed a couple of days of fishing at Lake Taneycomo and my stay at Lilleys' Landing Resort & Marina. Taneycomo is a special trout fishery, with tremendous numbers of fish, good overall quality, and the ever-present possibility of a genuine giant. It's somewhere I hope to get to know far better over time.

Arrived & Trout Ready

After 900 miles of driving from Pennsylvania, Lilleys' Landing Resort & Marina was welcoming, and I can't claim that I minded the 60-degree air that helped with the greeting. A beautiful resort on the banks of Lake Taneycomo, Lilleys is the host site of a writers event that I'll be part of this week. After a bit of settling, the crew took a short ride to Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery, at the base of Table Rock Dam, where we toured the hatchery and enjoyed barbecue.

It was cool seeing the starting place for the 700,000 or so trout that get stocked into Lake Taneycomo every year. The hatchery takes the trout from eggs all the way to 12-inch stockers, a process that takes about a year and a half, so we got to see the specialized inside tanks where they carefully control conditions and feed teeny weeny trout.

Tomorrow we fish, and I'm very ready. I have baits tied on three rods, ideally to spare tying in the morning when the air is cold, but we'll see how much water is flowing, what type of water our guide takes us to and what he thinks about my "starting line-up."

Now I should rest. Reports to follow!

Buffalo to Taneycomo

Low water made for slower than normal fishing on Arkansas' Buffalo River, but that didn't make our outing any less fun. Nathaniel and I enjoyed a couple of fun days with friends. We floated the river yesterday and wade-fished this morning. And while the bite was slow overall, we did manage to wrangle of few smallies from the river's beautiful emerald-colored waters.
This afternoon, Nathaniel and I traveled to Lilley's Landing on Lake Taneycomo in Branson, Missouri. We fished two or three hours on our own this afternoon and caught a couple of browns and a couple of rainbows. Tomorrow morning we'll be back in the lake with TJ Stallings and a local guide. Taneycomo is famous for it's trout, so I'm looking forward to seeing more of the lake and its fishy residents.