Today just after noon all flood gates were opened at Table Rock Dam. It went from 5 gates to all 10. Beaver and Norfork spillways were opened up earlier in the day. Table Rock Lake is suppose to crest on Sat at 733.3. Top Flood stage is 731.0. Flood pool is 921.

This is the 2nd week that 5 flood gates and 4 generators has been running steadily. The rainbows are definately spawning so while the spots to fish are limited there are plenty of nice fish. The numbers of landed fish decreased a little, but I have been landing much nicer fish. We have also been doing well on our boat trips. There really isn’t a secret to the fishing right now just mostly fish deep. I been fishing mostly san juan worms and scud patterns. Off the bank you will have to fish around 9ft deep. Out of the boat you may need to add a few more ft.
As far as the white bass spawn. It was interrupted by the flooding waters. They backed out to deeper water, but with the water clarity getting better by the day they should be back on schedule fairly soon. For this you can throw your typical white zonkers on sinking line. That is what worked well for me before the rising water.

We have lots and lots of water. Not only here but the entire surrounding area. Table Rock Lake is currently almost 8 feet over flood stage, and still has not crested. Right now there is 5 flood gates open at the dam, and thats been the case for the last 3 days. For those of you that are familar with the area below the Dam on Lake Taneycomo, water levels are so high that at outlet 2 the stairs are almost completely underwater.
Most of our guide trips have been in the boat the last week or so. We have been catching plenty of fish, but you will need to get very deep to reach them. Currently there are just not many places for good access on the bank. If you are launching a boat at Cooper Creek public access you will need waders, as the walk ways to the dock are under water.

Current lake levels are: Table Rock Lake –929.0 (top flood stage is 931.0)
Taneycomo —713.1

The tailwater has been running 4 generators for several weeks now. The tailwater level though was a little over a foot lower yesterday making it easier to wade to different locations. Of course the water isn’t ideal for most wading situations, but it’s still worth the trip to fish for the spawning rainbows that lake taneycomo is known for. The size of these rainbows has really increased the past week or so…very exciting! This is also a good time to gas up the boat and give it some time on the river.
Fly selection hasn’t been too unusual for high water. In my opinion it’s more important to get the correct depth on your strike indicator and correct split shot. I also noticed yesterday they weren’t pulling my indicator under most times…I would definately use the smallest indicator possible for your favorite spot. I’ve been using a san juan worm with a wd40 trailor. Also I’ve been using a small peach egg pattern with a #20 scud pattern. Out of a boat you can still use this rig just adjust your float accordingly. Out of the boat I’ve been using a class6 sink tip tight lining black woolies behind the boat. As tippet selection goes I’m using 6x flourocarbon pretty regularly due to the larger fish I’ve lost on 7x….stick with 6x. When it comes to streamers I would go with a 5x or 4x flourocarbon due to the need for a stiff and fast hook set when using a heavy sinking line…….Good Luck.

Hey everybody… the water generation lately has been very hard to predict. Today they had 2 generators running early then turned it up to 4 shortly after opening. Some fisherman have been hooking some 20″ and better fish. There have been lots of fish being caught reguardless of water fluctuation. With the water off try black woolies, red hots, and heavier rabbit leeches. With the water on your pretty well stuck fishing a chamois worm, egg pattern, scud, or san juan. The key here is to have it on the bottom…if casting out toward main channel don’t be shy about depth and weight. The weather is forcasted to be 30s and 40s all week.

Today the weather dropped back down in the thirties, and with our recent precipitation they had 1 generator running. The fishing has been very productive regardless of the cold front. There have been several people hooking fish 20″-25″, but nothing much over that. We are mostly catching rainbows, but this last couple weeks we’ve seen several smaller browns caught. As far as fly selection I’ve been throwing more soft hackles, cracklebacks, and south platte brassies (black and green are the predominant colors). Of course smaller scuds and egg patterns are a good fail-safe. Yesterday I heard a lot about san juan worms working in the rain. I’ve been still using 6X fluorocarbon for tippet. If you are not ready to brave the cold weather or the wind…this weekend it’s supposed to warm up again around the 50 degree mark.

Tight lines everyone

For those that don’t mind a little cold weather the fishing has been fantastic! The generators have been running off and on the past few days, but with the lack of fisherman you can access just about any of the honey holes. There have also been several big rainbows caught recently. As far as fly selection try unweighted woolies, scuds, egg pattterns, south platte brassies, and brown or black zebras. I’ve been using little bigger size on average with usually a 6x fluorocarbon tippet. Right now the fish seem so active that 7x hasn’t been working any better.
I went to the Norfork tailwater in Arkansas on sunday and had a great time there as well. We caught more fish by the dam, but our bigger fish were almost to the second island up from the handicap access. We did well there on red/gold and olive/gold zebras. The other things worth trying were scuds and the rusty midge. Rusty midge worked in the beginning but there interest died out fast. It’s always a thought if you have been getting an itch to travel somewhere.

Good luck

Hope you got a chance to get out and enjoy some fishing in the really nice warmer weather. Wind was an issue a few days, but it was hard not to give it a good effort when it was so warm out. Hardly any water ran also. Today is a new story, 3 generators were going first thing this morning, with it being backed down to 2 around 9 am and then 1 generator approx. at lunch time. Yesterday it ran a little.
When the water was off there has sure been quite a midge hatch going on. Stripping south platte brassies, cracklebacks, and even a tan elk hair caddis, was very productive. Other patterns have been WD-40’s, tungsten beaded midge, smaller black or olive woollies, and white micro jigs early in the morning.

There has not been much if any water running lately. The fish have not been very picky at all, with several different patterns working. So with those two put together, it’s hard not to have a good day!

Flies to try:

Olive woollie buggers
South Platte brassies: green or black
WD-40 midges
tungsten beaded midge
Peach or white micro jigs
eggs patterns (fished as an attractor)
Scuds: gray or tan

This has been a really good week down on the water. If you like catching lots of fish and even some 20″+ rainbows, you need to be fishing now. I saw several really nice rainbows landed and released this week. There’s been a larger than normal midge hatch going on in the afternoons. Cracklebacks and south platte brassies were about all that was needed during this time. I think other patterns would work, but it wasn’t necessary to change.

The water has been off the last 2 days. Prior to that is was running in the morning, but off in the afternoon.

TOP FLY PATTERNS

scuds: tan or brown
WD-40’s
prism emergers
zebra midges
egg patterns
san juans- peach
cracklebacks
south platte brassies green or copper
midge emerger in black

Wishing everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!