well that last fish I posted in the first post… I believe is the start of what is yet to come!!!
Nights on Taneycomo has been FANTASTIC and they are getting better…
Last year they had stopped generating water for a long period of time, due to the lack of rain…
well this year we have had a VERY wet summer, so the generation has kept the water nice and cold…
so with the water moving the way it has been… the fish has been eatting good… there are getting very fat… and are putting on a few pound.
Hopefully they wont be so fat that they cant fight…
But I really think this fall is going to be a good!!!
Actually, no offense to Leonard intended, those fish ARE pretty typical for where he fishes. These are NOT “hawgs” for around here. They are nice fish to be sure, but among our “big fish” they are not remarkable. On a scale of 1 to 10 for the trout in Taneycomo…with 1 being a 12" stocker and 10 being the last record fish caught here…those fish I would call 4’s. About 75% of the fish caught in the Trophy Zone on Taneycomo are 12" to 16" long, then about 20% are 17" to 22", and the remaining 5% are 23" to 35" or so. A typical 20-22" Rainbow or Brown on Taneycomo will weigh about 4-5 lbs. Fish over 22" and up to 30" will run anywhere from 5lbs up to about 15 lbs. (15 would be exceptionally FAT). And by fishing at night, he increases his odds of hooking dominant predator-class trout in the Trophy Zone over fishing the same areas in the daytime (all other things being equal) because the dominant fish tend to feed and move more after dark due to the lack of quality cover for large fish, shallow clear water, and the high concentration of avian predators.
All the numbers above are just my own estimates from having fished there for the past decade a BUNCH. They are not scientific. I’m not really into numbers and I very rarely measure a fish and never weigh one. But we all talk, compare notes, watch each other, etc. I’m a pretty good judge of length and weight on trout and bass under 10 lbs or so. I do carry a tape measure, but only use it on the big ones nowadays. FYI, we call a trout “big” when it’s over 20" and “nice” when it’s over 15".
The Ozarks cold water tailwaters created by the hydro dams built in the early and mid-20th century are exceptionally rich in food sources for trout. This was discovered AFTER the decision to stock them with trout to mitigate the catastrophic fish kills and utter destruction of the warm water species (mostly various bass strains like smallmouth, ozark bass, and goggle eye) of the White River system brought on by the erection of the dams. The primary food sources are: scuds/sowbugs, shad, and midges. And they exist in sufficient densities to grow some HUGE trout in amazingly short periods of time. If memory serves, about 6 of the last 10 world record brown trout have come from one of the Ozarks’ cold tailwaters…including the current all-class world record brown trout. The last few world records caught in the Ozarks came from the Little Red River or Norfork tailwater in Arkansas (1-2 hour drive from Taneycomo), but one of the most impressive of these records was the 2 lb line class record caught on Taneycomo back in the 1990s by a guy Leonard and I both have fished with.
P.S. The other approach to catching predator-class trout on Taneycomo is to figure out where they go during the DAY and drop a big fly on their noses. This pretty much requires a boat. You can walk the trophy zone and sight fish to bruisers, but that presents me with an average of 2-5 opportunities at fish over 20" per outing. If you do it by boat, you can exponentially improve your odds. Or you can wade the trophy zone at night. If you go that route, go with someone who knows what they are doing. Wading ANY river at night is dangerous. Wading a tailwater below an SWPA-managed hydro dam at night is a LOT moreso. And the two best ways to hedge your bets are to wear a PFD and to go with someone who has been doing it for a LONG time and has great judgment.
Leonard…NOPE!..that 16-17 incher is a dandy here in Ohio. My biggest trout, other than a 7 pound steelie from Ohio water is a 17" stocked rainbow.
Thanks for making me drool.
Mike
I do catch my fair share of 20+ fish at night… On aveage about 6-9 a month…
not to bad of odds… but Im also down there at less 3-5 night a week.
yes I spend alot on the water at night and still very awear of everything around me…when every you think you have it all figured out they generate water which cause the bottom to “shift” (the rocks move around)… and its a whole new area to walk though…
granted I have not fished and walked the whole (what is it )3 mile of trophy water so there are probably some fish that has never even been seen swimming around in there…
but sure as the moon raises, that big one will be caught sooner then later at night!!
