Irish Tea and Soft Hackles

Fishing New Places

I have recently been on a couple of vacation trips with my wife that I was able to partially transform into fishing excursions. Of the two locations fished, one was what I would call a fun and highly successful trip, and the other, while being fun, was more of a learning experience. Upon reflection, both were enjoyable and worth the effort!

The unique sentiment for each trip can be attributed to circumstances including my knowledge and familiarity with the areas and the generation schedules. The two locations are the Beaver tailwaters in northwest Arkansas, a place I've fished a few times, and Lake Taneycomo, just out of Branson, Missouri, a new area for me. Both are excellent fisheries and places that I hope to be able to fish again.

Beaver Tailwaters

Fishing the Beaver tailwaters is an enjoyable event. The White River in this area is relatively small in size, and the water is cold! While I was there, the fish were very fond of a #16 bead head soft hackled pheasant tail. As a matter of fact, I had checked with Bill Tenison and Brian Harris of White River Angler in Fayetteville on what flies to use. These guys are great! On their recommendations, I tied diamond midges, ruby midges, green bodied copper johns, lightning bugs, and a new batch of PTs. The bead head PTs are a favorite of mine any place I fish moving water. It is a great fly! Other than quick tries with the other flies, I stuck with the pheasant tail because it was working so well.

Because of midday generation, the fishing was primarily in the morning, with the possibility of a short period in the late afternoon. I caught quite a few 11 to 13 inch rainbows over the four days there, but my highlight was a nice brown that I landed and a something, probably a brown, that I never saw! On the third day, I was having good luck fishing the PT on the swing in the current. On one pass, I hooked a fish that immediately showed me he had some size! No problem! I started working him closer. Apparently, at that moment he figured out what was happening. He took off, pulling fly line for about 70 feet. Still feeling confident of my success with my 3 wt. Chin rod, I started trying to work him in. I guess he was just resting, for he took off again!

This time he stopped after taking out about 40 feet of backing. Once again, I tried to work him, but apparently he had circled a rock or some obstruction. I figured he would break off at that point, but suddenly, he swam out toward the middle of the river and took off again! When I looked down at my reel and saw that a bare spool wasn't far away (I probably had 150 to 180 feet of backing, most of it in the river with him), the realization came that I may lose the fish, plus a fly line and its backing! With this thought, I started applying a little more pressure to get him turned. Within a matter of seconds, my line went limp! What a thrill for a fish I never saw!

About an hour later, I once again hooked a fish that showed size. This time I was soon in control, if you can call it that. I moved backwards letting him have his way until I was able to land him in shallow water. He was a nice fish as you can see by the picture above and measured in at 18 inches. What a morning!

Later in the day, I saw an AGFC officer and told him of the "one that got away", thinking it was probably a striper. He said that they had recently done an electro shocking, finding browns in the river over 30 inches. By his word, it was a large brown that had almost robbed me!

Taneycomo

Lake Taneycomo is more like a river than lake. It is actually both, being the tailwaters of Table Rock Dam and the lake above Powersite Dam. A section of it is the boundary between the cities of Branson and Hollister, MO. The dam is just a few miles to the southwest of Branson. There is a hatchery located just below the dam, and the water release from the outlets attract some good sized trout. The evening before I started fishing, I talked to a couple of fishermen who were leaving the water after having success. Picture me excited!

I started the next morning at Taneycomo just above outlet 2. My reason for starting here was because at 20 minutes before any speck of daylight there was no place to stand below the outlet without rubbing arms with someone. At daylight I felt something bumping my leg and looked down. There were several, seven to be exact, large rainbows holding just downstream from me catching what I dislodged. What a group of fish! Two or three were probably 18 inches or longer.

After an hour of no action and lots of people, I left to go downstream in search of solitude. I never found it, but I did find a beautiful area with no crowd and lots of fish in sight. Just as I started fishing, the horn sounded for generation! Okay! I told myself that if two hours is all I'll get each morning, I'll make the best of it!

The next morning Matthew, my youngest son, was with me. We started out above outlet 2 so that I could show him the big fish there. We arrived at 5:40, and the horn went off at 6 a.m. What a disgusting situation! Matthew had to help an older fellow (older than me), who had waited a little long to leave the water. The man had caught a couple of large trout and was holding out to the end! I told Matthew that there was no use in going back with the four unit generation beginning at 6 a.m. His response was that it would be worth it to catch one large trout!

At 5:35 the next morning we went in above outlet 2. Once again, there was no space below. Matthew eased into the edge of the outlet flow and begain casting into it. He soon caught a couple of pretty good sized rainbows and lost one even better. At 6 a.m. the generators started. He worked slowly up the bank as the water rose. Finally, he hooked a good one! I really thought it would be impossible to land against both the outlet flow and generation current on the 5X tippet he was using. When he did get the fish in and we measured it, he realized he had caught an 18 inch brown, the largest trout he had ever taken. I then moved into his spot and caught three rainbows in the next 20 minutes. We left early with the satisfaction that only a father and son can experience together!

It does not take a lot of fish to make a successful trip. Whetting the learning appetite is a big part of the satisfaction. Fishing with a friend adds to the enjoyment. And.... Oh yeah, it sure is fun to catch fish!

Johnny Mc

thoughts by Johnny McJunkins

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