Taneycomo 2/27 - " Midge Madness"

The weather was predicted to be warm and dry on Sunday so I made the decision to head down to Taneycomo for a day of tailwater fishing. What I really hoped to do was spend the day on one of the tribs running into the main river catching bows that had moved up following the recent rains.

I got to my intended destination, one of the larger creeks running into Taney , around 10:00 and found the water up and looking rather nice compared to the last time I'd seen it.

I rigged up quickly and headed off downstream keeping one eye on the water looking for signs of fish. I hiked about a mile downstream without seeing a fish or wetting a fly but I'd passed lots of fast riffles that I knew could be holding fish with no opportunity of being spotted. No matter anyway , the weather was grand and I hadn't seen another soul since I turned off the ignition key in the truck. Those riffles might be full of fish and I had all day to work my way back. Unfortunately my wishes of optimism fell on deaf ears as I wasn't able to locate any fish in the creek on this day. These places can be good when the fish are around but obviously those recent rains hadn't been enough to send a push of fish upstream.

Still it was a good way to wind down and get back in the fishing mode.... and I needed the casting practice anyway. By the time I got back to the truck it was lunch time so I hastily ate a sandwich and then headed towards Taneycomo to finish out my day.
I arrived below the dam and found about what I expected with the low water and nice weather...a fairly full parking lot. I parked in front of outlet four so I could fish downstream of the big hole where I usually find a little more leg room.

My first stop was next to a graying old fellow who didn't seem to mind me crowding him one bit, he was intent on catching a fish and my appearance only annoyed him slightly. I could see fish midging everywhere both up and downstream of my position so I tied on a zebra midge about 18 inches under a palsa and began working the fish within range.

I was hooked up in no time to a typical Taney bow ,healthy and full of fight. With the warm breezy conditions the midge activity continued all afternoon and I was able to catch fish on griffiths gnats..soft hackles and zebra midges.

This was some great fishing , a few small fish but enough real chunkers mixed in to make you forget about the smaller ones quickly. I caught fish midging until about 4:00 and by this time the river was really clearing out.

I decided to try something different so I finished up the last two hours or so nymphing through rebar hole which had emptied out by this time. Using a g-bug and bit scud I caught fish one after another until it was too dark to see the indicator anymore.



A few more small fish in the riffles at rebar but when they're biting like that who cares. A fantastic day of fishing on one of my favorite tailwaters again , this place seldom dissapoints if conditions are right. I finished up the day cooking dinner on the tailgate of the blazer down by the lake before crashing on the boat for the night.

Tomorrow I'll be headed for BSSP to meet up with family and friends for an annual pilgramage. This wasn't too bad of a way to start things off....