The 10th Annual Lake Taneycomo camping trip is in the books. We had a total of 19 guys make the trip to Branson for this event. One of our biggest yet. Most(12) camped with us at Table Rock State Park, while a smaller group(7) stayed in cabins at Lilly’s Landing.In attendance were, Mike Bisaga, Dave Komor, Mike Chambers, Andrew Holderby, Bob Palisch, Mike Oldani, Harold Bates, Sterling Short, Kelsey Short, Jeff Layton, Nick Layton, Sid Aslin, Tony Kalinowski, Lance Sharkey, Jim Peterson, Alex Zambrano, Chris West, Matt McClure, and Sam McClure)
As has happened many times in the past on this trip, we experienced a wide variety of weather. From light rain to heavy rain; snow, sleet, and warm sunshine. Temps from the mid 20’s to low 70’s, we had it all. The guys seemed to handle it all well and came prepared. Since we had been monitoring the water levels on the FATC website for the last few weeks proceeding to the event, we knew that Taneycomo was going to be running too high and fast to wade. Even though Taneycomo was not optimal for wading, with several other fishing options within a short drive, the group made the best of it. This required everyone to get creative on where and how there were going to fish.
Thursday: A few guys hit Crane Creek and Bennet Spring on the way down to camp. All seemed to have success. The campers slowly arrived at camp and got their weekend home setup, relaxed, and cooked up some brats around the fire. It was cold, so after each had set up, all the campers gathered in Harold’s nice warm camper. What started as a cold wind, turned into rain, then sleet, then snow. The weather came a went all day, however, we didn’t care. As we sat a watched the snow and sleet out the window, it seemed like a good time to start the bourbon tasting, and Harold’s lovely wife provided us with the first of many yummy treats, a 7 layer dip. By the way, Harlds’s wife has been invited on our next trip. You will see why shortly Activities for the upcoming days were discussed. Unfortunately, when Jeff and Nick arrived at camp, after disconnecting their camper, noticed they had a flat tire on their truck. They were able to pump up the tire temporarily and get to Walmart to get it fixed. They got to the shop just as they were closing, but a couple of helpful workers stuck around and fixed the tire and charged them a total of $3. There are good people out there.
Friday: With 19 guys, the group divided into smaller groups and blanketed SW Missouri. Some went to Roaring River, some went to Crane Creek, some tried to fish Taneycomo best they could close to the shoreline, some hired a guide and some rented a boat. No matter the location or fishing method, fish were caught by all. Preferred flies on Taneycomo were grey and brown scuds, egg patterns and anything white. The weather was chilly, but clear for the most part, clear. One group of 7 guys(Bisaga, Komor, Chambers, S Short, K Short(Sterling’s brother), Mike Oldani, and Harold Bates) booked the Trout Machine from Lilly’s. A 24ft tri-toon that has been revamped and set up for fishing. The jury is still out on whether this was a fishing boat or a party barge. Turns out it was a little of both, but all members of the crew enjoyed themselves and caught some really nice fish.
Matt and his son, Sam, headed Sam drove a couple of hours Friday morning to fish the Norfolk River with a guide. Water was high and moving very fast but the guide got them on fish each drift and they had a very productive day.
Jeff and his son Nick had a guide for Friday and Saturday and caught a lot of fish. Nick caught multiple big fish of the weekend: 24 1/2 “ rainbow, a 4-4 1/2 pound brown and rainbow. Jeff did well fishing, but Nick outfished him again.
After a long day of fishing, all returned to camp and many cooked up some steaks and others had some outstanding marinated venison backstraps, courtesy of Andrew. As we prepared our meals, once again, Harold’s wife comes through with a big platter of shrimp cocktail, lobster dip and crab dip. Did I mention that she has been invited on our next trip? A few of the cabin dwellers joined us around the campfire, and we all shared our fish stories of the day.
Saturday: Saturday was similar to Friday with groups headed in different directions. The weather was a bit warmer than Friday, and again fish were caught by all. The same flies seemed to be working as Friday. The “Trout Machine” crew headed out again and were joined by a second boat with a crew of, Matt, Sam, Andrew, Bob, Sid and Tony. The second crew quickly realized the finely honed boating skills displayed by the Trout Machine crew were not as easy as it looked. There was definitely a learning curve. After a long “successful” day of fishing, all campers and cabin dwellers joined back at camp for our BBQ Feast.
The Feast: Anyone who has been on one of our camping trips knows, we eat well. Particularly on our Saturday evening Feast. For the second year, we decided to cater out to Famous Dave’s BBQ in Branson. Dinner was delivered directly to our campsites at 5:45 and it was on. Dinner with BBQ delights like pulled port, sliced brisket, pulled chicken and burnt ends, and sides of cornbread, beans and mac and cheese. Followed by several pies and ice cream, and of course, a huge chocolate cake provided by, you guessed it, Harold’s wife. She is definitely invited back. I do not believe anyone went away hungry. Great fellowship continued around the fire late into the evening.
Sunday: We were not as lucky as last year, and the generation and high water continued. Despite that, some still got in a little more fishing. Sid left in the early am and headed to Bennet, Andrew, Bob, Jeff and Nick headed down to TC and fished the shoreline. The rest of us broke camp and headed for home.
Things we learned: 1) When water at TC is up and moving and a boat is used to fish, it is important to control your boat drift to match the current. This does require either a guide or a dedicated person running the boat. 2) Line size matters! Fishing was tough using 4lb test fishing white jigs. When we switched to 2lb test, we immediately noticed same 3/16 oz white jig cast further, sank faster and we caught 6 trout in ~ 2 hours or less. 3) Jigging needs to be aggressive. Once the jig sinks (countdown to 8/1000….) rip the jig up from 8 to 2 on a clock face and watch for hit on the fall. 4) When you’re getting skunked, pre-made breakfast hatten’s and cold KFC make it better. Not sure but we believe that the KFC bones/chicken parts chum helped turn on the bite.
All in all, it was an outstanding trip with good fishing and even better fellowship. If you have not gone on one of our camping trips, you really should give it a try. It is different than any other trip you will take with the FATC.
