After being canceled last year due to Covid, the word went out to the FATC in January and the annual Taneycomo camping trip was a go. With guys ready to get out of the house, the reservations poured in to make the largest group of FATC brothers on this trip ever. In total, 22 guys made the trip down to Branson for this event. WOW, that’s a lot of FATC. 17 camped at Table Rock State Park and 5 stayed in cabins at Lilly’s Landing (The Cabin Dwellers). If you have not stayed at Lilly’s Landing before, you should check it out. Very nice facilities and very nice, helpful people.
As has been the case the last several times we have fished Taneycomo, the water levels were…let’s say…uncooperative. Spring showers dumped a lot of water into Table Rock and the White River system, and as a result, the water was flowing strong in Taneycomo. Just a few days before our arrival, the flood gates were open on Table Rock Dam. Even though Taneycomo was not optimal for wading, with several other fishing options within a short drive, the group decided to make the best of it.
Thursday: A few guys hit Crane Creek and Bennet Spring on the way down to camp. All seemed to have success. Several other guys made a quick stop at one of our FATC sponsors (River Run Outfitters), set up camp, relaxed, cooked up some brats around the fire. Activities for the upcoming days were discussed.
Friday: Since it would be very difficult to dump 22 guys on a single fishing location, 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, Al shared his inflatable drift boat 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 and anything white. It was suggested by a couple of guides we talked to, that we use BIG scuds. Big like size 10 or 12. It seemed to work. A brief rainstorm blew through early afternoon. The heavy rain and lightning on Taneycomo made everyone in a boat head for cover. Our crew that rented the boat headed back to Lilly’s Landing marina where we had about 45 minutes of good fellowship hanging with several of the Cabin Dwellers at the marina. Once things cleared up, the boat headed back out and took some of the cabin dwellers for a boat ride while we finished fishing. It was a FULL boat and when the extra passangers decided to fish as well, it was cozy. 10 guys all fishing at once. After a full day on the water, as we prepared for dinner, a group needed to make a “quick” run across the dam for some…supplies. Turns out, they were the last car to cross the dam before they completely closed the road for the night due to dam maintenance. They were now on the north side of the dam, and our camp was on the south side, with no road between. After about a 40 minutes detour through Branson and Hollister, they found their way back to camp where pizza was served around the fire. Storms Friday night shortened our fellowship campfire, but we still had a good time.
Saturday: Saturday was similar to Friday with groups headed in different directions. The weather was a bit windier and chillier than Friday. That didn’t stop anyone, and again fish were caught by all. The same flies seemed to be working as Friday.
Sunday: Surprise, Surprise…We wake up Sunday morning to be informed that all generation was shut down for the day. What? No way. A couple of guys headed out to scout the rumor, and sure enough, they were off..for a little while(more on that later). Everyone packed up camp as quickly as possible, and many of us headed down to Taneycomo to fish before heading home. It was just like the “Old Day’s”. Water was down, you could wade across the entire lake. Walk out to the Island, and there were fish…everywhere. A bunch of fish were caught on olive wooly buggers and the good ole CQ Streamer. Some fished up by the dam and the hatchery outlets, some parked at the boat ramp and walked down from there to the stretch in front of the condo. A few notable catches on Sunday. One was by Andrew Holderby, who recorded his largest trout on a flyrod to date, 19″. He caught it around the long straight stretch by Fish Tales near the Pointe Royale condo. The other by Vernon Preston. I don’t know the exact measurements on his fish, but it appeared to be around 20-22 inches. It was big. He caught it up by the dam.
Anyone who has fished Lake Taneycomo knows about the siren. Rule number 1, when the you hear the siren, that means that they are increasing the flow through the dam and the water is going to rise. What this means is, immediately get to an area of the lake where you can get out of the rising water if needed. Which leads me to our adventure on Sunday. The water was down, and generators were off. However, they were scheduled to come back online at about 5pm. that’s fine, we would be gone by then. Rule number 2, no matter what the estimated generation schedule is, they lie. At about 2:30 we hear the siren. At this point, a couple of us were a considerable distance downstream from our access point. As we slowly returned back to the correct side of the lake, we continued fishing. Bad idea. Within a few minutes, we noticed the current noticeably increasing. Not good. With that, we headed back upstream as fast as we could, knowing that if the water gets too high, we would not be able to get out where we came in. Not to be overly dramatic, but the water came up very fast, and we ended up being just seconds from being stranded from the shoreline and access to our car. Bottom line, take the siren seriously. When it goes off, be sure you have a way out.
After getting back to our car, and getting changed, we headed over to the da to see how much it was generating. As we pull up, we see 5 of the flood gates were open. As we watched, they were shutting them down one at a time, but from what we could tell, they had 7 open at one time. So the lake went from 0 generation, to 7 flood gates open. That explains why it came up so fast.
A Few Other Interesting Events from this trip.
Boat: One group of 7 guys decided to rent a boat from Lilly’s Landing and try drifting Taneycomo. None had done that before, so if nothing else, it would be an adventure. We come to find out that the boat was appropriately named “The Trout Machine”. 7 guys that have never floated Taneycomo before, all trying to fish with heavy winds and swift-moving water, what could go wrong. Actually, not much. With the exception of the learning curve to control this “barge” with a trolling motor, everything worked out pretty well. The boat even had a clear live well(aquarium) on board. The guys had several “mascots” over the weekend, but they were all returned to the lake unharmed.
The Feast: Anyone who has been on one of our camping trips knows, we eat well. Particularly on our Saturday evening Feast. As a point of reference, our last trip we had Venison Tenderloin, stuffed with Gorgonzola and wrapped in bacon. Yep, that’s how we roll. This time, with so many guys, trying to coordinate preparing dinner for everyone was a little more difficult, and…I just didn’t feel like it. . So instead, we decided to cater out to Famous Dave’s BBQ in Branson. After a long day of fishing, we all headed back to camp. The Cabin Dwellers came over as well to join as well. 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 a couple of camp-made desserts on the fire, chocolate upsidedown cake, a berry cobbler and apple pie. I do not believe anyone was hungry.
Bourbon Tasting: Several of us thought it would be a good idea to have a bourbon testing around the fire on Saturday night. Everyone that wanted to participate was to bring something interesting to share. We ended up with e LARGE selection, and surprisingly, no duplicates. Of course, the testing that was scheduled for Saturday evening actually started on Thursday, but hey, why not. We had a wide variety, including a couple of highly sought-after, well-known bottles from the Buffalo Trace Distillery. The supplier of those will remain nameless, otherwise, he will be bombarded with requests, since we commoners can’t find those bottles anywhere. Thanks again for sharing.
All in all, it was an outstanding trip with good fishing and 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.
