As of February 14th, 2023.
We at Ozark Hills Anglers are ecstatic that you have found our website and fishing report. This page will serve as a weekly update to the river conditions on the White River and twice a month, we will update the conditions on Lake Taneycomo. We hope that you find these fishing reports helpful and feel free to contact us and we will steer you in the right direction.
Now to the important part... fishing on the White River is good right now. The spawn is generally over and the big brown trout are looking to put weight back on after a stressful season of creating the next generation of giant fish. The bad news is that generation schedules have been unpredictable and the SWPA has been hesitant to run lots of consistent water. The good news is that if you are willing to put the time in, you can be rewarded with quality fish. Because we are currently dealing with low water for this time of the year, (3000-8000 cfs) streamers that are a little smaller tend to be fooling trout more effectively. Flies like Circus Peanuts, Dungeons (don't be afraid to throw a mini), Mini Sluggos and even Kreelex flies are working well right now. For the nymph fishermen, trout continue to look for egg patterns as well as general attractor style nymphs like Dally's Tailwater Jig, Sunday Specials and any of your favorite midge patterns. Every once in a while, shad are being pushed through the dam, so don't be afraid to try a white mop fly from time to time, just make sure you are getting down to where the trout are feeding.
Guide Rudy Chelednik with a healthy White River Brown Trout
Lake Taneycomo continues to fish well as always, through the periods of wadable water seems to have subsided. There are reports of a few shad up at the outflow of Table Rock Dam, so you can't go wrong with a 1/125th size white marabou jig, paired with either a scud or zebra midge. Fish these patterns along the bank and in the current seams. Taneycomo is tough to beat if you want to catch a bunch of 15-24+ inch rainbows in the Trophy Section. If you are lucky enough to find an opportunity to be there when the dam is not generating, I have found that the most important aspect is downsizing your tippet. 6x or even 7x is sometimes required to fool these pressured fish, but if you can dial it in, you can truly have an incredible day. Also, don't be afraid to change flies often as sometimes a fly change or even a color change can turn your day from a five fish day to a 50 fish day in a hurry.
Carrol Graham with a beautiful Lake Taneycomo Rainbow Trout
For information related to the generation schedules you can either look at Southwestern Power Administration (swpa.gov) website or call the hotline (866)-494-1993. Generation schedules are generally published for the following day after 4PM CST. The prompts for our rivers are as follows 12(Table Rock Dam), 13 (Bull Shoals Dam) and 14 (Norfork Dam).
Stay safe and hope to see you on the river!
-Rudy Chelednik