Our water temperature is still a healthy 46 degrees with generation. Our trout are fighting just as hard as they fought in the spring when oxygen levels were at their highest. There are some reports of larger trout having to be worked a bit before being released after a hard fight. I've experienced that myself this week, but that's pretty normal with larger fish. The reports in the area newspapers regarding low dissolved oxygen (D.O.) in our tailwater, in my opinion, were overstated and misleading. It is true we have low D.O. issues every fall season below Table Rock Dam (and below all other dams in the White River system) but it's not new news. Some years are worse than others. Water temperature plays a major part in whether a fall season of low D.O. is very hard on our trout or not. Low D.O. combined with high water temperatures causes extreme stress on trout; then add a lengthy fight and often times is causes death, especially if the angler does not make any effort to revive the fish. But fortuneately, this fall season looks to be favorable. Our water temperatures are low and should continue to be in good shape through December.

I've gotten out this past week and did some fly fishing, as well as jig fishing. We bought some great looking new fly patterns for the fly shop, and I had to get out and try a few of them. One was a Japanese beetle pattern. The beetles made a major invasion this year, up from Arkansas, and are thick around here during the summer and fall, It stands to reason that our trout should see a lot of these bugs fall in the water close to the banks. So I tried them up in the trophy area this week, casting along the bluff bank, under trees and close to the rocks. Most of the time I spotted the rainbow prior to catching it. They sit close to the surface of the water if they are actively feeding on the surface, and a good, accurate cast will draw aggressive attention. And these rainbows aren't small. I believe rainbows grow to learn how to feed on natural foods in the lake, so most of the rainbows along the banks will be mature fish looking for bugs from the overhanging trees.

I did increase my chances of success yesterday while fishing by adding a dropper to my #14 japanese beetle. About 18 inches below my foam fly, I tied on a #18 pearl & primrose zebra midge. Later I tried a red, then an olive zebra midge and had some success, so the color might not be really important. I had one rainbow take the dropper but I missed the strike.

As noted in other reports throughout the summer, our freshwater shrimp population is incredible right now, so fishing scuds is very popular and effective. When the water is not running, fish a scud on the bottom. When the water is running, fish it on the bottom. Scuds live in the rocks and do swim up but never very close to the surface. They stay down close to the bottom so that's where your fly should be. Yesterday they were running two units but not full, about 50-60 percdent, I'd say, so that might be a little more than one unit. I was fishing from Lookout down, positioning the boat in very shallow water and casting and drifting by fly still in shallow water but towards the center of the lake. I picked up a couple of trout, moved to deeper water and started picking up more numbers. By deeper I mean darker areas where I couldn't see the bottom as well. I was fishing about 11-feet deep, using a large float indicator and two small split shot, 6x tippet. The fly I was using was a #14 "peppy" scud which is gray dog (Shitzu) fur with gray antorn mixed in, non weighted.

Night fishing below the dam reportedly is heating up big time. One thing nice about the change in weather is less humidity and less fog on the water at night and in the mornings!! Makes night fishing nicer for sure. Guys have been fishing anywhere from outlet #1 down through to the old KOA Campground wading. The other night, I boated up to Big Hole in my boat and started drifting, fishing a jig, down to Fall Creek. They were running two units at about 70%. Great drift but the trout were NOT hungry. Full moon, great night to be out, very pleasant! But only one rainbow. That's why they call it fishing and not catching!!

Jig bite is still pretty good. Remember, when throwing a jig straight with no float, the trout will take the jig on the drop, when it's sinking. Watch the line, feel for the slight tap and really set the hook hard and fast. Colors are the same but white is making a comeback. I've heard of some browns and larger rainbows taking white jigs this past week, so add white to sculpin, black, sculpin/ginger, olive and brown with an orange head.

The micro jig bite is still very good when the water is off. Guide Bill Babler is doing really well above and below Fall Creek. Remember to use two-pound line when you can, preferrably Vanish two-pound line. Play around with the depth; set it at five feet and move it deeperas needed. Use a pink micro if the water is running and set the depth a little more than the depth of the water.

We're still selling a ton of night crawlers because the trout are eating them! Best areas are around Short Creek and down above and below Scotty's Trout Dock. Also try Power Bait Gulp eggs in white/pink or white/orange combos. You can get away with using four-pound line when using bait.

Just checked weather.com's 10-day forecast for the Branson area, and it says we're in for some lower temperatures this next week. May be we've seen the end of triple digits this summer. Good for the angler even though the trout have not seemed to care. What this will affect is generation patterns. We may see less flows. Instead of four units later in the afternoon, we may see two units or fewer. But you never know with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Today one unit has been running all day with a planned bump up to three units later.

Trout fishing continues to be good. August usually is one of the slowest months of the year here on Taney. MDC still stocks a year-high 90,000 rainbow this month, but for whatever reason, they usually don't bite as well in the dog days of summer. But they have been biting very well. Large rainbows are still being caught above and below Fall Creek. Here's at Lilleys' Landing, we had two rainbows weighing more than seven pounds caught this past week, one off the dock and one out in a boat. A 12-pound rainbow was caught off the dock and released.

We are selling about 120 dozen night crawlers a week right now and, yes, night crawlers are the best bait for sure. Like this morning, with one unit running, the best thing to do is to start drifting at the mouth of Fall Creek, with four-pound line, a small #8 short-shanked bronze hook and a #7 split shot pinched on the line 18 inches above the hook. Hook the worm one time in the collar and break off the tail leaving the same length of worm hanging off each side of the hook. Inject some air in the night crawler so it floats off the bottom. Set your boat sideways in the current and throw out upstream. If you're not hitting the bottom, increase the amount of line you have out. If that doesn't work, increase the size of the split shot until you get a good roll on the bottom.

You can use Gulp Power Eggs the same way, but night crawlers will catch more and bigger trout. Use one white along with one other color--orange, pink or yellow.

Some of the guides did find some nice-sized rainbows just up from, through and down from Scotty's Dock this past week, but there are a lot of smaller rainbows down there, too. The smaller ones will take a spoon or spinner cast and retrieved slowly.

It still amazes me how many large rainbows are down in our area of the lake (by Lilleys' Landing). My fishing buddy Vince was done with a trip on Sunday and was fishing out in front of our place about 1 p.m. I called him to pick me up and we fished down to Cooper Creek -- on the bluff side. He was throwing a Sluggo (plastic jerk bait) for browns and I was casting a 1/8th-ounce black jig. With one unit running the water was barely moving. He had several follows but no takers. I caught a couple of rainbows, then hooked a heavy fish. First I thought it might be a smallmouth bass but getting a look at it, I saw the fluorescent rainbow flash. With two-pound line it took a while to land, but it was a solid 19-inch rainbow weighing more than four pounds. It had avoided a lot of Power Bait over the past eight to 12 months to grow to that size!

There should be less fog on the water both in the mornings and in the evenings with cooler temps and less humidity, so getting out early won't be so difficult. Shouldn't be foggy at night either if you want to get out and do some night fishing, either wading below the dam or out in a boat.

Above Fall Creek in the trophy area, fishing has been twice as good as normal. Some of our guides are starting as early as 6:15 a.m. when the trout seem to bite best. Fishing a micro jig in black, olive or tan under a float four- to five-feet deep using two-pound line (a must) has been great, but the trout have been alittle picky about how it's presented. At times they like it dead in the water with no movement, but some times they like it twitched every 5-10 seconds to project a little life. The strikes can be slight or hard, so you have to watch the float closely. One problem many anglers have is keeping the line slack to a minimum and keeping the rod tip pointed at the float. If these two things aren't watched, setting the hook is futile.

Fly fishing is still very good, out of a boat or wading below the dam. Of course, the water needs to be down, not running, for the best wading, but out of a boat it doesn't matter. They're still eating a scud pattern the best, but you have to get it to the bottom and keep it moving to have the best success. Number 12 in gray, olive and brown if the water is running and #14 to #18 is it's not. You can get away with using 5 or 6x tippet if the water is running but if it's not, use 7x. Zebra midges in red, black or olive are working well, too, especially when the water is off with no generation. Fish close to the surface if trout are midging or taking midges off the surface and fish them 12 to 36 inches below an indicator if they're not.

This fishing report could be a copy-and-paste of my last report. It's amazing how many nice rainbows keep coming out of the area between Fall Creek and Short Creek. Most of the fishing guides have gravitated to the same pattern: Head up to the trophy area and fish a jig-and-float for two hours to catch nice trophy rainbows, then head down out of the trophy area and fish night crawlers for rainbows the clients want to keep.

I had a trip Thursday and again this morning, but we stayed below Fall Creek the entire time and fished night crawlers. On Thursday, we drifted crawlers on four-pound line with small bell weights (1/4-ounce) since two units were running. We used a small #8 bronze hook and shot a little air in the worm to make it float. We tried to stay in the middle of the lake and caught a couple of dozen rainbows. This morning they ran one unit for just a little bit. We started at 6 a.m., anchoring below Fall Creek about 800 yards in the middle of the lake. The trout bit well until the water started moving about 7:30 a.m.. We pulled the anchors and started floating. I thought the fishing would improve, but it actually slowed unusually. We made one slow drift down to Short Creek, then headed back up. As we started another drift, the water slowed. We dropped anchor, and after the current slowed to a crawl, we started catching fish again. The two boys ended up catching 25 rainbows, the biggest was 17 inches.

Night crawlers are by far the best bait right now. Inject them with air and float them off the bottom about 12 to 18 inches.

Above Fall Creek, a straight jig or jig and float is best. If you're using a jig and float, use two-pound line. If you're throwing a jig--1/8th-ounce to 1/16-ounce--you can get away with four-pound, but two-pound is still better. Since our water is clear, our trout are growing particular.

For fly fishermen, the trout are starting to look up! Dry flies like beetles, hoppers, ants and midges are hot flies right now. When the water is down and when it's running just a bit, the spots along the bank's edge and under overhanging trees are best. Scuds are still the go-to fly on Taneycomo. When the water is off, you may have to drop to 7x tippet and #18 or #20 scuds, but when the water is running you can get away with 6x or even 5x tippet and #10- to #14-size scuds. Use them in gray, olive, tan or brown.

Night fishing is great. Wade below the dam or get out in a boat. Both have been very good lately. The boat thing is tricky due to the lake fog every night, but when the moon gets brighter, you can make your way around fairly well. Dark 1/8th or 3/32nd-ounce jigs work best. Throw them straight and work them off the bottom, fishing from the dam to Fall Creek and even further down. When we fly fish, it's mainly in the shallow water below the dam so sink tips are not necessary. Weighted or unweighted dark wooly buggers, leeches, muddlers, streamers, PMS, pine squirrels, and hibernators are working great.