Clay Banks

Water Conditions:  No Generation

Layout:  At the top, a fairly narrow channel dumps into a broader channel that's known as the clay banks.  Bed rock bottom for the most part with gravel piled up in some areas.  Gravel on north bank that drops off fairly fast.  Sandy dirt bank on the south bank that may be shored up with shot rock in the near future.  There are submerged, large, downed trees, mainly tree trunks and roots, along the south bank.  There is a very slow current moving through this whole area.

What to look for:  Both browns are rainbows frequent this area.  There are a lot of sculpin living in the bed rock and tree structure on the bottom.  Browns love sculpin, a small fish that looks like a prehistoric catfish but only 4 inches at the most.  The browns root around in the moss and wood for them.  Rainbows feed around the wood structure and gravel for aquatic bugs like freshwater shrimp, small river worm and midge larva.  They also work the north bank for terrestrials in the summer and other bugs from the gravel.  In the evenings, the surface can be littered with dimples of midging rainbows.

How to:  Fly Fishing...... Use medium tippet, 3x to 4x (7 to 6- pound), and long leader- 12 to 14 feet if using floating line or short tippet if using sink tip line.  Use sculpin patterns down deep along the south bank as well as in mid-channel.  Work with long strips, pausing every once in a while.  Also try #2 to #2/0 olive or black wooly-buggers... same pattern.  Using a little lighter rigging, throw gray or white zonkers or beaded gray or white wooly-buggers and work them closer to the surface.  Strip fast and sharp, pausing briefly.  Use #12 to #16 size emergers, red or black.  Cast at rising trout- or anywhere- and strip fast and very short, stopping every 5 strips.  Let the fly swing in the current.  You will see the strike most of the time, depending how high the fly stays in the current.  Lift the rod sharply but gently if using light tippet.  Use beaded nymphs under a strike indicator... squirrel tail, hares ear, pheasant tail, sow bugs, from #10 to #16.  Ideally, fish in choppy water- where the surface is broken- just a riffle or white caps, anything is better than a glass surface.  Set the fly 4 to 5 feet deep.  After the cast, let the fly settle, but look for a strike as it does.  Wait a few seconds then twitch the float, moving the fly a bit.  A strike may be hard, taking the float all the way under or it may be subtle, just barely moving the float.  Set the hook hard and fast.  Helpful Hint:  Keep an eye on the slack in the line.  When setting the hook you need all the slack out or you won't get a good hook set.   Strip woolies through this area in windy weather or rain.  Use 4x to 6x tippet and a long leader.  Good colors are gray, olive, brown and black in sizes #8's to #14.  Cast across to downstream- 45 degrees best and try all kinds of strips- fast, slow, long and short.
           Spin Fishing......  Use 2- or 4-pound, green line.  Throw jigs either with or without a strike indicator.  With a float, use 1/80th or 1/100th oz. jigs in ginger, olive, brown, black, black/yellow, white, pink or gray.  Why all the colors.... trout change their eating habits sometimes on an hourly basis.  You have to be prepared for anything.  Work the jig and float just like the strike indicator and fly-- look for choppy water or just fish the water that's there.  Use the same techniques and set the hook the same way.  When throwing a jig straight, use either a 1/32 or 1/16 oz. and the same colors.  Work the jig up and down like crappie fishing, letting the jig drop as long as possible.  Trout tend to strike the jig as it falls and you may or may not feel the strike.  That's what makes jig fishing a challenge-- a finesse style that takes a lot of touch.  Helpful Hint:  If the fish are striking short and you're missing a lot of hits, pinch off the marabou tail making it shorter.  Small, in-line spinners like Mepps, Rooster Tails and Panther Martins worked close to the surface in choppy water will draw a strike.  Spoons like Cleos, Buoyants and Super Dupers worked slowly or with a jerky action can be good.    Also, crank baits worked irratically close to the surface are good.  Try larger sizes in this deeper water- F-7's and F-9's Rapalas in silver/black, gold/black and rainbow colors.  Retrieve fast and hard to get it down, then pause just a couple of seconds and retrieve fast.  The strike will probably come when the lure is stopped.

Best Conditions:  Low light and medium wind.

Worse Conditions:  Bright sun and no wind.
 
 

Copyright:  2003  Lilleys' Landing Resort, BIMS, Branson, Missouri
Phil Lilley, Jim Turner