Taneycomo Trout--Branson's Quiet Tourist Attraction

Decades before the Mickey Gilley or Shoji Tabuchi arrived, brown and rainbow trout were luring tourists by the thousands to southwest Missouri.

BRANSON, Mo.- Long before the Branson area earned national prominence for music and variety shows, people across the country knew the region as a destination for good trout fishing.

Today, Branson's huge splash onto the entertainment scene has shifted some of the spotlight away from one of the area's initial national draws - Lake Taneycomo. Once a main tourist attraction, the 2,080-acre lake has become somewhat overshadowed by the glitz and glamour of theaters lining Branson's famed "76 Country Music Boulevard." However, anglers from Missouri and elsewhere can attest to the quality fishing that continues to draw tourists to the area.

Consider these trout tantalizers:
--In 2001 during their annual late-summer sampling, Missouri Department of Conservation biologists found a brown trout that was 36.5 inches long, had a girth of 28.5 inches and weighed approximately 37 pounds. This would have easily surpassed the current state record of 26 pounds, 13 ounces.
--In 1997, a dead brown trout weighing 37.1 pounds was found floating in Lake Taneycomo. The carcass measured 41.75 inches in length, which was longer than the 40.25-inch length of the current world-record brown trout.

Reports like these draw anglers from far and wide. The annual impact of trout-related tourism on the local economy is estimated at more than $13 million.

Both rainbow and brown trout thrive in the lake, which is owned by Empire District Electric Company. The Department of Conservation manages the fishery of the reservoir, which twists along the old White River channel for 23 miles between Table Rock Dam near Branson and Powersite Dam near the community of Ozark Beach. The winding course of the lake provides an abundance of habitat for trout.

The lake, especially the lower end, and its tributaries also harbor a variety of warm-water fish species, such as largemouth bass. Private marinas and public fishing areas provide access to fishing opportunities for boat and bank anglers.

Taneycomo's trout story started in 1959, when the construction of Table Rock Dam created a large, deep lake. The water near the bottom of the lake stays a cool 48 degrees, even during the hottest days of summer. Cold-water discharges from the bottom of Table Rock Dam make Lake Taneycomo sort of a super-sized trout stream.

Sustaining the lake's trout population is the Department of Conservation's Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery, located at the upper (west) end of Taneycomo. The hatchery stocks approximately 700,000 rainbow trout and 10,000 brown trout typically measuring 10 to 11 inches into the lake each year.

Taneycomo's excellent trout fishing is the result of more than ample fish stocking and cold water, however. Among the creatures flourishing in the rocky bottom of the lake are amphipods, known locally as fresh-water shrimp. Along with midges, small aquatic cousins of the housefly, these small crustaceans are a favorite food of rainbow trout and younger brown trout. Bountiful food means rapid growth for stocked trout. Conservation Department fish tagging studies show that rainbow trout stocked in the lake can grow half an inch or more a month.

The Department of Conservation's management efforts at Lake Taneycomo have earned national acclaim. In 2001, the American Fisheries Society awarded its annual Sport Fish Restoration Award to the Department for its work at Taneycomo.

Proof of Taneycomo's management success can be found in scientific data as well as national accolades. The numbers presented in the Conservation Department's recently completed 10-year study of the lake are the kind of figures anglers like to hear. When the study began in the early 1990s, Taneycomo was paying the price for its nation-wide fame. The lake was getting fished hard. Anglers caught many trout almost as soon as they were stocked. As a result, the number of large fish in the lake was on the decline.

The Conservation Department responded by creating a special-regulations area on a three-mile section at the lake's upper end in 1997. From just below Table Rock Dam to the mouth of Fall Creek, anglers may use only flies and artificial lures, and they must release rainbow trout between 12 and 20 inches long.

The new regulations are working. In 1996, surveys on the upper lake netted an average of 25 rainbow trout per hour. In 2002, surveys in the same area yielded more than 330 rainbow trout per hour. In addition, more than 13 percent of the rainbow trout population in this area exceeded 16 inches long, compared to none in 1996. Angler surveys show that fishing success has improved, too.

Lake Taneycomo's tremendous trout resource remains one of the reasons why tourism is king in Branson.

More information about trout fishing at Lake Taneycomo, as well as other trout fishing opportunities in Missouri, can be found on the Department of Conservation's website, www.missouriconservation.org.

- Francis Skalicky -

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