By Silas Gray

sports@joplinglobe.com

Several months ago I was standing at the edge of a trout pond with three of my friends — Russ Kinerson, Greg Edster, and Kerry Ogle — when someone mentioned that we should make a fall trip to Lake Taneycomo for the brown trout.

We all agreed that this was a great idea and that we should plan it some day. Russ was quick to produce his pocket calendar. He wasn’t going to let us get away with “some day.” We eventually settled on staying for the entire third week of October. Once I called Dan and Jeanette at the Parkview Lodge in Branson and booked rooms, we were all set.

Unfortunately, early in October, it began raining. Initially, we weren’t concerned. However, after several rainy days Table Rock Lake reached its critical level and all of the flood gates were opened. This quickly raised the tailwater below the dam by 11 feet, which eliminated any chance of us wade-fishing in Taneycomo.

On the morning after arriving, Russ, Greg, Kerry and Kerry’s wife Dee were standing and watching the water as it shot from every gate from the face of the dam and flooded the overfilled section of river below.

We had brought along three kayaks and a canoe, and although we knew that the torrent of water would make for a fun ride down the river, it would not be good for fishing.

Luckily, right across the road from the Parkview Lodge is a state park with a concrete ramp which leads into the more stable water of Table Rock Lake. We decided to try the lake that day and then spend the next day floating the more river-like Lake Taneycomo.

There was some wind which can make fishing on a big lake rough, but by sticking to the more protected coves, we’d be fine. Kerry had his fiberglass fish and ski boat and decided that it was a more appropriate fishing platform and that he could watch out for us.

We soon had the vehicles parked and the boats launched. It was quite an assortment with Kerry in his fish and ski, Russ in his canoe, and Dee, Greg and I in kayaks. We paddled along the flooded trees near the ramp, casting popping bugs and small streamers.

With the dam wide open and the lake water dropping slowly, the fish tend to pull back out of the flooded area and return to safer water, so we were mainly targeting the outside of the timber.

The cove where we’d been fishing was large, and we’d just about made it to the main lake when we heard laughter and the amplified voice of an announcer. It wasn’t long before the first duck came into sight. Not the usual mallard or wood duck that one normally encounters in the outdoors but instead a “Ride-the-Duck.” It was one of those large amphibious military vehicles that was surplus from World War II.

They have been adapted to carry tourists through the streets of Branson and then directly into Table Rock for a trip around the lake.

The passengers had duck calls and waved and quacked and took pictures as the announcer pointed out the anglers off the port side. We were Branson celebrities — at least for a minute or two.

Unfortunately, the fish weren’t cooperating all that well, and we’d landed only two or three small sunfish and one dinky bass while fishing the edges. Dee and I decided to move into the trees and cast to the shore.