Pictured above are Gary’s Big Four, the jigs and a fly he uses 95% of the time when fishing the upper 4 miles of Lake Taneycomo. Top center is the 100^th ounce Bassnapper Olive Green Jig, size 8 hook; next row left to right is the 100^th ounce River Run Peach Furbug, size 12 hook; the 100^th ounce white Thread Jig, size 12 hook’ and the Red Tungsten Bead Head Midge, size 16 hook.

If pressed to pick one it would be the 100^th ounce Bassnapper Olive Green Jig. This jig has consistently caught fish up and down the whole length of Lake Taneycomo for me and has been involved in the majority of the fish that I have caught over 20 inches. If I had to pick one to use on the upper three miles of Lake Taneycomo, from the dam to the mouth of Fall Creek it would be the 100^th ounce River Run Peach Furbug. It seems to work real good in that water set at a depth of about four feet. Don’t know why but it works.

Whether using a fly rod or a spinning rod all are fished under an indicator at an appropriate depth. For me, with a tail water depth of 701-706, that generally starts at about 4 feet in the upper end. “Match the hatch” is fairly simple and straight forward. Above Fall Creek, start with the Peach Furbug, five casts, no fish, switch to the Red Bead Head Midge, five casts, go to the White Thread jig, five casts, no fish go to the Olive Green Jig, five casts no fish, either start the cycle over again or go eat breakfast. Under water off conditions, in the sunrise to 0930 time range, there have been very few days that I have had to repeat the cycle and none, that I can recall, where I had to eat breakfast for lack of fish. Below Fall Creek, I start with the Olive Green Jig, then continue the cycle starting with the Peach Furbug, etc.

For what it matters I use 6x Ovis Mirage fluorocarbon tippet (3.6 pound test-.005” diameter.) It works under all but the brightest of conditions in which case I switch to 7x.