Awesome weather.  60s in the morning then mid to upper 80s during the day and lots of sunshine.  Looking at more of the same Thursday.  Friday shows a little more chance of rain with highs in the mid 80s.  Pretty much the same for Saturday, and then Sunday rain chances increase and the temperature drops to the upper 70s.

We have had the same generation pattern for over a week now.  Low generation in the morning (had been no generation), then ramping up to 3-4 units around 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.  The low flow has been good for fishing and one can still wade in various areas.

Stan on the water Thursday and Friday with Mark from the St. Louis area.  Couple of good days for Mark.  What more could one want….beautiful weather and catching fish!.  Thursday he

Mark – 9/14/18

fished a little ruby under the big ruby, a partridge & orange soft hackle, holographic green crackleback and a 56er.  Friday it was a P&P under the little ruby midge.  Also caught some on the holographic green crackleback including at 19 incher.

Carolyn had Edward and Jim from the St. Louis area out Friday and Saturday.  They had booked two full days but with the water coming on high in the afternoons, we hung around for a little while to see how it would fish.  Both days when it came on, fishing basically went south so we went in early.  However, while it was low flow, we had lots of hits and caught some fish on the ruby 2 under a big ruby or the red tunghead midge.  Pulled a few on the holographic green crackleback and 56er.   And caught some on an apricot egg pattern.  Saturday, nymph style fishing was mainly on the ruby 2 midge.

Jim on the water Saturday with Chris from Tennessee.  Chris has fished with us in the past but quite a while ago and he had to brush off the cob webs.  Got the hang of it again and it was a tiger tail or the hot hare’s ear nymph.

Great weather.  Upper 70s and low 80s for the highs.  Actually in the upper 50s the other morning when I left for work.  Looks like it will continue through the weekend and into next week.  Probably see some mid to upper 80s in the mix.

Definite change in the generation pattern the past six days.  Now we have low, somewhere around 35 mwh, every morning.  Some days they kick it up a little and other days, it stayed pretty much in this same range.  This puts the tailwater levels anywhere from 1-1/2 feet to 2-1/2 feet higher than with no generation.  Although it reduces the wadeable areas down a little, it is good to see some water movement both for fishing as well as for the fish!  There is still quite a bit of wading water.  One just has to go looking.

Caleb – 9/6/18

Gina and Stan on the water last Thursday with four firefighters from Oklahoma.  Gina had Caleb and Russell.  Caleb fished with us last year but is still learning and this was a first for Russell.

Russell – 9/6/18

Stan’s guys, Corey and Ben were also new, so everyone worked on basic skills as well as catching fish.  Gina had her guys catching on the ruby 2, an egg pattern and the JQ streamer.  Stan’s were catching on the ruby 2 and a peach egg pattern.  Fun day for everyone!  Jim had Larry and Ann out for the morning.  Fairly new fly fishers so he worked with them while they were catching fish on the ruby midge, gray scud and a size 10 Tiger Tail.

Dwan and Robert spent Saturday morning on the water with Stan.  Pretty good day for these guys on a peach egg under the big ruby.  This was one of those days when they ran water, up and down, all day.

Rick and his father, Richard, spent the day on the water with Carolyn yesterday.  Good day for these two on an apricot egg pattern, or the black copperhead midge under the big ruby.  They actually had a couple of doubles during the day.  They also pulled some fish on the holographic green crackleback below Lookout Island on a 3 ips sinking leader.  This is one of Richard’s favorite ways to catch fish.  Fun day, lots of fish and a beautiful day!  Jim had Terry on the water yesterday morning.  Terry just finished the Orvis 2-day school we held here at River Run.  He wanted to reinforce what he had just learned.  He had a good time stripping the tiger tail (like this the best) and catching on a gray scud or ruby midge.  He’s hooked!

Keep watching the sky looking for the rain that has been forecast.  Cloudy all morning, but it is actually sunny here right now (1:30 p.m).  According to the forecast, there is a 75% chance for rain right now.  I’m sure we’ll get it sooner or later.

Not much change in the generations schedule.  They did forecast generation all day Tuesday.  NOT!  The turned it on the afternoon, as usual, but with a little more flow.  Forecast generation all day today.  Again, nothing until noon when they turned on 2 units.

Jim on the water this past Sunday with Jason and Haley from California.  This was Haley’s first time, so Jim worked with her on the basics.  Pretty tough day as they would not even take streamers.  Did catch some on the ruby midge and a size 18 dark gray scud.

Monday, Carolyn had Andrew and his son Joe on the water for half a day.  They just finished the Orvis 2-day fly fishing school and wanted to reinforce what they had learned.  Started out a little slow, but did pick up and they caught fish on the black copperhead midge and yellow/orange egg pattern.  Peter, from California, spent the morning on the water with Stan.  They had a pretty good day on the ruby 2.  This was Peter’s first experience with fly fishing and he really enjoyed it.

Jim took Dean and his son, Josh out Wednesday.  It was instructional for John as this was his first time fly fishing.  They caught fish on the P&P, blood worm, and stripping a size 12 JQ streamer.  It must have been new fly fisher day, as Carolyn had Scott and his wife Tricia out for the morning.  This was their first time

Tricia – 9/5/18

with a fly rod, so we went through the basic roll cast, pick up and lay down cast, and later after catching a few fish, worked on shooting line to get a little more distance.  When we first hit the water, first cast of the ruby 2 hat a hit.  After that, nothing for what seemed like forever.  Changed to an egg pattern and again a hit, then nothing.  Let’s move!  Finally a good and fun day for them on the black copperhead midge and the yellow/orange egg pattern.  Think both of them are hooked!

Low 90s today and we are still looking at rain both tomorrow and Thursday with highs in the mid 80s.  Back to upper 80s and low 90s through the weekend.  Mostly upper 80s and some mid 80s for next week.  Can’t complain.

No generation in the a.m. continues.

Stan on the water last Tuesday and Thursday with Tom and John from Kansas.  Fun day for

Stephen – 8/23/18

these guys mainly on the black copperhead midge.  Gina out Thursday with Stephen from Oklahoma.  Happy guy.  Just getting started with fly fishing and he had a good day on the ruby 2 midge and a size 18 gray scud.

Friday, Stan took Doc and Terry out for the day.  Good, day for these two guys from Oklahoma.  Doc has been a long-time fisher with Stan and he said this is his last full day.  Just too much fun for a day.  (Doc is in his mid 80s).  Long, hot day.  Now he’ll just have to do more 1/2 days!!

Wednesday Jim was back on Monday!  He fished with Gina yesterday and they had a wonderful day on the black copperhead

Jim – 8/27/18

midge, tiger tail and an egg pattern.  Best fishing for them yesterday was after the water came on.

Chances for rain today, especially from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.  We’ll take what we can get.  Still need some rain.  Also chances tomorrow, but not as great as today.  After that, it will to back into the low 90s with sunshine through early next week.  By Wednesday, slight chances for rain again, but temperatures will slide back in to the upper 80s.

No change in the generation schedule.  Off all morning and back on some time in the afternoon for a few hours.

Gary on the water Monday with Rich and Sean.  Good day for these guys on a red soft hackle egg pattern and the ruby 2 midge.  Carolyn had Andrew and his friend Marissa out wading

Marissa – 8/20/18

for the morning.  Marissa is fairly new, but she caught on quickly and was catching fish on a mega worm got a short time, then it was the ruby 2 midge.  Andrew started out the morning catching on the JQ streamer, but after they shut down on that, he switched over to the ruby 2 midge and the bite was on again.  They had at least 4 and maybe 5 doubles (both hit fish at the same time) on this pattern.  Generators came on and the party was over.

Tuesday, Dan and Roxanne spent the morning with Carolyn .  They took our two-day fly fishing

Roxanne – 8/21/18

school back in 2016 and definitely are “hooked”.  They take there camper and fishing gear and head for fly fishing destinations.  Had a good day on the ruby 2 and black copperhead midge.  Think this was Roxanne’s first brown trout.

Barbie – 8/16/18

Having a bout of rain right now and it looks like we might get some heavy stuff around 7:00 p.m.  Might have some showers in the a.m. tomorrow with the high 80 degrees.  Tuesday and Wednesday look great.  Low 80s and dry.  Thursday and Friday show slight chances of rain, but temperatures still in the 80s.  By the weekend, mostly sunny and low 80s.  Next week is more of the same, mostly sunny and upper 80s to low 90s.  Sweet!

No change in the generation pattern.  No generation all morning.  One to four hours of generation some time in the afternoon.

Corbin’s 1st trout – 8/15/18

Carolyn on the water last Wednesday with Doris and her grandson, Corbin.  Fun day.  This was Corbin’s first time fly fishing for trout and he did really well.  Doris first fished

Doris – 8/15/18

with me in 2006 and then a few times since, but it’s been a while.  It was nice to back on the water with her.  She definitely has not lost her touch.  Unfortunately, it was one of those days where it would pour for several minutes, stop for a while, then start up again.  Everything we owned was soaked!  Seemed like the fish liked the rain too as they would hit better when it was raining.  We were fishing the size 18 black copperhead midge and the Ruby 2.

Linda – 8/16/18

Thursday, Gina and Carolyn took a group of sisters out for the morning.  Linda, who had fished with us before, set up

Diane – 8/16/18

the trip so her sisters could try fly fishing.  Gina took Linda

and Diane and Carolyn had Alice and Barbie.  We took the new fishers through a quick and dirty roll cast and pick up and lay down cast lesson then to the fishing

Alice – 8/16/18

hole.  Everyone had a good day early on the black copperhead or ruby 2 midges.  When the water came on, Gina and her group drifted the big ruby

Barbie – 8/16/18

with a scud dropper.  Stan out that day with Earl from South Carolina.  They had a good day on the black copperhead midge also.

Peter and his friend Charlie spend Friday morning on the water with Stan.  That is, in between heavy downpours.  Black copperhead midge and ruby 2.  Seems it was another day when the fish really liked the rain.  Fishing was good while it was raining.  When the rain shut down, so did fishing!

Phillip – 8/18/18

Saturday, Carolyn took Dwight and his friend, Phillip out for the day.  They had just finished our Orvis 2-day school and wanted to try when they had learned.  They both did very well and it was a good day for these guys mainly on the black copperhead midge.  When the water came on, we changed over to a sinking leader and stripped the JQ streamer.  Not a lot of fish, but they did pull a few this way.  Also had an opportunity to see how it was fishing from a drifting drift boat (not much water during the mornings for drifting).  We drifted the big ruby with a red San Juan worm dropper.

We received a real nice downpour yesterday and some through the night into early this morning.  Sprinkles off and on later in the morning.  Right now it is sunshine and a pretty clear sky.  Hope we have some more rain lurking somewhere!

No chance in the generation pattern.   What more can I say.

Jim on the water Saturday with Tad and Carter.  New to fly fishing so Jim worked with them on the basics.  Caught a few fish stripping a size 10 JQ streamer.  Stan also on the water that day.  He had Greg and his daughter Liz.  Both are good fly fishers and casters and they had a very good day on the black copperhead or P&P midges under a stimulator.  Lots of nice fish.

Carolyn on the water today, Tuesday, with David from Minnesota.  He’s been fishing for most

David – 8/14/18

of his life but just started getting into fly fishing.  Today was his first trout and biggest on a fly rod.  He had a good day mainly stripping the orange belly 56er on a 3 ips sinking leader.  Picture is a little blurry as it rained on us more of the day and camera lens was wet.  For fun, we threw a Big Ugly with a black copperhead midge under it.  Several hits, but no cigar.  Missed, or picked and rolled all of them.  Fun day!

Temperatures look good over the next week.  Mostly upper 80s.  Also chances for rain increased to 60% starting Tuesday and running through Friday.  Would not break my heart if we got some of it, but so far, in the forecast then disappears!

Generation pattern pretty much unchanged.  Off in the a.m. then on for a few hours in the afternoon then back off again.

Jim, Jackson & Spencer – 8/4/18

Fun day for our Orvis 301 group last Friday.  Jim and Carolyn had Spencer, Pat, Tibor and Jackson standing in the water learning

Tibor – 8/4/18

more about fly fishing.  JQ and Tiger Tail streamers were the patterns of the day.  We did catch some on the black copperhead midge.

Saturday, Stan took Frank and Hans out for the morning.  This was Hans first experience with a fly rob and he did good.  Black copperhead midge was their pattern for the morning.

Gina had a new lady, Diana, on the water Monday.  After they finished working on classroom stuff….knots, rigging,

Diana – 8/6/18

etc. they went to the water to work on casting.  Diana is hooked.  She got fish on the black copperhead midge and worked with streamers when the water started coming up.  Jim, from Arkansas, spent the morning with Carolyn.  Fun day just fishing everything.  We caught fish on a black ant, the redass soft hackle, JQ streamer, 56er and the holographic green crackleback.

Wednesday, Stan took Reagan and his son, Will out for half a day.   Good, fun day for them on the black copperhead midge, ruby 2 and 56er.

Back into the 90s until early next week.  Both Tuesday and Wednesday show chances for showers with temperatures in the mid 80s.  Looks like 80s through the weekend, but again, chances for showers.

We continue to see no generation during the morning hours.  Generally cranking it up to at least 3 units and sometimes 4 for the afternoon.

Dan – 7/30/18

Gina on the water last Monday with Dan and Roy from Kentucky.  There were here for the Fly Fishing Expo.  Good day for these guys on the copperhead black midge,

Roy – 7/30/18

ruby 2 midge and stripping either the JQ or tiger tail streamers.  This was their first time with streamers and they really like it.

Tuesday, Carolyn took Audrey out to teach her

Audrey’s 1st on fly rod – 7/31/18

how to fly fish.  Her father, Drew, took half day instruction from Carolyn back in 2003.  He’s looking for a fly fishing partner and I think he just might have one.  She picked up casting quickly and soon was hooking fish on an apricot or roe egg pattern.  They would not look at a midge that day.

Mark, from Nixa, spent the morning on the water with Stan Wednesday.  Mark has been out of the fly fishing world for a while, so they worked on casting for a while.  Didn’t take him long to get back into the grove.  Another no midge day, but Mark landed several on the peach egg pattern.

Crystal’s lst – 8/2/18

New woman fly fisher on the river Thursday with Carolyn.  Fun day for Crystal learning how to cast and catching fish on the black copperhead or ruby 2 midges and a few stripping a JQ streamer.

Had a little rain yesterday.  Probably not enough to make much of a difference.  However, it did cool things down and we are expecting low upper 79s today, low 80s tomorrow and upper 80s Wednesday with sunshine!  Nice!  As we move into later in the week and weekend, it will be low to mid 90s.  Still now bad, especially for this time of the year.

Generation continues to be no or low in the morning and a couple on in the afternoon.  Lots of time to get in some wade fishing.

What a fun weekend.  The Branson and Springfield Chapters of the Missouri Trout Fishermen Association held their second fly fishing Expo this last Friday and Saturday at the Lion’s Club in Branson.  Lots of great fly tiers demonstrating their skills with some really neat and unique patterns.  Good showing of several of vendors were also at this event.  I got to spend most of each day showing potentially new fly fishers how to cast.  Really neat was that several of these were young men and women.  There will be another Expo next year during the month of July.  They announced the dates but I forgot what they were.  Will post as soon as I find out.  Then you better mark your calendars as this was a really good event.

James – 7/23/18

Now let’s get the fishing activity up to date.  Jim, Gina and Carolyn had a three

Jim & Aidan – 7/23/18

generation family of six out last Monday.  They were all brand new and wanted to see how they liked fly fishing.  Everyone at least got one fish to the net and several managed to do more.  Of course, the water was not cooperating, but we

Andrew – 7/23/18

certainly made the best of it.  They all tried both nymph style fishing as well as pulling streamers.  Mainly, we caught on the black copperhead or ruby 2 midges and stripping the JQ or 56er streamers.  We had

Eli – 7/23/18

James (grandfather), Jim and his son, Aidan, and Jason and his sons, Andrew and Eli.  Hope I got that right!

Stan took Jim and his grandson, Max out again on Tuesday.

Jason – 7/23/18

Very slow bite in the morning.  Finally caught some fish on the big ruby then they slide down the back side of Lookout Island.

Wednesday, Carolyn had a great time!  Hope the boys did too!  She took Thomas and his exchange friend from France, Nathan, out for their first experience

Nathan’s first trout – 7/25/18

fly fishing.   After a little instruction on the roll cast, and regular cast, they both were getting their fly into the water.  The challenge was communicating to Nathan what he had to do when the indicator (what’s that in French?) went

Thomas & Nathan – 7/25/18

down.  It was a black copperhead midge day for them.  Neat couple of young men.  Hopefully, they will keep on fly fishing!  Gina had David and Diana out a couple half days on Wednesday and Thursday.  Good two outings on the black zebra and P&P midges first day, and big

David – 7/26/18

ruby, black midge and tiger tail on Thursday.  Jim paired up a couple fishermen, Tom from Grain Valley, and Bob from Michigan on Thursday.  Off and on day for them with

Diana – 7/26/18

the water fluctuating up and down.  They caught on the ruby, gray scud and stripping the tiger tail.

Dawn and John fished again with Stan on Friday.  Good day for them on the P&P, mega worm and JQ streamer.  Pleasant day with the water off until 1:00, and the temperature was great.