Looks like we might get some more rain Monday and Tuesday due to Barry.  Best chances are Monday and temperatures will certainly be nice….in the mid to upper 70s!  Tuesday has less chance for rain and temperatures in the mid to upper 80s.  After that, it low to mid 90 and sunshine through the weekend and into next week!

Still running a low one unit early in the morning.  Then they turn on a full one unit or a low two units.  But, it keeps bumping up each hour so we reach three units by noon or so.

Jim on the water last Sunday with John and his friend.  Pretty good day pulling a #8 JQ streamer.  More misses than landed.

Thursday was a pretty tough day for everyone.  Darren’s guys, Mike and Dean worked hard.  Lots more tangles than fish.  Their best pattern was a scud under the big ruby.  Jim had Garret from Kansas and he landed a few fish pulling the #8 JQ streamer.  Carter fished again with Carolyn.  They did pretty well on the black copperhead early then the ruby 2.  Pulled a few streamers and maybe had 7-8 hits and none to the boat.  It fished good early while there was only a low one unit.  Once they started ramping up the units, fishing went south.

Beautiful, sunny day.  However, if we run true to form, we will see a show sometime this afternoon.  At least that’s been the pattern the past few days.  And, the prediction is 40% (we’ve had rain with 30%) chance around 4:00 p.m.  Temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s through the week with 40% chance of rain each day!

We continue to see no generation late in the day and into the morning.  Two generators on around 8:00 a.m. and run for a couple hours the off for 3-4 hours and back on with one or two and eventually ramping up to a full four units.  However, today and last night, although projected, they did not follow this pattern.  Low all night and then they ramped it up at 7:00 a.m.  Currently it is holding at a low two units which puts it three to four feet higher than normal no generation level.  This can be waded in some places if you’re careful.

Jim on the water Friday with Billy.  Pretty good day stripping the tiger tail and later in the morning they caught some fishing a red ass soft hackle.  Fun!  Eugene and his friend, RM were on the water with Darren.  They fished the ruby 2, scuds and sowbugs and even did a little stripping.  Jim spent the morning with Carolyn.  He does some salt water and streamer fishing

Jim – 7/5/19

but had never fished midges.  So, we introduced him to the wonderful world of midges.  Fished the ruby 2 under the big ruby while they were running two units.  After a couple hours, they shut down the generators so it was a #16 ruby 2 on top and the #18 ruby 2 on bottom for a slow drift.  Good, fun day!  Finished up with the last fish on a holographic green crackleback on a sinking leader.

Saturday, Jim had Linsey and her friend, Clark on the water.  Both are beginners so Jim did lots of instruction before he let them catch fish stripping the JQ streamer!

Upper 80s to l0w 90s almost every day plus slight chances for rain almost every day, especially in the afternoon.  That seems to be the pattern right now.

Weird generation pattern right now also.  Past two or three days we have no generation until 8:00 a.m. then they turn on two units for two hours.  Off for three hours or so then ramp back up with first one unit then two or three and eventually four.  Off by 8:00-9:00 p.m.  Understand this is due to the boards being down at Powersite.  They need to get Bull Shoals down a couple feet before they can fix them.  In the meantime, Taneycomo just flows straight through and they are running water a little spastically to keep a desirable level of water in Taneycomo.

Bogan – 6/30/19

John and Bogan from Florida fished with Darren this past Sunday.  John does quite a bit of fishing in Florida, but this was only

John – 6/30/19

Bogan’s second time with a fly rod.  The guys got some fish to the boat on the ruby 2 fishing mainly in the upper part of the river.  Dana had Mike from Oklahoma out for the day.  They had a good day on the ruby 2 under the big ruby and stripping a tiger tail.

Steve – 7/1/19

Moday, Carolyn took Matt and Steve out for half a day.  Zero generation when we hit the water.  It was good day for these two.  Best patterns were the black copperhead or ruby 2 midge.  Did catch a few stripping the holographic green crackleback.   When they fired up the first generation at noon, rowed up toward the fish ladder and heavied up with the big

Michael – 7/1/19

ruby.  Fished good until they upped it to three units and everything dirtied up.  Gina and Dana had the Sichter family out.  Gina had  Michael, and he was

Wayne – 7/1/19

catching fish on the black copperhead and ruby 2 midges.  Dad, Jim, and his other son, Wayne fished with Darren.  Their best area was up near the fish ladder on a #14 trans scud, black copperhead midge and the thread midge.  A fun time was had by all!

Tuesday, long-time customers, Rick and Kristi needed a fix so they spent the morning on the water with Carolyn.  Slow start with no generators.  Then they turned on two units at 9:00 a.m. so it was upstream toward the ladders.  Fished this area until they

Jackson – 7/2/19

turned the two off after maybe an hour of running.  Drifted down and through the narrows catching fish on the #18 ruby 2 under a #16 ruby 2 midge.  Travis and his 10 year old son, Jackson were out with Gina.  She worked with both of then on casting as this was Jackson’s first fly fishing experience and Dad

Travis – 7/2/19

had not been fly fishing for several years.  Jackson hooked some fish but did not get one to the boat.  He had a great time, especially getting to wear waders and stand in the water without getting wet!  Ruby 2 and black copperhead under big ruby were their patterns.  Darren and Dana had Mark and his two sons, Patrick and Sean on the water.  The first day, Mark and Pat

Pat – 7/3/19

fished with Dana.  All are new to fly fishing, so it was a learning curve this day.  Mark and Pat landed fish on the red San Juan worm.  Darren had Sean and they were fishing a #14 scud.

The guys didn’t get enough fishing on Tuesday, so they went out with Dana and Darren again on Wednesday.

Sean – 7/3/19

This time, Dana took Pat and they fished and caught on the rusty midge and the red San Juan worm.  Mark and Shawn were with Darren and they were catching on a #14 scud , the ruby 2 and black copperhead midges.  Wiley, from Oklahoma, was on the water with Carolyn for half a day.  This was another two generators on at 8:00 a.m. for a couple hours.  Rowed up to the ladder area and drifted the big ruby with

Wiley – 7/3/19

the ruby 2 midge.  Picked a few here.  When the water shut down, drifted down through the Rockin Chair area where we picked up several more, then through the narrows.  Fished good until they turned the generators back on again!

A little cooler today than it has been.  Supposed to hit 90.  Looks like upper 80s and low 90s through the coming week with slight (30-40%) chances for rain from Tuesday through Friday.  Then the same chances from next Sunday through Tuesday.  That’s a long ways off.  Will probably change six times!

Low generation for a short time yesterday morning.  This morning, we had a low one unit until noon when they cranked it up to the equivalent of two units.  Scheduled to ramp up to the equivalent of three by 1:00 p.m.  According to the schedule, there should be no generation tomorrow until noon or 1:00 p.m.  Then one for an hour and ramp up to three for an hour, then three for four hours.  Cross your fingers.  Would be great to see no generation for a while in the morning!

Kathi – 6/27/19

Thursday, Gina took Kathi and Bill out for the day.  Good day nymphing all day with the big ruby and black copperhead or ruby 2 droppers.  Lots of water

Bill – 6/27/19

with the equivalent of three units most of the trip.  Dana had Brock, from Texas, out for half a day.  Good day for them on the ruby 2 under the big ruby and stripping the Tiger Tail.

Steve and his friend, Kyle, fished again with Carolyn this past Friday.

Kyle – 6/28/19

Another good day for these guys on the ruby 2 under the big ruby.  Different water than their last trip which was a low one unit all day.  They had to work with the two and  three generators flow.  Think Steve brought the first fish to the boat but Kyle was on a roll.

Saturday, eight ladies from Gals Go Fish took the Orvis 301 clinic.  Two of them were paired up with a guide to fish and learn for the day.  What a day!  Hot, one unit on when they started, ramped up to two shortly after getting on the

Carol and Gina – 6/2919

water and hit three units by the time they took a break for lunch.  Darren had Martha and Kathi.  They fished the ruby 2 under a big

Georgiana – 6/29/19

ruby.  Gina’s gals were Georgiana and Carol.  Size 16 ruby 2 under the big ruby were their patterns for the day.  Hooked at least one stripping.  We always try to get the ladies into stripping!.  Dana’s fly fishing gals were Michelle and Sarah and they had a good day on the ruby 2 or black copperhead midges under the big ruby.  Last,

Cheryl – 6/29/19

but not least, Sally and Cheryl fished with Carolyn.  It was the black copperhead, ruby 2 and finally the P&P under the big ruby for

Sally’s first brown – 6/29/19

them.  Each hooked at least one fish stripping, but none to the boat.  Fun, fun day for everyone, especially the guides!

Had another big rain this past weekend.  Rained all day Saturday!  Needless to say, almost every place added several more inches to our already wet conditions.  Scattered chances for rain today but doesn’t look like anything serious.  Think we might have three or four days of sunny weather, then chances for rain again the rest of the week into the weekend.

Generators running pretty much non-stop.  In addition, Monday, they opened the ten spillways 1 foot each so this is adding approximately 10,500 cfs to the 9500 cfs from the three generators.  There is a possibility they will shut down the spillways tomorrow….we will see

Jeff – 6/24/19

Nathan – 6/24/19

Gina on the water Monday with a couple of brothers, Jeff and Nathen, from Colorado.  No generators when they put in but in short order (9:00 a.m.) they cranked up three units.  Good day for these guys on the black copperhead midge or Li’l Ruby under the big ruby.  Both seemed to fish equally well.

Rain most of last night into today and it has almost been non-stop all day.  Good news is that there is no rain in the forecast for Monday or Tuesday, but by Wednesday, we are seeing chances 30-40% again.  Friday through Sunday look great…no rain forecast, but Monday and all next week into the weekend there are chances again!

Generation schedule continues to be up and down.  Projection for tomorrow is no generation until 1:00 p.m.  Would that be nice!  Then 2 units for an hour or so and ramping up to three.  We shall see.

June – 6/17/19

John and June spent half a day on the water with Carolyn last Monday.  They had a very good day on the black copperhead midge under the big ruby and stripping the holographic green crackleback.  If I remember correctly, this was June’s first time pulling streamers and she did well.  Water started out with no flow when we hit the river.  Maybe fished 45 minutes and on came one unit and an hour and it was up to two units.  Of course, in short order it was up to three.  Not a problem, but the trash that goes through with each unit certainly makes keeping your flies clean.

Wednesday, Jim took Dirk and Katie out for half a day.  Dirk has been fly fishing for a while but Katie is pretty new.  So Jim worked with Katie and got her into some fish.  They fished the black midge and stripped the tiger tail.

Gina took Richard from Florida out for half a day on

Richard – 6/20/19

Thursday.  They had three units going, but the good news was that it was a beautiful, sunny, dry day!  Ruby 2 and tiger tail were their best flies.

Our Louisiana regulars, Ron and Kathy fished all day with Carolyn on Friday.  HOT! was the word for that day.  Lots of sunshine and eventually some wind which certainly helped cool things down a little.  Worked hard but had a pretty good day mainly on the black copperhead midge.  This was one for Ron.  He actually out fished Kathy.  That doesn’t happen very often.

Beautiful day today.  Lots of sunshine.  Say there are chances for rain tonight.  Wednesday is also showing some chances during the day and into the evening with temperatures in the mid 80s.   Thursday and Friday look dry and Saturday and Sunday are slight chances of rain.  Temperatures are looking more like summer as Friday and Saturday are in the 90s.  Every day next week shows 40% chance for rain!  Guess it’s that time of the year.

The generation schedule has been showing generation coming on by noon or later….NOT.  Today was supposed to be 1:00 p.m. and it came on at 10:00 a.m. followed in an hour with two more units!  This has been the trend for over a week now.  Really can’t count of what the projection schedule says.  Oh well, this too shall pass.

Carolyn on the water today with Danny from Oklahoma.  He is fairly new at fly fishing and is throwing a nice line.  Worked on mending and pulling streamers.  Fun day, despite the water

Danny – 6/18/19

coming on early while we thought we might get in a morning of wade fishing.  Hooking quite a few fish in the Rockin Chair area which came to an end at 10:00 a.m.  Water really dirtied up when they turned on the other two units at 11:00 a.m.  Once it settled down, we pulled several more fish drifting down to the take out.   Ruby 2 only before the generator, then Ruby 2 under the big ruby or pulling a holographic green crackleback after the water settled with the three units.

Weather has been all over the place.  Chances for rain show up and maybe we get a few sprinkles.  Temperatures have been in the 70s many days.  Forecast for today is mid 80s, but I’m not certain we’ll make it.  An unexpected shower is going through right now.  Should be out of here before 1:00 p.m.  Sunday looks like thunderstorms in the morning, and, probably off and on all day!  We’re seeing chances (30-50%) of rain all next week with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s.  Bummer!

Generation was spastic from Monday through Thursday this week.  Projection was one thing and actual was another.  Usually, it was turning on the generators much earlier than the projection.  Yesterday was pretty right on and today it looks like they are going to follow the schedule.

Jim on the water Monday with Ken and Ratree from Iowa.  If I remember correctly, Ratree outfished Ken.  Sounds like that is norm for them.  This was one of the days when the schedule was just wasting paper if you printed it.  Water came on early and trashed up pretty good.  However, once it settled down a little, they were catching on the size 8 tiger tail or bug eyed bugger.

Doris – 6/11/19

Tuesday, Doris and Fred from North Carolina spent the day fishing with Gina.  Another competitive couple.  Doris won with biggest, first and most!  Gorgeous day, but again, the generators came on early.  It was a ruby 2 under the big ruby and tiger tail day for

Fred – 6/10/19

them.  Steve and Ward had fished with us a couple times last year and they decided to come back again and give it a try.  They were on the water Tuesday with Jim.  With the juckie water, Jim when to stripping the tiger tail and JQ streamers.  Carolyn had a new fisher to our area, Holly, on the water all day.  She has been out of the fly fishing world for a quite awhile and decided it was time to get back to it!  Good, fun day to get started again!  Lots of different experiences with the water off, then on and on some more.  Ruby 2

Holly – 6/10/19

under the big ruby, and stripping the JQ streamer with a holographic green trailer were her best patterns.

Wednesday, Carolyn had Warren and Lee from Kansas out again.   The had fished with her earlier this

Lee – 6/12/19

year.  Good day for these guys on the ruby 2 midge.  Caught a few on the Lightning bug.

Thursday, Gina, Jim and Dana had a group of six on the water.  This was another one of those days when the water came on early.

Lee – 6/13/19

Projection was noon and I think it came on at 9:00 or before.  Gina had Lee and Anson.

Anson – 6/13/19

These guys were catching on the ruby 2.   Jim had Albert and Jill in his boat and they were catching on a big ruby with a San Juan dropper.  They also stripped the tiger tail once the water got up to a level.  Both were pretty new so there was some instruction going

Jill & Albert in Jim’s boat – 6/13/19

on.  Last, but certainly not least, Dana had Sam and Mike.  Sam’s very first fish to the boat was a nice 21 inch rainbow.  He caught it on a red San Juan worm.  What a way to

Sam’s 21″ rainbow – 6/13/19

start the day.   Back on the water was Holly.  Spend another whole day with Carolyn, and another fun day.   As I said before, she is just getting back into fly fishing and we

Mike 6/13/19

had some techniques

to work on.  In the fast water, mending was a never ending process, and our saying the day was, “no, your other left!”

Pat spent Friday morning on the water with Carolyn.  No generation when we hit the water so the flow was very slow.  Found a nice rock pile and started catching on the ruby 2 under the black copperhead midge.  This worked great until the first generator came on so it was row up to the fish ladder area and heavy up.  Big ruby

Pat – 6/14/19

Holly – 6/10/19

with the ruby 2 and we hooked several fish until the second unit came on.  The rest of the trip was definitely slower, but managed to hook a few more before coming off the water.

Great weather!  Today we will see lots of sunshine and temperatures in the upper 70.  More upper 70s through Friday.  Slight chances for showers Wednesday and Friday.  Saturday moves back into the mid 80s and Sunday through early next week will be low 80s.  Chances for showers show up again on Sunday and through the early part of next week.  Boo!  This too will change.

Obviously the SWPA doesn’t know that weekends should be for off water and then run it during the week.  Generators on almost all day both Saturday and Sunday this weekend.  We did have some off water in the mornings a couple days last week.  Wonderful!  Today was supposed to be off until noon or so but that was quickly changed this morning when the horns went off.  Oh well…always say the Monday projections are a crap shoot!

Jared & Preston – 6/6/19

Last Thursday, Darren took Jared and Preston out for a half day of fishing.  Preston new to this sport and

Preston – 6/6/19

he learned to cast and catch fish.  Good day for these guys on the black copperhead midge and the ruby 2.  Jack and Mary Kay, from Texas, were on the water with Carolyn.  Despite the rain, Mary Kay was determined Jack was going to catch a fish or 2…or 3… or…before she finally conceded to come off the water.  Good day for these two on the black copperhead and ruby 2 midges.  Fun

Tim – 6/6/19

morning even though we were all soaked!  Gina had Tim and Beth on the water for half a day.  Their best fly was the ruby 2.

Friday, Eddie and Gail spent most of the morning with Jim learning how to cast.  He did let them fish and they were catching on the ruby 2, micro scud and stripping the tiger tail!  Carolyn had Don and Greg, both from Texas, on the water all day!  What a pair.

Don – 6/7/19

The most unique thing of the day was their 10 to 12 doubles!

Greg – 6/7/19

Really good day on the ruby 2 and black copperhead midges.  Pulled a few stripping, but midging was the name of the game!

Shawn and Doc spent Saturday morning on the water with Jim.  Good day for these fairly new fly fishing on the tiger tail and bug eyed bugger.  Dana had Brian and his friend Dave out all day.  These guys had a great time on the

Dave – 6/8/19

tiger tail, JQ streamer and ruby 2 midge.  So much fun, they went out again on Sunday for half a day.  Another good day on the tiger tail and JQ streamer!  Darren was on the water Sunday with Joe and Kelly from Kansas.  New fly fishers and they got the job done.  It was a bead head scud, ruby 2 midge under the big ruby.

The weather seems to be a little like the water right now.  Chances for rain…well maybe later.  Must say, the chances for rain next week have increased from the 40-50% to 80-90%, so it looks like we might get some rain.  Temperatures will continue to be quite warm.  90s tomorrow, then 80s to high 70s through the balance of the week and into the weekend.  Sunday and Monday are, right now, looking dry.

Last Thursday, we did not see generation until around 2:00 p.m.  On Friday, they kept it off until 11:00 a.m.  However, for the weekend, they cranked up the generators by 7:00 a.m.  Same thing for Monday.  Today, no generation until 1:00 p.m.  How sweet!

Dana on the water last Thursday when the generators were off.  Great day for Rick and his father, Rick.  The fish were hitting just about everything they threw which included the P&P, copperhead, rusty and ruby 2 midges.  Carolyn had Gary and Berry on the water.  Same thing for this group.  Found a pod of fish and just kept hauling them in on the black midge, ruby 2, P&P and stripping a tiger tail.  One dreams of days like this!

Friday, Gary and Berry spent another half day on the water with Carolyn.  Another great day but they turned on 2 units at 11:00 a.m. and another one an hour later.  It was another unbelievable day on the ruby 2 and mini sculpin.  Fish just seemed to be podded up in most, if not all, the places we stopped.

Felicia – 6/2/19

Sunday, a couple of students from our Saturday clinic, had booked a half day trip to try out what they learned in the clinic.  Felicia and her brother Clay were on the water

Clay – 6/2/19

with Carolyn.  A really good day for these two catching fish on the ruby 2, and stripping either a tiger tail or holographic green crackleback.  Both were throwing a good line and catching of fish.

Jerry – 6/4/19

Monday and Tuesday, Jerry and his wife, Cathy spent the mornings fishing with Carolyn.  Fun couple of days.  Lots of fish to the boat.  Jerry took the lead early the first day, but Cathy came back with a vengeance on the second day.  Ruby 2 (of course) was the midge of the day.  Stripping it was mainly the JQ streamer.  Jerry caught this nice bow on the JQ.