Another beautiful day today.  Tomorrow looks pretty nice too.  Slight chance for rain, but temperatures in the mid 70s.  Tuesday has a better chance for rain with temperatures in the upper 60s.  Then we start cooling down a little.  Temperatures in the low 60s into the weekend.  Right now, Saturday looks like a 50% chance for rain.

Not much change in the generation pattern.  They have been holding it at a little over 50 mwh for the past three days.  Projection for tomorrow is more of the same.

The morning after they opened up the eight spillways, Darren took Henry and his son Randy out.  They had one hit and saw absolutely no fish anywhere.  They decided to call it a day early and came on in to fish again some other day.

Jim out Thursday with Bill from Oklahoma.  Water was still pretty dirty and the fish were spotty.  Catch a few here then nothing.  Had a pretty good day though on the JQ streamer, a ruby midge or a scud.

Friday, Dana took Ann and Steve out for half a day.  Everything they caught was on the ruby 2 midge.

Newly weds Christian and Madison spent Saturday on the water with Jim.  Brand new fly fishers, so he worked with them on casting.  Lots of strikes, misses, breakoffs and lost fish on the JQ streamer.

Looks like a few more days of beautiful weather.  Had lots of rain last week, but this week has been in the 70s with lots of sunshine.  That trend is holding through the weekend.  Monday looks like 70s again with a slight chance for rain.  By Tuesday, it’s mid 60s and 60% chance for rain.  Then the rain chances lessen, but temperatures will be 50s and 60s into the following weekend.

Weird water.  Monday the projection was a very low two units all day.  However, around 4:00 p.m. they opened up eight spillways and kept them open until Tuesday evening.  They went back to the very low two units which is what they are currently running.

Jim out this past Saturday with Roger from Florida.  They were catching on a JQ streamer, a large scud and a ruby midge.

Zac – 11/2/20

Mike and Zac from Oklahoma, fish on Monday with Dana.  Slow day for them but they did pull some to the boat on a ruby 2 midge.  Meredith and Chester from Indiana fished with Carolyn.  Fun day for them.  They

Meredith & Chester – 11/2/20

actually had three doubles and should have had four.  They were fishing a big ruby with a ruby 2 dropper.

Normally, Meredith & Chester fish two days in a row.  Fortunately this year, it was scheduled a day apart.  As I mentioned above, Monday afternoon they opened up eight spillways.  This put the river up to 711 feet with over 14000 cfs running.  One of the guides took a couple guys out for a few hours

Meredith – 11/4/20

and they only had one hit and saw no fish.  Major changes in water level like this usually result in the fish scattering for a few days until there is a level of stability to the level.  Wednesday Meredith and Chester were on the water again with Carolyn.  Due to the the ups and downs, Wednesday did not fish as well, but we did bring a good number of fish to the boat….again, it was the big ruby with a ruby 2 dropper.  Another fun day!  Beautiful fish!

Yes, we are getting some much needed rain.  From the Corp chart, it looks like we have received over 2 inches the past couple days.  Forecast calls for more today going through tomorrow morning.  The bad part is that it’s cold!  Rain should be out of here by Friday and then a warming trend…..50-60s!

Generation schedule has been a little here and there.  Most of the days they leave it off during the morning hours and start up one or two units for four to five hours in the afternoon.  On a few other days, they have started up two units around 7:00 a.m. and run them for four to five hours then off for a couple hours and then back on for another four hours or so.  Not always certain what to plan for.  Today, they turned it on at 7:00 and it ran for four hours.  According to the schedule, it will be off two hours then back on.

Mike 0 10/21/20

Dana on the water last Wednesday with Mike and Ralph.  Slow day, but they caught a few fish on the ruby 2 and black copperhead midges.  Even caught a bluegill!

Howard and Richard fished with Carolyn on Thursday.  Did not catch a lot of fish, but the fish we caught were very nice.  Fished the ruby 2 midge, gray scud, red soft hackle,

Debbie – 10/22/20

black wooly bugger and holographic green crackleback.  George and Debbie from Texas were fishing with Darren.  They were catching on a

George – 10/22/20

jujubee midge, the blood worm, and #20 soft hackle.   Jim had Jerry out for the morning and they caught fish on the hot hare’s ear and a micro scud.

Friday, Roy fished with Darren.  Fishing started out great and then the front came through and they flat shut down.  While they were hitting, it was on the scud with a soft hackle trailer.

Saturday, Darren and Dana had a group of guys out.  Steve and Matt fished with Darren and Forest was with Dana.  That was one of those days when they turned on water in the morning, then off for a couple hours, and then back on later.  Darren’s guys caught on a

Forrest – 10/24/20

scud with soft hackle trailer, especially after the water dropped out.  Dana guy was catching on the ruby 2 or black copperhead midge.

Eric – 10/24/20

Gina had Eric and Todd from Texas on the water.  They were catching on a ruby 2.  This was the guy’s 40th

Todd -10/24/20

birthday celebration!  Happy Birthday guys!  Carolyn had Katie and Josh out.  It was the ruby

Katie – 10/24/20

2 for them also.  Josh likes to pull streamers, so we tried several of those later during the trip with

Josh – 10/24/20

no success.  It was either the ruby 2 midge or a gray scud with a soft hackle trailer.

Monday, Carolyn took Katie and her father, Virgil out.  This was Katie’s first time with a fly rod so we spent some time working on casting.  She wants to learn how to fly fish since the rest of her family is getting into it.  Didn’t take her long to get a good cast

Katie – 10/25/20

going, which she quickly forgot when she started fishing!….normal.  Caught her first fish (trout) on a fly rod with a gray scud and soft hackle dropper.  Tough day if you weren’t in the right spot.

Lots of fish coming up for spawn despite the low dissolved oxygen.

Definitely have some weather today.  It has been raining all morning off and on and sometimes very hard.  Looks like it will be out of here today by 3:00 p.m.  Temperature might reach the mid 60s.  Chance for more rain tomorrow with temperatures in the mid 70s.  Thursday will be warmer and little chances for rain.  However, by Friday, chances for rain go up and continues through the weekend.  Temperature will be the warmest Friday in the mid 60s and then 50 through Monday and even upper 40s for Tuesday!

We continue to see off generation during the morning hours, EXCEPT this morning.  They turned on two units for an hour at 9:00 a.m. and now it is off until 3:00 p.m. Then they plan to run it for six hours.  Not certain what the pattern is going to be.

Okay.  Let’s try to get caught up on fishing trips.  Lots of trips out the past couple weeks.  Darren took Bert and Spike, and Dana took Dan out a week ago this past Monday.  They had all just finished our Orvis 2-day fly fishing school.  Wanted to get some more time on the water.  Not a bad day.

Dan – 10/12/20

They all caught fish.  Darren’s guys were fishing a size 18 or 20 scud with s soft hackle dropper.  Dana’s guy fished a gray scud, a size 20 hare’s ear or the mega worm.

Last Tuesday, Dana took Wilma and George out for the morning.

Michelle – 10/13/20

They were catching on a red San Juan worm, a ruby 2, or a big ruby with a grey scud dropper.  Michelle and Kevin,

Kevin – 10/13/20

two new fly fishers, spent the day on the water with Darren.  Tough day as the generation was going up and down most of the day.  They did make the best of it and caught some fish on a size 16 or 18 gray scud with a size 19 soft hackle dropper.

Harry – 10/14/20

Harry and his friend, Paul, fish with Dana on Wednesday.  They had a pretty good day on the gray scud or a ruby 2 midge.

Thursday, Carolyn had a couple of her regulars, Arlan and Rick on the water.  We got out and waded the area below the boat ramp and managed to

Arlan and Rick – 10/15/20

get in some fish.  They were fishing a gray scud, ruby 2 midge and a holographic green crackleback trailing a black wooly bugger.  One double for the day.  They are always fun to fish with!  New fly fishers, Renee and Brett were on the water with Jim.  They had a tough day fishing and as Jim said, no best fly.

Friday, Carolyn introduced another couple to the world of fly fishing.  Neil and his wife, Michelle, wanted an instructional trip to learn the ropes and maybe catch a fish or two.  They live here in

Neil – 10/16/20

Branson, so they have lots of opportunity to fish Taneycomo!  We fished a gray scud, P&P midge, ruby 2 midge and the black wooly bugger with a holographic green crackleback.  That was the killer fly for Neil.  Darren had Tim out for half a day.  Tim’s wife arranged a fly fishing trip for him for his birthday.  Nice gift!  Tim caught fish mainly on a size 21 red ass soft hackle.

Dwan and Robert fished with Jim on Saturday.  They have been fishing with us for almost 15 years now.  The wind gave them some challenges but they managed to catch some fish on a dark gray scud.  A couple new fishers, Brian and his son Bryson went out with Dana.  He got them fish on a pink egg pattern, the white grub and a ruby 2 midge.

Sunday, it was Brett and Deb fishing with Darren.  A couple of very nice male rainbows stripping the crackleback.  Otherwise, they were catching on a double scud rig.  Dana’s guy, Richard, from Kansas had a slow day.  They were fishing a ruby 2 midge.

Seeing lots of dead fish on the bottom.  I keep harping on it, but pleased make certain you fish is completely revived before releasing.  They do fight hard, but it takes a lot out of them since they are living in such low dissolved levels.

Weather has been awesome.  A little cool this morning…31 degrees but the day turned out great!  Lots of wind forecast for tomorrow, with a chance of rain for Sunday and a pretty good chance for rain again on Monday.  Otherwise, looks like upper 60s to l91 70s for most of the following wee.

Weird generation patterns the past few days.  No water most of the mornings.  However, this morning they turned on two units at 7:00 a.m. and kept them on until 11:00.  Tomorrow it supposed to be off until noon when they will turn on a low one unit for an hour and they keep it off the balance of the day.  Sunday, it will be off all morning and not come on until 4:00 p.m. and only be on for three hours.  Monday, it will come on at 6:00 a.m. and be on most of the day!

Carolyn on the water for half a day both Thursday and Friday with Gary and Barry.  Either Stan or Carolyn have been fishing with them for several year.   Not a great day, but this time of the the year a respectable day on the black wooly bugger with a holographic green crackleback.  Dana on the water Thursday and Friday with Justin, Ruth and Hunter.  They caught fish on the Ruby 2 midge, light gray scud, a crackleback, and tan b-bug.

Last Saturday, Dana and Gina took a group from Illinois out for half day.  Gina had Gaik and Son, Aiden.  Pretty good day on the black wooly bugger, or a #14 olive wooly bugger/  Dana’s boat was catching on a gray scud  Tough day!  Jim had Dave and Andy from Fenton on the water.  Really trough day for them.  A few hits on the JW streamer and a #18 gray scud but nothing to the boat.

A little color showing up in the trees on the hills around the river.  Not sure if it will be a really pretty Fall as we are so dry.  But, it is still looking nice!  Some beautiful weather the past few days.  Sunny days, some with a little cloud cover, but temperatures in the upper 70s or low 80s.  Looks like low 80s through the weekend.  Next week will see upper 70s and no rain.  Mostly sunny all week!

No generation during the morning hours.  Earliest they turned it on the past few days was 11:00 a.m.  Every other day has been 1:00 p.m. or later.  Lots of wading time.

Busy, busy for us on the water.  Darren on the water a week ago Wednesday (yes, I’m a little behind again!).  He had Lynn from Texas on the water for half a day.  Took him up to the island across from outflow 2.  Pretty good day for Lynn on a double scud rig or the Ray Charles sow bug.

Last Thursday, Dana took Bill from Florida out for half a day.  Another pretty good day for them on a size 10 gray scud or a red San Juan worm.

Dana had Jeff and Jim out Saturday.  Pretty slow day but they did catch some on the black copperhead midge, a gray scud or the red San Juan worm.  Jim took Keith and his son-in-law, Paul out for half a day.  They caught fish on the size 8 JQ streamer.

Mike – 10/4/20

Sunday, Darren and Dana took a group on the water.  John and Vicki fished with Darren.

Josh – 10/4/20

Fairly new fly fishers, but the guys gave them a little casting session before hitting the water.  Darren’s folks were fishing a double scud rig.  Dana’s guys, Josh and Mike fished the ruby 2, a grey scud, or cerise worm.  Carolyn was on the water with another Mike and Josh.  These folks were from Oklahoma.  They too, were new fly fishers.  A few sessions on the roll cast, they regular cast and they caught fish on the ruby 2 midge.

Jason and Adam fished with Darren on Monday.

Jason – 10/5/20

Good day at the narrows on the red ass soft hackle and a #18 gray scud.

Adam – 10/5/20

Jim on the water Tuesday with Mark and Mike.  They had a pretty good day on the JQ streamer and a copper midge.

Beautiful, sunny days that past few days.  Little windy the past two afternoons, but otherwise, great days.  Today and tomorrow look like more of the same. According to the weather folks (we know how that goes) there is a chance for chances of rain sneaking in Friday night into Saturday and possibly Sunday.  Temperatures in the mid to upper 60s.

No change in generation.  The equivalent of one unit almost all day.  This has been the pattern since September 26.  Same schedule today.

Now to get caught up!

Darren on the water Tuesday, Sept. 22, with Roger from Illinois.  Good day for him on a size 20 black soft hackle or a size 18 midge.  Nice quality fish!  Ansel and his grandson, Tyler spent the morning with Carolyn.  Tough day for us.  Caught a few on a size 18 gray scud and a few on the ruby 2 midge.  Tyler hooked a couple stripping a holographic green crackleback.

Wednesday, Dana took Mike out for the morning.  Pretty good day Wednesday on the primrose & pearl midge under the big ruby.  Jim had Jerry and Nick out and felt it fish pretty slow most of the day.  They did land some stripping the JQ streamer.

Mike didn’t get enough on Wednesday so he went back out with Dana Thursday.  Not quite as good as Wednesday.  They were catching on the white grub or the black copperhead midge.

Last Friday, Micah and Joe fished with Dana.  Really slow day Friday.  Looks like what they caught was on the white grub.  Gina

One of Dale’s trout – 9/25/20

had one of her regulars, Dale, on the water for half a day.  Very slow morning.  Most of the fish they caught was from around noon and after and mostly on the ruby 2 midge.

Micah and Joe fished again with Dana on Saturday.  Another slow day, but they did catch a few more.  This time if was on the black copperhead, ruby 2 and P&P midges.  Jim had a couple new fly fishers from Texas on the water, Eric and Michelle.

Joel – 9/26/20

They caught a few on the ruby 2 midge, scuds and a San Juan worm.  Joel and Brett were fishing with Darren.  A little better day for these guys on scuds.

Monday, Darren took Rick and Connie out for half a day.  Pretty good day on a double scud rig.

Julie and Gary from Texas spent half a day on the water with Carolyn Wednesday.  Slow start, but finally found some fish in a few

Brett – 9/26/20

places.

Gary – 9/30/20

Morning was a size 16 or 18 scud dropped from an egg pattern.  Late morning and early afternoon switched to the ruby 2 midge.

Julie – 9/30/20

Overall, we are not catching as many fish as we do during the early part of the year, but more quality fish, 17-20 inchers.  The fish are fighting hard and really look good!  Please don’t let that fool you.  They are still oxygen deprived and need to have extra time for reviving after you bring them in.

Nice cool days we have been having for the past several days.  I think mid to high 80s Saturday will be our high for the week.  Then it looks like 70s and even mid to high 60s later in the week.  Not serious chances of rain in the forecast.

We continue to see no generation every morning,  However, tomorrow they plan to run a low run almost all day.  That is still wading water in many places.  Same schedule for Sunday and Monday.  Don’t worry, it will probably go back to no generation during the week.  Think they have this backwards!

Mike – 9/19/20

Fun group on the water last Saturday.  The McCoys were in town.  The guys were in town to have a guys weekend before one of them is getting married.  Gina had

Matt – 9/919/20

Mike and Matt.  They had a good day stripping the mini sculpin, black bugged and a mini bugger.  Kent

Kent – 9/19/20

and Andrew were with Dana and they were fishing a white

John Paul – 9/19/20

grub. ruby midge, or stripping the JQ streamer.  Last, but not least, Jim had John and Luke.  It was a

Luke – 9/19/20

baby ruby or micro scud for them.  Fun bunch of guys!

Sunday, Demitry and his son, Nick, fished with Dana.  They had a fun day on the copperhead black midge and the b-bug.

Another guys day out on Monday.  Jim had Mike and John, and Carolyn took Daniel and

Daniel – 9/21/20

Thomas.  Slow start to the day.  However, late in the morning Jim found a honey hole and got his guys in to a good number of fish stripping a size 14 JQ streamer.

Thomas – 9/21/20

Carolyn’s guys had pulled some fish during the day on the ruby midge, a scud, b-bug.  Caught a few stripping a holographic green crackeback or the JQ streamer.  Dana had Larry and Linda from South Dakota out for the day.  They

One of Larry or Linda’s fish – 9/21/20

had just finished our Orvis 2-day school and wanted to work on what they had just learned.  They

Gary – 9/21/20

caught fish on the ruby 2, b-bug and hare’s ear nymph.  Gary, from Michigan, spend the day with Darren.  Good day for him mainly on the black soft

hackle.  He also caught some on various midges.

Great weather.  Lots of sunshine, low 80s and no rain.  Although we could use some rain, none is in the forecast for all next week.  Temperatures look like they will be in the 70s through Monday, and then only warm up into the low 80s through the following weekend.

No generation almost during the morning hours since last Friday and through Tuesday.  Yesterday, Wednesday, they decided to run a low one unit 2:00 p.m. when they bumped it up to the equivalent of two units.  Started shutting it back around 7:00 p.m. the off by 8:00 p.m.  Today, it was no generation until 3:00 p.m.  when they turned on the equivalent of one unit.  It will bump up for a couple hours to two units, then off for the rest of the evening.

Dana on the water Tuesday with Frank and Harold from Texas.  Good day for them on the red San Juan worm, the white grub, or a

Clinton – 9/15/20

black zebra midge.  Carolyn had a couple of new fly fishers on the water, Renee and Clinton, also from Texas.  We started out with the basics of learning the roll cast, regular

Renee – 9/15/20

cast and shooting line.  Both caught on quickly and are throwing a nice line.  They also did well on catching fish on a #16 gray scud and the ruby 2 midge.

Wednesday, Dana and Jim had a group of guys from Oklahoma on

Jason – 9/16/20

the water.  Randy and Jaime were with Jim.  One of his guys was new to fly fishing so Jim spent some time working with him on the basic skills.  They really didn’t have a best fly as the fishing was tough for them.  Jason and Steve fished with Dana.  They caught several fish on the red San Juan worm, black zebra midge and the white grub.  Carolyn had

Jamie – 9/16/20

a couple of repeat customers, Jamie and Doug, also from Oklahoma.  They had a good day on the ruby 2 midge, red San Juan worm, big ruby midge and the holographic green crackleback.

Today, Jim took Barry, another Oklahoma guy, out for the morning.  Tough morning.  Caught a few fish on the JQ streamer.

Beautiful weather.  Low 80s and partly cloudy most days.  Light rain a couple days, but not enough to run you off the water.  Expecting low 80s into next weekend.  Great!

Last five days we have had no generation during the morning and early afternoon hours.  They have turned on one unit for 1-2 hours in the afternoon then back off.  Lots of low water time.

Great days, good days, and tough days.  That’s why they call it fishing.  With the no generation days we are having, dissolved oxygen levels in the river have been really low.  They are injection oxygen on various days, but not every day.  Fish are hitting and fighting hard.  You just have to find them.

Don – 9/9/20

Carolyn on the water Wednesday with Don and Steve from Illinois.  They have been fishing with us for over ten years now.  Anyway, it was a really good day for them.  Don’s said it was probably his best day.

Steve – 9/9/20

Lots of quality fish on a #16 or 18 gray scud under the UV salmon egg, or stripping the JQ streamer on a 1.5 ips sinking leader.

Thursday was a good day.  Dana had Ed from Louisiana out for half a day.  They fished the ruby 2

Robert – 9/10/20

midge and the white grub.  Meanwhile, Carolyn had her guy, Robert, from Kansas City, catching on the red soft hackle trailing a black wooly bugger, or a ruby 2 midge.

Friday, we had to look several places to find fish.  Carolyn had John and Dwight on the water again.  Worked several places and picked up a few fish just about everywhere we looked but there was no place to pick up very many fish.  So we rowed a lot and caught fish on the JQ streamer and a black copperhead midge.  Dana had Al and Chandra out for the morning.  They were catching on the black copperhead midge or the white grub.

Susan – 9/12/20

Susan and Deb fished Saturday with Carolyn.  Off to a slow start, but finished good.  It was the B-bug under a #16 gray scud or stripping a #16 red soft hackle behind the JQ streamer.

I know I keep repeating myself, but yesterday we spotted 6 dead trout in a very small area.  Please take a little extra time when releasing your fish.  I know they are fighting hard….wouldn’t you?, so they seem strong….but   Just take time to hold them upstream a little longer and really get their wind back.  They are operating in very low dissolved oxygen levels.