HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

January 2nd, 2021

Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable new year.  Weather went a little “south” for the New Year.  We had cold rain but most areas west, north and east of us had freezing rain, snow, and/or sleet.  Today is another cold day with chances of cold rain or snow.  Good news is that Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all look like they will be in the 50s.  Then 40s set in again for a few days with slight chances of some type of moisture.

Generation  schedule has been pretty steady with the equivalent of one or a low one unit running every day.  Yesterday, however, around 3:00 p.m. they cranked on three units for several hours and still have a little more than two units running today.  Must have some power needs somewhere as the projection through the weekend was the equivalent of a low one unit.

John – 12/27/20

Darren on the water last Wednesday with John and Jamie.  They blew up and down the river catching on the red San Juan worm with

Jamie – 12/27/20

the tungsten bead, the copperhead black and silver black midges.  Don’t remember what the wind speeds were, but it was vicious!

Needless to say, after putting on my gear to hit the water for the first time in 2021, I was a tad upset to find out they turned on three units.  However, as tradition would have it, gotta be standing in the water and fishing on the first day of the New Year.  Found a way to get down to the creek that comes in on the north side of the river upstream from the boat ramp.   Not much room, but there is a descent seam on that bend so I put on my big ruby with a ruby 2 dropper and roll cast it into the river.  Good drift down and “bam” first fish of the New Year on my first cast.  Hummmm, it

First Fish of 2021!

might be a good day after all.  Several more casts and nothing but I persisted.  Finally, hooked another one, missed a couple, hooked the tree upstream from me, missed another, then hooked another.  Few more nothing drifts, then a take which I missed and sent my flies into the tree again.  Okay!  I have had a good day and rolled everything up and went back to work.  Happy New Year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

December 22nd, 2020

We are having our Christmas present a few days early.  Weather yesterday and today in the 60s.  Wednesday we are looking at a drop in temperature and chances of rain toward evening.  Christmas eve is burrrr.  High of 34 and a low of 20.  Christmas day will be in the low 40s.  Good news is that the weekend will probably see low 50s.

Continue to see the equivalent of one low generator all day every day for the past four days.  The dissolved oxygen is in the double digits at 10.1 ppm +/-.  Nice!

Joe – 12/17/20

Carolyn on the water last Thursday with Steve and Joe.  Fun day and the fish were happy.  Very good day on the ruby 2 under the big ruby.  The quality of the fish caught was great.  Plus it was a beautiful, warm day!

Shen and Matt from Arkansas were on the water with Darren Saturday.  They had a good day on the red San Juan worm.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!  Stay safe and healthy.

 

 

Dissolved Oxygen Looking Very Good!

December 12th, 2020

What a couple great days weather wise, Wednesday and Thursday!  Lots of sunshine, temperatures in the high 60s yesterday and 70s today.  Can’t believe they are forecasting snow for Sunday.  Temperatures dropping Friday to mid 50s and changes for rain late.  Saturday will only top out at maybe mid 40s and Sunday will be upper 30s for the highs.  Next week looks more normal in temperatures for this time of the year……mid to upper 40s.

Past two days we have seen around 40 mwh.  This raises the level about 2 to 2-1/2 feet.  There were actually several people out the past two days wading.  The flow is light and it does not raise the level a lot.   Today, Saturday, the projection is 35 mwh all day.

John and June from the Branson area were on the water Wednesday with Carolyn.  Had a very good day on the black copperhead midge under the big ruby.  Fun day.

Sam – 12/10/20

Thursday, Sam and his friend Brian, fished with Carolyn.  Another good day.  Lots of healthy fish on the ruby 2 midge under

Brian – 12/10/20

the big ruby.  We would find pods of fish in various places and just sit there and fish them out and they move on to another pod.   Another fun day plus we had the great weather.

 

 

Dissolved Oxygen Looking Better!

December 6th, 2020

Weather is warming up a little.  Low 50s for Monday and Tuesday and then in the low 60s Wednesday and Thursday.  Rain showing up in the forecast for Friday with a 60% chance and mid 50s for the temperature.  Cooling down over next weekend into the low to mid 40s.

We continue to see the equivalent of two generators running 24/7.  Not sure if and when this will change but we are getting very close to power pool of 715′.  Last check it was at 715.6′.  Possibly we will see a change when it hits power pool.  In the meantime, the dissolved oxygen levels have greatly improved.  Still not at the desirable level, but certainly better.  This should just improve over time as the lake has turned or is definitely in the process of flipping.

Jeff – 11/30/20

Darren picked the coolest day in November to spend on the river with Jeff last Monday.  Good news was that is turned out to be a pretty good day for fishing.  They were catching on the red San Juan worm or a blood red egg pattern.

We are sorry to let you know that we will not be holding fly tying clinics this year.  Due to COVID-19, we feel it would be in everyone’s best interest not to gather in this manner.  We will, however, hold one-on-one sessions if you call and arrange a date and time that is convenient.

One Spillway Opened!

November 29th, 2020

Cold weather is coming our way.  Monday’s high will be 40.  Tuesday a little better with 50, but after that it will be back into the 40 for most of the week.  Burrrr!  Not certain I’m ready for this.

Pretty much two units running for the past five to six days.  Friday afternoon, they opened up one spillway with an extra 1000 cfs release.  Not sure why.  Still running today.

Tracy – 11/23/20

Carolyn on the river last Monday with Jeff and Tracy from Kansas.  Fun day for these two.  Lots of nice fish on a red San Juan worm.

Jeff – 11/23/20

 

 

 

Tuesday, Dana took Tony and his nephew Dylan out for half a day.  They were catching on a red or cerise San Juan worm and probably did best on the red one.

Friday, Denise and Jill fished with Carolyn.  Best pattern this day was the cerise San Juan.  Did hook a few on the ruby 2, but it was a worm day.  Ladies and fairly new to fly fishing and wanted to learn more.  We worked some on casting and had a great time!  Jim had Bryant and Chuck out that morning.  They caught a few fish on a tiger tail, egg pattern and ruby midge.

Kelly had a good day Saturday on the water with Carolyn.  Cerise San Juan worm under the big ruby was the ticket.  With one spillway open, we found a few other places to fish.  Nice!  Joe and Owen fished with Dana.  They started early due to later commitments.  Tough day for them but they did catch some fish.

 

Over An Inch Of Rain The Past Two Days!

November 22nd, 2020

We received over an inch of rain the past two days.  There were times when it was really pouring!  Today looks like mostly cloudy and only in the low 50s.  Monday is supposed to be mid 50s and party sunny.  Tuesday looks like more rain and mid to upper 50s.  The rest of the week is mid 50s and very low chances for rain…..we’ll see.

Continue  to see a full unit or the equivalent of a very low two units running all day, every day.  Tomorrow’s projection is one unit until 7:00 a.m. when they will shut it down until 1:00 p.m. when it will go back to the equivalent of one unit for the rest of the day.

Jim had one of his regulars, Ralph from Texas, out last Tuesday and Wednesday.  Tuesday was not good.  The water was high and really dirty.  Wednesday was better and they caught fish on the JQ streamer, ruby midge and a small scud.

Mike and John were on the water with Carolyn on Wednesday.  Good day for these two fishers either on the ruby 2 or an egg pattern under the big ruby.  Even caught a few stripping the holographic green crackleback.   Dana had Larry out for half a day.  They worked hard and Larry was pulling a black wooly bugger.

Lewis – 11/19/20

Thursday, Lewis from Oklahoma fished with Carolyn.  Fun day for him on the ruby 2 midge or the egg pattern.  The midge was the best pattern for the day.

Darren took James and his two children, Reeves and Cyblee over to Roaring River Friday.  This was Cyblee’s first time with a fly rod and Reeves had very little experience.  Great day for everyone, including Dad!  Caught fish on the white or cream mop flies and zebra midges.

Lots of rain for Gina’s guest, Dale, yesterday.  It was his birthday so his wife Lisa and their dog Miley rode along.  Caught a few fish on a cerise worm with the ruby 2 dropper.  Everyone had a fun day, despite the rain, but they were ready to get off when it was time.

Good Days! Tough Days!

November 15th, 2020

Looks like a week of sunny days ahead of us.  Temperatures starting in the 60s and hitting the low 70s by the end of the week and into Saturday.

Don’t expect to see much change in the generation pattern.  Low one most of the day but running all day.  We can hope they might start shutting it down for a little while, but Monday will be more of the same.  We’ll just have to see.

Jim on the water last Wednesday with Gary from Kansas.  Gary pretty new to fly fishing so Jim worked with him.  Had some hits, misses and break offs, but not many fish to the boat.  No best fly.

Gary – 11/11/20

Gary and his brother Ansel, fished with Carolyn.  Tough day for them too.  They handed did land some fish on the ruby 2 midge.  Best fish of the day was for Ansel.  He caught a beautiful 20 inch rainbow.

Ansel – 20″ Rainbow – 11/11/20

Thursday was another day.  John and Jack fished with Carolyn and had a good day on the ruby 2 under the big ruby.  This was Jack’s first time and he started out with the biggest fish of the day.  Fun day for Jack and I think he’ll try this again.

Friday the 13th.  Dana had Javier from Kansas out for the morning.  Pretty good day on an orange egg pattern, the copperhead black

Karen – 11/13/20

midge and a ruby 2.  Carolyn’s two ladies, Cathy and Karen had a fun day catching on the ruby 2 midge.  Several nice fish to the boat.

Cathy – 11/13/20

Some Rain Here and There!

November 10th, 2020

Rainy this afternoon but is pretty much out of here now.  A little cool off with this rain.  60s the rest of the week and chances for rain very late Friday night and possibly into Saturday morning.  Then just more 60s through the following week.

Not much change in generation.  Low one unit for a while, then a full one unit going up sometimes to a low two units.

Tom and Jeff from North Dakota fish with Darren on Sunday.  Water was pretty murky and lots of wind.  They hung in there and caught some fish on a size 14 ruby 2, the white mega worm, a size 14 scud and the cerise worm.  Dana’s guys, Bill and his grandson, Brant caught all their fish on the cerise San Juan worm.

Monday, Jeff and Bill fished with Darren.  They wanted a little experience pulling streamers, so Darren set them up with an extra fast sinking leader and they stripped a bead eye black & chartreuse zonker.

Still Seeing Low Generation

November 8th, 2020

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.

Weird Water!

November 5th, 2020

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!

 

 


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