What a difference a day makes!  Day before Thanksgiving it was in the 70s.  Thanksgiving Day there was snow, light granted, but snow and temperatures in the 30s!  Today’s high is the low 40s and tomorrow predicted to be in the mid 50s with the same for Sunday.  By Monday, there is a chance of showers with temperatures again in the 50s.  Think Tuesday might be a bit cooler but sunny.  Must report that for the past seven days, they have run water every day except for six hours early Monday morning.  Otherwise, one to three generators have been running at the equivalent of one to two.  Some days, it is low enough you can wade in select places.

Darrell on the water last Monday.  He had Marlin and his son, Ross, from Louisiana.  They worked had but caught fish on the red and black midges.  Fly fishing was pretty much a new experience for both of them.

Tuesday, Carolyn had Ron and Kathy, also from Louisiana, out for the day.  Nothing competitive between these two.  Ron was ahead at the beginning of the day, but that was short-lived after lunch.  Kathy took the lead and kept on going.  We had a good day, but it certainly would have been an even better day had it not been for the wind.  Missed a lot of hits and lost a lot of fish while we were getting blown everywhere.  Good, fun day on the primrose & pearl midge which fished best under a size 12 UV gray scud.  As we got further down the river near Fall Creek, a dark roe egg pattern was the pattern for the afternoon.

Temperatures today are very nice, however, the wind is not.  Pretty windy and gusty today.  Last I heard, Monday might be in the low 70s, however about a 40% chance of showers Monday.  Generation every day, all day since Wednesday and scheduled to do the same today and tomorrow.  However, the level has been low enough so there are wading opportunities in certain areas.

We will be closed Thanksgiving Day.  However, we will be open the day after Thanksgiving.  Come on in and check out the Orvis Reel Deal.  Again this year, we can give you a choice of certain Orvis reels free with the purchase of a Helios or Hydros rod!  Just in time for Christmas shopping!

Stan on the water Friday with Todd and Brian.  Todd is from Ozark and I believe Brian was from Illinois (not certain).  They had a good day even with a late start.  This was Brian’s first fly fishing trip.  He was happy to have caught his first trout on a fly rod and very happy with the size of the fish they caught.  Best patterns were a red San Juan, red and black midges.  This one is for you Stan from Chicago.  While waiting for them to come off the water ( I took the trailer around to meet them at the take out), I noticed the fish coming up everywhere in the shallow water around the boat ramp.  The only rod I could find in the car was a 4 wt. 7’6″ Trout Bum with a big ugly fly.  Beggars can’t be choosie, so to the water I went with this rig and plop!  About the 3rd or 4th cast, a nice rainbow took my big ugly.   Think it could have been a great dry fly evening had I had a smaller pattern.

Saturday, Troy and Dave from Warrensburg took a half day with Stan.  They had two generators, then one running while they were out.  Again, nice quality fish on the red San Juan and copper dun midge.    Pretty windy on Saturday.

Weather continues to be cool today.  From this morning’s forecast, looks like we may have a pretty windy one today.  Tomorrow will still be cool, in the 50s, less wind, and overcast.  However, forecast for the weekend looks good.  Temps in the 60s and sunny.  Hope this is right!  Generation schedule has been pretty right on.  Little generation Monday, Tuesday, and again today.  They projected one generator this morning at 7:00 a.m. for one hour and they did it.  Should be off the balance of the day.  And, reports from the river are good.  Folks catching fish on almost everything, including a few dries!

Several of the gals could not resist one more day on the water, so they hit Taneycomo again on Sunday. Great day for all of them. 

First picture is interesting, Valley in a raft!   This gal, from Oklahoma is a fishing machine.  

Check out Lorraine. This is her first trout ever on a fly rod.  Was she excited. 

This dynamic duo is Gina and her sister Penny. If you know Gina, you know she will try to get everyone in her family hooked on fly fishing! She certainly did it with Penny.

Last, but certainly not least, we missed  this picture earlier of Carolyn, from Arkansas, with her nice rainbow.  Nice fish Carolyn! 

All the women had a wonderful time laughing, sharing, fishing, catching, and just plain having fun this past weekend.  Until the next time, watch out Taneycomo!  We’ll be back!

So much for the weather forecast I heard day before yesterday and posted yesterday. It was raining this morning on my way to work. Not too heavy, but still, it was rain. Anyway, as I am writing, the sun is starting to peek through the clouds. Looks like it is on its way out. Yesterday and so far today, (knock on wood), they have pretty much followed the generation projection. Today, they are projecting it to be off until around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. when they will turn on the equivalent of one generator for about three hours and then off the rest of the day.

If you are interested in learning how to tie flies, or pick up some different patterns, we have posted the free fly tying clinic schedule on our site. Clinics start December 4, 2010 with “Basic Fly Tying” being the first session. Check out “Fly Fishing Schools/Fly Tying Clinics” for the 2010-2011 fly tying and fly fishing clinics schedule. Give us a call if interested.

For those of you who knew that Shannon Roberts decided about three months ago to retire, I just wanted to let you know that he came back out of retirement. He got in some fishing time, and I’m sure some “Honey Do” time, but he missed the shop and all the wonderful folks he talks with every day, so he’s back! If you are in the area, be sure to stop by on a Friday or Saturday and say “Hi, glad to see you back!”

Any by the way, fishing has been good. A few of the ladies stayed over Sunday and fished some more. They all had a great day on various patterns, but especially small, 16-18 gray scuds. Customers coming into the store over the past two days commenting that fishing has been good, scuds, soft hackles, olive buggers.

What happened to our lovely temperatures? Nice weather most of last week except for Saturday. Brrrr! Saturday was overcast, windy, with temperatures in the 40s in the a.m. that crept into the 50s during the day. Today looks pretty nice. Definitely sunny, very little wind and temps in the low 60s. Pretty much the same forecast this coming week until Thursday when we they are forecasting a chance of shows. Temperatures all week in the upper 50s to low 60s. Not too bad for November! Generation a bit crazy these past few days. Two hour blip Sunday evening; off all day Monday until 5:00 p.m. Equivalent of two generators all day Tuesday and off until 1:00 p.m. Wednesday. Once it came on Wednesday afternoon, it stayed on until Friday at midnight. Saturday they ran the equivalent of one generator for an hour and turned it off the rest of the day. It is still off today with the projection for a generator by 2:00 p.m. today.

Another busy week on the water. Stan took Bob and his friend, Mike, both from Michigan, out all day Monday. Bob tries to fish with us 3-4 times a year, but Mike’s visits are maybe once a year. Good day on the water for these guys using the Primrose & pearl, Copper Dun and Ruby midges. Dawn, aka “The Stripper” and Albert, from Louisiana, spent a long half day on the water with Carolyn. Good day, with back to back 18″ rainbows, Dawn caught one then Albert, on a pine squirrel sculpin pattern. Lots of other nice fish on the burgundy and copper dun midges, holographic green crackleback and a size 16 light gray scud. Jim had Wayne and Colleen from Hawaii out again. What a cute couple. They are still pretty new at fly fishing and really love it. They had a good day on black zebra midge, size 18 gray scud and a size 18 olive wooly bugger.

Tuesday, Stan took Hubert and Georgia out for half a day. They had a wonderful day on the water with the primrose & pearl and red midges. This picture was not their largest fish, but the composition of the picture is so neat. The other treat of the day was an eagle perched in a nearby tree where they were fishing.
Jerry from Indiana spend half a day on the water with Jim. They worked on skills a little and caught fish on the black zebra, black thorax, red midge and a size 12 gray scud.

Stan out Wednesday with Chad. Chad owns Ozark Angler in Little Rock and Heber Springs, Arkansas. They had a good day on the primrose & pearl and copper dun midges. Dan, from Texas, spent the morning with Jim. He is new to fly fishing, so guess what they did. Worked on casting and line work and caught some fish on the size 12 bug eyed bugger, the black midge and a gray scud.

Ripp from Louisiana spent Thursday with Darrell. They had a good day on a ruby midge and holographic green crackleback. Jim and Larry from Texas, had a pretty good day. They caught fish on the red and black midges, and a gray scud.

Ken from Kansas is recovering from surgery and thought the best medicine would be a half day on the water catching fish. Think it worked. He spent the morning with Stan and they had a great day on a size 18 red midge. Nice fish Ken! Hope you are feeling better.

Friday was the beginning of a crazy weekend. Close to twenty members of the River Run Women’s Fly Fishing Club descended upon Branson for their quarterly meeting. And what does a fly fishing club do when they get together? Fish, of course. So fishing was the first, second, and third thing on the agenda. So for those of you who were near the lake on Friday or Saturday and heard lots of laughing, cheering, and yelling, it was just a bunch of crazy fly fishing women having a great time. Pictured above is Barbara with one of her nice fish she caught on the size 18 ruby midge. The weather Friday was not too bad, just a bit windy. Saturday was bitter all morning. It did get a little more comfortable by the afternoon, but not one of our more pleasant days. Several of these hard core women were on the water all day fishing and catching. They certainly enjoyed the evening meal of chilli which helped take the brrrrr out of the day. Best pattern Friday was a size 18 ruby midge dropped from the big ruby. Saturday, a size 8 natural colored pine squirrel sculpin seemed to be the favorite with the fish. Despite all the noise, Stan had Kent from Independence on the water for half a day. Think they headed down stream before all the ladies got to the water so they didn’t hear the worst, or best, of it. They worked hard for their fish. In the middle of their trip, they generated for an hour and then shut it down. Best patterns were the red, primrose & pearl and rusty midges. Darrell had Tony and his wife, Amber out for the morning. Comment, bitterly cold. Amber came through, despite the nasty day with a nice fish. They were using a black zebra and ruby midge.

Way behind again! Only had the water off from midnight until 2:00 a.m. last Tuesday. These rest of the week has seen was on at 6:00 a.m. for a couple hours; off for 6-8 hours,; then back on for 4-6 hours. Thank you…by Saturday we had generation for only three hours in the morning, and then they shut it off the rest of the day into Sunday.  Sunday we had a little blip of water for a couple hours around 8:00 p.m.

Last Tuesday, Jim had Carl and Dan from Oklahoma City out all day.  It was one of those tough days.  However, they did catch some fish on the size 14 red midge, a gray scud, and a size 18 black thorax midge.

Bob from Kentucky, spent the morning on the water with Stan Thursday.  Stan found his match with this guy.  If you know Stan very well, you know he has some parameters on when he will fish.  “If it’s 40 or below, Stan don’t go”, or “if the wind is 20 and above, Stan don’t go”, and on, and on…..  Anyway, when Bob booked his trip, it almost sounded like Stan.  Despite their limitations, they had a good day on the water.

Friday, Darrell took Robert, from Tulsa, out for half a day.  They had a good day, mainly on the size 18 ruby midge.  Stan was also out.  Must have been Oklahoma day, as he had Terry and Dave, also from Tulsa, out all day.  Good full day of fishing, especially when the water started dropping in the late morning.  Best patterns were a size 18 olive midge, a green Copper John and best was the size 18 Primrose & Pearl midge.  Carolyn took Mary Jo and her husband Bill, out all day.  These two are originally from Minnesota, but moved several years ago to Alaska where they once had their own fly shop in Sitka.  Just recently retired, they purchased a camper and are traveling around fishing!  What fun.  Mary Jo was one of the five women, including Carolyn, who went to Sweden and Norway to fish this past June.  Mary Jo said she was going to come to Branson to fish, and she did.  Fun and fish filled day on the holographic green crackleback (Mary Jo really liked this), a size 18 ruby midge, and a size 18 copper dun midge.

Dana had Gene and Terry from Kansas out all day Saturday.  Think it was Terry’s first time fly fishing.  He caught a nice 18 inch rainbow.  What a way to get started.  Their best flies were a size 16 gray scud, size 16 tan flashback scud and a red San Juan worm.

Sunday, Darrell had John and Thomas, from Oak Grove, most of the day.  This was another one of those tough days.  One nice fish, 18-1/2″ rainbow, but the rest were few and far between.  What they did catch was on either an olive filoplume or  the olive floozie.  Folks coming into the store that day were also moaning about the tough fishing.

Not seeing very many browns anymore but we are seeing lots of nice rainbows.   Have pictures to publish of some of the above mentioned trips, but the gremlin is still running around somewhere in my computer.

We continue to see up and down generation, but fortunately, there is enough down time that lots of people are catching some really nice fish up in the Hatchery area. Monday was a real fluctuating day as they had it off six hours in the morning, on for three, then back off for four and back on for seven hours. During the week, Wednesday was the best day for wading. It was off until 3:00 in the afternoon. It as up and down yesterday, but no so much that one could not get out there and do some wading. Weather continues to be beautiful…had one crispy night in the upper 20s but it warmed up to be a very nice day in the 70s.

Wednesday, Stan had Don and John from Illinois out all day.  Fun couple of guys and good fishers.  They had a very good day on the rusty and red midges. 

Carolyn took Ted and Tom from the Blue Springs area out all day Thursday.  This was one of those nippy mornings and the soup really hit for spot for lunch.  We boated several nice fish during the day on the size 18 ruby midge dropped under a size 12 UV gray scud.   I think Tom could catch fish in a bath tub.  Both are good fishers and fish al over the place.  Hope they send pictures of some of the nice fish we caught.

Friday, Cary from Virginia spent the day on the water with Stan.  He fishes mostly in small mountain streams so this tailwater was a real new experience for him.  He had a good day on every one of the midges…almostlllburgundy, primrose & pearl, copper dun and black zebra. 

Had 8 TU pins handed out in the past 3-4 days for mostly rainbows but a few browns over 20 inches so folks are still catching some nice fish.  Understand from the folks at the Hatchery that the brown run is pretty much finished.  However, remember that are always those hanger ons and John come latelys.  Still a few browns handing around and defintiely some nice rainbows!

Along with the windy conditions, the generation pattern continues to be bizzare.  Think I mentioned that they ran it all day Sunday.  Finally shutting it down Sunday night around 11:00 p.m..  It was off Monday morning until 9:00 a.m. when they ran two generators for one hour and shut it back to one and off within another hour.  Off for five hours and back on at 3:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.  Somewhat the same pattern again today.  Wonder what surprise we have in store for us tomorrow.  Had a heavy rain/wind experience come through here early this morning…around 1:30 a.m.  Windy yesterday starting in around 11:00 a.m. and has continued into today.  Forecast for the rest of the week seems dry and cooler with temperatures in the 60s. 

Jim out yesterday morning with Bill and Bill from Oklahoma.  Bet that was confusing at times…Bill "set"; Bill "mend".  Must have worked out as they caught fish.  Best patterns were the black zebra, gray scud and an olive wooly bugger, size 10.  Carolyn had Mike and Jan, from Oklahoma, out for the day.  They had a wonderful day.  Once we got through the weird water levels in the morning, started catching fish on the size 18 copper dun, a size 10 sculpin, and an olive filoplume.  Great quality and quantity day.  Most of the fish were in the 14-16 inch range plus each of them caught a 17-3/4" rainbow.  Really tried to stretch them out to 18", but just didn’t work. 

Jan – 10/25/10	Mike – 10/25/10

Jim just blew in the front door today after his trip with Bruce, from Illinois.  They had a good day with this being Butch’s first experience at fishing a tralwater fishery.  He normally fishes still lakes for trout.  Their best patterns were the red midge, gray scud and a size 8 beadhead olive wooly bugger. 

Generation schedule continues to be a bit erratic.  What’s new?  Off last Sunday until midnight and Monday through Wednesday, they ran water 24/7.  Thursday we have eight hours of no generation from mignight until 8:00 a.m. when they ran the equivalent of one generator until 8:00 p.m., then off again until Friday just about 1:00 p.m. when we had the equivalent of one generator for five hours.  No water from 8:00 p.m. Friday until 7:00 p.m.  Saturday night.   They ran two generators at the equivalent of one until 10:40 a.m. today when they turned on the third generator (not projected) and are still running three.  They projected generation all day today, but not at the level they are running.  Projection for tomorrow is off, then on for 3-4 hours, then off for 5-6 hours, then on for 3-4 hours.  Interesting.  Still lovely weather.  Had a pretty good rain shower yesterday afternoon and some last night, but that appears to be the end of it.  Tomorrow is predicted to be in the lower 80s, and the rest of the week on the 70s to upper 60s.  The folage, especially around the lake, has really turned during the past few days.  It’s pretty nice here in the Ozarks right now. 

Wanda – 10/18/10

Carolyn’s regular, regulars, Wanda and Joanna, spent half a day on the water Monday.  Caught several nice rainbows, in the 16 to 17-1/2 inch range.  It was a good day for nice, fiesty fish.  Best patterns were the UV gray scud with a rusty midge dropper, or the big ruby with the rusty midge dropper.   Jim had John and Ron, from Minnesota, out all day.  The last time they fished with Jim, they turned on all the flood gates so it was a pretty trashed up trip.  They decided to come back and try it again.  Much better!  Even with the fluctuating water, they pulled fish with the red midge, gray scud and a pink San Juan worm dropper.   Alton and Bob,  from Alabama, spend the morning with Darrell.  Good morning, mainly on the size 16 red tungsten beadhead midge. 

Tuesday, Jerry, from Neosho, took a half day float with Jim.  They experienced pretty light takes, but caught fish on the red midge, a size 18 black thorax midge and a gray scud.  Chris and her son, Shayne, from here in Branson, were out for half a day with Stan.  Chris said they had a wonderful day.  Even though both were new to fly fishing, they caught a good number of fish on the red tungsten beadhead midge all morning. 

Jim out all day Wednesday with Wayne, from Alabama.  He had a ball!  Caught fish on a charcoal sculpin, red and black thorax midges, and a size 10 olive wooly bugger.   Bill, from Illinois, was "looking to be put onto fish!".  He spend the morning with Stan and Stan complied….got him onto fish.  Their single best pattern was still the red tungsten beadhead midge all morning. 

Thursday, Dave and Mack, from Texas had a half day with Jim.  These guys were pretty new to fly fishing, so Jim worked with them on skills, and also let them catch from fish.  The size 16 red midge and gray scud where their patterns for the morning.  Stan had Les and Doc from Oklahoma out all day.  Great day….red midge was about 

Dan – 110/21/10

the only pattern they needed for a good day’s outting.  And, another fly fisher in the making, Dan from Texas.  He called and said he wanted to learn how to fly fish.  Gina took him out for half a day and we think "he is hooked!"  She wokred on casting and line handling a little to get him started, they started working on catching!  At the end of the trip she introduced him to pulling a streamer using the sinking leader.  He really liked that!  Their best patterns were the rusty midge and the olive floozie.   Carolyn spend the day with John, from Illinois and his friend Bob, from Arkansas.  These two are a pair…best best friends for over 50 years.  Almost all our fish were caught onthe size 16 red tunghead might.  Good day! 

Stan and Terry, from Oklahoma, had a good day on the water Friday.  Turned on two generators early (was supposed to be 6:00 p.m.), but not to worry.  They caught fish on the size 16 red midge, the ruby midge, size 18, and the 56er stripping it the area above Fall Creek Boat Dock.   Carolyn took a nice nine year old young man out for a morning wade trip to get him started fly fishing.  Mom, Jennifer, and Dad, Jeff, went along to observe.  Don’t put a fly rod in Jennifer’s hands….she’ll start catching fish.  Even neater was to see Hayden, hook his first fish within five minutes after he finally got a fly on the end of his line.  I started him out flyless to work on the roll cast, mending and how to bring in a fish.  Told him he had to "earn his fly".  He hooked and landed, hooked and lost, several fish .  Best patterns were the copper dun and ruby midges, size 18; and the floozie.  Jeff was experiencing a sinking leader stripping a streamer for the first time.  Neat family.  They plan to do lots more fly fishing from their boat on Lake Winnebago, where they live. 

Jim took Steve and Tony, from St. Charles out all day Saturday.  This was a birthday present for Tony (Steve’s brother-in-law).  They came back with alot more experience than when they started.  Jim took them through the paces of casting, line work, hooking and playing fish.  They had a good day on the black and rusty midges, and a size 18 gray scud.  Bruce and Scott, from Lee’s Summit spend the morning with Darrell.  A good day for them on the copper dun and black zebra midges.  And Stan had a great day with Dave from England.  Knew Stan was in for a day when he asked Dave if he drank coffee.  Dave’s response was "what do you do with coffee?"  Probably would have hooked even more fish had they not been laughing all day.  Dave was so happy he got the opportunity to go fishing.  Seems he had communicated with another area guide and set up a trip for October 20th.  He was to call the guide when he got to Branson the day before the trip.  He did call the guide and left messages twice.  Unfortunately, the guide never returned his call.  He said he was "like a child anticipating Christmas morning with the thought of going fly fishing".  Quite disappointed when it did not happen.  But, fortunately, someone recommended us and Dave contacted us for a trip.  Dave said this will be on his list of must do things each time he comes to Branson….and probably a couple trips each time.  He and his wife do get to the area frequently.   

Nope!  Have no idea why they have been generating all day, every day this week.  Projection for tomorrow is no generation from midnight until 8:00 a.m. when they will run the equivalent of one generator until 10:00 p.m.  Zero from 10:00 p.m. to midnight.  Weather has been beautiful, cloudy and cooler yesterday, but today was full of sunshine.  Possibility of isolated thunder showers Friday, scattered thunder showers Saturday and Sunday, and isolated thumder showers Monday.  Temperatures to remain in the low 70s, with Tuesday in the 60s and sunshine.

More busy days on the water.  Stan had Taisha and her father Jim, from Independence out for half a day Saturday.  Last time these two were out, they had 30 doubles (both hooked a fish at almost the same time).  This trip, they only had 10 or 11, but had a great day catching on the rusty midge.  This was the fly the entire trip.  Barry, from St. Louis, spent hald a day with Jim.  Jim worked with Barry on casting as well as catching.  They too did well on the rusty midge plus a size 18 gray scud.

Sunday, Gina spend the morning with Patti and Pat from St. Louis.  They had a very good day on the copper dun, primrose & pearl, and various other midges.  These two are not only good fly fishers, but very involved with fly fishing.  Both are members of FFF Southern Council and Missouri Casting for Recovery.. 

Patti – 10/17/10	Pat – 10/17/10

Bob and Sandy, from Illinois, spent half a day with Stan on Monday.  These good fishers had a good day on the red midge, 56er, and a primrose & pearl midge.

Hearing and seeing pictures of some nice browns being caught up in the Hatchery Area.  Most of them are being caught on either gray or tan scuds.  With the overcast weather we had yesterday, all the patterns were dark.  Dark brown San Juan worms seemed to be one of the good patterns yesterday.