And the rain came, and Table Rock Lake went up almost 1/2 a foot in a couple days.  A few scattered showers today, but we are expecting no rain, for at least a couple more days and temperatures into the 70s.  Best chance for rain looks like Sunday, but it will still be in the 70s.  A little cool down early next week, probably due to the chance of rain coming in Sunday.  Temperatures could drop to the low 60s by Monday.

Quite a bit heavier water flows yesterday and again today.  I just have a feeling we are going to see these heavier flows for a few days in order to get Table Rock Lake back to or below power pool.

Before the rains, over the weekend, Stan on the water Saturday with Gary and his friend Bill from the Lee’s Summit area.  Gary told Bill that when they were running water, this was the only

Gary & nice 18″ Rainbow – 4/5/14

way to get into fish was get in the drift boat with Stan.  They had a good day, especially stripping the holographic green crackleback on the sinking leader.

Bill – 4/5/14

Sunday, Gina and Dana took a group from Indiana out for half a day.  Gina took the ladies, Angie and her daughter Kacey, and Dana took the guys, Kevin and his son, Jonathan.  It was a nip and tuck day as to which group was going to catch the most, but the guys edged past the ladies by just a

Kacey – 4/6/14

few fish.  Everyone was new to fly fishing and every one loved it.  I think we definitely have two more lady fly fishers in our midst.  They already loved fishing, now they like fly fishing.  Best 

Angie – 4/6/14

patterns were the black or little ruby under an egg pattern or the red midge or P&P under the big ruby. 

Kevin & Jonathan – 4/6/14

Jim was out with Jimmie and his friend, Joe, from Florida.  They all had a good day stripping a size 12 CQ streamer or a size 12 holographic green crackleback….of course on a sinking line.  They also did well drifting a size 18 black midge.

I know we will be begging for wind come July, so why do we have to get all of it now.  Friday we had 30mph plus gusts and yesterday afternoon was not far behind it.  Today is supposed to be 8-10 mph.  Hope so.  Yesterday managed to get into the 50s.  Weather forecast says we will get there again today, and we’ll probably make it.   60s for Monday and Tuesday, then into the 70s right through Saturday.  By Sunday we have a pretty good chance for rain.  Let’s hope that changes

Generation continues to be almost non-stop.  Off yesterday morning until 6:00 a.m., then they fired uptwo units, then three.  It finally settled to a low two for the rest of the day.  Projection is for generation through Monday. 

Stan on the water Friday with two Davids, Jr. and Sr. from Oklahoma.  The guys caught and quick released quite a few fish, but it certainly did not fish as well as it had been last week.  Best patterns were the lightning bug under the big ruby.  Well, that’s which they call it fishing.

Bit of a stormy day today. Rained pretty hard this morning and we are under a tornado watch until 5:00 p.m.  Of course, with these wonderful weather conditions, the generators were off this morning!  They did turn them on at noon and we now have two units generating 6440 cfs of water with Taneycomo tailwater level at 706.6  This is only the second time in eight days that we have seen a no generators.  Starting to see lots of cherry blossoms and pear trees in bloom, along with the spring flowers.  I hope it is a sign that Spring weather (excluding all the rain) is right around the corner!

After we get through today, the next chance for rain looks like next Tuesday.  Temperatures are cooling down a little into the low 60s through the middle of next week then back into the 70s.

That one other day we had a window of no generators was this past Monday.  Dana got on the water early with his fishers, Bob and Bill from Texas.  Started out to be another great day on the water until the water came on around 10:00 a.m.  Up to then, they were have a wonderful fish day on the blue poison, copper dun and rusty midges.  Darrell got on the water around 9:00 a.m. with his folks from Vermont, Bill and Dee.  Off to a good start for them too on the black copperhead midge and the ruby midge.  Stan hit the water a little later and had just rowed Mike, up river a little ways and three horns blew.  It took a matter of minutes and the river turned to a murky river with lots of junk in it.  Stan did and about face and came off the river.  Mike’s trip to be taken another day when the conditions are good.  Darrell and his fishers caught a couple more fish as they were little ahead of the water, but it was off early for them.  Dana’s guys tried for a little while longer; had lunch and came in.  Life in a tailwater!

Tuesday the projection was for generation and we had water.  Bill and Chong from Delaware had a half-day trip

Chong – 4/1/14

with Carolyn  These two are engaged and I think Bill, who is an avid fly fisher, is hoping to get Chong into fly fishing   With a little work on the roll cast, some mending work and line handling, Chong was bringing in trout.  Of course, she had to catch the largest fish.  They had a good day on the black copper-head midge under the big ruby, or a lightning bug.  

Bill – 4/1/14

Bill and Bea, from Kansas City were out with Stan.  They had a wonderful time and day catching fish on the lightning bug and the black midge.  They loved the Havarti cheese and chocolate chip cookies too!  Jim had Erik and his son, Brian out all day.  Brian is fairly new to fly fishing so they worked on technique and caught fish on the ruby midge, black zebra midge and stripping the holographic green crackleback. 

Another good day Tuesday.  Maybe not quite as good as the day before, but still a very good day.  Peter, from Kansas, spent half a day on the water with Carolyn.  Started out the morning catching fish on a size 16 blue poison dropped from the big ruby.  Found some quieter water and finished up the trip with either the size 16 red midge or black midge under the size 16 lightning bug.  Had a few hits on a red soft hackle and pulled a couple with the CQ streamer.  Meanwhile, Stan and Jim had Mac and his friend John and their two sons, Hugo and Jonathan, out for half a day.  Jim, being the grandfather figure he is, took the two boys, and Stan took Mac and John.  The boys caught fish drifting the big ruby with a black midge dropper and Jim helped them out throwing the size 12 CQ streamer.  Stan’s guys were catching most of their fish on the lightning bug.

Some nice weather the past few days, even with the wind.  Nice today, in the 70s, and we can expect the same tomorrow with a slight chance of showers later tomorrow afternoon.  Tuesday we might see mid 60s, then back into the 70s for Wednesday and Thursday.  Bad news there is both of these day have possibility of showers….40% on Wednesday and 70% on Thursday.  Clearing and 60s through the weekend. 

Low generation yesterday afternoon and again today.  Tomorrow the projection is for no generation other than 1 hour at 8:00 a.m.  Otherwise, no generation! 

Carolyn on the water Friday with Joe from Texas.  He and Pam had taken our two-day fly fishing school last year and decided it was time to do some fishing.  Unfortunately, Pam did not go with us as it was a little cool Friday.  Many times during the day, Joe and I both said “we wished Pam was with us” as it was such a good day on the water.  Best patterns on this overcast day were the blue poison or copperhead black zebra under the big ruby.  It fished well just about everywhere we tried.

Saturday, Dana took Mark from West Plains out for the day. Mark had a good  Happy Birthday day catching fish stripping the holographic green crackleback.  This was a birthday present from his wife.   This was Mark’s first experience fishing Taneycomo and he thought it was a pretty nice fishery.  Living in West Plains, he fishes the North Fork of the White, 11 Pointe River as well as parts of the White in Arkansas.  Jim had Ron and his son, Ben, from Maine on the water for half a day.  Cool thing for these guys.  Ron needed to get some more training for the work he does and his son had recently joined the Marines.  Somehow, they both wound up at Ft. Leonard Wood for their training at the same time.  This trip was some quality time together doing something they both like.  They had a good day too on the holographic green crackleback.  Joel and his son, Gary, spend the morning with Stan.  Lots of fish for these guys drifting lighting bug.  Carolyn had Rick and Kristi from St. Louis out for half a day.  We started out the morning with the faster water catching fish on the big ruby with either a red midge ot the blue poison midge dropper.   

Kristi – 3/29/14

Later in the day, we found our own special fishing hole and spent the rest of the trip using  the copperhead black zebra midge under a copper dun or P&P midge.  Good couple to fish with and good, fun trip.  We had this one gorgeous rainbow that kept swimming by and distracting both of them causing them to miss a lot of hits.  Finally, Rick hooked her.  This is one of those time when I wished I had a better quality camera as the picture I took does not get close to doing this fish justice!

Rick – 3/29/14

Good news was the fish stayed away from them for a while so they started hooking more fish as the distraction was gone!

Ron and Ben had so much fun Saturday, they came back and booked another trip for Sunday.  So, Darrell took them out for half a day.  Another good day for these guys on the big ruby, the lightning bug and again stripping the holographic green crackleback.  Stan had Joel and Gary out for a second day of frolicking in the river, and another good day for them!

 A couple side bars.  ast weekend, Mary and her daughter Anna took our two-day fly fishing school.  As the water was ripping on Taneycomo the second day, we decided to go to Roaring River to work on techniques.  Mary pulled her first in strippng a CQ streamer, and Anna hooked her first fish nymping with the blue poison.  But, the highlight of the day was Anna’s first on a dry fly, a size 22 BWO

Anna’s 1st on dry fly – 3/24/14

My coment to her was “do you know how many years it was before I caught a fish on a dry fly?”  What a way to start!   I hope Mary and Anna keep sharing this great sport!

THE OTHER ITEM IS, SOMEONE HAS HACKED MY AOL E-MAIL .  SO, IF YOU RECEIVE OR HAVE RECEIVED SOME OFF-THE-WALL MAIL FROM CAROLYN PARKER OR RIVER RUN OUTFITTERS…..WE APOLOGIZE.  WE ARE WORKING ON GETTING IT RESOLVED. 

Weather has not been too bad, but certainly has room for improvement.  Yesterday it maybe got into the 50s but we still had wind.  Today we will struggle to get to the upper 40s, but not as much wind.  Looke like upper 50s tomorrow then into the 60s through Saturday and 70s for Sunday and Monday.  Could we be so lucky?  Some chances for rain Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 

So far the past seven days, we have seen non-stop generation.  Today they started out with the equivalent of one unit and kicked it to two units, then three and back to two for most of the remainder of the day.  We will see what tomorrow brings.  We are at or almost at power pool (915.0 ft) right now.

Last Thursday, Jim took Jim and his future son-in-law, Arthur our for half a day.  Fair day for these guys on the big ruby and a brown SJ worm.  Arthur is a new fly fisher, so there was a bit of instructional time.  

James – 3/21/14

Friday, Carolyn took richard and his son, James out for half a day.  James is on Spring Break and they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to go fishing!  Glad to say, James is now a “fly flinger”.  Caught his first rainbow on a black midge.  Also doing a pretty good job of handling a fly rod.    Richard and Thomas from Oklahoma spent all day on the river with Stan Saturday.  They had a great day on the lightning bug.  Fishing has been slow in the upper part of the lake with the colder than normal water temperatures.  Stan took these guys into Turkey Creek where the water is warmer, and the bite was on.  Quite a bit of company as lots of folks were fishing this area.   Jim had Dale, and his daughter, Paige (who is on Spring Break) out for half a day.  This was Paige’s first time with a fly rod.  I believe she “pick and rolled” a few fish and got one into the boat.   Cory and Brian from Kansas, spent half a day with Darrell.  They had a slow day, but did catch fish on the big ruby and the black zebra midge.  Sunday brought another trip to Turkey Creek for Stan as he took  Scott and his daughter (yep, Spring Break) Emily, there to learn how and catch some fish.  Fun day for Dad and daughter.

Beautiful day today.  Sunny, not a lot of wind, and temperatures to be close to 70.  Tomorrow is supposed to be another today….weatherwise.  Through the weekend, we will see a drop in temperatures; into the 50s and partly sunny.  This cold front will stay with us through the middle of next week, but by Thursday, we will move into the low to mid 60s.  However, right now there is a chance of rain by next Friday. 

Projection for today is lots of water all day.  May drop it back around noon, but it will still be around 705-706 feet elevation.  No clue what tomorrow will bring, but I think we will see some water.  Table Rock Lake is now at 915.1 feet due to the rain and snow we had last weekend.

Gina had a fun day on the water with two new fly fishers, Jordan and Nick.  Jordan took our full day fly fishing clinic last year and know this was the sport for him.  He brought along his friend Nick and they spent half a day with Gina learning and catching. 

Jordan – 3/19/14

Best patterns stripping were the CQ streamer and tiger tail.  Drifting was the blue poison tungsten beadhead in a size 16.  Jordan and Nick have been friends since third grade and will now probably be fishing buddies for life. 

Nick – 3/19/14

Welcome to the wonderful world of fly fishing!!!

Windy City has nothing on us.  Yesterday’s wind included 40 mph gusts at times.  Today is not quite as bad, but it is still windy.  Looks like 70s for a couple days, then into the 50s for the weekend….figures.  50s through mid-week, then back into the 60s.  Not seeing any moisture for the coming week.

Generation pattern this week has been “not what they projected”.  Water on, then off, then back on yesterday.  Today we were supposed to have some down time, but it has run something all day.  Lots of up and down over the past 3-4 days.  Projection is for generation all day.  This one they may follow. 

Stan on the water Monday with Scott and his son, Chandler.  Sorry to day, Chandler got sick early in the trip so it wasn’t the best day for him.  They were catching fish on the lightning bug and red midge.

Tuesday, Darrell took Chuck, from Oklahoma out for half a day.  Good day for Chuck on the P&P or copper dun midges, and stripping a black wooly bugger.  This was the on, then off, then on water day.  Carolyn had a fun day

Megan’s first trout – 3/18/14

 introducing Megan to fly fishing.  This was her and her father, Gary’s, special day together fly fishing.  This was something Megan expressed an interest in doing, and, of course, Gary was more than happy to grant her wish!  Second cast on a copper dun dropper under a lightning bug caught Megan’s first rainbow on a fly rod.  Gary was lagging for a while, but managed to catch some nice fish, also on the copper dun.  This was the 

Gary – 3/18/14

great part of the day.  The bad part of the day was the wind.  At one time, with two generators going and our anchor out, we were being blown upstream.  What a day!  Stan was also being blown everywhere with Steven and his nephew, Evan.  By the way, everyone out this day was from Oklahoma.  Anyway, this was Evan’s first experience with a fly rod and he did very well.  He and Steven caught fish on the copper dun, the blue poison and P&P midges.

Crazy weather!  Several days last week in the 70s.  Then today, Sunday, we dropped into the low 30s with snow!  I guess it could be worse.  We could stay in the 30s.  But, by tomorrow, we are supposed to be back into the 50s with sunshine and keep on going into the 60s by Tuesday.  Looks like 60s until the weekend, when we might drop a little into the upper 50s.  That’s a long ways away.  Certainly could change by the time we get there.  More more snow in the 10-day forecast.

The generation schedule let many fishers enjoy the nice weather.  We had no generation from around noon on Thursday until early today.  It ran all day today, but the projection for tomorrow is that it will run in the a.m. and turn off around 11:00 a.m.

Bill – 3/13/14

Bill, from Minnesota, and his son-in-law, Kory, from Illinois, spent all day Thursday and Friday on the water with Carolyn.  Thursday fished very good until they shut down the generators.  Good start to the day on the big ruby with either a copper dun or P&P midge dropper.  Friday was a good day, almost all day stripping the CQ

Kory – 3/14/14

streamer on either the 1.5ips or 2.6 ips sinking leader.  This was Kory’s introduction to  fly fishing and I think he likes it.  Also think Bill has a new fishing partner.  Stan had Jeff and Josh, from Texas out for half a day.  They had a good day on the P&P, copper dun and the ruby midges. 

Saturday, Darrell took Grant and Aryln out for half a day.  Good day for these guys on the P&P, rusty and blue poison midges.  Glad to see Darrell back on the water.  He has been out recovery from hip surgery since October.

Grant – 3/15/14

We still have room in the March 22 spey/switch rod clinic. 

Weather is definitely looking better.  We had 50s yesterday and again today.  Sun is shining now and we are looking at a prediction of 70s tomorrow and mid 70s Tuesday.  A little detour Wednesday, but back into the 60s for Thursday through Saturday.  Possibly some moisture Sunday with temperatures in the mid to upper 50s. 

No generation Friday afternoon and all day Saturday.  Although the projection for today was for a low one unit most of the day, they turned the generators off at 10:00 a.m.  It is 2:40 p.m. and they are still off.  Projection for tomorrow is to turn the generators off at 10:00 a.m. and they will be off most of the day.

Jim finished up his trips with Derek Friday.  Good couple of days for him catching and learning.  They pulled alot of streamers and did well on the CQ.  They also caught fish on the black midge with The blood worm dropper.  Stan had Marty and Selina, from Iowa, out again this year.  They had a fun day catching fish on the blue poison, mainly in the early part of the trip and the copper dun in the early afternoon.

Not quite up to freezing mark yesterday morning, but the day finished out in the low 50s.  Today is going to be a breath of spring, and basically, so is the weekend and into next week.  Some showers are predicted for tomorrow, but temperatures in the upper 40s. Sunday back into the upper 50s, AND low 70s for both Monday and Tuesday.  Be still my beating heart!  Cool down Wednesday, 40s, and then back into the 50-60s.

So far this week, we have had generation all day every day.  Today is another story.  Generators went off at 8:00 a.m. (I am writing this in a hurry) and will be off all day. 

 As I said, not quite to freezing mark yesterday when Stan pulled out of the drive with his drift boat.  We were so thankful the boat ramp had been cleared!  A couple of his guys, who braved a white-knuckle trip from Illinois over the weekend to come here and fish, Don and Steve, were going fishing!  Great day on the “creek” for these two on the big ruby with either a P&P or blue poison dropper in the a.m.  As the day progressed, it was the P&P or copper dun midge droppers.  Fish seemed to be in pods.  You would fish a ways and not have a  hit, then reach a section where you couldn’t keep them off.  Jim had Derek, also from Illinois, out for the first day of his two-day fishing.  We’ll report on them tomorrow as we’re not sure what patterns they were stripping yesterday.  Carolyn took Ron and Kathy, from Louisiana, out all day.  Lots of catching for them on the blue poison and lightning bug droppers.  Late in the afternoon, way downstream, the egg pattern was working best.  Not Ron’s largest fish, but certainly a beautiful male.  Had to get a picture of him.  Great day on the water! 

Colorful Rainbow – 3/6/14