Still looks like good weather for the holiday weekend.  Temperatures in the mid to upper 70s with a slight chance of rainSaturday and Sunday. 

So far, non-stop generation.  Yesterday, it was a little more stable and today, they are holding it pretty much as projected, 70 mwh with approximately 5500 cfs.  Tomorrow is still a mystery.

Fred - 5/23/13

Stan on the water yesterday morning with Fred from Springfield, and his son, Troy who is home on leave.  The fished with Stan last August and it was one of those day when the water had been off for quite a while and when they fired up the first generator, it turned to mud.  Second generator came on and more of the same, only faster.  Had quite a bit of water runing again this year, but fishing was definitely better.  Almost everything caught on the big ruby with the #18 ruby dropper.  Darrell had two of his relatives from Norway, Kristan and Sting out in the afternoon.  Fishing a bit slower in the afternoon, but Sting caught his first trout on a fly rod on the #16 red d-ribbed midge.  This was probably their best fly for the afternoon.

Sting - 5/23/13

According to our local weather forecasters, we should not see any more rain until possibly next weekend, and then the chances are slight.  Let’s hope so.  We don’t need any more rain.    Temperatures should be in the upper 70s to low 80s. 

We have seen pretty much non stop generation for the past few days, and this trend will probably continue.  Not certain what they will do over the holiday weekend.  It would be nice if we saw some wading time, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Ian and his father, John spent a full day on the water with Jim on Monday.  Good day for these guys on the red midge, black midge, and CQ streamer.  Ian wanted to work on streamer presentation, so I’m sure Jim worked him well on that. 

Jim - 5/20/13

Stan had Jim, from Florida out for half a day.  They had a good day on the big ruby midge.

Wednesday was a horrible generation day.  From about 11:00 a.m. on, they increased the flow enough to raise the water level a foot every hour until they reached 708.9 and 10,000 cfs.  Tough day on the water.  Jim had Brian and Wanda from North Carolina out for the morning.  By they time they got the casting down, they water was so messed up it was hard getting many fish to the boat.  They did succeed however and caught some fish on the red midge with the copper head black zebra midge, a plain black zebra and had some hits and hooked some on the CQ streamer. 

Craig - 5/22/13

Gina also had some new fly fishers, Marlene and her brother Craig, from the Springfield area.  Marlene was taking Craig fly fishing for his birthday.  They caught fish on the red midge, a few on the primrose & pearl, and several other patterns they tried.  Tough day fishing but what a beautiful day!  Happy birthday Craig!!!

Weather has been hot and humid.  Storms went through north of us early this morning, but we are expecting some kind of weather later today and into tomorrow.  After that, 80s into the weekend. with very slight chances of rain.

Just enough no generation the past couple days to wet your appetite.   They had the water off yesterday until 11:00 a.m. or so, and again this morning.  Think it is supposed to fire up at 9:00 a.m.  Lots of folks on the water yesterday enjoying the “no generation” and good catching conditions.  Hopefully, we won’t get a lot of rain out of this system moving through since we are still a couple feet above power pool.

Saturday we had four boats on the water.  Jim had a friend from Michigan, Chuck, out most of the day.  They had a good day on the black zebra below the ruby midge.  He tried pulling streamers that way (Jim’s favorite way to fish), but it just was not a streamer day.  Stan had a half day on the water with  Bob and and Matt,from Florida.  The did well on the big ruby (yep, water was running) and either a black zebra dropper or the primrose & pearl midge.  Darrell’s fairly new fly fishers, Morgan and Taylor, were from Springfield, MO.  Once they got the hang of it, it was good on the  big ruby and black zebra dropper.

Meredith's first - 5/18/13

 Carolyn had Lee and Meredith from Arkansas.  Lee does quite a bit of fly fishing and can throw a line.  Meredith it still new and actually boated her first trout on a fly rod Saturday.  The morning started out very good.  Fish were where they should be and I think we even had a double on on our second drift down the boat ramp bank.  However, as Jim found out during the day and we confirmed, it was just not a streamer day, but we had a good day on the big ruby and either a lightening bug or hot hare’s ear nymph dropper.  Did catch some early on the copper dun dropper.  Several nice fish!

Sunday it was Stan on the water with Mike from Oklahoma.  Mike has been fishing with Stan for almost 10 years now!  They had a nice, relaxing, catching day, mainly on the primrose & pearl midge.   Darrell was working with a fairly new fly fisher, Brad.  Brad is from Raymore, MO.  They had a good day of learning and catching, on the primrose & pearl and black zebra midges.  Jim too was in a teaching mode.  He took Sam and his wife, Sharon from Oklahoma out for half a day.  They learned at lot and caught some fish.  black zebra and blood worm dropper, as well as the CQ streamer.

Really felt like summer yesterday.  Temperature in the upper 80s.  Today was a little overcast with temperatures in the upper 70s.  We are expecting mid to upper 70s tomorrow, then into the 80s over the weekend.  We do have a chance of thunderstorms (50%) tomorrow, but we also had a 50% chance of thunderstorms today and, so far, (it’s 5:30 p.m.) we have not seen them.  After tomorrow, the rainis pretty much out of the forecast until next week.

Generation all day today and the projection is for it to shut down at midnight and stay off until 9:00 p.m. when we’ll see one generator for a couple hours.  Then they will turn on two units for a couple hours, finally three units until 10:00 p.m. when it will ramp down to two, then one and finally none.  Sounds like it will be off for a while Friday morning. 

Kristi and Brodie, from Oklahoma, had a great day on the water with Stan yesterday.  Kristi is pretty new at fly fishing and she stayed up with Brodie for quite a while.  Hot, windy day, with three units going most of the afternoon, but they did well on the big ruby, and the holographic green crackleback.  Stripping was a new technique for them and they really liked it.

Great weather we are having.  Sunny yesterday and in the 70s.  A little cool this morning, but it has warmed up and the temperature is in the low 60s heading for upper 60s.  80s are the forecast for the next couple days; then into the 70s for a couple days.  Next weekend is projected to be 80s again.

That was the good news.  Now for the generation.  Pretty solid three generators going since mid-day Friday.  Taneycomo level with these generators has held right in the 708.8 range.  We are back to a Table Rock level of 917.  This was about 1-1/2 inches higher at noon yesterday.  The schedule for tomorrow is more of the same…..three units all day.

If we have to have high water, we prefer that they keep it level, like they are doing, at some level, whether it be high or low.  The stable water level has put the fish where we expect them to be.  Lots of our boats on the water yesterday and everyone had a good day.  Darrell had James Albert from Louisiana out all day.  They pulled a few streamers and he threw a hopper a few times, but their best patterns were the big ruby with a black zebra dropper.  Jim and his son, Kevin, from Oklahoma spent half a day with Jim.  They also did best on a red midge with a black zebra midge.  Stan’s guest, Mike was fishing the big ruby with a little ruby dropper.  They also caught a few on the red holographic red crackleback.  Carolyn was out with friends,

Pretty rainbow - 5/11/13

Bob and Linda, from Kansas.  We had a fun day on the CQ streamer and holographic green crackleback on both a 1.5 ips and 2.6 ips sinking tip.  Also did well on the lightening bug dropped under the big ruby.  Wish this picture did justice to one of the pretty rainbows we caught yesterday.  Everyones’ biggest problem yesterday was the WIND!  Pretty bad when you can stop still with three units going because the wind is that stiff coming up stream!

Nice, warm days for a change.  We are expecting upper 70s today and tomorrow.  Slight cool down Friday; lower 70s with Saturday and Sunday in the 60s.  But, back into the 70s Monday and looking at 80s next week.  Slight chance of rain later today.  Chances again tomorrow, but the best chance appears to be Friday. 

We have seen pretty steady generation for past five days.  An average cfs of 6500, and level around 707′.  The level in Table Rock has also stablized around 916.8′.  We’ll just have to wait and see what the generators bring over the next few days.

With the water stabilizing, fishing has been very good.  Dana on the water half a day Sunday with Jeff, one of his regulars from Defiance, MO.  They had a really good day on the CQ streamer, the big ruby and a size 14 Primrose & Pearl midge. 

James - 5/6/13

Monday, Stan took James, from Arkansas, out all day.  Great day for James on the big ruby, the CQ streamer and a red holographic crackleback.    James had not been fly fishing for several years and I think he is glad he decided to get back into it.  Jim had one of his long-time regulars, Frank from Belton, MO, out all day Monday and again for half a day on Tuesday.  They had a great day on the CQ streamer, red midge with a black midge dropper and a black wooly bugger.  

Also out on Tuesday was Stan with a couple guys from Oklahoma, Bob and Dennis.  Another guy who had been away from fly fishing for several years, Dennis, had a great time.  Both guys did well on the big ruby and the red crackleback.   Gary from here in Branson spent a good part of the day on the water with Carolyn.  We were scouting around for more places where the fish have moved with this higher water.  Great day pulling the CQ streamer and holographic green crackleback.  Probably the better sized fish were on the size 16 red d-ribbed midge dropped under the big ruby.  Life is good!

We have had it all over the past two days, snow, sleet, and rain….plus, obviously, cold temperatures!  Air conditioning one day, furnace the next!  Oh well, this too shall pass.  Looking forward to some warmer temperatures for the coming week.  Monday will start us out in the 70 and continue at this level into the weekend.  Yeah!

Now for the rest of the story….Turned on a couple generators yesterday morning at 6:00 a.m. and they have been running ever since.  Flow varies from one unit up to a low three units.  Projection for Monday is more of the same. 

Water and weather have made guide trips a bit tough.  Jim out yesterday with David and Kyle from Oklahoma.  Wanted to learn more on how to fly fish, so Jim certainly took care of that.  And, they also caught some fish on the red midge, the black zebra and the CQ streamer.  John and his wife, Lisa spent half a day with Darrell.  This was a new experience for Lisa.  They too caught some fish, mainly on the ruby midge.  We have a women’s fly fishing clinic scheduled yesterday and the rain, snow and sleet made it difficult for most of the ladies to make it.  The three who did, Lori, Debbie and Mattie, had a great time.  The rain cut back by the time we went out to learn and practice fly casting.  We now have three more women throwing some mean fly rods out there!

River Run Outfitters again was in the running for the Orvis endorsed Outfitters of the Year.  We were among the finalist for this achievement. 

Two outfitters were tied for 1st place this year:

Breckenridge Outfitters in Breckenridge, Colorado and

Lopstick Lodge and Outfitters in Pittsburg, New Hampshire

Weather has been gorgeous the past three days.  Temperatures in the 80s Monday and tuesday and upper 70s today with lots of sunshine and quite a bit of wind too.  However, this is coming to an abrupt end.  Dropping to the mid 50s tomorrow, upper 40s Friday and back to mid 50s Saturday.  Pretty good chances of rain Friday, with chances tomorrow.  Fortunately, things will start clearing up Sunday with low 60s and temperatures continue to go up to upper 70s by mid week. 

What can I say.  Almost non-stop generation.  Except for a few hours from midnight until 6:00-7:00 a.m. a couple days, we have seen at least 2200 cft every day and a few days in the 9000 cfs range.  Monday this week was a real bummer.  One unit on at midnight.  Second unit came on around 10:00 a.m. and the third unit about 2 hours later.  No stability to the water and the same for fishing.

Jim took Thomas, from Minnesota out all day last Friday.  It was a 3 generator day.  Thomas fishes quite a bit and they had a good day despite the generators.  Nothing big, but good numbers.  Best patterns were a size 14 red midge, an 18 black midge, the CQ streamer and a size 6 bug-eyed bugger.

Monday, Stan took Steve and Jeanine, out for half a day.  They wanted to have fun, catch some fish and learn.  Mission accomplished.  Jeanine’s first time and she did very well.  Best pattern was the big ruby.    Jim had Allan and Susan, from Maryland, out for half a day.  They have fly fished a few times, really wanted to wade, but water conditions dictated otherwise.  Their best patterns were the red midge with a black midge dropper.   Carolyn had a couple of her regular ladies, Wanda and Joanna out for half a day.  Again, it wasn’t a banner day, but we caught fish and had a good time….as we always do when we get together.

Wanda - 4/29/13

 Steve and Diana, from Montana spent half a day on the water with Stan Tuesday.  Steve said Taneycomo, especially with the generation, reminded him of the Missouri a little.  This was Darlene’s first time fly fishing.  Nothing like jumping in feet first into fast fishing conditions!  Good day on the big ruby and CQ streamer.   Carolyn also had a new fly fisher, Monte.  His son-in-law, Keith has been trying to get him to try fly fishing.  What an introduction!  However, once Monte got the hang of a hook set, he hooked several fish.  He

Keith - 17" rainbow - 4/30/13

certainly did well for his first time fly fishing and especially in three generators.  Keith won the free dinner (who caught the least had to buy dinner) and especially had a good day with his nice 17″ rainbow.  Best patterns were the big ruby, #18 ruby dropper or the #16 red d-ribbed midge. 

  Pretty steady three units running today, Wednesday.  Stan took Jack and Mary Kay, from Texas, out for half a day.  Other than the wind, fishing was pretty good.  Still catching on the big and little ruby midges.  Jim’s patterns were the #14 red midge and #18 black midge for Dan and Alisha, also from Texas.  Alisha’s first time and she had a good time.  Dan has fished with us several times before and said he had a good, fun day, and learned a lot.

Weather looking pretty good except for Friday, when we have a chance for rain.  Temperatures will be in the 60s tomorrow through Saturday and then into the 70s well into next week.  By Thursday, rain chances are creeping back but temperatures remain more seasonal.

The other side of this coin is generation.  With the rain we had last week, Table Rock has been generating non-stop for the ;ast seven days.  Good news, (yes, there is some) is that they are not generating full board like they did last Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Monday, they cut back to the equivalent of two generators with 6500 cfs.  Since then, it is varied only slightly up or down from this level.  Table Rock Lake is close to power pool, so it remains to be seen what they will do over the weekend. 

Sorry for the late fishing report…..not really.  Gina and I took off for the Orvis Rendezvous in Missoula, Montana last Thursday.  What a great event, but even better, what a great fishing city.  We were able to fish the Bitterroot River three days in a row.  Tough duty!!!!  Unfortunately, or fortunately, we got stuck in Missoula for an extra day due to the weather. 

Now to the local news!  Last week, Darrell, Jim and Stan took out the annual Texas group.  Stan had Dan and Harold.  What a great day they had on the size 18 ruby midge or stripping the insect green soft hackle or the holographic green crackleback.  Lou and Jimmie fished with Darrell.  Another happy boat load on the black zebra midge with the copper head.  Jim’s guys, Richard and Richard (bet that boat was confused all day) had their good day on the CQ streamer, blood worm and silver headed black midge. 

Wednesday, Jim had his regular, Bud from Lee’s Summit out for a great half day.  Water was rising, but they caught lots of fish on the CQ streamer, a gold crackleback, and a size 14 red midge with a size 18 silver headed black midge dropper.  Stan had Paul, and his son Tim out for half a day.  They had a good day on the red midge dropped under the big ruby. 

Saturday, Darrell took Cheryl and Gary, from Texas out for half a day.  This was the first day of the “high” generation and definitely tough.  Stan had their friends, Ron and Jamie.  All are beginners, so this was like jumping into fly fishing with both feet!  They did boat some fish on the big ruby.  Not a banner day, but certainly not a wash out!  Jim had one of his regulars from Springfield out for half a day, Jim.  Jim’s friend Keith was with him.  They had a good day, especially with the water conditions, on the bug-eyed bugger, and a black midge dropper under the red midge.

Did I mention….Gina and I were catching our fish on a dry skwala stonefly pattern!  What a hoot!  Ready to do it again!   But, certainly glad to be home.

Did