Had a little weather over the weekend.  Rained Friday and Saturday nights.  Fortunately, everyone was able to get on the river both days before the rain.  Biggest problem was the wind.  Today is pretty windy too.  Looks like upper 70s and low 80s through Wednesday, when we will have a chance for showers again.  After Wednesday, temperatures drop to the mid to upper 60s through next weekend.  Good news, no rain.

We continue to see mostly wadeable water every day.  Each day this past week, they have turned on the equivalent of one low or one full generator for only 2-4 hours during the day.  Otherwise, no generation.

Despite the dry summer, with the rains we have had off and on the past couple of weeks, we are seeing some color in the trees.  It’s not going to be our normal Fall colors, but it is still pretty.  It is especially pretty floating down the river to see the colors along the river. 

Gary and Debbie, from Florida, spent last Monday morning on the river with Darrell.  Good day for these two on the P&P and black copper head midges. 

Mountain Dance - 10/9/12

Stan and Carolyn had a group from Texas out for half a day Monday.  Carolyn took Carolyn, aka Mountain Dance, and Stan had Jack and Mary Kay.  Good day for everyone on the P&P and holographic green crackleback. 

Wednesday, Dave and Lynelle, from Kansas City, spent a full day with Stan.  Good day for these two on the #18 black zebra with copperhead, the plain black zebra and a holographic green crackleback.  Mountain Dance had to catch some more fish, so she spent the morning on the water with Carolyn again.  Another good day on the black copperheaded zebra and when they fired up a generators, we went to a larger black midge with a cerise San Juan worm dropper.  Also caught a few stripping the golden variant sculpin.

Larry, from Overland Park, KS. and a friend, Lucy, from Texas, spent most of Saturday with Stan.  Little tougher day Saturday, especially in the morning ( it has been slower in the mornings from 8:00 until 10:30 or so), but pulled off a good day as it progressed on the P&P midge.  Lucy caught a nice 19″ rainbow.   Jim was out on an instructional session with a family, Tom, Jo Lynne, and their son, Jason. 

Feeling some chilly mornings the past few days.  Low 40s several mornings.  This morning felt pretty good and it has been a beautiful, sunny day as have the past few days.  Looks like we might have a chance of showers tomorrow through Saturday.  Friday really looks like the best chances.  Temperatures should be in the mid to upper 70s for the next several days.

Lots of wading time every day.  Ran some water this morning early this morning and say they will run a low one this evening for three hours.  Other than that, very little generation which converts to lots of wading time.

Lots of trips out over the past week and in between that was the annual Southern Council FF Conclave held in Mountain Home each year.  Last Tuesday, Jim had Jack and Frank from California out for the day.  Great day for these guys, mainly midging and scuding, especially the P&P, blood worm and olive scud.  Did pull a few with the CQ streamer, but it was spotty.  Stan had Dub and Ron, from Texas, out all day.  These guys also had a great day on the ruby & P&P midges. 

Wednesday, Bob and Bob, from Oklahoma, spent half a day with Stan.  Both were brand new to fly fishing, but caught on real quick.  They had a very good day on the P&P and ruby midges. 

Alex - 10/4/12

Phil, who lives here in Branson, had a visitor from Romania, Alex.  He wanted to introduce him to fly fishing so Gina took the two of them out on Thursday.  As we have been experiencing here lately, mornings have been starting out slow.  This morning was no different, but Alex did hook into a nixe 16-1/2″ rainbow for one of his first trout on a fly rod.  Fishing did pick up and they had a wonderful, fun day.

Gina and Carolyn spent Friday and Saturday at the Conclave.  Rainy Friday and they were running water at Bull Shoals.  Saturday was a little nicer, but still running water.  The alternative was Norfork. 

Friday, Jim had Dale, from Missouri out all day.  Think this was a birthday present.  Good day for Dale pulling the streamers.  Darrell and Stan had three generations out on Friday.  Stan had Eric, his father, Dale and Darrell had Eric’s two sons, Ben and Adam.  All were new to fly fishing and wanted to give it a try.  Fun day for everyone and everyone caught some fish.  Stan had his guys on the P&P, size 18 ruby as well as the big ruby.  Darrell had Ben and Adam throwing the P&P and black midge with copper head. 

Tina & Ralph from St. Robert, took half a day trip with Dana Sunday.   Both brand new.  Slow day for these two on the P&P midge.  More new fly fishers, Travis and Mike from Kansas, took half a day trip with Stan.  Pretty slow day for these guys too.  Did catch some on the P&P and ruby midges.  And the Louisiana Kerrs floated with Darrell and Carolyn Sunday.  Late morning start for this group, which probably was good.  As we mentioned, mornings have been slow for a few days.  As the day went on, fishing was good.  Dawn, who was with Carolyn, had a good day on the ruby midge dropped under the Big Ugly.  One nice 17″ rainbow.  Darrell had Albert and JA, and they did well on the P&P and copper dun midges.  As always, a really fun day!  Jim had Darrin and Mitchell, from Columbia out for half a day.  Good day pulling streamers.  They also fished the ugly midge with a blood worm dropper.

Monday, Lynda and Rich, from Belle, MO came back for more instruction and fishing with Carolyn.  They took the two day school this past June and needed a brush up.  Although the morning start out a little slow, it certainly picked up on the ruby midge and stripping the holographic green crackleback.

Down right cool this morning is the best description I can give.  Upper 40s.  Should hit the mid 70s today,.  Upper 70s to low 80s Wednesday and Thursday with a cool down over the weekend into the 60s.  Looks like a chance of showers, best on Friday but a chance also on Saturday and the lower temperatures are staying with us through much of next week.

Although the projection for this weekend was no water until late in the day both Saturday and Sunday, they turned on one generator early Saturday and earlyer than projected on Sunday.  Mondays are always up for grabs and they did generate all day.  Today, we are not supposed to see generation until around 1:00 p.m. and then it will be a low one for four hours.

Stan out Friday with David and Suzanne from Eureka.  Although they are fly fishers, this was their first time fishing Taneycomo.  Good day for these two on the red midge, the P&P, and when the water came on, the Big Ruby.

Sunday, Stan took Bob, from California out for the day.  Slow start in the morning….was for all of us, but they finished up with a good day on the P&P, red midge and stripping the CQ streamer.  Jim had a birthday boy, Joe, from Olathe out for hald a day.  Surprise trip from his wife!   They did well on the copper & black midge, red midge and the CQ streamer. 

Laura - 9/30/12

Laura, aka “just one more cast” and her husband, Scott took half a day with Carolyn Sunday.  After our slow morning start, we start picking them on first the copper & black midge.  When the sun peeked out just a little, it was the P&P midge.  Once Laura gets going, she doesn’t want to stop!

Although we were threatened with rain most of this past week, we never really had as much as they kept predicting.  Temperatures continue to range in the upper 70s to low 80s.  Today has not made the 70s, although it was supposed to.

No or low generation most of the day.  Nothing is happening today the way it was projected.  No generation was projected until last this afternoon.  Think they turned on a low one around 10:00 a.m. and it was still on at 3:00 p.m.  Good news, most everyone is catching fish with this nice low flow.

Fun day on the water this past Wednesday.  Carolyn had Jim and Brenda, from Butler on the water all day.  No generation when we started.  Fish were spotty, catch several here and several there.  Best patterns were the P&P midge in the a.m.  Clouded up, so we switched to the copper dun.  Layed off this so we finished with the ruby.  Used the big ugly for our indicators, and caught several fish on the big ugly.  Few on the CQ streamer.  Rain chased us off the water for a little while and not too long after we got back on the water, they decided to turn on a generator for a little while. 

Jim had Tom and Dave from the St. Louis area out all day Thursday.  Fairly new fly fishers and had a good day on the black midge, a blood worm, and an olive scud. 

Friday, Jim took Brian from Texas out all day.  They did well on the CQ, a black midge with copper head and a size 6 bug eye bugger.  Stan had David and Suzanne from Eureka, MO.  Fun and good day for them on the red midge, the P&P and the big ruby.  Had one generator going all day. 

Jan - 9-28-12

 Jan, from Battlefield, MO. spent the morning and early afternoon with Carolyn.  He had a good day on the P&P dropped under a peach egg. 

Today, Ted and Janis from Oklahoma spent the morning with Jim.  Best patterns were the CQ, red midge and black midge with copper head.

Temperatures have been wonderful….70s and low 80s.  Looks like we might creep into the upper 80s or low 90s by Tuesday, but back into the 80s and upper 70s for the rest of the week.  However, chances for rain are showing up by Wednesday.  It looks like 30-40% chances through Saturday. 

Generation schedule continues to be nice to the waders.  A little blip this morning when they turned on one generator at 8:00 a.m.  which was not projected.  However, they only kept it on for a couple hours and it was back off.  Every day this past week we have had morning wading with no generation.

Last weekend, all week, and again this weekend, fishing has been very good.   Stan had David and his friend, Deanne on the water last Monday (yes, I know I’m behind!).  They had a good half day, especially on the P&P midge.  David did catch some on a dark olive soft hackle, but P&P was the main bug.  This was Deanne’s first time fly fishing and she did very well and she really likes it.

Marge - 9/18/12

Marge and Tom, from California spent Tuesday morning with Carolyn.  Good day for these two.  Again, it was the P&P and an egg pattern.  What a crazy day.  At one time, we dubbed ourselves “the three stoogies”.   Every trip is a learning process as they only fish here and that is once a year or every other year.  We laughed so much we could hardly see what we were doing for the tears in our eyes.  Dana had Ron, from Connecticut, out for half a day.  They did well on the b-bug, and a red San Juan worm.  A new fly fisher from Oklahoma, Rick, spent the morning in a learning mode with Jim.  Good learning day and a good fishing day on the P&P, blood worm, and a size 10 CQ streamer.  Stan had Mark out all day.   

Good day for Mark with  two 19 inch rainbows among his catch for the day. The black headed black zebra midge and the ruby midge were their flies for the day.   Thursday, Darrell had Larry, from Oklahoma out for half a day.  They had a good day on the copper dun and P&P midges.   Carolyn had Chris and his wife Stephanie out that morning.  This was Stephanie’s first fly fishing outting.  She did very well and caught a good number of fish for her first time.  Think she even likes it!

Stephanie - 9/20/12

Our UK connection, Dave and Kate spent all day Friday on the water with Stan.  Good day for these folks.  P&P until the water came on and then it was the big ruby and a red San Juan worm.  Jim had Jim and Charlie from Springfield, out half a day Friday and Darrell had their friends, Howard and Dan.    Jim’s guys pulled the CQ streamer all morning and Darrell’s  boat used the P&P and a gray scud.

Sharon - 9/21/12

Gina had Sharon and her grandson, Ian out in the morning.  Very good day for them on the CQ streamer and filoplume.  Carolyn had JA out for the day.  morning started slow, then they caught fish on the CQ streamer, a hopper, a hopper with an egg dropper, the P&P and then the water came on.  Three generators and it trashed up!  Threw a lot of streamers after that, but the water was so trashed and dirty, not much luck. 

Saturday, James (aka Jack) and his wife Mary spend the day with Carolyn.  Very good day for these two.  It was just a pleasant day…not too hot…clear skies, but a little wind.   The P&P, CQ streamer and, once the water came, on the big ruby and an egg or P&P midge dropper were the flies for the day.

Mary - 9/22/12

Lots of rain over the past three days.  Looks like about one and a third inches but Table Rock Lake only came up about two-tenths of a foot.  After we get through today, which was overcast, a little scattered sprinkles, we are looking at mostly sunny skies through the weekend.  Temperatures will be in the low 70s this coming weekend and into the upper 70s by Monday.  The balance of next week looks like low to mid 80s.

We continue to see lots of wading time in the mornings.  Generation starting up as early as noon (today) or as late as 4:00 p.m.  Yesterday was the glitch as they ran a low one generator in the morning then two in the afternoon.  Projection for tomorrow is one generator late in the afternoon and then for only one hour.  Otherwise zero generators!

For those fishers who were brave enough to fish this past weekend, they had some good fishing.  Darrell and Jim both our Friday.  Darrell had Mel and Miles from the St. Louis area.  They had a good day on the size 12 zebra midge with the copper head and an egg pattern.  Jim’s guys, Bud and Ernie from Lee’s Summit caught lots of fish on the black midge, a gray scud and stripping the CQ streamer. 

Saturday, Darrell had two more guys from the St. Louis area out all day.  (several member of the Ozark Fly Fishers were in town this weekend)  They had a very good day on the CQ streamer and the copper dun midge.  

Lots of fishers we spoke with had really good fishing over the weekend.  The fish certainly didn’t mind the rain!  Good patterns this morning were the CQ steamer early and the filoplume.

Showers threatening us this morning, but once we get past that, we will have a mostly cloudy for the rest of the day then chance of occasional showers tonight.  Cool temperatures in the low 70s.  Saturday looks like showers  with scattered thunderstorms Sunday.  All this moisture will keep temperatures in the 70-80s.

Generation is off this morning and projected to be off until 2:00 p.m.  We’ll see what the weekend will bring later this afternoon.

Fishing continues to be good.  Four boats on the water yesterday, all with good days and seeing lots of folks wade fishing and brining in fish.  Huston from Florida spent the morning with Stan.  Huston has been a regular since 2007 and is becoming a pretty good fly flinger.  Fast and furious first thing in the morning on the P&P.  when this slowed down, he started stripping the holographic green crackleback to finish up his trip.  Jim had Jack and his friend from Oregon, Pak Ho, out for the afternoon.  They mixed up midging with the #12 ruby and #16 red midge, and pulling the CQ streamer to have a good day.  Darrell had Larry and Al, from the St. Louis area, out all day.  Good day for these guys on the P&P and egg pattern.  They had to cool off their arms last night!

Great weather.  Temperatures in the 80s yesterday and again today.  Supposed to get some rain tonight carrying into tomorrow morning.  Last report was that it would end early in the morning.  We are now seeing a chance of rain on Saturday.  The rain will cool us down a little into the upper 70s.  Next week looks upper 70s to low 80s and sunny skies.

We have had generation all day for the past three days.  However,it was low each morning and then ramped up to two or a three generators later in the day.  Today there was no generation until 3:00 p.m. when one generator came on low.  Supposed to be on for 4-5 hours and then off again. 

Fishing has been very good for the past few days.  Jim on the water yesterday with Jim from Kansas, and Larry from Texas.  The two guys paired up to share a guide and it worked out great.  They caught a good number of fish on the red midge, the ruby midge and pulling the CQ streamer. 

Bruce - 9/12/12

Carolyn had Bruce and Jan, from Colorado out again.  We turned Jan into a stripper during her last trip and this time she refined her stripping pattern to a “cha, cha, cha” rhythm.  Fun day for us.  Good day on the big ruby with the P&P dropper, egg pattern with the black zebra/copper head, and lots of hits…not to many hook ups on the golden variant sculpin.   I think this was one of Jan’s better catching days.  Larry and his friend Jim spent the afternoon on the water with Stan.  They had a good day too with the big ruby and a P&P dropper. 

Great weather we are having.  Temperatures continue in the mid to upper 80s.  Expecting a chance of rain coming in Thursday night and continuing into Friday morning.  This will lower the temperatures into the 70s for Friday and Saturday, but back into the lower 80s for Sunday and early part of next week.

So far this week, we have had low one to two generators.  Projection for tomorrow in low one most of the morning, then a full one from noon for an hour then low two for a couple hours and back to one generator.  Should turn on around 8:00 p.m.

Mike, from Oklahoma spent yesterday on the water with Carolyn.  Beautiful day.  First or second drift of the size 18 black zebra midge under the big ruby brought in a nice male rainbow.  Picked up several more on the drift down.  As the morning went on, another horn and water speed picked up so we found some slow moving water and dropped a golden variant sculpin on the bottom using a 200 gr. sinking line.  New technique for Mike and once he got the hang of it, he really enjoyed fishing this was.  Lots of hits and misses…need to work on the strip set!  Did land several this way and had a fun afternoon working this line.   About time to drift out so we changed back to the big ruby and ruby dropper.  didn’t take long to figure out this was not what they wanted.  Changed out to a peach egg with a size 14 black zebra under it.  Action was back.  Last good spot of the drift over a shallow gravel area, line shot out like a bullet.  Couldn’t get “let it run” out fast enough.  Snapped the line, jumped to say “good bye” and it was over.  It’s always the nice ones, and it was a very nice one, that get away!  That’s what keeps us coming back!  That would have been the perfect end to a perfect day.

What a wonderful weekend.  A little windy today, but a little chop on the water certainly doesn’t hurt the fishing.  Continued nice days through Thursday.  Temperatures tomorrow in the low 80s, Tuesday through Thursday in the mid to upper 80s.  Slight chance of showers Friday with the temperatures dropping to the upper 70s by the weekend.  Sweet!

Generation schedule is still giving us lots of wading opportunity.  Yesterday they ran a low one most of the day so wading was good.  Today we had no generation all day (although they sounded one horn around 10:00 a.m.)  Monday is projected at a low one generator most of the day.

Don and Valarie, from St. Louis, fished with Stan yesterday.  They had a good time, really enjoyed our fishery and caught fish on the red midge and the Primrose & Pearl midge. 

Remember Carolyn took Vickie and her son Chris out last Wednesday for their first fly fishing experience.  Vickie was ready to try it again today, so Carolyn took her and her husband Joe out for a long half day.  Good day on the water.  For a while we thought Joe was holding his mouth wrong as Vickie was catching most of the fish.  However, things improved and they were both catching.  We started out with the black zebra with the copper head.  Once the sun got bright and the fished layed off the black midge, it was the primrose & pearl midge.  Joe caught several on the CQ streamer, but not as much action as the midges, so we finished up the day with the midges and they had two doubles in a row (both hooked a fish at the same time)  Great way to finish up the trip!  And, of course, there was that really nice one Vickie had on that cleared the water and spit her fly back at her.  That’s okay, he’ll be there for the next time.