Beautiful weather!  It was in the 50s this morning.  What a refreshing way to start the day.  Probably upper 80s to low90s today with a slight chance of moisture tomorrow and a little more chance by mid week.  Best news is temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s for a while.

Not much change in the generation schedule.  Looks like this was our weekend for generation today.  We will have a low one this morning and then they will add more, probably a low two around noon.  Should be off in the morning and on on at noon with one generator, ramping up to a low two for the balance of the day.  Monday’s projection looks like it is Bull Shoals day to run all day.  Taneycomo is projected to be off until 5:00 p.m. when they will run a low two for three hours….we’ll see.

Nice day on the water Thursday for Lee from Louisiana.  He used to fly fish some 40 years ago but had drifted away from it.  After a morning on the water with Stan, he thinks he is going to get back into it.  A nice one generator and the big ruby, size 18 ruby and P&P midges made it a good catching day.  Jim had Mark, from St. Louis, out for the morning.  They too had a good day on the big ruby with a size 18 ruby midge dropper.  They also worked a size 10 CQ streamer and caught from fish.

Friday Jim had Rob and his son, Kade out for the morning.  Flat water, but they had a good day on the P&P with a blood worm dropper and the CQ streamer.

Can’t believe I heard the weather folks say we will see temperatures in the 80s Friday and Saturday.  We’ll probably see low 90s, but that is certainly better than what we have had.  Slight chance of showers Sunday and again later in the week.  We will certainly take the rain.

Not much change in generation patterns.  On all day one of two days a week but mostly off, especially during the morning hours until noon or so.  Did have a surprise early on Tuesday when it cam on at 10:00 a.m.  Today is the equivalent of one generator all day.

Had a pretty good rainfall last night and early this morning.  My grass is now green!  No more rain in the forecast after today, but the temperatures look like they are going to be in the mid 90s through the weekend.  Yeah!

Still a pretty similar pattern in generation.  We had up and down low one to low two generators yesterday…all day.  Today it is off until this afternoon when it will come on for a while.  Bull Shoals is running today, so we will see low one to low two generators tomorrow.  The pattern seems to be Bulls Shoals one day and Table Rock the other day.  But, on the days it is off, we get plenty of wading time in the morning.  Also, with the low one when they turn it on, you can still wade many places.

Fishing has been tough the past few days.  Catching some fish, but really having to work for them. 

Jack - 8/4/12

Four of us on the water yesterday.  Stan had Cory and his son, Jack, out for the morning.  This was Jack’s  first time fly fishing and he did very well.  Think he outfished his Dad.  This was a big ruby midge day for them as they ran various levels of water all day.  Jim was working with Jeff’s friend, Rosie, on casting.  Rosie is brand new to fly fishing and she and Jeff caught fish on the CQ streamer, the big ruby and the size 18 ruby midges.  Larry and Legail spent the morning with Darrell.  Their best pattern was also the big ruby.  Carolyn had some more new fly fisher with her, Matt and Catlin from Texas.  I think these two are going to become good fly fishers.  Both have a good start on their casts.  Before the morning was over, they were both throwing a good line to pull the CQ streamer.  Missed several fish, picked and rolled several fish, but also landed several on the big ruby and the CQ streamer.

Stan and Jim took out a neat family from Overland Park, KS.  Jeff, his wife Lisa, and their two children, Holden and Sarah spent this morning catching a few fish.  Holden and Sarah did some basic casting work, but Jim did let them take a break and catch fish on the black zebra with a copper head and wire.  Stan had Jeff and Lisa on the P&P and black zebra/copper midges.  Slow day, but again, they did catch some fish.

We have had some rain over the past couple days.  Maybe a quarter to half inch at a time, but it was rain and you can actually see some green back in our front yard.  Hard, heavy showers with lots of wind, so it blew things around a little, but we certainly are not complaining.  Chances of showers today and tomorrow (slight), then a cool down…in the 90s! starting Monday into next weekend.  Would that be nice!?

Still getting wading time in the a.m.  Scheduled to leave it off yesterday until late, but turned it on just after noon.  Everyday is a new day.  Scheduled to come on today at 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. but as of 3:00 p.m. it was still off. 

Tom and his friend David, took 1/2 day trip with Darrell Monday.  Pretty good day for these two guys on the black midge with the copper head and copper wire. 

Eric - 7/31/12

Tuesday, Stan had two Texas guys, Eric and his friend Bill out all day.  Pretty slow day on the water.  It was one of those one to two hit or fish per pattern days.  Went through lots of patterns, but the P&P, red and the black midges were the best for them. 

One of Stan’s regulars who had not been here for a couple years, John from Kentucky, showed up for a trip on  Wednesday.  Good day on the CQ streamer and copper dun midge.  First time for John to use a sinking line and he really liked this.  Think he went home with one plus several CQs.

Peter - 8/1/12

Peter and his son, Peter, Jr. can nost boast they caught trout in Missouri.  These two from New Jersey spent the morning with Darrell Thursday.  Nice 17 inch rainbow for Peter, Jr. (not shown) on the P&P midge.  Jim and Stan had Bob, from Branson, and his grandson, Ryan, and his parents Randy and Pam out Thursday morning.   Bob and Ryan had a good day with Stan on the copper dun midge.  Randy and Pam worked a lot with Jim on casting and also caught some fish on the CQ and the P&P midge.  Everyone, except Bob, was a new fly fisher.

Ryan - 8/2/12

Very little change in the generation patterns.  Off almost every day until noon or 1:00 p.m.  Then a low one, bumped up to a full one or low two for most of the balance of the day.  Thrown in there some time during the week will be generation all day at a low one to start then ramping up to two or three by afternoon.  We are getting quite a bit of wading time and some nice low water flow drift days.

Working on that roll cast - 7/26/12

Fun day on the water for Carolyn last Wednesday and Thursday.  Angela and her son, Henry, have been wanting to learn how to fly fish since she saw “The River Runs Through It”.  So, Wednesday, they did the classroom stuff, knots, lines, leaders, bugs, etc. and casting.   Thursday we started off the day refreshing the roll cast

One of Henry's first on fly rod - 7/26/12

and pick up and lay down casts.  Once we got that under our belts, it was on to learning the various presentation methods.  Worked on nymph style fishing using the black zebra midge with the copper head and copper wire.  Not fast and furious on this pattern but they worked on mending and line management.  On to pulling streamers!  Casts are getting good and lots of fun

Angela and one of her first - 7/26/12

catching on the CQ streamer.  Both did well with this and really liked this kind of fishing best. 

Stan was out Thursday with Mike, from Oklahoma, and his son-in-law Rusty.  A little slow start in the morning, but certainly picked up later in the morning and especially when they turned on one unit.  Big ruby about 5 feet deep or the CQ streamer where they could find a seam or slightly slower water using the intermediate sinking leader.

Friday, Jim and Carolyn had Scott and his son Mitch and Mitch’s friend Caleb out for half a day.  Jim took the boys and Carolyn took Scott.  By the time the half day was over, Jim not only had the boys throwning line, but 200 grain sinking leader line.  They had a very good day on the CQ streamer.  Scott and Carolyn had a good day on the black zebra midge under the big ruby.  Saw a lot of fish, rolled one really nice fish and had a good time.

Stan took Mike and his son, Cameron, from Indiana out Saturday.  These new to fly fishing guys had a good time and caught fish on the copper head black zebra, the primrose & pearl midge and the CQ streamer.  I think son may have outfished his father!

Mike and Mica - 7/29/12

 Mike and his daughter Mica, from Oklahoma, spent Saturday and Sunday mornings on the water with Gina.  Since they were both new to fly fishing, she worked with them on casting and they certainly finished up catching.  Great day, great memories.  A rusty midge and stripping the tiger tail were their flies for the two day.  Nice 17-1/2″ rainbow rounded off the trip.

Bet you know what the forecast is.  More hot weather, upper 90s to 100s and still no moisture in the forecast.

Generation schedule continues to be wader friendly.  Off in the morning, (when you really want to fish while it is still cooler) and on by noon to 2:00 p.m.  This past weekend we had little generation on Saturday, but generation all day Sunday.  So far this week, it has been the off a.m. and on early afternoon.

Alan and his son, Robert, took our two-day fly fishing school back in 2005 and I’m happy to day they are still chasing trout.  Alan spent all day Monday on the water with Stan.  Pretty good day for them on the P&P before generation, the big ruby after generation and the CQ streamer both before and after the water came on. 

Today, Jim had a couple of new fly fishers on the water, Britni and her younger brother, Chandler. These young folks from Oklahoma were quick learners and pulled a good number of fish on the P&P and rusty dun midges as well as the CQ streamer.  Darrell also had a couple new fly fishers Devon and Damon from Indiana.  They had a good day on the primrose & pearl midge.  One nice 17 inch rainbow.  Mike from, Oklahoma spent the morning on the water with Stan.  They too hooked fish on the primrose & pearl midge as well as the CQ olive streamer.  As we have been experiencing, the midges are catching fish, but certainly slower than pulling some type of streamer.

Looks like a cool off….upper 90s instead of low 100s!  At least for a couple days, then back to triple digits and no moisture to speak of in sight.

Generation continues to mostly be off in the a.m. each day and on around noon or later.  Sunday was an exception as we had generation all day yesterday.  I expect we will continue to see this trend.

Trish and nice rainbow - 7/18/12

Just like the water, fishing has been up and down.   Carolyn had a fun week as she spent Monday, Wednesday and Friday on the water with Trish and Mike from Texas.  Monday started off slow but finished up much better.  Caught a few on midges, the P&P and copper dun, but mainly stripping the CQ streamer or a mouse gray sculpin pattern.  Wednesday was a good day.  We pulled streamers most of the day, especially while the water was off.  Once it came on, it was the big ruby with a fl. pink San Juan dropper. 

Mike - 7/18/12

 Pulled more streamers at Lookout Island and on the drift out it was back to the ruby/San Juan combo.  Trish caught a nice rainbow on this rig further down river.  Friday was an afternoon drift and it started out great.  The water was rising when we got to the river and it fished good on streamers on the sinking leader.  Red midge through the Trophy Run area and back to streamers further down.  Then the water shut down and so did the fish.  Still a nice float that afternoon munching on watermelon and cherries. 

Friday morning Carolyn had Laura and Scott from Oklahoma out again.  This was Laura’s second time on the water and everything is really starting to come together.  Her cast is looking great, and it was good near the end of our time on the water to hear her say “just a few more casts!”  She brought in a nice 17 inch rainbow stripping the CQ.  Good day for both of them.  We would experience a period of 10-15 minutes where nothing would be happening, but move up or down stream just a little and the bite was on again.  

Jim on the water Saturday with Gary from Washington.  New experience for Gary so Jim spent time on the basics, casting, line management, and hooking and playing fish.  They had a pretty good day on the P&P, ruby and a brown midge. 

Sunday, Ken and his father-in-law, Tom, spend the morining with Jim.  I think these guys from Texas thought our weather was not that hot.  They experienced quite a bit of water fluctuation yesterday so it was a little off.  But, they did land some fish on the CQ streamer, size 12 ruby midge, and the size 18 ruby and size 14 miracle scud.

Looks like 100s for the six days with no moisture in sight.  Did have a short  shower yesterday that cooled us off for a brief period of time.  What a pleasant sound….rain drops!

Generation schedule continues to be pretty consistent.  Off in the mornings and early afternoon.  Generation start up has been around 2:00 p.m.  Last weekend we have most of the day with no generation.  Projection for today looks like noon or 1:00 p.m.

Stan on the water last Thursday (Boy!  am I behind?) with Adam from Blue Eye, and his father Eric.  Adam had his first experience fly fishing with Stan a couple months ago and decided his father had to give it a try.  They had a good day on the big ruby, the size 16 red midge and the size 18 ruby midge.  Water was off at put in but came on at 9:00 a.m. that day and then back off at noon.  Jim had Brandon and his friend Eric, from St. Louis out for the morning.  They did the red with red midge dropper, the CQ streamer and a bug eye bugger.

Friday, Darrell and Jim introduced Matt, David, Aaron and Isaac to fly fishing.  Good start for these guys from Oklahoma.   It was a P&P, black midge with copper head and brown midge day.

Mark and Wally - 7/14/12

Mark and his father, Wally, spend all day Saturday on the water with Carolyn.  Mark and his wife, Fran, took our two-day fly fishing school in 2010 and have been avid fly fishers (as much as they can) ever since.  Tying their own flies, the whole works!  We had a very good day on the water with the copper dun, size 18 when the water was down as well as stripping the olive streamer.  Once the water came on, it was the big ruby with a worm brown San Juan worm dropper.  Mark’s best fish of the day was a 17 inch rainbow and Wally was close behind him with a 16-1/2 incher. 

Carol Ann - 7/14/12

Jason, she loves it!  Jason and Carol Ann took a 1/2 day float with Carolyn on Tuesday.  It was Janson’s hope that she would like fly fishing.  Yes!  Carol Ann loves it!  As with any new skill, we still have some practicing to do, but she is going to be a good fly fisher.  They both did well well with the P&P midge as well as stripping the olive streamer.   Carol Ann got the largest fish of the day, a 17 inch rainbow.  Stay with it Carol Ann!

Weather…continued warm and sunny.  Haven’t seen much indication moisture in our near future.  Just temperatures remaining in the mid to upper 90s through the weekend into next week.

Generation has been spastic again…or still!  today it was supposed to be off until 2:00 p.m.  Guess what!  It came on around 9:30 a.m.  One day, it was supposed to be on and it was off.  At least we have had pretty good weekends so far.

Skip, from Kansas, spent the day with Stan Monday.  Fishing was better in the morning with one unit going and they probably caught most of their fish for the day in the a.m.  Best on the big ruby and the CQ streamer.  Around noon, the second unit came on, the water got pretty dirty and fishing slowed down.  The good news was the weather, around 85-88 degrees and overcast.

Tuesday, was a good day for everyone…not a great day, but a good day.  Stan had Mike from California out for the day.  Mike is planning to move to Branson as soon as he can find a home.  Their morning started out with no generation and they pulled the CQ streamer.  At noon, they turned on two generators, so it was time to take a break for lunch to let the dirt drift on through.  Not fast in furious in the afternoon, but they did pull some fish on the big ruby with either a rusty or scud dropper.  Jim had Terry, from Defiance, MO out for the morning.  Where they saw fish dimpling, they fished an orange size 18 midge cluster.  Otherwise, it was the CQ olive size 10 streamer.  Darrell has one of his customers from Minnesota, John, out for the morining.  Their best pattern was the black zebra with copper head and copper wire.

Wednesday was a good streamer stay for Paul and Joe from Nebraska.  Paul has fished with Jim several times over the past three years or so and brought Jim a newbie, Joe.  They had a fun day on the size 8-10 CQ streamer.   Dana had Wayne, from Marshfield  and Dave, from Illinois, out for half a day.  Their best pattern was the red midge.

Although the weather forecast say we are having temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s, it was in the upper 90s today…..and very humid.  Now, according to the forecast for the rest of the week, it should be in the low 90s with little chance of moisture until Wednesday of next week.  Let’s see…..

Other than yesterday, we have had no generation in the mornings, so that means wading time in the morning.  Yesterday, they ran something all day.  We had no generation until around noon today, but tomorrow looks like low one generator for a while then ramping up to high one and low two during the day. 

Darrell and Carolyn had the Louisiana Kerrs on the water most of the day this past Saturday.  Caught quite a few fish on the black zebra with the copper head, copper wire, primrose & pearl midge and holographic green crackleback.  Sunday was a soft hackle day.  It just fished good Sunday on several patterns.  Dawn and Carolyn fished the area just above Trophy Run as we noticed lots of fish dimpling the water.  Size 16 light olive soft hackle was wonderful!  When they layed off this pattern, we would switch to something else for a while, like a yellow soft hackle, the silver bullet crackleback, holographic green crackleback, and catch some more fish.  Once they layed off that, back to the light olive.  Also caught several on the primrose & pearl midge before we spotted the subsurface activity.  Meanwhile, James Albert was catching fish stripping the gray sculpin pattern.  Albert was having a wonderful day on the size 20 hare’s ear under a gray scud. 

Monday, Skip from Kansas, spent the day with Stan.  Better fishing in the morning before they started messing with the water levels…Up then down, the up and back down again.   With one unit going in the morning,  they did best on the big ruby midge and stripping the CQ olive streamer. 

Darrell had John from Minnesota out for half day this morning.  John has fished with Darrell back in 2006, and decided it was time again.  Caught most of their fish on the black midge with the copper head and copper rib.  Terry started fishing with us in 2005 and he came back and fishe with Jim today.  They had a pretty good day on the CQ streamer and an orange midge cluster.  Mike, from California, is trying to relocate to Branson.  Needed to take his mind off trying to sell and buy a house, he spent the day on the water with Stan.  Pretty good day on the big ruby, size 18 rusty and a size 12 gray flashback scud. 

Mixed reports on fishing today.  One guy was having a great day on a dark brown San Juan worm.  Two other guys came in and didn’t catch a thing on a brown San Juan.  Few others doing well stripping size 12 olive wooly buggers, and others on a brown scud.  Just depends on where you are.