Archive for the ‘Fishing Reports’ Category

First On A Fly Rod!

Sunday, August 28th, 2011

Everything holding steady.  Weather remains nice, although yesterday felt pretty hot during the middle of the day.  Still have a chance for showers, possibly starting tonight, then into tomorrow.  Temperatures still look reasonable for this time of the year…low to mid 90s. 

Yesterday’s generation was a surprise.  The projection was for one generator to come on around 3:00 p.m. and stay on for a couple hours.   The surprise came when they started it up at 11:00 a.m. and it stayed on until 7:00 p.m.  And, instead of the equivalent of one generator, they turned on the equivalent of two.  Just remember, those are only projections….subject to change.  Otherwise though, they have been pretty accurate.  Let’s see what happens today!!

Clayton's first fly fishing - 8/27/11

Clayton got his Christmas present yesterday.  For Christmas, his grandmother, Loretta, gave Clayton an instructional fly fishing trip.  Clayton has wanted to learn how to fly fish, so Loretta and he spent the morning with Gina.  Gina worked with them on all the basics and said they were both managing their casts and drifts well.  It was a tough day on the water, but Clayton came through with a few fish on the red San Juan worm.  He had a pretty good grin on his face when he came into the shop and I asked him how he liked fly fishing.

The Stripper Strikes Again!

Saturday, August 27th, 2011

Still more of the same in weather.  Mid 90s, low 90s, maybe upper 80s through early next week.  Looks like a little warm up toward the middle of the week.  Still a slight chance of rain on Monday.

Generation fairly stable.  Worst thing that happens is that they fire it up an hour or so earlier than the projections.  Today was even earlier, but they only started with one.  Still fishable in many places.

Jim out yesterday morning with Larry from Texas.  He and other family members try to fish with us at least once every year and sometimes twice.  They had a pretty good day on the varigated sculpin, the primrose & pearl midge, and a white midge.  Jim said the streamer fishing was actually better during the

Dawn 19-20" rainbow - 8/26/11

 rise.  The Louisiana Kerrs were on the water all day yesterday with Darrell and Stan.  Darrell had Albert and James Albert and they probably did best on the red San Juan Worm.  Stan had Dawn, aka “The Stripper”.  Give her something to strip, in this case it was a size 12 holographic green crackleback and she’s catching fish.  Stan was trying to revive one of the fish she had just caught when she hooked this one on her 4 weight Trout Bum.  Gave her a bit of a fight on that rod!  They also caught fish on the ruby, primrose & pearl, and the size 16 red midge when the water came on.

Rainbows Are Getting Pretty!

Friday, August 26th, 2011

Beautiful morning today!  Temperature in the upper 60s, sun shining and very little wind.  Still looking at a great weather forecast for the weekend on into next week.  Mild temperatures and a slight, very slight chance of rain next week.

No major change in the generation schedule.  Still lots of time in the early mornings until noon, and again in the late evenings, around 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. to do some wade fishing. 

Stan on the river all day yesterday with a couple from Carthage, MO., Doug and Rachele.  Good day for the two of them.  In the morning before the water started up, they hooked fish on several patterns, primarily the Primrose & Pearl midge and golden variant sculpin.   Seeing some really pretty rainbows.  Once the generators fired up, all four of them, they sat out the rise and had lunch.  The water has really been dirty and full of junk on the rise.  You spend more time clearning off you fly than it’s worth.  Once it came up and settled down, Stan drifted the high bank below Pointe Lookout and they continued catching and missing on the red size 16 tunghead midge.  All in all, a good day.  Jim had Forrest, from Excelsior Springs out for the morning.  They caught fish, on the red San Juan, primrose & pearl midge and a brown scud.  Forrest has not been fishing for the past couple years and think he missed quite a few more than he hooked up with.  Need to get out and fish more Forrest!

And Another Lady On The River!

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Absolutely wonderful forecast.  Low 90s to upper 80s for the next 6 days and lower humidity.  Sounds good!  Let’s hope this is what we get.  Slight chance of rain by next Monday, but again, that’s a ways off.

Generation schedule still pretty much right on.  Day before yesterday, they surprised everyone with a 10:00 a.m. start up, but pretty much noon or 1:00 p.m.

Marcie's 1st on fly rod - 8/24/11

Think we have another new lady fly fisher on the river.  Marcie spent Wednesday morning with Carolyn learning how the roll cast and pick up and lay down cast.  She worked on the two basic knots, we flipped a few rocks looking for aquatic life, plus proper line management.  She has the word “mend” down, and is already pulling in fish stripping!  The progression was wonderful to watch.  From really working hard trying to get everything right, those moments of utter frustration, to finally taking that deep breath, making a

Marcie - 8/24/11

nice crisp back cast and laying that line right out in front of her.   Still has lots of practicing to do, but those good casts are there.   She presented the Primrose & Pearl midge with success, the holographic green crackleback subsurface with success, and had a really nice one hooked on the golden variant sculpin pattern using the sinking leader.  That one will give her something to come back for! 

The river is fishing good right now.  One of my other students from four years ago, Ellen, was fishing up stream from us.  Looked up her ways several times to see her with a fish on.  She finally had to come down to see what all the hooping and hollering was about down our way.  She was doing well on the pumpkin crackle back.  Talking to other folks, they have had some good fishing over the past two days.  Water is clearing up and you are starting to see fish below your feet.  Still now seeing any scuds in the water around the boat ramp area.  We picked up several rocks in the river yesterday and found two very small sowbugs.  One had an egg sac on her tummy, so that made me very happy.  Lots of really small midges coming off yesterday.

He Loves That Fly Fishing!

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

Still looks like tomorrow will be the warmest day of the week, upper 90s or low 100s.  The rest of the week will be hovering around mid 90s, maybe low 90s. 

No change in generation pattern.  Get down there and fish in the mornings if you want to wade. 

Jim, from Arkansas, spent the morning on the river with Stan yesterday.  He first learned how to fly fish with us this past March and fell in love with it.  Wishes he could be here more, but has to make a living!   They had a good day but had to do a lot of changing out on patterns.  No one pattern or method was consistent.  They went through the golden variant sculpin, black midge, red San Juan worm, and the copper head black zebra.  Good day on the creek!

One of the guys who came into the shop yesterday did well on the golden variant sculpin.  He came back for more as he lost most of them.

Bad Day! Good Day!

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

Thought it was supposed to cool off a little more this week, but looks like we will hit upper 90s again on Wednesday and Thursday with mid 90s by Friday. 

Generation has been pretty consistent in that we have no generation every morning, some generation by mid-day, then off anywhere from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. for the rest of the night.  This Saturday and Sunday, just a short shot of water around 1:00 p.m. for a couple hours.   Monday looks more like the pattern we have been seeing during the week days.  Off in the morning and then on around 1:00 p.m. ramping up to the equivalent of a low three generators until 10:00 p.m. 

Stan on the river Wednesday and Friday with a couple from Texas, Wade and Wendi.  First time fly fishing for trout AND their 25th wedding anniversary.  Two events in one week!  Wednesday was a pretty slow day.  Got a few fish to the boat, but…  Friday was come back day.  Fished much better and they not only caught fish drifting the primrose & pearl midge, but also learned another technique, emergers.  They thew and caught on a size 18 olive WD40 and a soft hackle.  Much better number of fish to the boat and lots of misses.   Hope you guys are still fly fishing together on your 50th anniversary!  Congratulations!

Pleasant Couple Days On The River!

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Maybe the hot spell is over.  Monday and yesterday were really nice, except for a bit of heavy rain yesterday morning!  Looked like most of it was going east..but, not all of it!  Anyway, fish don’t mind a little water.  Temperatures for the rest of the week to be mid 90s to low 90s by Sunday and Monday.   Slight chances of rain all the way through Monday.

Generation schedule still consistent.  No generation in the early to late morning or even early afternoon (1:00 p.m.)  So, here’s your chance to get out and do some wading.

Jim our with Jim and Dave from Festus.  Water low and slow, so the moving patterns are still doing best.  Did boat a few on the copper dun midge with a blood worm dropper, but the holographic green crackleback worked best.  One 18 incher on this pattern.  Dana took David from Ohio out for the morning.  David wanted to do some wading, so they headed down to the now much larger gravel area above Trophy Run and threw the holographic green crackleback, filoplume and olive wooly bugger.  David commented that “Dana had worn him out”.  Think they had a pretty good day!

Tuesday, Rick Canup, from Texas, brought his fishing family and a soon to  

Eric - 8/16/11

be new member (Lindi) for their annual fishing event.  Think this is the 5th year in a row they all come to fish wih us and what a really fun group they are.  Dana had Alex and Eric out this year.   Althought the early part of the morning started out slow for all of us, once it picked up, it was a good day.  Dana’s guys were catching on the holographic green crackleback. 

Nice 17 incher for Alex - 8-16-11

Jim had Rick and Davis.  They were fishing a size 20 gray scud and a copper dun dropper.  Not fast and furious, but they landed and missed quite a few fish.  Stan took Chase and they too has a good day pulling the cracklebacks, both the holographic green and the silver bullet (tied with holographic silver tinsel). 

Lindi - 8/16/11

Carolyn got the soon to be newly weds.  Taylor and Lindi are getting married in September.  Not sure who is getting the best deal, but I think it is Taylor.  Lindi took to fly fishing pretty fast and she likes it!  She is going to be a natural if she stays with it.  No, she didn’t kiss all her fish….didn’t want to make Taylor jealous.     At point point Lindi had Taylor down 3 to zip.  He was getting worried, but after 3 to 4 doubles (these two are working together already!), he started catching up.  Fun day on the holographic green and silver bullet cracklebacks.  Once we saw fish sipping, we were stripping these just under the surface off the edges of where shallow areas met moving water.  Our best wishes for a long, healthy, and happy marriage.  Don’t forget to include many happy days of fly fishing together!

Taylor and Lindi - 8/16/11

Slow, But Catching!

Sunday, August 14th, 2011

Lovely weather we’re having.  Temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s through most of the coming week.  Looks like chances for showers again toward the end of the week…long way off, we’ll see.

Generation has been pretty consistent.  No generation from midnight until as early as 10:00 a.m. or late as noon over the past four days.  Although the projection has indicated a low one generator to be running, they have pretty much ran the equivalent of two generators until 9:00-10:00 each night.

Dave Jones -20" Rainbow - 8/13/11

Stan and Dana both on the water yesterday.  Stan had Mike and his son, Dave out for the morning.  No water when they started so they fish various things, but the best pattern for them was  the size 18 Primrose & Pearl midge.  Dave landed this nice 20 inch rainbow on one.  Although it was a bit slow, they had a good morning.  Dana had Dawn and John, from St. Charles, Mo. out for a couple days.  This was their first morning on the water and they had a pretty good morning on a brown beadhead wooly bugger and a tan B-Bug.  Sunday was a much better day for both of them.  They were using the brown beadhead wooly bugger and the olive floozie.  John even caught a crappie!  They are on their way in September to fish the North Platte out of Casper, WY.  Have fun guys!

Back In Business…

Friday, August 12th, 2011

My computer wizard was here yesterday, and I am back in business again.  Terrible when we are so dependant on computers!  

Weather has been awesome.  Cooler days and some much needed rain.  Unfortunately, Wednesday we also had some lightening and thunderboomers so we cancelled a couple morning trips.  Not good standing in the water with a lightening rod in a lightening storm!  Temperatures to remain in the upper 80s to low 90s for the next few days.  Once we get past today and tomorrow, the rain chances will be gone.  

Generation schedule has also been great.  The past few days the generation has been pretty much off all day except for a generator starting up in the afternoon for an hour or so.  Lots of wading time!  

Ethan with 17-1/2" rainbow - 8/6/11

One trip Carolyn had over the weekend was Lennie and his two sons Ethan, who is nine years old, and Pearson, who is ten. What a pair of neat young men.  Both picked up on casting quickly, however, Pearson has had some previous exposure to fly casting.  Ethan probably would have caught a few more fish if he would have left his fly in the water.  This one loves to cast!  It’s great to see boys this age learning how to fly fish.  Think their father will have a couple 

Pearce with 16-1/2" rainbow - 8/6/11

fishing buddies for life.   Lennie was catching on the bug-eyed bugger, size 12 stripping with a sinking leader.   Both boys caught theirs on the red San Juan worm.  Had a few hits on a black midge and gray scud, but nothing to the net. 

Talked to the biologist at the hatchery the other day as I have not been seeing very many scuds in the lower part of the river (around the boat ramp).  He confirmed what we

Lennie - 8/6/11

have been suspecting, the dissolved oxygen level is pretty low.  We have been noticing, that although the fish still look fat and healthy, they are pretty worn out from being caught.  Please take a little more time when releasing your fish to make certain they are completely revived.  Fishing has been somewhat slow, but many of the fish being caught are nice size.  It’s just nice being able to stand in the water again.

Computers Are Great When…..

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

What a relief in the weather!  Finally getting cooler temps.  We have had rain, lightening and storms go by, near, or somewhere in the area for the past 2-3 days.  Anyway,  between being on the water and having my computer internet modem knocked out by lightening, the extreme delay in getting a fishing report up.  Onward!  Weather for this week looks great!  Upper 80s to low 90s.  Is that great or what after all the 100 degree days we  have survived!?  We do have a chance for showers Wednesday into Saturday.  Today was lovely.

Generation has been almost correct every day.  Correct in that it will be off in the a.m. each day, which it has.  However, they have pretty much started up the generation 1-2 hours earlier than the projection almost every day.  Almost..!  Even with starting up a little earlier than projected, lots of people are getting a chance to do some wade fishing in the mornings!  Yeah!

Now for ketchup!  Stan on the water last Thursday with John and Dan from Oklahoma.  They had a good day on the flasher and lightening bug. 

Friday, Stan was out with Tom from Nebraska.  Not a great day, but Tom was totally new to fly fishing.  He learned a little and caught fish on the flasher.  Richard, from Arkansas, spent the morning with Dana.  He is a fly fisher and wanted to learn a little about our water.  Best flies were the holographic green crackleback and the olive filoplume. 

Saturday Craig and Stephanie, from Oklahoma were graced with the company of Stan for the morning.  Stephanie grew up in Alaska, so she had fly fished that area while growing up.  Both have fly fished other areas, but were certainly impressed with our fishery.  They had a good day on the holographic green crackleback, the flasher and the floozie.  Meanwhile, Darrell had Jeff and his friend, Chris on the water.  These guys from Oklahoma caught fish on the copper headed zebra midge and, during the water rise, a red San Juan worm.

Larry with fish on! 8/7/11

Sunday, Carolyn was standing in the water with Larry and Julie.  Brand new fly fishers who wanted to learn as much as I could cram into them so they could fish on their own at Pointe Royale, where they own a condo.  We worked more on their casting, as well as various techniques they could use.  With the change in the bottom in that area, the most productive method seems to be stripping.  After midging with the copper headed black zebra midge, a gray scud, and sub-surface stripping the holographic green crackle back (caught fish, or had hits on all of the above), we settled in on stripping the olive filoplume or size 12 bug-eyed bugger using an intermediate sinking leader.  This was the best pattern of the morning.  Fun morning, great people.  Larry came into the shop today, Tuesday, and both of them had successfully caught fish at the Pointe this morning stripping the filoplume!

Talked to lots of people fly fishing right now and it is not fast and furious.  However, most of the fish caught are really nice.  No one pattern seems  to be the magic bullet, but catching a few fish on most everything thrown.  Like I said earlier, stripping seems to be the best, especially small (16-14) olive buggers, bug-eyed buggers. size 12, or the size olive filoplume, especially using an intermediate sinking leader.   Primrose & pearl midge and the red midge were two of the midge patterns that I heard were workng today.


*