What can I say about the weather….HOT! Expecting 100s for the next four days and upper 90s after that. We are still seeing no generation in the mornings. However, today was not projected to come on until noon and they turned on the first generator at 10:00 a.m. and more within another hour. Out of the past five days, three out of two have been right on the money as far as when they were going to start generating.

Both Darrell and Stan on the water this morning and said it was a little tougher than what they have experienced over the past few days. Caught fish, but had to look for them. Darrell had Mark and his son, Nick from Kansas, out early. They almost finished up their half day before the water started. Caught a few fish on the copper head black zebra. Stan had a couple from Texas, Charlie and Michelle. This waas Michelle’s first fly fly fishing trip and I don’t think it will be her last. After her first fish, she proceeded to hook and land two 17-1/2″. Although a bit tough fishing, she had a good day. Think she even outfished her husband. Oops! No he’s happy to have a fly fishing partner now. Their best patterns were the copper head black zebra, a red San Juan worm and stripping the flasher.

Michelle

Michelle

Talked to several fly fisher fishing up around the hatchery area this morning. Catching some on the holographic green crackle back and a size 14 olive wooly bugger. In case I didn’t mention it, Shannon was doing well yesterday on a size 14 Har’e Ear nymph.

Charlie - 8/1/11

Had a shower come through this morning and it cooled it down for a little while.  It is only 88 degrees right now and it’s 12:30 p.m.  Unfortunately, expect to see 100 degree temperatures through the first half of the week, then upper 90s….not much difference! 

Yes, the generators have been off every morning since Thursday.  The only day they started running earlier than their projection was Friday when they started up the generators at 11:00 a.m. instead of the projected 1:00 p.m.

Stan on the river Thursday morning with Silas and Ted.  Good morning on the copper dun midge and stripping the flasher (this is similar to a crackleback, but is tied with olive midge flashabou).  With the water off, they pretty much fish from just above the Rocking Chair area to just a little below the MDC boat ramp.

Friday there were lots of us on the water.  Darrell had Baxter and Jim from Oklahoma out for half a day.  Not only did they boat several trout, they also landed 3 white bass on the copper headed zebra midge.  Chuck, from Arkansas, spent the morning with Stan.  He had a good day stripping the flasher.  Once the water came on, they switched to the big ruby with a #16 red midge dropper and caught some more drifting down to the MDC boat ramp.  Jim had Carl and Paul, from Ohio, out.  Carl had fished with Jim before, but this was new for Paul.  They did well on the black zebra midge, a gray scud and size 8 and 12 jailhouse bugeye buggers.  This was Trish and Mike’s last half day before heading back home to Texas.  This was Mike’s day.  Trish out fished him Monday and Wednesday, so Friday was his day..not by too mush though.  He did boat a 19-1/2 inch and a 17-1/2 inch rainbow among his morning’s catch.  Before the generators came on, stripping the 56er on a sinking leader was the ticket.  After horns, the red San Juan worm dropped uner a white caddis larva was the ticket. 

Mike - 19+ - 7/29/11

Trish - 7/29/11

Darrell on the water Sunday morning with John and Jacob, from Springfield, Mo. they caught fish all morning on the copper headed zebra.  Jim and Brad from Clinton, MO. had a good morning with Jim.  Brad is new and needed a little instruction, but they started catching on the copper dun midge, holographic green crackleback and size 12 jailhouse bug eye bugger. 

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to BOBBI.  To help her celebrate her birthday, Gina and a surprise appearance from Valley of Oklahoma, took Bobbi fishing for two days.  The fish gods were watching over Bobbi has she landed a beautiful 24 inch rainbow on the olive floozie.  I kept hearing her saying, “this is one of the best birthdays I can remember!”  Think the ladies had a great time and caught a lot of fish stripping the olive floozie, pine squirrel sculpin, 56er, olive buggers and who know what else!  Valley had a pretty good day too.  She is quickly becoming a “stripper”.

Bobbi Hulett's birthday fish - 24" rainbow - 7/30/11

Valley - 19" rainbow - 7/29/11

Same old, same old on the weather.  Upper 90s today, mid 90s tomorrow, low to mid 90s Saturday and Sunday, then back up into the upper 90s early part of the week.  Still a chance of showers over the next 3-4 days.

One of Jim’s clients, Jerry, from Kansas, brought his son Nick to fish with Jim Monday and Tuesday.  They are getting ready to go to Alaska in August and needed to check all their gear, and brush up a little on casting and techniques.  They had a couple good mornings on the river using the black bugger, sculpin bugger, red midge, white caddis and a gray scud.  Think they are ready for Alaska!

Mike and Trish from Texas, spent Monday and Wednesday mornings on the river with Carolyn.  So glad to see Trish flinging a fly rod again.  Just about a year ago this time, we noticed a lump on the back of Trish’s leg.  This was her trip where she landed a beautiful 24 inch rainbow.  When she went home from the trip she went to the doctor about the lump and found she had cancer.  It has been a long, tough road for both of them, but she is coming along with flying colors.  She certainly has not lost her touch for catching fish!  We are so happy to see her on the water again.  Had a couple pretty good days.  Monday we did best stripping the flasher or holographic green crackleback.  Also caught some on the red midge with a red worm dropper.  Wednesday started out great with three 17 inch rainbows back to back on the lightening bug and a cerise worm dropper.  Then came the horns, a quick rise of the water and fishing slowed down.  We did catch a few more stripping cracklebacks and buggers. 

Trish - 7/27/11

Mike - 7/27/11

Mike's 17 inch rainbow - 7/27/11

No relief in sight on the weather.  Upper 90s today and 100s for Wednesday and Thursday.  The rest of the week looks like mid to upper 90s, with a chance (again) of showers over the weekend.  We had some sprinkles this past Sunday, but certainly not enough to do any good. 

Generation was off on Saturday, as predicted, then a low one generator the balance of Saturday and all day Sunday.  They did get the boards back up at Powersite, so we are back to the normal, one to two generators in the a.m. ramping up to three to four generators basically the balance of the day starting anywhere from 10:00 a.m. to noon.

As I said, the water was completely off Saturday morning.  Think they turned it on around noon, and then only a low one generator so you could still wade.  What a great day.  Jim had Ron and his son, Barrett, from Illinois on the water that morning.  They are both brand new to fly fishing and what a way to start.  After the normal instruction on roll casting, pick up and lay down cast, and line management, he rigged them up with a black zebra midge, and a brown scud with a blood worm dropper and let them catch fish.   They had a ball and caught lots of fish.  Stan and I went out for a couple hours and were tempted to drop a bare hook into the water to see if we could catch a fish on that, as they were taking everything we threw at them…..any color midge, soft hackles, cracklebacks, scuds, buggers.  Everyone deserves a day like this every once in a while!

Yesterday, Darrell took John from Illinois out for half a day.  We’re pretty much only doing 1/2 day trips with this hot weather.  Too hot to spend the whole day in the sun, even if the fish are bitting.  John is fairly new and wanted to learn a little more about fly fishing.  He had a good day and caught fish on the red San Juan worm and the white grub. 

Sheila - 21-1/4" rainbow - 7/25/11

 Carolyn had Jerry and Sheila, from Springfield, MO out for the morning.  This was Sheila’s second time fly fishing and she had a wonderful day.  Not only is her casting looking very good, but she landed a 21 inch plus fat rainbow among her many other catches of the day.  Jerry did a pretty good number on the fish also, but this was Sheila’s day.  He caught the big fish last trip!  Best patterns were the red San Juan worm under the big ruby midge and the white grub.

No change in the weather.  Still have a slight chance of showers Sunday and Monday, but not much relief from the temperatures. 

Still looking forward to no generation this weekend while they work on the boards at Powersite Dam. 

Both Stan and Jim on the water half a day today.  They agreed that it fished better than it had the past two days.  Stan was out yesterday with Doc from Tulsa, OK.  Doc said “he needed an attitude adjustment”, so he spent the morning fishing.  Not a banner day as he is still trying to get over an accident he had over a year which messed up his hand and wrist pretty bad.  I think they figured out what he needs to do so he can keep fly fishing.  They caught fish on the ruby midge dropped below an orange San Juan and stripping a black holographic crackleback.

Today Stan had Ted and his son Brad out.  These new fly fishers are from Louisburg, Kansas and they like it!  They had a good day on a ruby midge, red San Juan worm, and stripping a wine holographic crackleback.  Jim’s guys, Bert and his son, Will, which he had out on Tuesday, definitely did better today, and pretty much on the same patterns.  Red midge, gray scud and pulling an olive sculpin.  They are hoping the water is off this weekend so they can get out there and catch some more fish.

Yep…the heat goes on!  Heat advisory through Saturday night.  Expecting temperatures in the upper 90s; possibly low 100s with heat indexes in the low 100s every day.  Chance of showers Sunday into Monday. 

Still expecting the water to shut down some time Friday afternoon and stay off until some time on Sunday.  As I mentioned, this is the plan.  They are going to work on the boards at Powersite Dam.  Hope it happens!

Mike Thomas from Oak Grove had a wonderful morning on the river with Stan this past Monday.  He is a fairly new fly fisher, and they did quite a bit of work and catching with the black holographic crackleback and the flasher.  Also caught some drifting the red midge. 

Jim is back from his fishing trip up in Michigan.  Said it was almost as hot up there as here, so he came back a little early.  Put him on the river yesterday with Bert and his son, Will.  They had a good day on the red midge, a gray scud and the olive sculpin.  Bert is bring his other son to spend a half day on the river with Jim tomorrow. 

Still getting good reports from the outlets at the Hatchery area….but as fishing will have it, some days or times of the day are better than others.  Mainly the tan scuds and brown or tan egg patterns.

We understand from a reliable source, that the Corps plans to shut down the generation on Taneycomo some time this coming Friday afternoon and keep it off until some time Sunday to do some repair work.  Please note that I say ‘plans to’ as plans do change.  Anyway, let’s cross our fingers!

Whew!  Temperatures have been warm and are going to get a bit warmer.  Predicting upper 90s to low 100s through Sunday.  Don’t even see a glimmer of rain in this forecast. 

Generation continues to be non-stop.  However, we are creeping closer to the point where we might see some off time on weekends, or possibly in the mornings during the week, depending on temperatures through the U.S.  Table Rock now sits at 918.9. 

Mike - 17" Rainbow - 7/17/11

Busy weekend.  Saturday, Darrell, Dana, Stan and Carolyn were on the water with a group of guys, most from Kansas, for the morning.  Tough morning.  Quite a few hits, but not a whole lot of fish in the boats.   Probably the best patterns were the cerise or red San Juan worms.  Most of the guys are avid golfers and fly fishing was a whole new world…but, a good time was had by all.

Sunday was another ‘everyone on the water’ day.  Darrell and Dana had the Louisiana Kerrs out for half a day.  Dawn went with Dana and, as many years as she has been fishing Taneycomo, she finally caught her first brown trout.  Think she even caught two plus a good number of rainbows.  Darrell had Albert and James Albert.  Dawn’s best pattterns were the holographic green crackleback, the silver bullet crackleback and a size 18 purple midge.  Darrell’s guys were catching on the red San Juan worm and a red size 16 midge.

Albert - 19" rainbow - 7/17/11

Dawn's 1st Taneycomo brown - 7/17/11

Gina was having a fun day with two new fly fishers from Kansas, Casey and Celeste.  They are avid outdoors people who love to hunt.  Casey is an archery outfitter in Kansas and Celeste helps him.  Casey had a little previous fly fishing expeerience, but this was Celeste’s first time and she liked it.  Their best patterns were the red San Juan. holographic green crackleback and the red midge.

Casey - 7/17/11

Nice rainbow Celeste - 7/17/11

Stan had another Kansas fisher on the water, Ken Gilpin from Iola.  Ken just loves to fly fish.  They had a good day on the red midge and holgraphic green crackleback. 

Even with the high water, when the flow and level are fairly stable, fishing is good.  When they start lowering, raising, lowering, etc. the fish tend to move in and out also.  With these conditions, you need to move around a lot to stay up with them. 

Outlets are still fishing well, especially with the size 16-14 tan scuds, and anything that resembles the fish food pellets.

Hot yesterday.  My car registered 106 degrees all the way home.  We are under a heat advisory for the area until 7:00 p.m. Tuesday.  Still a slight chance for showers Wednesday and Thursday and a cool down both these days.  Friday looks like mid 90s and creeping back up Saturday….mid to upper 90s. 

Still no change in generation schedule.  Running 24/7 with the lowest level around 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. the next day.  Raised it all the way to almost 710 feet yesterday around 5:00 p.m.  Table Rock is now at 920.4  feet.

Dana and Gary from Illinois spent Saturday morning on the river with Dana.  Pretty good day on the steelhead orange egg pattern with either a cerise or fl. orange San Juan worm dropper.  Stan had Dallas and Christina from Willow Springs, MO. out that morning.  Brand new fly fishers and had a bit of trouble getting the nack of setting the hook on these trout!  Best pattern was the cerise San Juan worm.  Not real productive morning, but they caught a few fish, learned a lot and had fun.

Mid 90s today and upper 90s tomorrow and Monday.  No rain in sight until Thursday and it will probably be a chance of showers. 

Generation continues 24/7 with the lowest levels early in the morning.  Running 3-4 generators by noon with levels reaching 707 and above.  Good news, Table Rock Lake is now at 920.8….getting close!

Ralph - 7/7/11

Dana finished up the third day of fly fishing with Ralph from Texas on Thursday.  Ralph had a good three days and is looking forward to doing it again.  Some more folks from Texas, Fred and his son, Jeremy, spent half a day with Stan.  This was Fred’s first experience with a fly rod so lots of learning curve.  They did get a few fish to the boat on the silver bullet crackleback. 

Friday, Darrell took Mark and Nikkie out for the morning.  Another bunch from Texas.  Mark has always wanted to try fly fishing and I think both of them liked it…..even the one on the way.  Nikkie is seven months pregnant and I think the baby boy will take to fly fishing as soon as he can hold a fly rod!  Their best pattern was the red San Juan worm.  Carolyn had Bob, from Washington, and his grand daughter, Courtney, from Springfield, out for half a day.  Grandpa fishes the rivers in Washington and Oregon and was quite impressed with the quality of fish we have in Taneycomo.  Hopefully, we have a new fly fisher in the works.  This was Courtney’s first time with a fly rod and she did pretty darn good.  Best patterns were the cerise or red San Juan worms, holographic green crackle back and a rockworm caddis soft hackle.  We saw some rises in some slack water and Bob picked off several of these with the soft hackle or crackleback before they stopped. 

Courtney - 7/8/11

Bob - 19" Rainbow - 7/9/11