In the middle of February you have to say this was a perfect weekend….especially after subzero temperatures and lots and lots of snow!  Temperatures were in the low 50s, no generation after 10:00 a.m. and the fish were happy.  And, we can expect more of the same as far as the weather goes.  Generation is another story, but at least for Sunday, with no generation and the projection for Monday is what we have been experiencing for the past few weeks, some generation in the a.m., usually off by 10:00 a.m. and off for 8 hours or so.  This gives us time to wade fish.  with the great weather forecast for this week, 50s, 60s, what more can you ask for. 

Two boats on the water today.  Jim had Malcolm and Dan from the St Louis area out all day.  They had a very good day on the gray scud, olive bug-eyed bugger and a red midge.  Did have generation when they started out this morning, but it shut down at 10:00 a.m. 

Paul - 2/12/11

Stan was on the water with Paul and Bill.  Also a very good day on the black midge, size 18, in the morning and the size 18 primrose & pearl midge in the afternoon.  

 I even ventured out for a couple hours and also had a very good day.  Caught quite a few “dinks”, but also landed several nice, 17 inches up, on a holographic green crackleback using the sinking leader.   Beautiful, great day on the water!

Sun shining all day…snow melting, of course after some heavy shoveling!  It did reach the upper 20s today and we really have had some good melting.  Supposed to be warmer tomorrow, the next day, and the next day…. I’m hearing rumors of 50s and 60s.  No generation today and tomorrow the projection is for an 8 hours window after 10:00 a.m. 

A few brave souls were actually out fishing today.  They managed to get to the water.  For one, it was worth it.  After catching 30 some fish, he hooked the 20 inch male rainbow.  Came in to get his Trophy Trout Pin.  Congratulations Kirk!  He caught it on the size 18 rusty midge.  He also caught some on the burgundy midge as well as a few on the holographic green crackleback using the sinking leader.

Well, if it is any consolation, they have not been running a lot of water the past two days and the projection for tomorrow is no generation at all.  Now for the rest of the story….Looking out the door, I see about five inches of white stuff on the railing.  However, once we get through tonight’s single digit temperature, looks like low 30s tomorrow, upper 30s Friday, 40s Saturday and 50s Sunday, with next week looking like a warm up…..PLEASE!  I need some R&R on the river. 

Not too much to report on fishing.  Did have one of our customers come into the store yesterday to restock on black wooly buggers and cerise fat worms.  He has been catching fish on both at the Lookout area.  Said almost all of the rainbows he is catching are in spawn.  Males “milking” or eggs falling out of the females.  Great color and good size.  Same report from another fisher earlier in the week.  Also talked to a couple of the guys who work at the hatchery.  They are starting to see more shad than they had a couple weeks ago.  Dig out that white grub “Killer” pattern!

As I was driving to work this morning, I looked at the river and it was beautiful! The warm water was steaming and all the trees along the river were covered with white crystals.  Then I looked at he temperature on my car dash and it said 3 degrees!  Whoa!  I must be nuts!  It was a beautiful sight!  Don’t think we received as bad a storm as many of the people west, north and east of us did.  We did get some ice, sleet and finally snow.  However, we have been able to negotiate most roads every day since it started.  Cold temperatures yesterday and today are the most miserable.  They are projecting upper 20s to low 30s by Friday.  That will feel like a heat wave.  Saturday and Sunday look like mid 30s, with a chance of some type of precipitation Sunday afternoon into Monday.   Monday’s temperatures start dropping again for the early part of the week.   Other than six hours yesterday morning, they have been running water non-stop since Tuesday morning.  I’m certain there are plenty of places needing power for heat. 

As I said, great time to be sitting at home with a roaring fire in the fireplace and tying flies.  Get all caught up so when this weather breaks, you can hit the water with a good quantity of flies in your vest.  Just before the storm hit, Monday to be exact, a fisher came into the store to stock back up on flies.  He had been fishing the size 18 rusty midge and quit fishing when he broke off on the 47th fish on that fly.  Better include a few of these in the ones your are tying!

A REMINDER!  – March 5, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. here at the shop we will have John and Jim from Schmidt Outfitters in Michigan giving a presentation on fishing for steelhead in Michigan.  John has graciously offered to do a drawing for a full day guide trip for two as well as a one night stay in their lodge for two people.  Remember….you can’t win if you don’t show up and enter the drawing.  They are also doing a switch and spey rod demonstration and will show you how to do this, if you are interested.  They will demo some steelhead fly tying and we will have a few other tiers here at the shop tying flies.  We will even have some hot dogs, beans, chips and pop if you get the “hungries”!  Come on by….make it day…take in the activites…go catch a few fish…eat a hot dog.  Great way to break out of the cabin fever blaaas!

Last week we saw temperatures creeping up into a grand finale of upper 60s on Friday and 70s on Saturday.  Today?…..40s, overcast and a little windy.  Forecast is not good.   Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 40s with showers in the afternoon, changing to freezing rain in the pm.  Tuesday low 30s with some kind of precipitation; Wednesday low 20s and windy; Thuesday low 20s and partly cloudy; Friday mid 30s and sunny.  If we can believe it, Saturday they are saying sunny, and low to mid 40s.  Generation has been pretty consistent.  Water on in the a.m. for a few hours and off by 10:00-11:00 a.m.  Off until 5:00-6:00 p.m.  With the wonder Friday we had, we were also fortunate that the generators were off all day!  They were also off all day Saturday and today just as projected by SWPA.  Monday looks like the on in the a.m. then off by 9:00-10:00 a.m for 8-9 hours. 

Lots of fishers out Friday.  Blame them?  Good reports on catching.  Although the normal gray or tan scuds were working, black wooly buggers, dark sculpin patterns, and holographic green cracklebacks seemed to be the best patterns. 

Jim and Stan both out Saturday.  Jim had Jim and his nephew, Danny out for half a day.  They are from Fayetteville, AR.  This was Danny first attempt at fly fishing, and Jim wanted Jim to show him the ropes….which he did.  Fish were a bit picky Saturday, but they picked up several fish on a size 12 olive sculpin, a size 16 gray scud and a size 18 gray sow bug.   Stan had Doc from Tulsa out for the day.  This was his annual birthday celebration trip.  Doc turned 78 this month.  Happy Birthday Doc!  They worked for them, but caught several fish on a size 18 burgundy midge under a size 18 Primrose & Pearl midge.  

After the fly tying clinic where we tied the Barr’s Copper John, Carolyn sneaked off for a little while and fished with Dawn from Louisiana.  We picked a few fish on various patterns, but couldn’t find anything consistent.  RedSan Juan worm, black wooly, size 16 red ass soft hackle (James Albert), holographic green crackleback and an olive filoplume.  One of the fishers on the bank was going well with olive filoplume fishing the riffles at the Rockin Chair area.  It was such a beautiful day, it would have been a great day even if we hadn’t caught one fish!  Not too many days on the water in January were it is in the 70s!

For every day we have like today, it is just one less day of winter weather.  Beautiful outside today!  It was in the 50s with lots of sunshine.  Water was off most of the day and projection is for it to be off almost all day tomorrow.  Weather forecast continue to be good through Saturday and then it looks like we have a cold from coming in again by Monday or Tuesday.

With the nice weather a few more people have been venturing out into the water.  Good reports coming in from most.  One of the guys said it fished better for him yesterday than today, but he still had a good day today.  Small tan scuds, 16 and smaller, olive wooly buggers, egg patterns and copper dun midges are what I am hearing the most.  I’m feeling an escape plan in the works.  Got to get out of here and go fishing!

After we got over the shock of snow on Wednesday and Thursday, and the extreme cold, especially on Friday, what a great weekend.  both Saturday and Sunday were in the 40s, partly cloudy (sun peeked out several times) and very little wind.  Most of this week is supposed to be in the low to mid 30s with Friday hitting the mid 40s (we’ll see on that one!).  Although the generation projection said water running Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we have seen the same pattern as the rest of the week….on in the morning until 10:00-11:00 a.m. then off for 5-6 hours and back on in the late afternoon.  There was lots of wading time this weekend.  With the more than pleasant weather, it was a shame the projection stated the water would be running all weekend.

With the temperatures in the single digit on Friday morning, it was mutually agreed that a 10:00 a.m. start would be a little warmer.  Although low 30s was projected for Friday, don’t think it made it out of the upper 20s.  Stan took Jim from the St. Louis area and his son Matt, who lives in Colorado, out for a short full day float.  Again, they forcast the water running all day, but when they hit the water, it had shut down.  Other than cold, fished pretty good.  Grey scud and size 18 copper dun midge were the primary patterns they used all day. 

After the fly tying clinic Saturday morning (good turn out), fishing fever got the best of me, especially as nice as the day was, so I stopped at the boat ramp for a little while.  Fish were popping everywhere so I tried a holographic green crackleback….no takers.  Okay, let’s do a soft hackle.  One bump on the copper dun soft hackle, nothing on a P&P soft hackle, so out with the sinking leader and tied on a black wooly bugger.  First cast, hit, second cast, fish.  Stood there on the boat ramp and caught enough fish to satisfy my fever. 

Few fishers out today.  One came in this morning on his way home and said he had a great day on the dark gray scud at the rebar hole.  Another came in this afternoon and he had a slow day for a while, but finally started catching them with the black wooly bugger up near the outlets.

Not going to be in the 40s today.  Looks more like mid 30s and overcast most of the day.  Looking for SNOW!!! to start late tonight.  Right now they are forecasting 2-5 inches.  Sooooo…if you are one of those who likes to fish in the snow, here’s your chance!  It is cool, when the large, white, soft flakes are hitting the water.  All the sound is cushioned by the falling snow, so it is very quiet and soft.  Under the right conditions, the fish will think it is a blizzard hatch and you’ll see fish popping everywhere.  Anyway, so much for that.  Thursday will be in the upper 20s probably due to the snow cover.  Friday is still predicted to be sunny but temperatures will now be in the mid to upper 20s with Saturday sunny and mid to upper 30s.  Just a bit cooler than I showed yesterday.  Sunday and Monday are still a toss up with temperatures in the mid to upper 30s, but moisture is still in the picture.  Generation continues along it routine of off for 5-6 hours in the late morning into the afternoon.

Reports from the river are still good.  With the cool weather we had yesterday, not too many fishers coming in, but those who did were having a good day, especially on gray scuds.  Still a few on the black wooly bugger.

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for MARCH 5, 2011.  Get in on the drawing for a guide trip to fish for steelhead and a night’s stay in Michigan.  More to follow.

Weather has been a bit of a guessing game.  Supposed to have had some showers during the day yesterday and possibly some sleet last night.  Guess what?  Nothing!  It is getting cooler today.  Started out this morning in the upper 30s and is quickly dropping during the day.  Supposed to be in the 20s by the time I close the shop this afternoon.  Tomorrow’s prediction is low 40, Thursday the upper 20 with the possibility of snow.  Friday looks like partly sunny and mid 30s with Saturday sunny and low 40s.  Snow showers Sunday and Monday, but that is a long ways off.  Could do a couplete 180 degrees by then.  Water generation still off and on and off again, so late morning and early afternoon wading opportunities are there.

Half a day float yesterday for Ken and his brother Sam.  Both are residents of Missouri, just different cities.  Stan started them out around 10:00 a.m.  We were in a pickle with the rain prediction for yesterday, but it never happened.  Turned out to be a pretty nice day in the mid to upper 40s. 

Sam - 1/17/11

Sun would have helped, but no wind so it certainly was a tolerable day on the water.  Good fishing day too!  Best patterns were a size 12 gray scud and a size 18 copper dun midge.  Midges were not working well in the early part of the trip, but by 3:00 p.m. and later, they were the best pattern.

Good weekend both in fishing, generation and weather!  What more can you ask for in mid January?!  Friday was somewhere in the 40s, Saturday was into the mid 50s and Sunday into the 40s again.  We are expecting lower 50s today.  Unless the sun comes out, that might be a stretch.  Looks like 30s and 40s for the rest of the week with some wintery stuff scattered in here and there.  In addition to the nice weather, the generation schedule cooperated for those who wanted to wade.  After a three hour shot of water from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., it was off until Saturday morning at 6:00.  Four hours this time then off again until 6:00 p.m.  Our projection for today is on five hours from 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.  A seven hour off-time is projected with it starting up about 6:00 p.m. again tonight.  It will be time to come off the water by then anyway.  “O dark hundred” and getting cool!

Reports from those who fished Friday were good.  Good numbers and nice fish.  Hitting most everything, grey and tan scuds, copper dun midges, olive and black wooly buggers.  Saturday’s reports were a little more difficult.  Catching fish, but working a little harder for them, especially depending on where you were fishing.  Up near the hatchery, we had a glowing report from one of the students in the Saturday fly tying clinic.  He called yesterday to say he had a great day on the Big Ugly that he had tied.  First time to catch something top water and on a bug he tied!  Can’t get much better!  The copper dun midge, black and olive wooly buggers and sculpin patterns were all working.  Like I said, not fast and furious, but fast enough to hold your interest.  Sunday when back to really good day on the water for most of the folks I talked to.  At the Lookout Pointe area, the size 12 scuds both in grey, and tan were working well.  Black wooly bugger was still doing well most anywhere you threw it.  Lots of nice fish!  Beautiful color on the rainbows!