Beautiful weather over the weekend, especially Saturday, but they ran one generator up and down both days, all day.  Rainy and crummy weather yesterday, but the water was off.  Make sense?  Good news, weather is shaping up…in the 50s today with sunshine AND the water is off.  Looks like they are back to their generators on in the a.m. for 3-4 hours; off the balance of the day until 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. then on for a while in the evening.  Weather for the rest of the week looks nice.  Temperatures to be in the 60s or better.  Rain might be creeping back in for the weekend.

Most of the fishers I talked to who were fishing were having Saturday and Sunday were having  a tough time.  Even talked to Lamar, who owns Scotty’s boat dock in Branson and he said fishing was off over the weekend.  Once the water shut off yesterday a different story.  Great fishing yesterday.

Stan and Jim had a family from Kansas on the water for a half a day Sunday afternoon.  Stan took Keith, and Jim took Michelle and their son, Linn.  Michelle and Linn are fairly new fly fishers, so Jim worked with them on both streamer and indicator presentations.  Also some casting and hook setting.  Boated quite a few fish on a size 12 bug-eye bugger, size 16 red midge and a size 14 grey scud.  Keith had a good day on just the size 16 red midge.  First fish on was a nice 17 inch rainbow.  Although catching lots of nice fish, there are still lots of “dinks” mixed in with the beautiful rainbows.

Great day, weather wise, Saturday.  Today is expected to be in the 50s and increasing chances of rain as we go through the day.  Tomorrow, showers and temperatures in the 50s.  The balance of the week looks great.  Hope it stays that way.  Temperatures in the 60s to 70s with sunshine!  We are expecting generation again today…all day.  Yesterday, the chart appears that they ran run generators most of the day with the level staying between 704 and 705.  However, they must have fired up another generator around 5:00 p.m. as the level went up 705.7.  Projection for tomorrow is generation in the a.m., then off around 10:00 until late afternoon.

Talked to several fishers coming into the shop.  For many of them, yesterday was a tough day for catching fish.

I know no one can get into the number to find out what is being generated.  We will try to give you whatever information we can observe.  One of the guys coming into the fly tying clinic this morning said they blew another horn just a little after 8:00 a.m. so I would expect they plan to let out some more water.  We are looking at what is happening on the real-time site, but it is always about an hour and a half behind.

Don’t know what to tell you but they are running water today.  So far, it is running pretty close to what they projected!…..low one generator.  If it stays at this level, good level for wading.  At 6:30 this morning, the tailwater level was holding steady at 703.0 feet.  The number of units was equivalent to a low one.  Weather is going to be great again today.  Generation for tomorrow is projected to be the same as today.  Whether they will follow it again remains to be seen.  Of course, they plan to run generators in the a.m. for a while then shut them down on Monday!  No, it does not make sense.  No generation, but the possibility of rain on Monday. 

Rodney and beautiful rainbow!

Good day on the water for Rodney from Kansas, who took a 1/2 day float with Stan yestersday.  Still catching lots of “dinks”, but fortunately, mixed among them are also some nice fish.  The pattern of the day was the size 16 rted midge.  Did pull some streamers, but the midge was it.  Sunny, 72 degrees, no rain, but a bit of wind.

 STOP  DIDYMO  IN  OUR  TRACKS!    CHECK – CLEAN OR DRY!

Pretty ugly weather Wednesday and part of yesterday.  However, it did turn out to be a nice afternoon yesterday and the projection for today and tomorrow look good.  Think we will be upper 50s to mid 60s both days.  Sunday and Monday with the temperatures in the upper 50s might see some showers, then back to sunshine and 60s or better for the rest of the week.  Now for generation, we had pretty much a low one generator most of yesterday.  Same projection for today.  Let’s hope, with the nice weather projected for tomorrow, that we will get a chance to do some wade fishing!

reeWhat started our to be a cold, overcast, blustery day ended up to be a great day!  Sun came out, wind shut down a little and fishing was very good for Frank, from Belton, who spend yesterday on the water with Jim.  Beautiful 18 inch rainbow in gorgeous color!  Lots of fish on the size 14 red midge, a size 12 gray scued and both a size 6 and 12 bug-eyed bugger.  Frank has already booked his return for October. 

Reports are still good from most of the people coming into the shop.  And, lots of patterns are working. 

Pretty cool weekend!  Saturday maybe reached the low 40s, but it was windy and cloudy all day.  Yesterday started out as a repeat of Saturday, but it did clear up in the early afternoon and the sun warmed things up nicely.  Today looks like cloudy and low 50s.  The rest of the week looks promising…..after Tuesday.  Forecast for Tuesday is thunderstorms and mid 50s.  Wednesday will be partly cloudy and upper 40s, Thursday, SUNNY and mid 50s, Friday partly cloudy and mid 60s, weekend sunny to partly cloudy and upper 50s both days.  Generation continues pretty consistent.  On in the mornings for a while, then off until late afternoon.  They did project generation all day Sunday, which was true, the difference was the amount of generation.  Projection for for a low, and in fact they ran a low two generators all day.

What a fun day we had Saturday.  Despite the no so great weather, several folks showed up and enjoyed a very interesting presentation on steelhead fishing by our two guests from Michigan, John Gouker and Jim Haeck.   After the presentation, everyone went to the river where the two guys demonstrated switch rod and spey casting.  I think everyone tried their hand at it.  Verrry interesting!  And, lots of fun trying to swing those long rods and differently configured lines across the water.  But, it can be done!  Got a lot of practicing to do.  Thanks to everyone who showed up and thank you guys for giving us something new to learn and lots of great information.

Jim on the water yesterday for a half day with Dirk from Arkansas.  Dirk is a fairly new fly fisher, so Jim was in his element.  Worked on casting, mending, line work and hook sets.  Sounds like they could have used a little more work on hook sets.  Missed and lost a lot of fish, but good news, they also landed fish!  Best patterns were the red midge, gray scud and a size 10 olive bug-eyed bugger.  Dirk learned a lot and had a great day on the water!

We are escaping from the awful winter weather and the cabin fever!  Be sure to join us on tomorrow, Saturday, March 5, 2011.  You can come as early as 9:00 a.m. as the coffee pot will be on and we might just have some donuts.  Events of the day are as follows:

10:00 a.m. – Michigan Steelhead Fishing Presentation – John Gouker, guide and instructor for Schnmidt Outfitters

11:00 a.m. – To the river for demonstration on spey and switch rod casting – John Gouker and Jim Haeck.  Anyone wanting to try their hand at this will get a chance

Noon – Hot dogs, chips and water or soft drinks will be available at the shop.

1:00 p.m. – More switch and spey rod opportunity for anyone who didn’t get to try their hand at it earlier. 

Rest of the afternoon the Michigan guys will tie some of their steelhead flies, a few other tyers will be in the shop.

Casting pointers for anyone who wants.

Hourly drawings – must be present when your number is called

Special drawings – Full day guided steelehead trip and one nights stay at Schmidt Outfitters for two.  1/2 day guided trip for two on Taneycomo.  Do not need to be present to win these drawings….just make certain you get you name in the bucket!!!

Extra discounts on sale items as well as other special sale prices just for the day.  Our way of saying “Thank You!” for your business.

Lots of wading time for the past week and, looking at the projection for tomorrow, it will be a full day of wadeable water again tomorrow.  Can’t say a whole lot about the weather.  Last I heard, we might get some rain showers or even snow showers in the morning, but it is supposed to clear off and get into the upper 40s or possibly the low 50s.  Pretty good weather for this time of year, but certainly not as nice as we have been having it….70s?  March!?  Luck us! 

Jan - 3/3/11

On the water yesterday with Jan and Mike from Oklahoma.  Had a pretty good day….not fast and furious, but as Jim “Ugly” says….fished steady all day.  It did fish pretty steady and we caught some nice fish.  Almost all of them were caught on the primrose & pearl midge during the bright part of the day, and then the copper dun midge once some clouds started moving in.  Jan brought two 17-1/2 inch rainbows to the boat and, unfortunately, lost her biggest one of the day.  We all just kept saying what a beautiful day it was, great weather and fishing!

Every day we have like the weather we are getting is just one less day of winter weather!  Sounds good!  Yesterday did turn out to be a nice day and, so far today, it is very nice.  Upper 40s on my way into work this morning.  Still cloudy, think we might get some rain, but temperatures are predicted to be in the 70s.  Tomorrow looks like lower 50s with possibility of showers.  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all look nice…mild temperatures.  Friday possibility of showers, and guess what!  Looks like lower 40s and possibly showers for our Open House on Saturday.  Boo! Hiss!  We will see; that is a ways off. 

Generation has been off since yesterday morning.  Projected to be off all day today and tomorrow morning.  Some generation late tomorrow afternoon, probably around 6:00 p.m.  We are now seeing the run off from the rains we had last week.  Table Rock Lake is just 3/10s of a foot short of coming up a foot.  The level this morning is 907.6 feet.

Selina's first fish on a fly rod

Stan had a new fly fishing couple from Iowa on the water yesterday.  Marty and Selina spent a half day, first learn a little about casting and line management.  The rest of the day they spent hauling in fish.  Good day.  Best patterns were the rusty in the a.m. when it was still overcast.  Once the sun started peeking out, the primrose and pearl midge finished the trip.

It was soo pleasant out yesterday afternoon, I stopped by the boat ramp and tossed a floozie into the water.  Caught a couple fish on this, a few on a holographic green crackleback and then had to try a dark olive soft hackle.  Fish were popping everywhere.  Unfortunately, they did not want my soft hackle and it was getting pretty dark so I packed up and went home.

Think we got some rain yesterday!  Going to be cloudy, windy and cool today….probably in the 40s.  Tomorrow, however, is taking a turn around the corner again and will be in the upper 50s to lower 60s.   Believe I heard that Sunday will be in the 70s; down side is the possibililty of showers.  At least through Thursday next week, it looks like 50s and 60s.  Partly cloudy Monday, sunny Tuesday and Wednesday and mostly cloudy Thursday.  Let’s hope we get no more rain for a while until this soaks in.  Generation schedule is another issue.  Although they were not supposed to run much water yesterday, after the rains slowed down, the generators fired up.  At 4:00 p.m., they turned on all four generators which are still running right now.  Although they projected running only one this morning, they ran four, but did turn them off….as projected.  The lake has not come up too much (when I checked at 11:30 a.m. Table Rock Lake was at 907.0), but we still have not seen the results of the run off. 

Monday started out cloudy and cool.  Stan took Mike, one of our regulars from Oklahoma, out for a half day float.  When they got to the water, the horn sounded but no water.  Headed up toward the big hole to beat the water flow, but no water…false alarm.  Anyway, they had a great day on the water.  Most fish Mike had ever caught in a short outting.  It was a midge day, the rusty, primrose & pearl and the copper dun.

DON’T FORGET – CHECK, CLEAN OR DRY you gear!  Let’s keep didymo from spreading to other waters!

Okay everyone, we have a job to do…..protect our fisheries!  I know many of us have been hearing about “didymo” or “rock snot” in the White River system and we think “boy that doesn’t sound good” and go on our way.  Didymo is an invasive alga that can form large thick mats on the bottom of streams smothering aquatic life vital to the food chain that supports fish.  Didymo has been found in the White River in Arkansas.  There was just recently suspect of Didymo in Taneycomo, but I just spoke with our Hatchery biologist this morning and he said that the suspicious alga was not Didymo, our water is still unaffected…at this point.  So, our job is to keep it this way!

I think of the times I hit the water here on Taneycomo early in the day the horn blows, so I check the schedule and no generation is predicted for Bull Shoals, so off to Bull Shoals to finish the day of fishing…..or visa versa.  Bull Shoals horn blows and off to Taneycomo or Roaring River.  Did I take time to CHECK, CLEAN OR DRY my equipment!!??

The Missouri Department of Conservation has prepared a great flier on what to do to help stop the spead of didymo.  They will soon be holding public meetings to discuss this threat and what we can do to help prevent it from speading to Missouri streams.  In the meantime, we can be proactive.  Below are some of their recommendations:

Before entering the water:

CHECK – Remove all visible clumps of algae and plant material from fishing gear, waders, equipment, water shoes and sandals, canoes and kayaks, and anything else that has been in the water. 

CLEAN – Clean your gear in a 2% household bleach solution (1/3 cup per gallon water), 5% saltwater solution (1 cup per gallon water) or dishwashing detergent.  Scrub boats and other “hard” items thoroughly; completely soak equipment, felt-sole waders, personal flotation devices and other “soft” items for at least 20 minutes!!!!

OR

DRY – Allow any item that has been in contact with the water to completely dry; the item should be exposed to sunlight and left to dry for at least  48 hours.

We are fortunate to have so many great fisheries in Missouri.  Let’s give them a “little tender love and care”!