Way behind again! Only had the water off from midnight until 2:00 a.m. last Tuesday. These rest of the week has seen was on at 6:00 a.m. for a couple hours; off for 6-8 hours,; then back on for 4-6 hours. Thank you…by Saturday we had generation for only three hours in the morning, and then they shut it off the rest of the day into Sunday.  Sunday we had a little blip of water for a couple hours around 8:00 p.m.

Last Tuesday, Jim had Carl and Dan from Oklahoma City out all day.  It was one of those tough days.  However, they did catch some fish on the size 14 red midge, a gray scud, and a size 18 black thorax midge.

Bob from Kentucky, spent the morning on the water with Stan Thursday.  Stan found his match with this guy.  If you know Stan very well, you know he has some parameters on when he will fish.  “If it’s 40 or below, Stan don’t go”, or “if the wind is 20 and above, Stan don’t go”, and on, and on…..  Anyway, when Bob booked his trip, it almost sounded like Stan.  Despite their limitations, they had a good day on the water.

Friday, Darrell took Robert, from Tulsa, out for half a day.  They had a good day, mainly on the size 18 ruby midge.  Stan was also out.  Must have been Oklahoma day, as he had Terry and Dave, also from Tulsa, out all day.  Good full day of fishing, especially when the water started dropping in the late morning.  Best patterns were a size 18 olive midge, a green Copper John and best was the size 18 Primrose & Pearl midge.  Carolyn took Mary Jo and her husband Bill, out all day.  These two are originally from Minnesota, but moved several years ago to Alaska where they once had their own fly shop in Sitka.  Just recently retired, they purchased a camper and are traveling around fishing!  What fun.  Mary Jo was one of the five women, including Carolyn, who went to Sweden and Norway to fish this past June.  Mary Jo said she was going to come to Branson to fish, and she did.  Fun and fish filled day on the holographic green crackleback (Mary Jo really liked this), a size 18 ruby midge, and a size 18 copper dun midge.

Dana had Gene and Terry from Kansas out all day Saturday.  Think it was Terry’s first time fly fishing.  He caught a nice 18 inch rainbow.  What a way to get started.  Their best flies were a size 16 gray scud, size 16 tan flashback scud and a red San Juan worm.

Sunday, Darrell had John and Thomas, from Oak Grove, most of the day.  This was another one of those tough days.  One nice fish, 18-1/2″ rainbow, but the rest were few and far between.  What they did catch was on either an olive filoplume or  the olive floozie.  Folks coming into the store that day were also moaning about the tough fishing.

Not seeing very many browns anymore but we are seeing lots of nice rainbows.   Have pictures to publish of some of the above mentioned trips, but the gremlin is still running around somewhere in my computer.

We continue to see up and down generation, but fortunately, there is enough down time that lots of people are catching some really nice fish up in the Hatchery area. Monday was a real fluctuating day as they had it off six hours in the morning, on for three, then back off for four and back on for seven hours. During the week, Wednesday was the best day for wading. It was off until 3:00 in the afternoon. It as up and down yesterday, but no so much that one could not get out there and do some wading. Weather continues to be beautiful…had one crispy night in the upper 20s but it warmed up to be a very nice day in the 70s.

Wednesday, Stan had Don and John from Illinois out all day.  Fun couple of guys and good fishers.  They had a very good day on the rusty and red midges. 

Carolyn took Ted and Tom from the Blue Springs area out all day Thursday.  This was one of those nippy mornings and the soup really hit for spot for lunch.  We boated several nice fish during the day on the size 18 ruby midge dropped under a size 12 UV gray scud.   I think Tom could catch fish in a bath tub.  Both are good fishers and fish al over the place.  Hope they send pictures of some of the nice fish we caught.

Friday, Cary from Virginia spent the day on the water with Stan.  He fishes mostly in small mountain streams so this tailwater was a real new experience for him.  He had a good day on every one of the midges…almostlllburgundy, primrose & pearl, copper dun and black zebra. 

Had 8 TU pins handed out in the past 3-4 days for mostly rainbows but a few browns over 20 inches so folks are still catching some nice fish.  Understand from the folks at the Hatchery that the brown run is pretty much finished.  However, remember that are always those hanger ons and John come latelys.  Still a few browns handing around and defintiely some nice rainbows!

Along with the windy conditions, the generation pattern continues to be bizzare.  Think I mentioned that they ran it all day Sunday.  Finally shutting it down Sunday night around 11:00 p.m..  It was off Monday morning until 9:00 a.m. when they ran two generators for one hour and shut it back to one and off within another hour.  Off for five hours and back on at 3:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.  Somewhat the same pattern again today.  Wonder what surprise we have in store for us tomorrow.  Had a heavy rain/wind experience come through here early this morning…around 1:30 a.m.  Windy yesterday starting in around 11:00 a.m. and has continued into today.  Forecast for the rest of the week seems dry and cooler with temperatures in the 60s. 

Jim out yesterday morning with Bill and Bill from Oklahoma.  Bet that was confusing at times…Bill "set"; Bill "mend".  Must have worked out as they caught fish.  Best patterns were the black zebra, gray scud and an olive wooly bugger, size 10.  Carolyn had Mike and Jan, from Oklahoma, out for the day.  They had a wonderful day.  Once we got through the weird water levels in the morning, started catching fish on the size 18 copper dun, a size 10 sculpin, and an olive filoplume.  Great quality and quantity day.  Most of the fish were in the 14-16 inch range plus each of them caught a 17-3/4" rainbow.  Really tried to stretch them out to 18", but just didn’t work. 

Jan – 10/25/10	Mike – 10/25/10

Jim just blew in the front door today after his trip with Bruce, from Illinois.  They had a good day with this being Butch’s first experience at fishing a tralwater fishery.  He normally fishes still lakes for trout.  Their best patterns were the red midge, gray scud and a size 8 beadhead olive wooly bugger. 

Generation schedule continues to be a bit erratic.  What’s new?  Off last Sunday until midnight and Monday through Wednesday, they ran water 24/7.  Thursday we have eight hours of no generation from mignight until 8:00 a.m. when they ran the equivalent of one generator until 8:00 p.m., then off again until Friday just about 1:00 p.m. when we had the equivalent of one generator for five hours.  No water from 8:00 p.m. Friday until 7:00 p.m.  Saturday night.   They ran two generators at the equivalent of one until 10:40 a.m. today when they turned on the third generator (not projected) and are still running three.  They projected generation all day today, but not at the level they are running.  Projection for tomorrow is off, then on for 3-4 hours, then off for 5-6 hours, then on for 3-4 hours.  Interesting.  Still lovely weather.  Had a pretty good rain shower yesterday afternoon and some last night, but that appears to be the end of it.  Tomorrow is predicted to be in the lower 80s, and the rest of the week on the 70s to upper 60s.  The folage, especially around the lake, has really turned during the past few days.  It’s pretty nice here in the Ozarks right now. 

Wanda – 10/18/10

Carolyn’s regular, regulars, Wanda and Joanna, spent half a day on the water Monday.  Caught several nice rainbows, in the 16 to 17-1/2 inch range.  It was a good day for nice, fiesty fish.  Best patterns were the UV gray scud with a rusty midge dropper, or the big ruby with the rusty midge dropper.   Jim had John and Ron, from Minnesota, out all day.  The last time they fished with Jim, they turned on all the flood gates so it was a pretty trashed up trip.  They decided to come back and try it again.  Much better!  Even with the fluctuating water, they pulled fish with the red midge, gray scud and a pink San Juan worm dropper.   Alton and Bob,  from Alabama, spend the morning with Darrell.  Good morning, mainly on the size 16 red tungsten beadhead midge. 

Tuesday, Jerry, from Neosho, took a half day float with Jim.  They experienced pretty light takes, but caught fish on the red midge, a size 18 black thorax midge and a gray scud.  Chris and her son, Shayne, from here in Branson, were out for half a day with Stan.  Chris said they had a wonderful day.  Even though both were new to fly fishing, they caught a good number of fish on the red tungsten beadhead midge all morning. 

Jim out all day Wednesday with Wayne, from Alabama.  He had a ball!  Caught fish on a charcoal sculpin, red and black thorax midges, and a size 10 olive wooly bugger.   Bill, from Illinois, was "looking to be put onto fish!".  He spend the morning with Stan and Stan complied….got him onto fish.  Their single best pattern was still the red tungsten beadhead midge all morning. 

Thursday, Dave and Mack, from Texas had a half day with Jim.  These guys were pretty new to fly fishing, so Jim worked with them on skills, and also let them catch from fish.  The size 16 red midge and gray scud where their patterns for the morning.  Stan had Les and Doc from Oklahoma out all day.  Great day….red midge was about 

Dan – 110/21/10

the only pattern they needed for a good day’s outting.  And, another fly fisher in the making, Dan from Texas.  He called and said he wanted to learn how to fly fish.  Gina took him out for half a day and we think "he is hooked!"  She wokred on casting and line handling a little to get him started, they started working on catching!  At the end of the trip she introduced him to pulling a streamer using the sinking leader.  He really liked that!  Their best patterns were the rusty midge and the olive floozie.   Carolyn spend the day with John, from Illinois and his friend Bob, from Arkansas.  These two are a pair…best best friends for over 50 years.  Almost all our fish were caught onthe size 16 red tunghead might.  Good day! 

Stan and Terry, from Oklahoma, had a good day on the water Friday.  Turned on two generators early (was supposed to be 6:00 p.m.), but not to worry.  They caught fish on the size 16 red midge, the ruby midge, size 18, and the 56er stripping it the area above Fall Creek Boat Dock.   Carolyn took a nice nine year old young man out for a morning wade trip to get him started fly fishing.  Mom, Jennifer, and Dad, Jeff, went along to observe.  Don’t put a fly rod in Jennifer’s hands….she’ll start catching fish.  Even neater was to see Hayden, hook his first fish within five minutes after he finally got a fly on the end of his line.  I started him out flyless to work on the roll cast, mending and how to bring in a fish.  Told him he had to "earn his fly".  He hooked and landed, hooked and lost, several fish .  Best patterns were the copper dun and ruby midges, size 18; and the floozie.  Jeff was experiencing a sinking leader stripping a streamer for the first time.  Neat family.  They plan to do lots more fly fishing from their boat on Lake Winnebago, where they live. 

Jim took Steve and Tony, from St. Charles out all day Saturday.  This was a birthday present for Tony (Steve’s brother-in-law).  They came back with alot more experience than when they started.  Jim took them through the paces of casting, line work, hooking and playing fish.  They had a good day on the black and rusty midges, and a size 18 gray scud.  Bruce and Scott, from Lee’s Summit spend the morning with Darrell.  A good day for them on the copper dun and black zebra midges.  And Stan had a great day with Dave from England.  Knew Stan was in for a day when he asked Dave if he drank coffee.  Dave’s response was "what do you do with coffee?"  Probably would have hooked even more fish had they not been laughing all day.  Dave was so happy he got the opportunity to go fishing.  Seems he had communicated with another area guide and set up a trip for October 20th.  He was to call the guide when he got to Branson the day before the trip.  He did call the guide and left messages twice.  Unfortunately, the guide never returned his call.  He said he was "like a child anticipating Christmas morning with the thought of going fly fishing".  Quite disappointed when it did not happen.  But, fortunately, someone recommended us and Dave contacted us for a trip.  Dave said this will be on his list of must do things each time he comes to Branson….and probably a couple trips each time.  He and his wife do get to the area frequently.   

Nope!  Have no idea why they have been generating all day, every day this week.  Projection for tomorrow is no generation from midnight until 8:00 a.m. when they will run the equivalent of one generator until 10:00 p.m.  Zero from 10:00 p.m. to midnight.  Weather has been beautiful, cloudy and cooler yesterday, but today was full of sunshine.  Possibility of isolated thunder showers Friday, scattered thunder showers Saturday and Sunday, and isolated thumder showers Monday.  Temperatures to remain in the low 70s, with Tuesday in the 60s and sunshine.

More busy days on the water.  Stan had Taisha and her father Jim, from Independence out for half a day Saturday.  Last time these two were out, they had 30 doubles (both hooked a fish at almost the same time).  This trip, they only had 10 or 11, but had a great day catching on the rusty midge.  This was the fly the entire trip.  Barry, from St. Louis, spent hald a day with Jim.  Jim worked with Barry on casting as well as catching.  They too did well on the rusty midge plus a size 18 gray scud.

Sunday, Gina spend the morning with Patti and Pat from St. Louis.  They had a very good day on the copper dun, primrose & pearl, and various other midges.  These two are not only good fly fishers, but very involved with fly fishing.  Both are members of FFF Southern Council and Missouri Casting for Recovery.. 

Patti – 10/17/10	Pat – 10/17/10

Bob and Sandy, from Illinois, spent half a day with Stan on Monday.  These good fishers had a good day on the red midge, 56er, and a primrose & pearl midge.

Hearing and seeing pictures of some nice browns being caught up in the Hatchery Area.  Most of them are being caught on either gray or tan scuds.  With the overcast weather we had yesterday, all the patterns were dark.  Dark brown San Juan worms seemed to be one of the good patterns yesterday. 

Somehow my post "Time Flies When You Are Having Fun!" pretty much disappeared.  Sorry!  Anyway, here we go again on a new one, and guess what?  We are still having fun. 

Weather continues to be absolutely beautiful.  Don’t know if we could ask for much better weather than we have been having.  Enjoy it everyone….it will come to an end.  Outlook for the coming week continues to look good, with a possibility of rain only on Tuesday.   Generation pattern, on the other hand, has been bizzar.  Last Sunday it was off all day except for one hour late in the afternoon.  On all day Monday, then off most of Tuesday except for a four hour window in the afternoon.  Wednesday, no generation until 1:00 p.m. and it ran the rest of the day into Thursday morning.  Turned it off Thursday morning at 8:00, then back on in the afternoon about 2:00 for six hours.  Off until 8:00 a.m. Friday morning when we saw four generators at 6:00 in the morning for a couple hours, and then ramping down until they turned them off at 10:00 p.m.

Earl – 10/11/10

Last Monday, Darrell, Stan, Dana and Jim were all on the water.  Darrell had Miles and Earl, from the St. Louis area out Monday and Tuesday mornings.  What a pair!  Good day for these two guys on the black zebra midge and a San Juan worm.  Mike and Ken, from Kansas, took a full day with Stan.  Mike is fairly new to fly fishing and Ken has been with us for several years.  They had a wonderful day on the red midge and holographic green crackleback.  It was a good quality day, several nice size fish, beautiful weather and 2 units running at 705 feet. 

Scott – 19 inch rainbow – 10/11/10

Dana had Scott and Robert, from Illinois out all day.  They normally fish with Stan, but Dana showed them a good day on the red midge and crackleback.  Roger, from Arkansas, spent the day with Jim.  Roger has not fished too much in the past three years and wanted to get back into fly fishing, learning the area and catching fish.  Their patterns were the red midge, gray scud and olive sculpin. 

Tuesday,  Stan, Jim, and Gina took out a group of five people here on business.  Water was off, so Jim grabbed the two ladies who are brand new to fly fishing, Peggy and Erin, and started them through the roll cast,  pick up and lay down cast, a little false casting, and finally let them fish a soft hackle, a size 16 red ass.  Gina took Jeff.  Did some casting work to get started, then caught some fish.  Got Jeff to casting a sinking leader so he fished a floozie and the 56er on a sinking leader, and a copper dun and ruby midge on regular floating line.  Doug and Buddy got stuck with Stan.  Both are first time fly fishers and did pretty darn good.  They caught fish on the black zebra and coper dun midges.

Carolyn took John, from Illinois, and his son Kurt, from Springfield, out all day Wednesday.  Gotta say, John is a hoot!  He just sits quietly (some time) in the back of the boat catching fish.  We did get off to a slow start, but finally, the rusty midge was the ticket until they turned on the water.  Changed to the red midge with a San Juan dropper to continue catching fish.  Stan had Chuck, from Colorado out to celebrate his 75th birthday!  His daughters, Cheryl and Penny purchased a 1/2 day float with Stan for this special occasion.  He had a wonderful day catching fish and eating birthday cake.  They were catching fish on the rusty midge, size 18 and a 56er. 

Thursday, Carolyn started the first day of a two-day school with Larry and Grace from Illinois.  The school was a retirement present from their daughter.  Day one was spent in classroom in the morning, then on the water working solely on casting in the afternoon.  Much to their surprise, after a few hours, they could get the line out onto the water!  Stan and Jim had some more folks from the business group they took out on Tuesday.  This time Stan had Wayne and Rod.  Don’t know who Jim had out.  Fair day for Stan’s guys on the big ruby, holographic crackleback, and olive size 14 wooly bugger. 

Friday, Larry and Grace finished up the two-day school by spending it on the river.  They did all their own assembly and rigging,  Although we tried to catch fish on soft hackles and streamer patterns, the best patterns were the rusty midge, size 18, under a UV gray size 14 scud.  Think we will see this couple spending more time together on the water.

Larry – 10/15/10	Larry netting one of Grace’s fish

Melissa – 10/15/10

Gina also on the water working with someone who wanted to learn and improve their skills.  Melissa wanted a fly fishing trip just for her, and her husband obliged by getting this for her birthday present.   She did improve her skills!  Tough for them in the a.m. when the four units were going, but things improved in the afternoon.  They fished the red midge under an egg pattern, and worked various streamers (floozie, crackleback and olive wooly bugger) to help her with stripping presentation.   Kansas day.  Melissa is from Kansas, and Don, who Jim had out all day is also from Kansas.  Don and Jim had a good day on the size 14 red holographic midge., a size 12 gray scud and the pink San Juan worm dropper.  Last, but not least on Friday, Brandon and Eric, from the St. Louis area, spent the morning with Stan.  Good day on the red midge, pink San Juan and a holographic green crackleback. 

Brown – 10/16/10

AND, how about this for a nice Brown?  Darrell, one of our guides, caught this beauty on a tan scud yesterday around 6:00 p.m.  down below outlet 2.  Best of all, it is a picture of him, the Brown, being released!  They are seeing several browns up in the Hatchery Area.  Some being caught, and definitely some being lost! 

Guess I must be having a great time!

Weather has been absolutely gorgeous!  Crisp mornings (upper 30s to 40s), and days are sunny and in the upper 60s to mid 70s.  No rain chances until possibly Monday, then warning up a little more….probably into the 80s.  Water generation has been half way nice to us over the past five days.  All day Saturday and Monday, they had water generating.  Sunday, yesterday and today, lots of wading water.  

Last Thursday water was generating all day.  Fluctuated up and down all day between 704 and 706 feet elevation.  Jim on the water with a couple of pretty new fly fishers, Bruce and Kathy from Texas.  Fairly good day on the red midge, pink or orange San Juan worms, and the size 16 gray scud.  Stan had Doc from Oklahoma and Mac from here and Kansas (that’s another story) out all day.  This crew would have fun fishing in a bath tub, but fortunately they had Taneycomo and it treated them pretty good.  Best flies were the primrose & pearl midge and the holographic green crackleback.  

Friday, Gina and I left early in the a.m. for the Southern Council FFF Conclave held in Mountain Home, Arkansas.  Conclave ran Friday and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.  Guess where we were from 5:00 p.m. until "O" dark hundred.  Had a fun time fishing the Rim Shoals area thanks to some nice folks from the Tulsa Fly Fishing group who were staying there and hauled us up the river in their boats to the shoals, and, of course, hauled us back at dark.  They even fed us one night!  We wade fished and stripped sculpins, holographic green cracklebacks; drifted various midges and just had a great time.   

Saturday, Jim had Khris and Billy out for a full day float.  Khris and Billy are from Oklahoma.  Khris has been fishing for some time, but Billy is, or was, not a fly fisher.  Jim spent most of his time with Billy working on casting and other skills.  Good day on the red midge, gray scud and a red San Juan worm

Darrell and Stan were out both Saturday and Sunday mornings with a group of new and experienced fly fishers.  Darrell had Allan and David and Stan had Marc and another David.   Primrose & pearl midge, gray scud, San Juan worm, ruby midge and olive floozie were their bugs over the two mornings.

Sunday was play day.  Gina and I were going to fish below Bull Shoals dam, but, as is the case with these wonderful tailwaters, they turned on two generators.  Soooo…with cell phone in hand, we called Table Rock and it was off.  So, three of the Tulsa Fly Fishing group, Valley, Leah and Greg, plus Gina and I, headed for Taneycomo!  Loaded up one of the drift boats to carry all our stuff, rods, boat bags, water, cookies (thank you Mary Ann and Virginia), nets, you name it, we had it in the boat.  Parked the boat on the gravel bar below the Rocking Chair area, walked into the river, and proceeded to catch fish.  What a wonderful afternoon we all had.  Greg was fishing from his nice drift boat he built and catching fish on an wooly bugger type fly tied with olive marabou tail, peacock herl body and gold bead head under an indicator and having a grand time.  We threatened to throw him out of his boat several times.  However, we were all catching fish on tan scuds, pink San Juan worm droppers, copper dun midges, the Miracle Scud, and missing a lot and sticking a few on a charcoal sculpin, golden variant sculpin and the olive floozie.  When Valley’s knees got tired, we parked her in a good spot and she proceeded to catch several fish, among them, a nice 21 inch rainbow.  Leah just got a new rod for her birthday over the weekend and it definitely worked well for her!  This was her first trout out of Taneycomo on her new rod….but she didn’t stop there. 

Valley – 21" Rainbow, 10/3/10	Leah – 10/3/10

Everyone is fishing, and why not.  The weather has been perfect, and the generators have been off most every morning into early afternoon when they have fired up one of two generators…..except for today.  Turned on two generators about 1:00 a.m. and they are still running,  Even had three going a little while ago, but it has backed back down to two and we will see generation (according to the SWPA site projection) all day.  Still a beautiful day!

This week we have seen lots of people fishing, and most of them have been catching.  Lots of patterns reported by fishers coming into the the store.  Big Ugly both as a dry and as an indicator with a midge dropper has been working very well for the past several days.  Primrose & pearl midge working great in some areas.  Olive midge also doing well.  One of our customers had a great day on soft hackles yesterday.  For the most part, especially yesterday, the quality of fish are good. 

Jim out Sunday with Ray and Sandy from Kansas.  They had a fair day.  Couldn’t find that particular fly the fish wanted that day. 

Monday, Ed, from Arizona decided to try his hand at fly fishing again.  Been a few years since he last went out with Jim, so they hit the water for a full day float.  Good day, but Ed had to go back to basics and work on casting, mending and line management again.  Especially had to work on hook setting.  Think he has been bass fishing in between.  Their best flies were the Ugly midge, black midge, blood worm and gray scud.

Tuesday Jim spent the day with Jim and David, from Kansas.  Had not seen Jim for a couple years and it was good to see him again.  They all had a good day (after a slow start in the early a.m.) on a green midge, gray scud, size 18, a size 16 miracle scud and a blood worm dropper.  Scuds fished especially well in the afternoon.

Wednesday, both Jim and Stan were on the water all day with trips.  Jim had Alan and Adam from Oklahoma.  Alan said his son, Adam, was a better fisher then he, but they both did well.  Olive and primrose & pearl midges, in size 18, the blood worm dropper, size 16 miracle scud and a size 18 gray scud.  Stan had Kate and her son, Matt for the day.  Normally, Kate and her husband Dave fish with Stan.  They try to come here once a year from the UK to visit their son, Matt.  Unfortunately, Dave was not feeling well, so Matt got a chance to try his hand as fly fishing.  He said it was definitely something he could get used to!  They had a good day also, and were using the size 18 primrose & pearl midge and a white grub. 

As I said in my last report, generation has been off every morning except for last Tuesday when they ran water all day.