Today, Saturday, started out with rain early this morning.  Temperatures were in the mid 40s.  Felt pretty good going out the door.  Rain stopped, sun came out, went back in and is now back out again.  However, you can feel the temperatures falling and the wind picking up.  Supposed to be pretty cool, or down right cold, for the next couple days.  Think by Thursday or Friday, things should start warming up again.  Water has been in the off early, on for a few hours then back off for 5-6 hours and back on mode all week, including yesterday.  Today, it is off!  Don’t get too excited, the projection for tomorrow and Monday is back on again all day both days. 

Jim out all day yesterday with John from Kansas.  John fished with Jim last year and decided to give it a try again.  Despite crazy water yesterday, 710 feet in the a.m. and dropping all day, but never off, they had a pretty good day on the red midge, ruby midge, gray scud and olive wooly bugger. 

Our Louisiana guys, Albert and James Albert, kept Darrell busy.  They had a good day on the pink and dark roe egg patterns and the red big and small ruby midges.   Near the end of the trip, James Albert hooked into this nice rainbow.  Meanwhile, Carolyn and Dawn, were out playing for the day.  We had a fun and fish filled,  crazy fishing day on the UV gray scud, big ruby midge, the dark roe egg pattern, and a size 18 black zebra midge.  Although Dawn , aka “the stripper” would rather strip patterns, they just weren’t hitting these hot and heavy.  We did catch some on holographic green cracklebacks and a rockworm green soft hackle.  It was a good day on the water!  Beautiful weather…we enjoyed it to the hilt.

First, rod and owner were united so on to other things.  Today, Friday and early Saturday look like the weather is going to be pretty good.  Today’s forecast is for the low 50s, however, there will be some wind today.  Think they said 20 mph gusts!  Tomorrow will be in the mid 50s and much less wind.  By Saturday, we will have 50s again, but as the day goes along, so will the warm weather.  Supposed to be pretty bitter by Saturday afternoon.  Generation continues to be off in the early a.m., on around 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. or noon, then off for 5-6 hours and back on.  Same pattern is scheduled for today…we’ll have to see what tomorrow and the weekend have in store for us later today. 

Can’t tell you much about how the fishing has been the past couple of days, but I did talk to Shane at the Hatchery earlier this week.  We had been noticing dingy water and wondered if the lake was near or had turned over yet.  Shane said Table Rock had not turned yet, it would probably be a few more weeks.  He did say, and I had noticed on the computer, that the oxygen levels in Taneycomo were good.  Thus, the good fishing we have been experiencing.  Better get out and take advantage of this nice weather.

Just for your information….we have started up our free fly tying clinics.  These are held almost every Saturday here at the shop.  Depends on holidays.  Check out the schedule on our website, or just give us a call and we’ll let you know what is going on.  Good time of the year to be sitting around tying flies in preparation for the Spring!

Help!  You called me the day you discovered you had accidently swapped rods with another fly fisher up by the Hatchery the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Since no one reported anything missing until just today, I had in the meantime pitched the note with your name and phone number.  Please give me a call again as I know who owns the rod you have.

Carolyn

At least we are seeing some off generator time over the past four days.  Unfortunately, it has not been for an extended period of time any of these days.  But, beggars should not be choosie!  Generators off in the a.m. until 6:00 almost every day, then on for 5-6 hours.  Thursday we had six hours of off time from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.  Friday we had five hours of off time from noon until 5:00 p.m.  Saturday we had six hours of off time from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.  Shut off today at 11:00 a.m. and the projection says it will start back up at 6:00 p.m.  Weather had definitely turned colder.  Yesterday was not too bad except for the wind.  Think it was in the upper 40s, low 50s.  today we are in the 30s and the up coming week looks like 40s and sunny early in the week to partly cloudy the balance of the week.

Jim on the water Friday with Ray from Virginia.  They had a good day using the red midge, red San Juan worm, gray scud and a size 12 bug-eyed bugger. 

Saturday Jim had Kevin and Steve from here in Missouri out for the day.  They called into the shop around 4:00 p.m. and said not to wait for them as they were “hammering them on the bug-eyed bugger”.  Know it was a good day as Kevin was in this morning to get ammunition to go out and try his luck at catching some more today.  What does a person who works in a fly shop do on their day off?  Carolyn saw an opportunity to hit the water yesterday afternoon, so loaded up the drift boat, rods, fly boxes, and off to the water.  Wind was nasty, but what a great 1-1/2 hours.  After a few no takes on the sculpin patterns or midges, it was on with a holographic green crackleback.  Jackpot!  Just as Shannon had fished it on Thursday, you couldn’t keep the fish off this pattern.  Just stand there with a smile on your face as you keep bringing in those nice rainbows.  Thank you!

Got a nice picture from Darrell this afternoon of a beautiful rainbow he caught and those fishers who are bundled up and fishing today have had a good day.

Well, they finally did it!  Shut down the water yesterday from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.   Back on until last last night, then back on this morning around 6:00.  Scheduled to be on until noon, when they will shut down for about four hours and back on until late tonight.  The other great thing, the weather was perfect.  Sunshine, no wind, and in the 50s.  Should be pretty good weather again today, with the prediction to be in the mid to upper 50s.  By tomorrow, the cold front will start moving in so our weather is going a bit sour.  If the water is off this weekend, I really don’t think the fishing will be sour.

Both Stan and Jim had trips out yesterday.  That was the other part of the perfect day.  Fishing was great.  Stan had Earl and Larry, from Texas, out for half a day.  They did not start until arount 9:00 in the morning so they got the benefit of most of the off-water time.  Great day on the size 16 red tunghead midge and the primrose & pearl midge.  Lots of nice size fish.  Jim had Jerry and Paul out for a late start half day.  I know Jerry is from Kansas, and sorry Paul, I forgot your state of origin.  They too had a great day on the red midge, red San Juan and gray scud.   Shannon and one of our friends, Mac, hit the water around 2:00 p.m and fished until they were too cold to fish any more.  They had a good day on midges, an olive wooly bugger, but did best stripping the holographic green crackleback.  Also nice size fish!  Reports coming in from the river were good.  Everyone was having a good day and catching good numbers of fish.  Just issued a catch and release trophy pin this morning to a gentlenmen from Minnesota who caught a 21 inch rainbow yesterday on a black wooly bugger.   How sweet it is!

The generation in  Taneycomo just keeps rolling along.  Mentioned in last report that they had not stopped generating over the past seven days except for six hours early Monday morning.  No change.  Generated through Thanksgiving Day and on through the weekend.  Believe the projection for Monday is more of the same.  Hopefully, there is some down time in sight as fishing has been pretty good.  Weather is really not bad, especially for this time of the year.  It is the end of November!   High today should be in the low 60s; with tomorrow about the same but a possibility of showers.  The rest of the week looks pretty good.

Stan had Larry and his grandson Jacob on the water Friday.  Larry is from Oklahoma and I think Jacob is too.  Pretty cool Friday, around 45 degrees for the high.  Worst part of the morning was the wind…again.  Windy most of the morning with 25 mph gusts!  The two did have a good day on the red midge and a dark roe egg pattern.  For an eleven year old young fly fisher who had only fly fished a couple times before, Jacob did pretty darn good!  Kept it up Jacob! 

Steve - 11/26/10

Steve, from Iowa, took a half day float with Dana on Friday.  They too had a good day on the red tunghead midge and a peach egg pattern. 

Saturday, Stan two his regular “after Thanksgiving” mother, Branda, and son, Brandon, out all day.  Brandon is from Wichita and the family gets together in Branson every year, so the two of them spend some time fly fishing together.  Weather was great, 55 degrees, sunny, and NO WIND!  They did well on the dark roe egg pattern, red midge and primrose & pearl midge.

What a difference a day makes!  Day before Thanksgiving it was in the 70s.  Thanksgiving Day there was snow, light granted, but snow and temperatures in the 30s!  Today’s high is the low 40s and tomorrow predicted to be in the mid 50s with the same for Sunday.  By Monday, there is a chance of showers with temperatures again in the 50s.  Think Tuesday might be a bit cooler but sunny.  Must report that for the past seven days, they have run water every day except for six hours early Monday morning.  Otherwise, one to three generators have been running at the equivalent of one to two.  Some days, it is low enough you can wade in select places.

Darrell on the water last Monday.  He had Marlin and his son, Ross, from Louisiana.  They worked had but caught fish on the red and black midges.  Fly fishing was pretty much a new experience for both of them.

Tuesday, Carolyn had Ron and Kathy, also from Louisiana, out for the day.  Nothing competitive between these two.  Ron was ahead at the beginning of the day, but that was short-lived after lunch.  Kathy took the lead and kept on going.  We had a good day, but it certainly would have been an even better day had it not been for the wind.  Missed a lot of hits and lost a lot of fish while we were getting blown everywhere.  Good, fun day on the primrose & pearl midge which fished best under a size 12 UV gray scud.  As we got further down the river near Fall Creek, a dark roe egg pattern was the pattern for the afternoon.

Temperatures today are very nice, however, the wind is not.  Pretty windy and gusty today.  Last I heard, Monday might be in the low 70s, however about a 40% chance of showers Monday.  Generation every day, all day since Wednesday and scheduled to do the same today and tomorrow.  However, the level has been low enough so there are wading opportunities in certain areas.

We will be closed Thanksgiving Day.  However, we will be open the day after Thanksgiving.  Come on in and check out the Orvis Reel Deal.  Again this year, we can give you a choice of certain Orvis reels free with the purchase of a Helios or Hydros rod!  Just in time for Christmas shopping!

Stan on the water Friday with Todd and Brian.  Todd is from Ozark and I believe Brian was from Illinois (not certain).  They had a good day even with a late start.  This was Brian’s first fly fishing trip.  He was happy to have caught his first trout on a fly rod and very happy with the size of the fish they caught.  Best patterns were a red San Juan, red and black midges.  This one is for you Stan from Chicago.  While waiting for them to come off the water ( I took the trailer around to meet them at the take out), I noticed the fish coming up everywhere in the shallow water around the boat ramp.  The only rod I could find in the car was a 4 wt. 7’6″ Trout Bum with a big ugly fly.  Beggars can’t be choosie, so to the water I went with this rig and plop!  About the 3rd or 4th cast, a nice rainbow took my big ugly.   Think it could have been a great dry fly evening had I had a smaller pattern.

Saturday, Troy and Dave from Warrensburg took a half day with Stan.  They had two generators, then one running while they were out.  Again, nice quality fish on the red San Juan and copper dun midge.    Pretty windy on Saturday.

Weather continues to be cool today.  From this morning’s forecast, looks like we may have a pretty windy one today.  Tomorrow will still be cool, in the 50s, less wind, and overcast.  However, forecast for the weekend looks good.  Temps in the 60s and sunny.  Hope this is right!  Generation schedule has been pretty right on.  Little generation Monday, Tuesday, and again today.  They projected one generator this morning at 7:00 a.m. for one hour and they did it.  Should be off the balance of the day.  And, reports from the river are good.  Folks catching fish on almost everything, including a few dries!

Several of the gals could not resist one more day on the water, so they hit Taneycomo again on Sunday. Great day for all of them. 

First picture is interesting, Valley in a raft!   This gal, from Oklahoma is a fishing machine.  

Check out Lorraine. This is her first trout ever on a fly rod.  Was she excited. 

This dynamic duo is Gina and her sister Penny. If you know Gina, you know she will try to get everyone in her family hooked on fly fishing! She certainly did it with Penny.

Last, but certainly not least, we missed  this picture earlier of Carolyn, from Arkansas, with her nice rainbow.  Nice fish Carolyn! 

All the women had a wonderful time laughing, sharing, fishing, catching, and just plain having fun this past weekend.  Until the next time, watch out Taneycomo!  We’ll be back!

So much for the weather forecast I heard day before yesterday and posted yesterday. It was raining this morning on my way to work. Not too heavy, but still, it was rain. Anyway, as I am writing, the sun is starting to peek through the clouds. Looks like it is on its way out. Yesterday and so far today, (knock on wood), they have pretty much followed the generation projection. Today, they are projecting it to be off until around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. when they will turn on the equivalent of one generator for about three hours and then off the rest of the day.

If you are interested in learning how to tie flies, or pick up some different patterns, we have posted the free fly tying clinic schedule on our site. Clinics start December 4, 2010 with “Basic Fly Tying” being the first session. Check out “Fly Fishing Schools/Fly Tying Clinics” for the 2010-2011 fly tying and fly fishing clinics schedule. Give us a call if interested.

For those of you who knew that Shannon Roberts decided about three months ago to retire, I just wanted to let you know that he came back out of retirement. He got in some fishing time, and I’m sure some “Honey Do” time, but he missed the shop and all the wonderful folks he talks with every day, so he’s back! If you are in the area, be sure to stop by on a Friday or Saturday and say “Hi, glad to see you back!”

Any by the way, fishing has been good. A few of the ladies stayed over Sunday and fished some more. They all had a great day on various patterns, but especially small, 16-18 gray scuds. Customers coming into the store over the past two days commenting that fishing has been good, scuds, soft hackles, olive buggers.