Yes, they turned off the flood gates on April 1.  They got the fourth generator repaired, up and running, so now they are just running the four generators.  Projection is four all day.  Imagine they will run something constantly until Table Rock gets back to at least power pool, 915.0 feet.  Expecting rain this afternoon into tonight, but the forecasters say it will be out of here by midnight and we will have sunny days until another chance for rain on Wednesday.

Fishing has been good.  Jim was on the water Wednesday with Bob from Louisiana.  Bob is a salt water fly fisher and throws some line.  They caught fish on the red midge with the orange San Juan dropper, and the light olive bug-eyed bugger.  Bob had a little problem when he first start, with the softer takes of a trout compared to the fish he is used to fishing for. 

By Thursday, when Bob went out with Stan for a full day, he recognized the trout take.  They had great day on the holographic green crackleback and a size 18 black midge.  Jim, had his regular, regular, Bud, out for half a day.  They pulled some nice fish on the red midge, size 18 black midge and the bugger.

Four flood gates still going as well as three generators.  Table Rock is now at 917.8 and the tailwater is in the 710. plus range.  Have heard various scenarios on when the flood gates will be shut down.  One is that they will shut down when Table Rock reached 917.0 feet.  Another was the date of April 1 (April Fool’s Day?)  We shall see.

Let’s get caught up.  Friday, Jim was out with Mike and Larry from Arkansas.  Of course they were fishing high water with the 2-fly setup, red ruby midge on top with a pink San Juan dropper.  Boated several fish in their half day outting. 

Sam – 3/27/10

Saturday, Dana had a repeat from last summer, Ben from here in Missouri.  His wife, Melissa, fished with him last time but is expecting a baby boy in June so she could not join him.  So, he brought his friend, Sam, to give him a first experience at fly fishing.  Tough day with the high water for a new fly fisher, but Sam did it.  Caught his first fish on a fly rod using a pink midge.

Sunday was a wild day on the water.  A whole bunch of guys from various Orvis locations decided they needed to test the Taneycomo floodwater (aka tailwater) fishery.  Jim, Stan and Carolyn loaded them up in the drift boats and off we went.  Lots of catching, missing and badgering back and forth.  We threw everything.  Holographic green crackleback on the sinking leader, big Ruby with the pink San Juan dropper, black zebra midge, are a few or the regulars that come to mind. 

Monday, Gina helped John and Barbara, from Wisconsin, celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary.  Not only did he give her a beautiful new ring, he booked a cruise on Taneycomo for the two of them!  What a guy!  This was Barbara’s first time fly fishing.  Quick learner.  Had the roll cast under control in no time and quickly got the hang of casting the sinking leader.  Barbara’s cap read "get er done" and she did just that.  Hooked and landed her first trout on a fly rod.  Fished the pink San Juan and an olive wooly bugger.  Congratulations guys!  Stan was out half a day with Scott and his friend, Fred.  These guys are from Illinois and it was Fred’s first time fly fishing.  They had a wonderful sunny day, along with a good day on the water.  Best flies were the size 18 black midge under the big Ruby. 

 

Brandy – 3/30/10

Carolyn helped Dad, Jerry, introduce his daughter, Brandy, to combat fly fishing (high water and lots of gusty wind).   Quick learner.  Had the roll cast down in nothing flat, as well as mending.  And best of all, hook setting and playing in the fish.   Brandy caught fish on both a size 18 black zebra midge dropped below the big Ruby and the holographic green crackleback on a sinkling leader.  She is off to a great start and even out fished Dad.  Oops!   Jim had Chris, from his home state, Michigan out for 1/2 a day float.  His wife, Marsha, went along to enjoy our river and the nice day.  They had a good day on the red midge, with the orange San Juan worm dropper, and the olive bug-eyed bugger working the long seams.

 

 

 

 

 

Hate to tell you folks, but they turned on three flood gates Wednesday morning around 11:00.  They had been running 2-3 generators most of the time, but with the rain we received last Friday and Saturday, Table Rock Lake rose three feet (918.1), so they want to get it back down to 915 feet as quickly as they can plus one of the generators is down.  They are working on this.  Talked to the Corps Wednesday and they said probably three gates until the 1st of April depending on how much more rain we get. 

Stan out for half a day Wednesday with Robert and Patsy from Arkansas.  Even with the three flood gates, which they had not anticipated, they managed to catch some fish on the big Ruby with a small ruby dropper or black midge.   Jim hit the water with John and Ron from Minnesota.  They had been over to Roaring River Tuesday and it was blown out because of the rain.  We got them on the river here and they caught a few fish before the gates opened and trashed the river.  Jim looked for some clearings, but decided to come off early and not fight the conditions. 

So far we have not come up too much after the rains we had Friday and Saturday.  However, there is still some runnoff, so not certain where Table Rock level will settle.  Presently it is at 916.6 feet at 5:00 p.m. today.   Forecast for tomorrow is sunny with temperatures in the 70s.  Thursday, there is a chance of showers with temps in the upper 50s.  Looks like cloudy Friday and 50s with possibility of showers again Saturday and temps in the upper 50s.  Let’s hope we don’t get too much more rain, but we are coming into the rainy season!  Two to three generators running all day with the tailwater level steady, very unusual, at 707 feet.  Projection for tomorrow is 150 mwh, which will probably keep it in the 708 feet range. 

Had three boats on the water today.  Stan was out with Gary from the Branson area.  Caught his first fish of the day within 30′ after putting in the boat.  This continued throughout the 1/2 day they were on the water.  Started out using the big ruby midge with a black size 20 midge dropper.  Also caught some on the the cerise worm as a dropper, but did best on the holographic green crackleback using an intermediate sinking line and stripping the seams.  Jim had Jerry from Kansas out again.  They had a good 1/2 day on the red midge with an orange San Juan dropper.  Working and catching a lot on the olive bug-eyed bugger in long seams.  Darrell had Houston and Raymond from Florida out part of the day,.  These two guys did well on the big red holographic midge with a white marabou tail and a red midge dropper. 

Sorry to say, generation has been constant since Thursday morning.  For the most part, they are only running two generators, but the levels are ranging from 706 down to 703.5.  If you find a place to wade, remember this as they don’t necessarily sound the horn if they already have two generators going and want to raise the level from 704 to 706.  Beautiful sunny days both Thursday and Friday.  Of course we have to save the worst weather for the weekend!  Rain predicted for most of today and at least the early part of tomorrow.  We’ll probably see sunny skies for the first of the week.

Darrell on the water yesterday with Olen and his seven year old son, "Olie" from Oklahoma.  They were out for half a day and Olie stuck with it and even caught a fish on his fly rod.  They did have a good day on the holographic green crackleback and a size 10 pattern tied with red thread at the butt, then black thread forward for the body and thorax with a couple wraps of black hackle at the head.  They stripped both these patterns in the seams.

Water generation has been erratic this week.  Monday, we had no generation all day.  Tuesday, despite the projection of water on for a while in the a.m. and off all day until 7:00 p.m., they ran water from 7:00 a.nm. until 5:00 p.m.  Water again off on Wednesday, with only one hour of generation at 6:00 a.m.  Off Thursday morning until 5:00 a.m. and then on the rest of the day into today.  It is still on and the projection is for generation all day.  By noon, they show a low one generator for most of the balance of the day. 

As I said, catching continues to be great, but the generation schedule is a little limiting as far as places to wade fish.  Darrell took Clint and his son, Cole, from Kansas out for a half day Wednesday.  Cole got cold in a hurry and Mother came to the rescue.  Clint and Darrell continued the half day with an abundance of fish on a black midge, a brown midge and the holographic green cackleback.  This was the treat of the day…catching them on the crackleback. 

Yesterday, Gina and a friend, Valley, were on the river yesterday.  They just had to give me a call at the shop, where I was stuck all day! to let me know that they caught a whole bunch on the holographic green crackleback.

Well, they finally did it!  Turned the water off all day yesterday.  Projected that it would be off today after running two generators for an hour this morning but that did not happen.  So far they have run two generators all day with the levels going up to 705.8 and down to 703.9 as of 5:00 p.m. today.  Projection for tomorrow is the equivalent of one generator at 8:00 a.m. for one hour, then off the rest of the day.  Again…..we’ll see.  Hope so.  Weather should also be nice. 

Right now, fishing is absolutely great.  Darrell had Malcomb from the St. Louis area out for 1/2 a day on Saturday.  Two generators going Saturday until 4:00 p.m.  They caught a bunch of fish on the ruby midge, bug-eyed bugger and red midge. 

Sunday, we had two generators going all day and Stan had Jeff from Kansas out for 1/2 a day and wore him out catching fish on the high-water red midge, olive wooly bugger and, drifting out from the Lookout Island, the peach fur bug.  He also caught some on the holographic crackleback.  Really enjoyed stripping this and the wooly bugger.  Carolyn had Bill from Nebraska out most of the day for his second day of the two-day fly fishing school.  He was in overload from all the information on the first day of class, so the second day of fishing was a good way to clear his mind as he caught by hooking lots of fish on the ruby midge, and the olive filoplume on a sinking leader.  Good student and loves Hazelnut coffee!

Monday had no water flow.  I think the trout were even celebrating!  Carolyn spent 1/2 day on the river with Tim and his son, Austin from Harrisonville.  They are brand new fly fishers and were absolutely spoiled by the quality of the fishing on Monday!  They could not keep the fish off their size 18 rusty midge or the size 18 ruby midge.  We lost count of the number of doubles they had.   Must mentioned that as we were rowing by several people standing in the water fishing, almost every rod was bent.  It was just one of those days where everyone who could get a fly into the water was catching fish.  One of our customers called Tuesday afternoon and said he was wading a little ways above us at the Rockin Chair and he hooked a fish almost every cast on his olive wooly bugger.  Meanwhile, Stan had Alan and his son Robert, from Texas,  out for a full day float.  Alan and Robert took our two-day school in 2005.  Both have come a long way but still enjoy the great fishery we have here.  LOTS of fish on the size 18 burgundy , rusty and olive midges.  

Despite what the projection was for today….no generation most of the day….they ran two generators.  Jim was out with Kyle from Nebraska.  Kyle fishes a lot and throws a good line.  He spent the day with Jim and they had a wonderful day with the red midge and orange San Juan dropper, but most fun on the size 16 red ass soft hackle (what we believe to be an old White River classic pattern) in the seams where fish were coming up. 

Wish you were here! ! !

Just went out to the projection for today and it has changed from what they stated yesterday afternoon.  They now projected off water this morning until 7:00 a.m. when the equivalent of one generator will be on for two hours, the the equivalent of two generators for two hours and back to one for two more, then off.  Should be off the balance of the day.  Again,……..we’ll see.  They are still projection a low one with 25 mwh for all day tomorrow.  Monday, we will see three hours of generation from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m.  Off until 7:00 p.m.  We can hope!

The weather held off Thursday.  We did not get the severe weather in Branson that they were forecasting, so not much rain.  Generators still going 24/7, but as I tell everyone, don’t just listen to how many generators are flowing, listen to the tailwater level.  Just like today, they are running two generators.  But, the tailwater level was as low as 703.8 feet.  You can fish this level very well both from the bank and wading in certain areas.  Projection is for 25 mwh all day and that is what they are projecting for both Saturday and Sunday.  Monday, they "say" it will be off from 10:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m…..We’ll see!  Would be nice.  Weather looks like showers tomorrow and in the upper 40s.  Cloudy both Sunday and Monday with temperatures in the low to mid 50s. 

Jim on the water Thursday afternoon for a half day drift with Bill from Kansas.  Bill is pretty new to fly fishing and like most people when they get a nice fish on, they get a death grip on the line to keep it from getting away and guess what happens.  Other than the big ones that got away, he brought several to the boat on the red midge with a pink San Juan worm.  When they were not catching, they were working on casting, line work and, of course, hook sets!  Lots to learn and he had a good time and hopes to come back soon.

Yes, Table Rock Lake is below pool, 914.6 feet and Beaver is just a tad above pool at 1120.2.  Projection for Monday is 35 MWH, which should hold the Taneycomo tailwater in the 704 to 705 range again today.  This is pretty much where it stayed yesterday.  Saturday held in this range also except for late at night when they jumped it up to 706.8.  Weather has been absolutely wonderful!  A bit of a breeze, but with temperatures in the upper 60s and lots of sunshine, we can take the breeze!  Forecast is warm and sunny today.  We will start getting chances for showers this evening through Wednesday.  Let’s hope they are not significant.  It would be nice to keep Table Rock at power pool for a while so they can turn on the generators.

 Friday, the two guys from Michigan, John and Jim, finished up their stay with one more float with Jim.  They had a good day on the water.  Tthe red midge and pink San Juan dropper were working well.  They also caught lots of the fish on the olive Bug-Eyed bugger.  Jim from Michigan, had another streamer pattern that he pulled out of his box which did really well.  Our Jim has a couple samples and is tying up some to see if they are a consistent player in our water.  We will keep you posted.  Meanwhile, Stan was out with one of his regulars, Jim from the Kansas City area.  Unfortunately, Jim has been having some health problems and just did not feel like fishing for a while.  Glad to say, he is healthy again and had a wonderful 1/2 day throwing the size 18 ruby midge under the a larger ruby and catching lots of fish. 

Saturday, Jim had Jeff and Justin, from Oklahoma out for a 1/2 day float.  Good day for them.  They caught fish on the red midge with a pink San Juan worm dropper and gots lots of help with casting, line work, and variations of presentation for different fly types. 

Sunday Stan and Carolyn took the "Louisiana Connection" out for a long 1/2 day.  Of course, Dawn (aka "The Stripper") was in the boat with Carolyn and Stan had Albert and James Albert in his boat.  Great day on the water!  Lots of sunshine, lots of fish and lots of fun.  Best pattern was the size 18 ruby midge. Still catching some "dinks", but not like we were earlier.  Also, still catching lots of males in spawn.  We did try and did catch fish on the sinking leader with the filoplume, and caught fish; the olive wooly bugger, and caught fish; and the bug-eyed bugger, and caught fish.  But, nothing like the ruby!  This was her day. 

                                            Dawn – 3/7/10