Had some rain last weekend, and as we were driving to Springfield early Monday morning, noticed that all the streams, many of which run into Table Rock Lake, were up and running.  Combined with dropping Beaver, we are now seeing four generators 24/7.  Beaver is now down to 1123.8 feet (power pool is 1120.0).  It has dropped three feet in one week.  Unfortunately, we do have some weather in the forecast.  We’ll just have to see what materializes.  If the forecast is correct, we could have several inches of white stuff, mixed with icy stuff starting late tonight, through tomorrow and possibly into Friday.  To be continued….

Trip out Sunday, at least a short half day trip.  Jim has had Ted and Janis from Oklahoma out a couple of time.  They brought their son and daughter-in-law this time so they could give it a try.  Bryan and Hanna were with Stan and Ted and Janice with Jim.  Stan said Bryan was casting pretty good by the time they got about half way through the trip.  Both boated some fish on the cerise San Juan worm, and Hanna enjoyed the hot soup about as much as any thing!  It was a little breezy, overcast and only in the 30s, so it got a bit cool which prompted everyone to think "off the river early".  Jim’s boat, only Ted was fishing as Janis had a broken wrist, was catching fish on the red midge with the pink San Juan worm. 

Based on where you were in the river Saturday, fishing was pretty good.  One of the guys who came into the shop Sunday said he had had a great day standing in the water (only running two generators this day) below outlet three.  He was throwing the size 6 or 8 bug-eyed bugger. 

Table Rock continues to generate 24/7 and they are dumping Beaver Lake.  So, we will probably see this trend continue, at least until gets close to or reaches their power pool of 1120 feet.  Table Rock has gone up to just above 913 feet, but it is still below power pool and, although they are running Beaver full board, Table Rock is only running two generators most of the time with tailwater levels ranging from 704 to 705 plus most of the time.  Cooler weather is in store for the coming week, so maybe by the time the weather gets more agreeable, so will the water flow!

Lots of folks out fishing this past few days.  Everyone has been doing well and some very good, depending on there they were in the river.  In the Hatchery area, those fishing across from the Hatchery, behind and on the front side of the island have been doing very well.  Thursday was especially good near the edges with the burgundy holoshimmer midge in an 18.  Some of the guys out yesterday did well with the pink San Juan worm or stripping a black wooly bugger.  Today was a little slower for some, but again, the area by the island was fishing well.

 Below is a picture of a beautiful rainbow Mike, from Jefferson City, caught on, as he put it "He was hungry for Mexican food, san-juan worm."  He caught this up in the Hatchery area and he meaasured 21 inches.  Good job! 

So far, we have had some pretty nice weather since last Thursday.   Most days have been in the 40s and 50s.  Today was very nice, especially with the sun out.  Generation is still 2 to 3 generaors 24/7.  Since they started dumping Beaver, we came up a 10th of a foot today, but are still well under the power pool level.    Beaver came down 3/10ths of a foot.  We will just have to see what happens over the next few days. 

Jim had Mark from Kansas on the water Saturday.  They spent a full day catching fish on the size 16 red midge with the pink San Juan worm dropper.  Also used a size 18 black midge, and of course, Jim had him doing some streamer work with the bug-eyed bugger.

I took to the water yesterday just because I needed a fix!  Had a wonderful day.  A couple different kayaks on the water fishing and this was just about it except for one other guide.  Checked to make certain the regular patterns, red midge and pink worms were working, and they were.  Changed out my gear and started stripping the natural pine squirrel scuplin off the back edges of Lookout Island.  Caught several fish on this until one hit it and kept on going.  That was my only pine squirrel (bad planning), so I tried a couple other patterns.  The black wooly bugger caught 4 or 5, but didn’t fish as well as the sculpin.  Only had a little time to fish since I didn’t get on the water until 1:30, so I rolled it up and headed in.  All in all, it was a great day. 

Darrell and friends, Duffy and Jim went out for a fun day and had a very good day.  They caught lots of fish on midges, San Juan worms and a sculpin olive pine squirrel sculpin.  Perfect day with good temperatures, very little wind and he said they only saw one other person who was in a kayak on the water. 

Temperatures continue to be more normal.  Projections for the next few days indicate today will be the coolest, in the 40s, for the next five days.  Even looks like we might get near or in the 60s by next weekend.  Could not bring up the generation projection for this weekend….it is unavailable, at least at the site I normally go to.  However, looking at the actual generation pattern this morning, looks like they are continuing the pattern we have experienced for the past week or so.  Probably a low two generators, maybe a high one, with levels in the 703 plus range up to 705.  Table Rock now site at 711.9, well below power pool.

Jim was out yesterday with one of his regulars, Bud, from the Kansas City area.  Bud brought along a friend to introduce him to the wonderful world of fly fishing.  They all had a very good day on the water.  Jim worked Bud on streamer fishing while he was working with Welby on nymph and midge-style techniques and line work.  They did well on a black bug-eyed bugger, a size 18 midge emerger and the red midge.  Meanwhile, Stan had Doc and a friend he brought to introduce to fly fishing, Les.  This is Doc’s 77th birthday and 11th year fishing with Stan.   Les got a little casting instruction before he hit the water which let him hit the water a little more "tangle free".  They had a great day on the red midge and cerise San Juan worm (thank you Bill Hunt). 

With the extremely cold weather we experienced since the snow…..single digits and below!….the generation schedule has been non-stop with the tailwater level at times in the 707 to 708 foot range.  Yesterday, we had temperatures in the low 40s.  It is now in the mid 30s and we expect 40s tomorrow and 50s by the weekend.  What a relief to be back to more normal temperatures.  Most of the snow is melted where the sun had been shining.  The shady areas are still scattered with white.   Earlier today they had four generators going with a level at 707.8 feet.  We are now running two generators at a level of 704.1.  This puts the water about 2 1/2 feet above our normal wading level.  Let’s hope that with the weather warming up a bit we might not see as much generation over the weekend.  We are well below power pool so the primary generation has probably been for power to keep everyone warm.

Talked to one of our biologist at the Hatchery yesterday about the numbers of male Rainbows we have been catching which appear to be spawning.   Think we decided these were "Johnny come latelies" from the Fall spawn.  As I mentioned last week, we have been catching lots of fully colored males in spawn and a few females dropping eggs.  One of our customers came in yesterday with a picture of a beautiful male he had caught so there are still some spawners out there.  The biologist also mentioned that with the lake and feeding rivers frozen over, we should see some shad kill within a few weeks.  If you can’t go fishing right now, better tie up some shad-colored patterns. 

So far this week, they have run two generators and maintained a fairly fishable level for waders during the day.  However, as I sat down at my computer this morning at 8:15, I heard two more horns which means they have now gone to four generators.  Probably not a problem as I doubt there would have been too many people wanting to get out there with the temperatures projected today for the low teens with 30 mph wind gusts!  They are projecting a warmup by Monday with the temperatures in the 30s!

People were venturing out this week and having some good fishing.  Had a couple guys from Indiana, Don and Jake spend two nights in one of the cabins.  They were out every morning by 9:30 and stayed out until almost dark.  It was obvious they knew how to layer and stay warm.  Don showed me a picture he had taken of a Rainbow swimming around with a sculpin sticking part way out of its mouth.  Guess what that Rainbow was eating!  They had a good time, caught lots of fish and are looking to coming back later this year….when it is warmer.   

Darrell’s Rainbow

Darrell sent me this photo of a beautiful  Rainbow he caught Monday.  He was fishing the bank down below outlet two with a tan scud.

 CADDIS SAYS "BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE, BE SURE TO COVER YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU GO OUT!"

WOW!  What a way to start the New Year!  Generation was turned on at 10:00 a.m. New Year’s Eve day and has been off except for a couple hours at midnight New Year’s eve.  Although the projection was for no generation today, they turned on two generators at 7:00 a.m. then ramped down to one.  Tailwater level has been around 704 feet.  Weather has been the main factor.  New Year’s day was pretty nice.  Think it made it into the uper 30s or lower 40s and the sun was out.  Saturday was cold, windy, cloudy and down right miserable, and Sunday was even worse!  Early Sunday morning it started snowing and we received 4-5 inches of snow which continued most of Sunday and, at times, was mixed with a little sleet. 

New Year’s day fished great.  Everyone up and down the river was catching fish on almost anything.  The sunny day midges, such as the Primrose & Pearl, Ruby and Copper Dun midges were working everywhere.  If you wanted to throw streamers, the olive wooly bugger was working in the Hatchery area and the pine squirrel sculpin was great in the Rocking Chair area.  Of course, the gray and brown scuds were catching fish.

Saturday, the black and rusty zebras were the better colors.  The pine squirrel sculpin was still working well.  In the Hatchery area, an olive gray scud was working very well for Albert (our Louisiana family)  They had started to head home Saturday because of the cold, lousy weather, but decided to stay and fish for just a little while.  Albert landed three Rainbows in the 5 to 6 pound range.  Happy fellow!  Also doing well in the upper area was the Big Ugly. 

Sunday we awoke to about 5 inches of snow on the ground!  Although it was supposed to quit at noon, it continued into the afternoon and at times was mixed with a little sleet.  A few brave souls ventured into the water that afternoon and managed to catch some fish, despite the great difficulty (at least for some of us) in getting a fly tied on with frozen fingers!  Sunday was certainly not as good as the previous two days had been.  The fish must have had better sense than the fisher people and stayed where it was warm.   Cool sight with snow on the dam instead of water streaming over the gates! 

Gina – 1/03/10

And here is one of those crazy people who was out on Sunday.  Nice Rainbow caught on a Big Ugly. 

Great start on the first day of the New Year!  Although the projection was for 25 megawatts, they turned the water on just before midnight last night for maybe an hour, then shut it off for the day!  The projection for tomorrow and Sunday is no generation but I think the weather might be a little cooler than today.  However, we certainly got warmed than the weather forecast!  It was pretty confortable on the water today.

Darrell was up near the Hatchery fishing with our friends from Louisiana.  They all had a good day and know that Darrell did well on the size 18 ruby and size 18 rusty midges.  I was downstream fishing just below the Rockin Chair and a little across from the boat ramp and had a wonderday on the size 18 copper dun midge.  Tried the holographic green crackleback and only caught a couple on this and missed two or three.  Did have a good time with my little size 8 pine squirrel sculpin on an intermediate sinking leader.  Got lots of hits fishing it cross current, but could not get a consistently good hook set.  Started  throwning it quarter downstream and stripping it back and did much better.  Wanted to take a picture of the pretty male Rainbows I caught today and the battery in the camera is dead!  Anyway, the male Rainbows are beautiful!  Most of the fish I caught were males.  Lots of people on the water today starting the New Year off right! 

Have to tell you that although the projection for today was 25 megawatts or a low one to two generators, they shut the water off at 10:00 a.m. and it is still off (4:30 p.m.)  Everyone coming into the shop today has been catching fish on almost everything.  Best seems to be the black midge.  Fish are coming up so griffith’s gnat and soft hackles were also working.  Projection for tomorrow is 25 megawatts.  Could we hope for a repeat of today?  Let’s see!!

HAVE A SAFE NEW YEAR’S EVE AND HOPE YOU ARE ON THE WATER SOMEWHERE STARTING YOUR NEW YEAR OFF RIGHT!!  MANY OF US WILL BE!   

What a perfect snow!  When I awoke this morning, there were about two inches of snow lining the railing around our deck.  All the trees were covered with this same beautiful snow.  It made me remember one winter day when we had a similar snow fall during the day time.  That day I could not resist and grabbed my fly rod, drove over to the Rocking Chair area and walked into the water (it was off for a change!)  There was absolutely no wind and the flakes were falling slowing from the sky and softly touching the water.  The snow muffled all the outside sounds so it was quiet as could be except for an occasional splash from a fish rising after a snow flake.  I think the fish thought there was a "hatch" of some kind as several of them were coming to the top and sipping.  With such perfect conditions could I hope to also catch some fish!  It was one of the best days I can remember.  Memories are wonderful.  In reality, I was probably freezing my buns off and fishing was so-so.  No…..I don’t think so.

Now, back to the real world.  We continue to see generation 24/7.  Projections for the past four days were for 25 megawatts every day.  This would usually make one think they would be running one generator, and rightfully so.  What they have been running has been one, two or even three generators over the past four days.  Most of the time, they have been running two generators.  Except for short periods during the day, they have maintained the tailwater level somewhere in the 703 to 705 feet range.  Levels of 703 and 704 feet are definitely wadeable in some areas, but one needs to be alert to the fact that the water could sneak up higher and catch one off guard!!  So, pay attention to what is going on around you.

Several people have been fishing over the past few days and fishing is good.  As we noted a few weeks ago, Table Rock Lake has turned over so the oxygen content in the Taneycomo tailwater is good and the fish are happy.  Over the weekend, olive or black wooly buggers were doing very well.  Monday and yesterday, in addition to the gray or brown scuds and wooly buggers, black midges were the ticket.  Had several people come in and say they had had a great day on the black midges.  They observed several hatches during the day. 

Jim had Lou and his son, Matt, out for a half-day float yesterday.  These guys from Illinois have fished with us several times before and were ready to hit the water again despite the weather.  As it turned out, it was a pretty comfortable day out there.  Everyone had "layer" well and stayed warm.  The fish were cooperative too!  They boated several fish on the red midge, a size 6 Bug-Eyed Bugger, a size 18 white midge as well as a size 24 black midge emerger.