According to our local weather man, rain is out of our forecast through the weekend.  It will be cloudy both today and tomorrow, but no more rain!  At 7:45 this morning, Table Rock was at 921.9.  It is going in the right direction.  We are hoping for the 920 by tomorrow afternoon so they will shut down the flood gates. 

Darrell was out for half a day yesterday with Wayne from Alabama.  The highlights among the fish they caught were an 18 inch rainbow and a beautiful blue gill.  They caught almost everything on the red midge and a red San Juan worm.  

Wayne -10/14/09	Pretty Blue Gill – 10/11/09

 Jim and his guys, Floyd and Scott, from Indiana, hit the water around noon.  Once Jim found some fish, they were catching fish on the red midge, red San Juan worm, and a gray scud.  Stan, too, started the their trip a little later in the day.  He and Ken, from Kansas, didn’t get to the water until around 10:30 a.m.  They boated several fish on the size 16 red tunghead midge.  Nothing real big, but as Ken said, "all nice quality fish!"

As you can see, the trees are really starting to turn.  Wish it was a sunny day so you could see how pretty they are. 

Heard on the local news last night that they are projecting the desired level of 920 feet to be reached late Friday in which case they would shut down the flood gates.  This might happen if we don’t get too much more rain!  Drizzling and overcast this morning.  Weather man said we might see a few short period of sunshine today……Hope!….Hope!  Trees are looking absolutely beautiful.  I don’t think they have not reached their peak color yet.

Three boats on the water today.  Let’s hope for a good day.

Just heard on the radio here in Branson that the Corps plans to leave the flood gates open until Table Rock Lake get down to a level of 920 feet.  Currently it is 922.4 feet.  Once they reach that level, they will probably run the four gates most of the time, if not all of the time until they get back to 916 feet or so.  Rainy day to day and they are forecasting the possibility of rain again tomorrow and probably Thursday.  The weekend is still looking sunny and dry! 

Understand a large brown was spotted in the third outlet this morning…20 pounds plus.  Have talked with several people who are fishing around outlets 1 and 2 and most of them are catching fish, at least they were catching quite a few yesterday.  Darrell was up at the Shepherd of the Hill Hatchery this morning watching the hatchery folks rounding up some browns to collect eggs.  Looks like quite a process.

Flood Gates – 10/12/09

Flood gates have been running non-stop since Friday morning.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that fishing is still pretty darn good.  The forecast is still for Table Rock to crest tomorrow at 927.1.  However, with the flood gates opened all this time, they have maintained the level at around 922.8 for at least the past 36 hours.  Had light showers this morning (thank heavens they were light) with projections for light showers most of the week (40%) with Thursday being the larger chance.  Have not yet heard when they plan to shut down the flood gates. 

Troy – 10/11/09

Dana on the water Sunday for a half day with Troy from Warrensburg.  We had had Troy and his sons out earlier this year.  Troy was ready to come back and try it again.  They had a good, fun day on Dana’s pink and fl. orange San Juan worms, and in exploring new places to catch fish.   

With all the rain we had Thursday and Friday, Table Rock Lake has risen to 923 feet and is expected to crest on Tuesday at 927.1.  Yesterday, as two of our guides were putting in their drift boats, they started opening up the flood gates.  Not certain how long they will keep them open, but we will keep you advised.  Beautiful, sunny day yesterday in the low 60s.  Today is also expected to be nice and a slight chance of rain tomorrow.

Darrell had Mark from the St. Louis area out for half a day yesterday.  He and his wife stayed in the Mayfly cabin in June.  They must have liked it as they came back and stayed again.  Caught a few fish on the Big Ruby, including a nice 17" Rainbow.  Stan also had a half a day on the water with Taisha and her father, Jim.  Had a pretty good day with the regular size 16 red tunghead midge.  Found a lot of fish up in the shallow edges right off the grass. 

Meanwhile, Gina and Carolyn were holding an all-day fly fishing clinic.  After the morning session where we go through equipment, fly lines, tippet, leaders, knots, bugs and all the other things, we stopped for lunch then went to the lake to learn casting.  Everyone learned the basic of the roll cast, pick up and lay down cast, and a little on shooting line.  The highlight of the day was putting on various patterns and catching blue gill!  Those little guys are real scrappers.  They were taking our little drifted jig head patterns as well as stripping cracklebacks and small buggers. 

Wow!  Not sure what our official rainfall total was here in Branson.  Guess it depends on where you are and who you listen to.  Anyway, somewhere between 4 and 6 inches.  Table Rock Lake came up one foot from about 8:00 p.m. last night to 9:00 a.m. today.  It will come up some more.  They have actually shut down the generation through the dam, probably to lessen the amount of water at the lower parts of Taneycomo.  Lots of water going into the lower areas from streams which are currently running out of their banks.  We expect the weather to clear up this afternoon and both Saturday and Sunday will be nice, sunny, cool days.  Very slight chance of rain on Monday, otherwise, cool and sunny.  No more rain….please.

 Wednesday was a busy day on the river for us.  Dana was out with Kevin from Texas.  Lots of hits and misses.  Boated fish on Dana’s red San Juan. 

Meanwhile, Gina had Leonard, who originally lived in California and now lives in Sparta, MO., and his daughter Missy on the water for half a day.  Missy lives in California where she is going to school.  Missy loves to fish, especially for bass, but had never been fly fishing.  She loves it!!  They boated several fish on the size 18 copper dun or P&P midges dropped from our "Big" Ruby (just a larger version of the regular Ruby), and a Bug-Eyed Bugger.  

Missy – 10/7/09	"The Team" – 10/7/09

 Both Jim and Stan were out for full days.  Stan had Pete, who started fly fishing in Wyoming and eventually moved to Nebraska.  Their best patterns were the "Big" Ruby with a P&P size 18 midge dropper.  Jim, with Chad and Bob from Joplin, MO. were boating fish on the red midge, size 18 gray scud and the size 18 P&P midge. 

Yesterday, Stan had Dave Ray and Dean Abbot out for half a day.  Brave souls sitting out there in the rain with four generators going.  The fish felt sorry for them and they did boat fish on the Big Ruby.   Said they were used to the rain as they hail out of the state of Washington!

A bit of rain today.  Started early this morning as is still drizzling a little.  Expect sunshine for tomorrow but a possibility of rain again Thurdsay afternoon and Friday.  Have not stopped generation since midnight Friday.  Kept it off for five hours Saturday morning.  Darrell, one of our guides, said they actually had one gate flowing this morning for a while.  Could be good for fishing as that is where all the oxygenated water is right now….on top.  Two generators going today and that is pretty much what they have been running since Saturday afternoon.

Jim out for a tough half day float Sunday with Dwan from Kansas.  They caught a few fish on the red midge and gray scud, but worked for every one of them. 

Roger – 10/5/09

 Yesterday Darrell took his brother-in-law, Roger out to see if they could catch some fish.  Want to keep your brother-in-law happy, hook him up with a nice 19-1/2" Rainbow.

Generation a little squirrely this past week.  Water off Monday until noon, Tuesday until 10:00 a.m. and Wednesday until 3:00 a.m.  And, of course, they ran water all weekend.  Fortunately, after the three generators early Saturday morning, they did keep it at a reasonable one for the balance of the weekend….so far.   This was low enough that lots of people were able to get out and wade in various locations. 

Tuesday, Jim had Ole and Marion from Indiana out for what was supposed to be a full day float.  Had threat of severe weather come through in the afternoon, so they bailed a little early.  With the weather and fluctuating of the water levels, it was a tough day for the guys.  They did get several fish on the red midge, gray scud and a red San Juan worm. 

Friday, Jim braved a heavy wind day and took one of his regulars from Clinton, Missouri, Jim out for a full day.  Good day on the red midge, pink San Juan and size 12 gray scud.  Fished good everywhere they tried.

Saturday, we scattered drift boats everywhere.  The morning started out with three generators going at 8:00 a.m.  It peaked out here for less then an hour and they started dropping it.  By 10:00 a.m. the water had dropped to a below 704 with only one generator for the balance of the day.  It wound up being a perfect day.  Little cool in the morning, but warmed up enough to be pleasant with shirt sleeves, trees are getting a little more colorful and fishing was good with the one generator.  Stan and Jim had a group of two guys from Kansas City, Missouri and one from New York out for a full day.  Stan and Adam had a very good day on the P&P size 18 midge dropped from the ruby midge.  Jim and his guys, Mark and Eric, were catching on gray scuds, blood midge, and the red midge.  Gina had Cliff and Joni out for a half day float.  Cliff is a charter fishing guide in Minnesota.  His wife, Joni, decided she wanted to learn about fly fishing.  They had a good day on a high water ruby midge, with a P&P or pink San Juan dropper.  Carolyn had Rick and Kristie out for a full day.  Once we got started, it was a very good day on the high water ruby midge, with either the P&P or copper dun midge dropper.  Once the water settled down, it fished good everywhere we tried.  Rick started the morning with a 18" Rainbow and they both finished up the day each with a Brown.  Rick’s was 17" and Kristie’s was 18 and FAT!  Both Brown were caught on a size 18 copper dun midge. 

Kristie – 10/3/09	Rick – 10/3/09

Thought we might be going back to an earlier generation pattern of off in the a.m. until noon or later, then on for the balance of the day when we had water off Monday until almost noon and yesterday it did not come on until around 10:00 a.m.  But, alas, water came on this morning at 4:00 a.m.  Projection is for it to be equivalent of one generator all day, but know they are running a little more than than…three generators at a leavel of 705.9.  Looking for some rain this afternoon which could be severe.  Rest of the week and into the weekend looks pretty good.  Next chance of rain is Monday with temps in the low 70s.

Monday was a good day on the water.  Jim had Mike from the Branson area out for half a day.  Mike had previously taken the Orvis Fly Fishing School and wanted some fine tuning.  He had a great day of learning and hooking up with fish.  Their patterns were the size 14 Miracle Scud, micro San Juan and stripping a small sculpin.  Stan was out all day with one of his regulars from Illinois, Robert.  He always trys to come here this time of the year.  Beautiful 19" rainbow on the ruby midge.  Lots of nice fish.  Carolyn had Wanda and Joanna floating for half a day.  Spur of the moment trip for them.  They were at a car dealership buying a new Buick and the salesman was talking about catching fish in Taneycomo.   Think they called from the dealership and said "We need to go fishing!"  Joanna brought in a beautiful 19" Rainbow and Wanda had a nice 17" one.  Good day on the larger ruby midge.

Joanna’s fish – 9/28/09	Wanda – 9/28/09

James – 9/29/09

Tuesday Darrell had Leroy and his father-in-law, James out for half day.  They are from Oklahoma and Leroy fishes here quite a bit.  James is 82 and this was his first experience fly fishing.  It was not as intimidating as he thought it was going to be and he had a good time.  Their best flies were the Ruby and P&P midges. 

 Stan had Jerry and "Dr. John" out for half a day.  They come here from Tennessee.  Good day for them on the P&P, Burgundy and Ruby midges.  Jerry caught a 20" Rainbow then a couple fish later, an 18" Rainbow.  They like our fishery!

 

Well, unfortunately they ran water all weekend…..of course!  However, with two generators, they kept the tailwater level fluctuating somewhere between 704′ and 705′ and there are a few places where you can wade at these levels.   This morning was the first time we have seen the water off for a week.  They had it off this morning and turned two generators on at noon.  It is 3:30 p.m. and I just heard another horn.  We are now up to three.   Weather has been beautiful.  Brisk mornings and sunny days in the 70s.  Think it got into the 80s Sunday.  A bit warm!  Only negative yesterday and the day before was the wind.  Forecast calls for sunny day in the 70s tomorrow with a chance of showers Thursday afternoon and clearing overnight.  Friday and Saturday in the low 70s with another chance of showers Saturday night. 

Saturday, three of the guides were out working and one guide was out playing.  Dana had Mike and Ryan from Texas.  They were catching fish on a red San Juan worm, and a red midge.  Brought a nice 18" Rainbow to the boat.  Meanwhile, Stan was out with a couple of honeymooners from Colorado, Michelle and Travis.  He told Travis he was starting Michelle out right….taking her fly fishing on their honeymoon!  This was Michelle’s first experience on big water.  They fish a lot of small streams in Colorado.  Good day for them.  They too boated an 18" Rainbow.  Patterns were a Ruby midge and the pink midge.   Darrell had Alton from Alabama out.  They had a good day on the rusty, P&P and Ruby midges.  Gina and a couple of gals from the River Runners Women’s Fly Fishing Club were out for a day of fun and fishing.  When most of us caught up with them, they had wreaked havoc on most of the fish in the area.  Not certain all the patterns they had gone through but know at one time Gina was fishing the Miracle scud with a red blood worm dropper and doing very well.

Sunday was another flotilla day with four of us on the water.  Stan had Bob and his son, Bryan out.  Bob lives in Illinois and his son lives in Columbia, MO.  They boated lots of fish on a large Ruby (12 or 14) , the pink midge and a pink egg pattern.  Dana was on the river with Bob & Linda from Springfield, MO for half a day.  Dana thought this was a neat trip as Linda brought snacks, chocolate covered almonds and elk summer sausage!  Their best patterns were the red San Juan, red midge and peach egg.  Darrell and Carolyn had a full day with our Louisiana family.  Of course, Dawn (aka "the Stripper") was in the "Cacklecraft" with Carolyn and Darrell had Albert and James Albert.  This was one of Dawn’s days.  She hooked fish almost everywhere she cast.  Wonderful day on the Big Ruby.  Water clouded up a little in the afternoon, so we dropped a P&P or a pink SJ under it for the last two hours of the trip.  Of course she caught a few stripping the holographic green crackleback.   Darrell and the guys had a good day on a gray scud, and various midges.  Sunday fished good on both banks above the MDC boat ramp and down both sides of the river through the Trophy Run area, the Lookout Island as well as the high bank (old river channel) all the way down to Fall Creek.  

Dawn – 9/27/09

Know that one of the local guides, John, caught an nice Rainbow which we approximated at almost 18 lbs. last week up around the outlet 1 area.  They were running water.  Another nice Rainbow, about 10 lbs. was caught by a lady on her second time fly fishing up in the same area.  Still not seeing great numbers of large fish on any kind of regular basis.