We can complain about the weather, but not the fishing!  Other than Tuesday during the week, generation has started at 2:00 p.m. each day and gone off around midnight.  Tuesday it came on at 1:00 p.m.  Saturday and the projection for today is generation for a couple hours starting around 4:00 p.m. 

Stan on the water for 1/2 a day Thursday with Mark from O’Fallon, Missouri.  Good fisher and caught fish mainly on the Primrose & Pearl midge. 

Friday Stuart from Arkansas used his Father’s Day present…..a full day float with Stan.  Worked on hook setting and landed fish on the Primrose & Pearl midge.  Another HOT DAY!  Dana introduced Terry and her son Tristan from California to fly fishing on Friday.  Hot day, so they did a lot of wading.  They caught a few fish, stayed cool and learned a lot about fly fishing.  Carolyn had Dick and Marie from Ohio on the water again.  They had been out with Gina on Tuesday.  Still needed to catch some more fish, so they did it again.  Boated lots of fish on the holographic green crackleback, P&P midge and the black wooly bugger.  Dick thinks the holographic green crackleback should be outlawed!   Dick’s daughter, Alice, is a guide at a lodge in Montana.

Dick – 6/26/09

Just a Pretty Trout  – 6/26/09

Saturday Mike and his wife Jerri, from California took a half-day float with Darrell.  Both are new to fly fishiing and think they ‘like it’!  Boated lots of fish on the P&P and Pink Glitter midges.  Stan had Ken and his grandson, Jordan out.  A little slow for them.  Boated several fish on the P&P and Holographic green crackleback.   Meanwhile, Gina and Carolyn had a group of ladies on the water leaning how to roll cast, pick up and lay down cast, mend and all that other stuff you need to know to start fly fishing.  These ladies were attending the one-day fly fishing clinic we offered.  One of the pluses in the clinic is that we also want to hook and land fish so they can get the experience of playing the trout.  Down side of that program is that once they start catching fish, it is just very hard to get them back in focus on learning the other important things such as leaders, tippets, knots, bugs, etc.  Fun group and we had a good time catching fish.  Best pattern was the Burgundy midge.

Today Stan and Darrell had a group of three guys, Rick, Steve and Greg from the St. Louis area out.  Very good day for all of them on the copper dun midge, crackleback using the sink tip line, and  the P&P.  They are all good fly fishers and have been out with us several times, especially Rick.  Dana had Alan and Michelle from Oklahoma out for just a couple hours.  They had to check out of their room by 11:00 a.m.  Boated several fish on the copper dun, olive wooly bugger, and yes, the Holographic Green Crackleback. 

Another day of sweltering heat, but standing in the water fly fishing it is not so bad.  And, another day of water off until 2:00 p.m. and then they fired up all four generators.  Off again this morning with the projection of a 3:00 p.m on time.  Probably see them again at 2:00 p.m. or sooner.

Darrell out half day with brothers, Adam and Scott from Manchester, MO.  Boated a lot of fish on the Copper Dun and Black Zebra midges.  Stan had a couple new fly fishers, Justin and Bobby from Texas out.  Bass fishers can set a softer hook!  Both did well, learned a lot and boated lots of fish.  It was a battle to the end as to who caught the most!  Best pattern was the size 18 Burgundy Midge. 

They continue to pretty much follow the generation projection.  Water off in the evening around 6:00 to 7:00 a.m. and off through the night into the next day when they turn it on around 1:00 or 2:00 p.m…..all four generators. 

Carolyn on the water Monday for a half day with Wanda and Joanna of Lockwood, MO.  Got off to a slow start in the early morning, but started picking up fish on the Hot Pink Glitter midge and the Primrose & Pearl midge.  Tried to pick up a few with dries, but only had a couple takes.  for the most part, we caught nice sized fish although we had a few "dinks" in the bunch.  We actually came off early as it was just to HOT and no breeze.  Wanda is recovering from a heart attack and we didn’t want to give her a heat attack!!  This lady loves to fish….both of them do or they would not have been out there.

Darrell had Vince and Gus from Illinois out yesterday.  They had a very good day on the copper dun size 18 midge and the holographic green crackle back.  They were back into the shop today stocking up on flies so they could take their kids fishing.  Stan had Rick and Tom out of Kansas City.  Believe this was their first time on Taneycomo.  They do fish the State Parks quite a bit.  Good day on the olive midge with an olive soft hackle dropper.  They also picked up a few on dry flies.  Gina had Dick from Ohio and Marie from Florida on the water.  Great day on olive wooly buggers, P&P midge with a P&P soft hackle dropper and the holigraphic green crackleback. 

Marie – 6/23/09	Dick – 6/23/09

Talking to lots of waders coming into the shop.  Fishing is very good, especially in the rebar area on lots of patterns.  Gray scuds, copper dun midge, and P&P midge to name a few. 

They pretty well followed the projected generation schedule over the weekend.  Water on for 1-2 hours late in the day, they off the remainder.  We also had the water off Friday until 1:00 p.m. which made for a great half day outting on the water. 

Saturday fishing was very good.  Darrell had Mark from St. Louis out for half a day.  They did well on the P&P and Copper Dun midges.  

Mark – 6/20/09

Stan was out with friends of ours, Bob and Linda, from Olathe, Kansas.  They got a late morning start and came off early, but caught lots of fish, also on the P&P and Copper Dun midges.  Carolyn was out playing.  She got an even later start but caught fish on the size 10 black wooly bugger on the sink tip at the rock bank by the Trophy Run area.  Also had a fun day on blondie and holographic green cracklebacks stripping just benead the surface.  Even caught a few dry that way!  Some of our customers call me from the Lookout Island and they were having a bang up day stripping the blondie crackleback.  Dawn said her arm was worn out!

Sunday continued to fish well for Jim who had one of his regulars, Scott from St. Joseph, on the water.  They worked a size 20 emerger and a size 12 bug-eye bugger.  He thinks the emerger worked the best.  Darrell had Ron and his son Samuel out for 1/2 day.  Wonderful day on the olive wooly buggers and P&P.

Samuel – 6/21/09

Ran water all day Thursday, but, for the most part, followed the projection for Friday.  Water off all morning and on at 2:00 p.m.  Projection was to ramp up with 2 generators at 2:00 and they cranked all 4.  Projection for today is the water will be off with a little kick water late this afternoon.

With a high two generators flowing Thursday, Jim had Zach from Nixa out for his birthday.  Mom and Dad arranged for a surprise trip so Zach could pick up a few more tips on fly fishing and also have fun catching a few fish.  They had a very good day on the water and Jim was impressed with Zach’s quick ability to pick up on much of what they worked on that day.  Best flies were the red midge, size 12 Miracle Scud and the #6 Bug-Eyed Bugger.

Friday Stan was out with Matt from Michigan.  Matt was throwing a 10′ rod and is a good caster.  Had a great day on the P&P and at times they had a P&P emerger dropped about 12" off the midge which the fish were attacking with a vengeance.  Used a 5X to the midge with a 6X tippet for the dropper.

I was out with a friend, Dawn.  She and I had a wonderful day catching fish on the olive or black wooly buggers, various sculpin patterns and finished up the day with the holographic green crackle back.  We were fishing the buggers and sculpins on the sink tip with a 4X tippet and the cracklebacks just below the surface on our little 4 weight Trout Bums.  Great day and great fun!

Since Friday, we have had a little wading time every day except today.  Friday the water was off until 3:00 p.m.  Saturday it was off all day except to about an hour at 5:00 p.m.  Sunday they started it up at 10:00 a.m., but it was pouring down rain anyway.  Monday there was a small window from midnight until 6:30 a.m. and Tuesday it was good until 6:00 p.m.  A little shot of wader from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m.  Today is another story.  It came on at midnight and is still on.  Projection is to run water all day,.  So far we have only come up 3/10s of a foot from the heavy rains we had yesterday.  Let’s hope we don’t come up much more and we can have another weekend of wading!

Both Darrell and Stan were on the water Satruday.  Dareell had Joe and David from Kansas out for half a day.  Very good day on the copper dun and burgundy midges.  Slow start at first, but when they zoned in, he wore them out.  Stan’s scenario with half day for Price and Marge, also from Kansas.  Slow start in the morning, but picked up with a vengence on the Primrose & Pearl midge. 

Sunday, Gina with on the water with a good friend, Valley, from Oklahoma, who brought with her Zach, also from Oklahoma.  Zach is a 16 years old young man who made the traveling team of U.S. Fly Fishing Team for this year.  The tryouts were May 8-10 in Lamar, PA.  He is an amazing caster and intense fisher, and as Gina said "very brave to be hanging out with Valley and me".  They had a great time and caught lots of fish.

Zach’s bio from the website www.usyouthflyfishingteam.com reads as follows"

Zach Bearden                                                                                                                                                                    Gore, OK

Zach started fishing when he was 4 with his Mom and older brother.  He then fished bass tournaments with his father when he was about 9.  Then when he was 10 he decided he liked the idea of fishing with a flyrod.  He had some of the best local teachers to assist him as he learned to fish for trout.  His mentor was Kelly Gattenby.  He spent many a day on the Lower Illinois River with Kelly catching Striper and Trout.                When he was 14 he traveled to Livingston, MT to the FFF National Conclave with the Native Women Fly Fishers.  He competed in the casting competition and won first place in the Men’s Division.                               In 2008 he was chosen to fish in Frisco, CO with the America Cup Youth Team.  He learned a great wealth of information from the competition.                                                                                                                                  Zach also ties flies and ties at local shows.  He is truly excited to have this opportunity to fish with some of the best fly fishing anglers in the world.                                                                                                                              Zach is an active member of the Gore band.  He plays the Euphonium and will be the section leader for the Brass of the band his Jr. year in High School.                                                    

Lots of people coming into the shop are commenting on the nice size of the fish they are catching.  Monday and Teusday, many people were catching fish on anything white.  White egg patterns, grubs, jigs, etc…just white. 

Water off this morning and the projection says it will be off all day.  If I remember correctly, that was the projection for last Friday and they did run some water in the after noon then kept it off all weekend.  Kind of think that will again be the scenario for this weekend.  Would be nice.

This past week was "Johnson" week.  We had three different parties out and all of them had last names of Johnson.  Jim on the water Tuesday with John and his grandson Neil from New Mexico.  John is recovering from hip surgery and wanted to be pampered a little….like shrimp for lunch.  Guys had a good lunch and very good day on the water.  The blood worm, size 14 Miracle Scud, and the red midge were their bugs for the day.   Dave from Illinois spend two half days with Stan.  They had no generators going either of the days when they started out.  By the time they were ready to drift down, they had at least one generator going which made it a good drift using the pink San Juan worm Tuesday and the olive WD40 and holographic crackle back were the patterns with the water off.  Wednesday they took the Primrose & Pearl midge on the drift out with generation and the olive wooly bugger earlier in the day with the water off.  "Picked and rolled" several nice fish on the midge on the drift out….got in a few too.

Wednesday Jim had Jimmie from Florida.  New to fly fishing but caught on pretty fast and likes it.  He had a good day with Jim on the size 8 Bug-Eyed bugger, the size 16 red midge and a size 14 Miracle Scud.  Thursday, Jimmie hit the water with Darrell.  Their best pattern was the pink San Juan.  Scheduled to flow around 3000 cfs yesterday, but had it all over the place.  Had the fish coming and going.  Stan and Carolyn were on the water with two couples who are friends.  Stan took the guys, Bill and Glen and Carolyn had Jennifer and Joan.  Glen had fly fished many years ago, Jennifer is still pretty new to it and Joan it brand new.  We all had a fun and great day, especially on the sink tip with either a holographic green crackleback or a size 12 black or olive wooly bugger (depended on what the sun was doing).  Jennifer’s first fish to the boat made the "Cacklecraft" live up to its name!  The ladies had a couple times where they had doubles, but we could never get both of them to the boat.  Drifting out, the patterns were the burgundy midge, the P&P, and the pink San Juan worm.

Jennifer – 6/11/09	Bill – 6/11/09

Power generation was off all weekend and lots of fly fishers were on the water catching fish.  Water came on Monday at 2:00 p.m. until midnight.  Off this morning and projected to come on at 2:00 p.m. 

Finally got Dawn’s picture off the camera of the fish she caught Saturday while she was out with Carolyn.  She was slow stripping an olive filoplume on the bank between the boat ramp and the stairs.  Beautiful, hooked jawed Rainbow.  We had a wonderful day stripping #12 filoplumes, #12 olive wooly buggers and #10 black wooly buggers.  Steady catching, warm sun, nice breeze (sometimes a little too breezy!) and lots of slow moving geese swimming up and down back our boat.  Dawn just  kept saying, "it doesn’t get any better, this ia great".   Albert, her husband was up around the R-bar hole catching fish "right and left" on the red or hot pink San Juan worms.  James Albert, her and and his friend were up and down the river catching them on various patterns. 

Dawn – 6/6/09

Jim on the water yesterday with Paul and Will from Texas.  Will is 6 years old and a great young man.  Really worked hard at fly fishing.  They boated fish on the burgundy midge, blood worm and #18 gray midge.  Takes where they were fishing were pretty soft. 

Other than Friday, when two generators were turned on at 6:00 a.m., the water has been off until around noon each day and all day Saturday and today, Sunday.  Once they turn them on, it is all four generators raising the level to or close to 710 feet.

Talked to several of our customers who were wade fishing Saturday and, depending on where you were, fishing was very good.  The Hatchery Area and areas below the boat ramp had the best reports with the Hatchery No. 1.  Almost everything was working, pink or red San Juan worms, the filoplume.  When the sun was out, the P&P midge and when it went in, the burgundy midge.  Great day on the water!

Jim out Thursday with Phil and Mike from Grain Valley, MO.  Good day on the size 16 Miracle Scud, the size 16 red midge and size 12 gray scud. 

Stan on the water for a half day with a couple guys from Texas…at least that’s where they live now, Brad and David.  Both had fished quite a bit before but never used the sink tip and a wooly in high water.  Caught a lot of fish on the size 12 olive wooly bugger, especially after the water came on.  Also caught some on the size 16 Pink San Juan worm.  Carolyn had Ellen from here in Branson and her niece from out of town Sarah on the water.  Sarah just graduated from High School this year and is visiting Ellen.  Ellen has been hard at work trying to give Sarah all the different experiences she could think of.  Fly fishing was one of them!  Bet everyone heard us when Sarah hooked her first fish AND, keep it on and brought it to the boat.  Beautiful, fat Rainbow.  Sarah took all the pictures so I hope she sends me some to put her on the site.  With two generators on when we started we were fishing the #16 pink San Juan worm dropped from a size 16 Lightening Bug and we finished up the afternoon with four generators going and both Ellen and Sarah catching them on the sinking tip line with the size 12 olive wooly buggers.  If Ellen and Sarah were not going to the Dixie Stampede after we got off the river, we probably would still be out there they were both having so much fun!

Pattern this week has definitely been off late at night and off the next morning until noon or so when they ramp up to all four generators.  When you get to the water to wade, you will notice lots of green growth on the bottom of the river.  Talked to the biologist at the Hatchery yesterday and he said not to worry.  Probably getting some of the nutrients which have run into Table Rock Lake are being released into Taneycomo because of so much generation lately.  Should not cause a problem with any of our scuds, sowbugs or other critters on the bottom, just give them better cover. 

Darrell on the water Tuesday and Wednesday for a couple half days with Jeff and his son Nate, from Arkansas.  Had to look for fish both days in places where there was a decent amount of water flow, such as riffles and narrows.  Boated several fish on the blood worm dropper and the burgundy midge.  Nate even out fished his father Wednesday.  Nice young man and a good fisher. 

Jeff – 6/3/09	Nate – 6/3/09