Just heard on the news last night that we have had the coolest July on record.  Can’t believe it is such a beautiful day for August either!.  Yesterday we had a pretty good downpour in the morning and it just plain cooled down right before the rain came through. 

Ran a couple generators Thursday from 7:00 a.m. until midnight.  Friday, generators came on at 2:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.  Saturday it only came on for one hour at 5:00 p.m. and that is the projection for this afternoon. 

It has been a slow 2-3 three days catching on the river.  This coupled with the soft takes, spastic water generation, and heavy fog some mornings.  Darrell on the water with Larry and Callie from Texas Thursday.  This was a "quickie".  Got to the shop at 1:30 p.m. and had to be back by 5:00 p.m.  Did get several fish to the boat in the time they "drifted through" on a gray scud and holographic green crackleback.  Jim out with one of his regulars, Carl from Arkansas.  They were on the water in the morning in the rain and heavy fog.  They also got a few fish to the boat but were using an orange San Juan dropped from either the red midge or gray scud. 

Friday Dana had Conlen and Ethan from Texas out.  Lots of looks but few fish.  The ones they brought to the boat were on the Rusty and P&P midges.  Meanwhile, Jim had Kevin, and his two sons, Jake and John on an instructional wade trip.  This group from Texas wanted to learn how to fly fish.  Learned lots and caught some fish on the size 16 miracle scud, and a size 18 osterich bug.  Did get in one nice 18" Rainbow. 

Carolyn hit the water yesterday with Keith and Eric from Oklahoma.  The sky opened up on us and we decided we didn’t want to get as wet as the fish so we rolled everything up and called it a day.  We hit the water today and decided it was a good decision.  Fishing today was very good.  First fish out of the chute for Eric was a nice 17-1/2" fat Rainbow.  He then caught a 17" Rainbow and just nice, fat fish most of the morning.  Keith caught several nice sized fish too, but he couldn’t top Eric in size.  They did have at least two doubles.  What a difference a day makes!  Most of our fish were caught on the Primrose & Pearl midge, and the olive wooly bugger under a sink tip.  We worked on casting today and adding a new skill of stripping patterns under a sink tip leader.  Also caught a few on the golden variant sculpin, holographic green crackleback.  Keith thinks stripping is now his favorite method for fishing. 

Eric – 8/2/09

Don’t know why, but they started generating water yesterday at 8:00 a.m. and today they must have started at 7:00 a.m. even though the schedule says  generation for today will start at 10:00 a.m.  Ahh…..life in a tailwater!  Still experiencing nice weather.  We do have a possibility of showers today. 

Jim on the water for a late afternoon half day Tuesday with Jon from Oklahoma.  They threw some sculpin buggers, the red midge, size 12 miracle scud and size 16 gray scud dropper.  Water was rising by the time they got on the water Tuesday as that was one of the days when generation started at noon.  Boated several fish including a nice 17 incher.  Seems as if we are seeing quite a few in this size during our trips.

Yesterday Jim had two brand new fly fishers (now), Candy and John, from Richland, MO.  She loves fly fishing.  She hooked several, broke off several, picked and rolled several, but John brought all the fish into the boat.  Best flies were the size 14 miracle scud with a size 18 gray scud dropper.  Keep working at it Candy!

Unseasonally nice weather.  Temps in the upper 80s and low to mid 90s.  Not normaly in July.  Over the weekendagain we had good wading most of the day.  So far this week, water has been off until noon or so during the day then off late at night.

Stan the man, out with another Stan on Sunday.  Stan is from NC and as coincidence would have it, he too had spent some time the the U.S. Coast Guard.  Of course, the the Stans had lots to talk about during their full day trip.  Good day on the water for the Stans using the P&P midge and pink San Juan worm.  Carolyn was standing in the water fishing in the morning when her phone rang and Shannon inquired if she could take Chad out for half a day to help him learn more about fishing Taneycomo and work on casting and presentation.  Of course! she replied, but had to catch one more fish before leaving the water.  The sinking leader with the black wooly bugger was doing a great job at the Rockin Chair area.  Chad, who is from Branson, and Carolyn hit the water around 1:00 p.m.  Worked on casting for a while, then getting a good drift.  Shortly after 2:00 p.m. the horn sounded, so we rigged up for the rise.  Red San Juan, #1 shot and set our indicator to about 5-1/2 ft.  Fast drifts and lots of mending, but Chad hook several fish this way and brought in a few.  Since the water came up pretty fast, it was boat time.  Drifted down to the Lookout Island and caught a few more on the way.  Now for some more work on sink tip and stripping in the seams created by the water rise and break of the island.  Cross current casts where the fish were taking many times on the swing at the end of the drift.  Good day on the black or olive wooly buggers, holographic green and blondie cracklebacks, red midge and red San Juan.  End of the day, casting look great and we now have a few more ways to present a fly.

Forgot I had pictures of Gina and Carolyn on their girls day out last Thursday.  Caught and saw some nice fish!                               Gina

Carolyn – 7/23/09

Monday, Darrell was out with John and Rick from Columbia.  Good half day trip on the Black zebra midge with a copper head and the copper dun.  Think he was using the Big Ugly for an indicator, especially in the shallow water.  John and Rick spend the night before the trip in one of our cabins, the Mayfly.  Had a good trip and a good time.  

John – 7/27/09	Rick – 7/27/09

Stan out with Rob and Glenn from PA.  Liked our water and the fishing.  Caught most of their fish on the P&P and red midges, and a black wooly bugger under a sinking tip line.  Fished a little slow in the a.m. until the fog burned off.  They also liked the brocolli salad we serve for lunch! 

Fall Fly Fishing Clinics scheduled September 12 and October 10.  Call 417-332-0460 to register for one of the one-day clinics.  More information under Fly Fishing Schools/Fly Tying Classes

Water off this morning and scheduled to be off tomorrow.  Did turn the water on yesterday around 10:00 a.m.  Ramped it up to all four by 2:00 p.m.

Jim and Carolyn had a fun day on the water yesterday.  William and his two sons Zachary, who is 15, and Cory, who is 13, finished the second day of their two-day fly fishing school.  It was great to see how they supported each other, cheered each other on when they were casting or playing a fish.  All of them have been quick learners and want to learn more.  Everyone hooked or caught fish on the red midge, Lightening Bug, or San Juan worm.  Before the day was over, we also had them throwing Bug-Eyes and Wooly Buggers with good success.  Olive worked up until about 1:00 p.m. then we had to switch to black.  Good day of learning, catching, and enjoying some beautiful weather.

Other than Monday and Tuesday, we have had very little morning wading time on the water.  Had a good rain…or bad….depends on your perspective, rain almost day Tuesday.  Lots of water, but had minimal affect on the water level.  However, they have been running water pretty steadily since.  Projection for today is that one generator will come on around 10:00 a.m., ramp up to two by noon then up to four.  Certain we will see water this morning.

Just pulled up the projection for tomorrow (it is 5:00 p.m. Friday, 7/24) and the projection is for it to be off all day except for a couple hours around 5:00 p.m.

On the water Monday with "The Stripper"  Slow day.  We were determined to only strip, of course!  Did catch a few this way, picked and rolled a few and definitely missed a few.  Most everyone else we saw were drifting egg patterns, midges, scuds and catching a few every once in a while.  It was not a bang up day. 

Jim on the water Tuesday with Jim and Phil from Kansas.  They caught a few fish and decided the downpour was for ducks so they came off early.  Stan out with John from Kentucky.  John is a die hard fly fisher.  They came off after the half day plus was over and had a good, wet day on the water.  John decided you should wear your rain jacket out over your waters…..not tucked into them.  At little wet in there John?  They did best on the red tunghead midge with the pink San Juan worm dropper. 

Wednesday Jim, Jim and Phil tried it again.  What a beautiful day!  Fishing was good too.  They landed several fish on the size 14 Miracle Scud, red midge and size 12 Bug-Eyed Bugger. 

Yesterday Stan had Jim and Phil on the water again.  Another pretty day.  He worked them with the sink tip line and the olive size 12 filoplume and black Bugt-Eyed Bugger.  Gina and Carolyn took a play day.  They started out just below where Rockin Chair comes in with two generators going.  Lots of fish on that bank and all the way down to across from the boat ramp.  We played up and down the river all day.  Best set up of the day, I think we finally agreed, was the size 16 Lightening Bug with a micro pink San Juan worm dropper.  We caught them on about 10-12 other patterns we tried, but this was the most consistent.  Fun day, lots of nice fish, one 19 incher and lots in the 15-16 inch range.  Best thing of the day, we saw LOTS of fish.  More fish than we have seen in a long time.

GO FISHING! 

What a gorgeous weekend.  BUT, they ran water almost all day both Saturday and Sunday.  Projection for Monday is water off until noon, when they will start out with two generators and ramp up to all four.  May get some wade time this morning.

Stan and Darrell had a group on the water Friday.  Duane, David, Caleb and Randy, from North Carolina, were all new to fly fishing.  Got off to a slow start in the morning with the water low, but that was okay as they needed to learn the basics.  Once the water came on, so did the fish.  Boated fish on the miracle scud, red San Juan and the red midge. 

Duane – 7/17/09

Saturday Darrell was out with Don and Linda from Salem, MO.  This was a refresher trip for Don as he is getting back into fly fishing since he plans to retire in 17 months…but who is counting…and wanted to start fly fishing again.  And he is going to do it all, as he bought everything he needed to tie all the flies he fished plus some when they came back to the shop.  Most productive flies were the red midge and pink San Juan worm as the water had come on. 

Linda, really – 7/18/09	Don – 7/18/09

Linda, Darrell apologizes for cutting off your head.  He is a better guide than photographer!

Sunday was a floatilla.  Jim, Darrell and Dana had a group of five guys and one gal.  Several of them are professional golfers and they were in town playing golf and having a good time.  Darin, Julie, Mitchell, Jade, Doyle, and John tried their hand at fly fishing.  A few of them had tried it before, but most were new to the sport.  With the water off for a little while in the morning, they were able to get out and wade a little, learned a lot and caught some fish.  Darrell’s boat did best on the holographic green crackleback and gray scud.  Dana’s guys caught them on the red San Juan worm, and Jim’s group used the miracle scud, gray scud and bug-eyed bugger.    Gina was also on the water.  She had Brad and Dalton from Louisiana.  This was Dalton’s first time fly fishing and he’s a quick learner.  Their best patterns were the black wooly bugger and olive/brown scud.  Caught fish, but it was a bit slow, especially in the morning.

We are still getting lots of wading time in the mornings.  Yesterday, generation started at 1:00 p.m.  That start or later every day this week.  Weekends have seen water off almost all day with a little generation in the late afternoon, say around 5:00 p.m. for 2-5 hours.  Weather prediction for this weekend is beautiful!  50s to low 60s at night and mid 80s during the day.  No rain in the forecast.  If you don’t go fling a fly rod, at least get out and enjoy the weather!

Stan had Gary from Lenexa, Kansas out yesterday morning on a learning expedition, and they caught some fish too!  Gary is fairly new at fly fishing and wanted to learn more.  They were able to get fish on almost every technique they worked on.  Beetles and a size 20 Adams were their dry flies.  The black and copper dun midges for midging.  Black wooly bugger under a sink tip for streamers, and the dark hackle soft hackle for emergers.  Carolyn had grandfather, Calvin, and grandson CJ, both from Kansas out on a half day fishing/learning trip.  After we went through the basics of roll casting, mending and handling the line, we "picked and rolled" and landed a few fish on the black zebra.  CJ got pretty hot on the black wooly bugger under the sinking leader.  Almost everyone we passed on our drift out was catching a fish on something.   It was a little slow, especially for Taneycomo.  Black pine squirrel, olive filoplume, black midge, holive wooly bugger, were some of the responses I received when I asked folks what they were catching fish on. 

One-day FLY FISHING CLINICS have been scheduled for September 12 and October 10.  These are very good introduction to fly fishing clinics which give you an understanding of equipment selection, leaders, tippet, bugs and all those basic things which make fly fishing more successful.  We also spend a good amount of time working on casting and rigging.  SIGN UP NOW!  More information under Fly Fishing Schools/Fly Tying Classes.

Generation came on a little earlier than projected yesterday, right around noon.  Came on today at 2:00 p.m.  Appears we are  going to continue having wading time each morning into early afternoon for a while.  Also off late at night.

Jim on the water for a half day Sunday with Dwan and Robert, both from Wichita, KS.  Despite the soft takes and picky fish, they had a pretty good day on the bunny scuplin, gray and brown scuds. 

Monday Jim had Steven and Zach from Texas out for half a day.  Brand new fly fishers worked on casting, line management and hook sets.  Good students and boated some fish on gray and olive scuds.  Think they like it.  Darrell and Carolyn had the Louisiana fly fishing family, Albert, Dawn and James Albert out for a short half day….it was supposed to be anyway.  We have tagged Dawn with the name "The Stripper" as that is becomming her favorite way to fish.  She just sat in the drift boat and stripped holographic green cracklebacks most of the time we were out and had a fun time bringing in fish!  She’s the one who had the nice Rainbow on our site a few weeks ago….yep, stripping.  James Albert was on the opposite bank in the drift boat stripping golden variant sculpin patterns on a sink tip.  Caught a nice 17" bow and several others on this fly.  Meanwhile, Albert was in the water a little upstream from us at the Rockin Chair area catching fish on the copper dun midge. 

Albert – 7/13/09	James Albert – 7/13/09

 Generation schedule continues to follow the schedule pretty good within an hour or the projection.  Running every afternoon for 4 to 8 hours.  So, lots of wading time late at night and early in the morning into early afternoon.  Can’t complain much except for the heat.  Creeping back into the 90s during the day.

Darrell had Gary from Oklahoma and his son Eric, from North Carolina, on the water for half days Thursday and Friday.  Did pretty good both days on the Copper Dun midge and the holographic green crackleback.  

Gary – 7/10/09	Eric – 7/10/09

 Stan out Friday with Ned from Maryland.  His brother was following from afar taking pictures of them in action.  Saw some of them and they look really great!  Maybe we’ll have some to put on the site.  Ned had a good day using the Rusty midge and a black wooly on the sinking line. 

Carolyn had Beth, from Oklahoma, out for a short half day Saturday.  The morning storm kept us off the water for a while.  Didn’t want to sit out there with a lightening rod!  Fog stayed on the water almost all morning.  It was so neat and quiet.  The only thing you could hear were the sounds coming from my "Cacklecraft", aka Clackacraft.  At one time all you could see were people’s heads just above the fog line.  Beth boated her largest fish yet, a 17" Rainbow.  We fished the wide area just above the entrance to the Rockin Chair walk in.  Beth had lots of hits on the black wooly bugger on a sinking leader…..but not too many to the boat.  Got the fun of hooking them and playing fhem for a while  Darrell calls these "rodeo" fish.  If you have them on for 8 seconds, it’s a catch….we’ll have to ponder that one for a while.

Beth – 7/11/09

Stan was out Saturday, after the storm, with Kristie and Rick from the St. Louis area.  They too did did well on the black wooly bugger.  They were fishing about 100 yards above Beth and Carolyn.  When the sun came out, the P&P midge worked great and the black wooly just kept on catching. 

One of our customers from Louisiana had a fun day today on black beetles and tan hopper patterns.  Carolyn out throwning the black wooly for a couple hours.  Nice fish are still hitting this pattern pretty streadily.  Caught and missed a good number in a short time….then the water came on.  It will probably be my go to first thing tomorrow.

If anyone lost a spare spool loaded with sinking line inside a neoprene reel cover, we found one on the river last week.  Just give us a call – 417-332-0460  or e-mail – rvrrunoutf@aol.com and identify the type of spool and the brand on the reel case cover and it’s back with it’s owner!