Stan and Jim’s trips yesterday were great.  Everyone caught lots of fish and had a great time.  Nice fish too!  Water was falling all day as they shut the generators down to one for a while starting at noon until about 4:00 p.m. when they turned it back up to three.  They were running three generators this morning at 8:00 a.m. when I checked.  Tailewater level was slightly above 708.  Both boats fished the red tungsten midge almost all day.  Why change….it was working great!  Dennis, one of the guys in Stan’s boat, said "I have been fishing all my life and this is the most fun I have ever had!" 

Flood gates are off and fishing is good. It’s not raining and the sun is shining. 

Had two boats on the water yesterday.  They turned the flood gates off around 9:00 a.m. and the water was dropping all the time they were out.  Despite the still dirty water and the fact that it was dropping all day, they still had a good day fishing  Fish were nice too.  Several 15-1/2  inchers, and better.  Plus, they look good.  Good color and nice and fat.  Jim’s guys, from Nebraska and Kansas, were catching on the Bug-Eyed Bugger, and red midge.  Darrell’s guys from Colorado Springs, CO caught most of theirs on a large red midge and the size 18 copper dun. 

Talked to Stan today.  He has John and Dennis from Florida out.  They were just taking a break for lunch.  They had already had a very good day on the water, mainly on the red tunghead midge.  They had just cut the generators back from 3 to 1.  Don’t know why, but we’re enjoying it. 

Be careful if you go out on the lake.  Lots of banks have been cut back and some of the trees along the banks may not have much to hold their root systems.  Also, this morning I was looking at the damage to some of the boat docks up above Short Creek and noticed a long log or tree right in the middle of the river that had not been there before.  It was just below the water line and probably not very visible to boaters coming up the river.  Be aware that there may be new objects in places where there once was nothing.  STAY SAFE!

As I write, (9:30 a.m.), they are shutting down the flood gates.  We have two boats going out this morning and the water level at the boat ramp is going down as they are putting in the boats.  Imagine fishing will be a bit difficult today with the major change in water.  Good news is that the water will clean up.  The water coming over the flood gates really put a lot of very off colored water into the lake.  We’ll let you know. 

Wish I could say they closed the flood gates today, but they did not.  I can say that they have shut them down to a 1/2 foot opening.  This is down from the 2-1/2 feet which were open 2 days ago.  The affect we are seeing is water receding to almost the level it normally be with four generators running hard.  The tailwater level stayed at 713.1 most of today.  With the inflow we are receiving from Beaver Lake and the possibility of more rain, they are evaluating whether they will actually close down the floods gates in the near future or not. 

Glad to say I looked out the window this morning and the water that was over the Boardwalk at the Landing had gone down.  From looking at the charts, it would appear that they cut the flood gates back yesterday around noon.  The tailwater level dropped from 722 feet to around 718.5.    They still have 10 gates open, but must have closed them down a little.  The projection is that they will close the gates some time later today. 

Once the gates close and we make certain conditions are safe, we will start drifting the river again!  Yeah! 

Even better though, all the folks in our area who were chased out of their homes due to the high water will be able to get back home.   Everyone is not out of the woods yet.  Bull Shoals lake was just about at flood pool (695.0) this morning at 5:00.  It will be a careful balance for several days, even weeks to get everything back or normal with the least amount of damage throughout the White River chain.

Due to the heavy rainfall we had Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, Beaver Lake reached floodpool and Table Rock Lake is expected to crest above floodpool Saturday.  Floodpool is 931 feet and they are projecting 933 feet by Saturday.  Bottom line, LOTS OF WATER.   The current projection is that the spillway releases will continue until midday on Tuesday, April 15.   In the meantime, don’t forget we are here.  Can’t do trips right now, but we are here to take care of your fly fishing needs. 

Well, another day of heavy downpours.  Think we will start selling water wings instead of fly rods.  However, the forecast through Wednesday of next week does not include any more rain!  Let’s hope.

Stan was on the water all day yesterday with Phil and Frank from Colorado Springs, CO.  Had a good day and caught fish.  Same old story, but it is working….the red tungsten beadhead size 16 midge with the Primrose & Pearl, size 18 dropper.  Fishing about 5-1/2 feet in the various layups.  The two students I had out the other day caught a few fish on the Holographic Green crackleback using the sink-tip line.  Had several hits on the Golden Variant sculpin but never hooked up.

Stan and I had a day off yesterday.  It was such a beautiful day, light breeze, sun shining, and the river just down the road…..we went fishing!  Hooked up the drift boat and went out to play for a little while.  We had a wonderful day.  Caught quite a few rainbows, mostly on the size 18 Primrose & Pearl as a dropper under the size 16 Red Tunghead midge.  Did find a spot where I could throw a sink tip with the golden variant scuplin and picked up a couple fish real fast on this.  We were trying out different things and looking for more spots to fish, so we moved on down after I caught these.  At the last lay up we caught another 10-12 fish and decided to call it a perfect day.

Had four boats on the water Tuesday with people from the various Orvis Endorsed Lodges, and other sports related activities such as dog training, wing shooting, etc.  Two of the boats had never fly fished before people and the one of the other two boats had a couple from a lodge in Alaska where they guided, and one boat with a pair from Montana where they guided.  We had a quick two hours on the water.  Almost everyone boated at least one fish and some several more. 

Wednesday, Stan took Dave Perkins, the Vice Chairman of Orvis on a quick, short outing to give him a look at our abnormally high river.  Dave caught fish on the Primrose & Pearl midge and the Bug-Eyed Bugger using a sink tip.  He was quite amazed we were catching fish in this high water.

Lots of Orvis people were staying at Big Cedar Lodge where they attending the annual Orvis Endorsed Lodge award for 2007.  The award went to Eagle Nest Lodge on the Bighorn River in Hardin, Montana.  This lodge was the first lodge in the world to be dual-endorsed by Orvis for both fly fishing and wing shooting.

Hate to say this, but we are getting more rain.  They dropped Table Rock almost a foot yesterday, but today’s rain will probably make short work of that. 

Had a boat on the water yesterday, but it was a miserable day with the rain the high water.  They caught some fish, but I think they were ready to "wring out" when they got off the water.  We are all looking forward to the days when we only have to fish four generators!