What great days we have been having the past three.  Sunshine with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s.  Looks like this will run through Monday.  However, Monday is showing a slight (30%) chance for rain as is Tuesday (40%).  After that, it will be temperatures in the mid to upper 70s!

Still no change in generation.  Off from about 8:00 p.m. through the night and into the next day.  Two units coming on around 1:00-2:00 p.m.

Dale – 9/5/23

Catching has been getting better.  Darren on the water Tuesday with Ansel and Steven.  They had a good day on a biot midge.  Dale, from Texas, fished with Carolyn.  Their best pattern was the P&P midge.

Dale out again on Wednesday with Dana.  Another good day on the P&P and ruby 2 midges!

Slight chances (20-30%) for rain every day this week through next Saturday.  Temperatures in the upper 80s and l0w 90%.  Sounds pretty nice to me.

No change in generation pattern except they have started the generators a little later in the day…..around 2:00 p.m. for 4-5 hours then off for the evening.

Grand central station this Labor Day weekend.  Can’t blame them though as the weather was great.  No 100 degree days!  Darren had Gary from Oklahoma on the water Friday.  Good day for them on a midge larvae or pupa and a scud.

Saturday we emptied the store.  Gary was on the water with a one-day Orvis school.  Darren had a family from Florida out, Joe, Richard, Christie and Olivia.  They were catching on small scuds.  Everyone except Joe had never seen a fly rod.  Olivia, the nine year old, caught her first fish on a fly rod!  Jim, Dana and Carolyn had a group of six guys out.  Jim had Brayden and Black,  They caught fish on the P&P midge.  Dana’s guys, Stephen and Michael were catching on the P&P midge and a micro red San Juan worm.  Carolyn had Caden and Kirk fishing a ruby 2 midge with and without a small tan or gray scud.  Fun day for everyone

Todd and Chase fished with Dana Sunday.  The micro red San Juan worm was still working but the P&P gave way to a gray scud.  Darren had three of the family from Florida out again.  Joe, Richard and Margaret.  Scuds were the ticket.  Another fun day for this family.

Looks like a couple more days in the upper 90s.  Saturday will be in the low 90s and Sunday will see mid 80s!  Then, low to mid 80s through Thursday.  Friday climbs back up into the low 80s and Saturday looks like low 90s.  Slight chances for rain Sunday and Monday.

The only change we have seen the past two days in the generation pattern is that they are coming on around 11:00 a.m. instead of noon or 1:00 p.m.  The bad news there is that around 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. is when we start to see the dissolved oxygen come up.  According to the Corp of Engineers report, they have 82.4 tons of LOx on hand for whenever they decide to start injecting.

Gary on the water last Friday with Nick and Hayden from Arkansas.  Instructional trip with them also catching fish on the Ruby 2 midge.

Saturday, Darren had Derek from up in St. Joseph.  They worked on and a few fish on the sowbug/scud combo.

Randy and Bob from Oklahoma fished with Carolyn Tuesday.  Another tough day.  This was Bob’s first time with a fly rod, they worked a little on the roll cast then the pick up and lay down cast. He had it down pretty good by the time the trip was over.  Best pattern was the P&P midge.

Drove to work this morning and the sun was shining brightly over a clear blue sky with no wind.  Temperature was around 64 degrees!  What a difference from waking up to lots of thunder and lightning which we have had the past four mornings!  Unfortunately, looks like the warm weather is moving back in.  Low 80s tomorrow, low 90s Thursday and Friday, but back into the mid to upper 90s from there.  And, it will be dry well into next week.

Generation pattern has not changed much.  No generation during the morning hours.  Around Noon or as late as 2:00 p.m.  one or two units come on then three.  Stay on for 5-6 hours then off for the night and into the next day.

Gary on a wade trip last Thursday with Billy from Indiana.  Wonderful day.  Billy was catching on the cream mop fly and a ruby 2.

Friday was back to normal.  Fishing, or catching was tough.  Carolyn had Diane and Randy out this day.  Diane is brand new to fly fishing, so we worked a little on the roll cast, regular cast and other techniques.  Best pattern was a P&P midge.  When the water came on, it was a cerise San Juan worm.

Randy – 8/11/23

Saturday, Carolyn took Randy and Andrew out for half a day.  Little better day, and mainly on the mop fly and Cerise San Juan worm.  Darren had Bill on a wade trip and they worked hard, got drenched and caught on the scud/sowbug combo and soft hackle.

Other than the chances for rain every day, the weather is great!  At least compared to the hot days we have been having.  Highs this week will be low 90s.  Tomorrow will be the best chance for rain at 70%.  After that, 20-30% chance each day through the weekend and into next week.  But, a continuation of the low 90s for temperatures!

No change in generation.  Starting up around noon or later.

Wondering why the fishing patterns have been the way they have for the past several weeks, we finally took a look at the DO (dissolved oxygen) patterns.  We have noticed that early morning fishing has been slow and then started picking up around 10:00-10:30 a.m..  Unfortunately, 10:30 only gave us a couple hours before they fired up the generators and chased us off the river.  Looking at the DO numbers, the oxygen was low (below 4.0 ppm) early.  Around 10:00 a.m. or a little later it was going up.  Trout prefer 4.0 ppm and better.

Dana, Gary and Carolyn on the water last Wednesday with another group.  Steve, Sara and Tim were mainly with Dana.  Sarah and Theo with Carolyn and Gary had Bill and Chad.  Tough morning but everyone caught at least one fish.  Several were new to fly fishing.

Thursday, Darren took Louis from Arkansas out for half a day.  Midge emerger and the ruby 2 were his patterns.  Dana had Josh, Cam and Carter on a wade trip.  Red San Juan worm was their pattern.  Jim had Gavin and Kristy out on an instructional trip.  They had some strikes and break offs, but nothing to the boat.

Kylie – 8/4/23

Kylie and her father, Terry, fished with Carolyn Friday.  This was Kylie’s first for trout on a fly rod.  We worked hard and she landed a couple fish on a ruby 2 and red San Juan worm.  Had several hits but missed them as she was having fun watching all the fish around her feet!  Dana, Jim and Darren were on the water with another group.

Jackson – 8/4/23

Dana had Brayden and Jackson and they were catching on the red San Juan worm and orange egg pattern.  Jim had Doc and Ashley fishing a micro San Juan worm and a root beer midge.  Darren’s guys, Grayson and Alex,  fished a soft hackle, scud and ruby 2 midge.

We hit 103 yesterday and the projection is for 100 today.  Probably will be warmer.  Upper 90s tomorrow, then it will start to drop.  Mid 80s for early next week, then low 90s to finish out the week.  Yeah!

No change in generation pattern.  Off during the morning hours.  Coming on anywhere from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  Running for six hours or so then off for the evening and into the next morning.  The dissolved oxygen is running as low as 3.5 ppm during the morning hours and picking up to 5-6.5 ppm around 10:30-11:00 a.m.  Yesterday, when they opened up the generators, it dropped back to 4.4 ppm

Andy – 7/31/23

Darren out Monday with Billy and Carol from Georgia.  Long waits between activity, but they did catch some fish on the double midge rig and a midge emerger.  Andy and Drew

Drew – 7/31/23

from Iowa spend the morning with Dana.  They caught some on the holographic green crackleback.  Jim had one of his regular, regulars, Scotty, on the water.  Tough day!

Tuesday, Jim and Carolyn on the water with the guy’s outing.  Jim had Adam and Alex.  Carolyn was with Joel and Zach.  Tried lots of different things,

Zach – 8/1/23

and finally pulled out some fish on the small white mop fly.  Guys

Joel – 8/1/23

day out, they had fun!

Looks like another week of hot weather.  Upper 90s to 100s through Friday.  Slight chances of rain most days this coming week which means high humidity.  Ugh!  Seeing upper 80s possibly by the middle of next week, but that’s over a week away.  This will probably change.

Not much change in generation.  Off during the morning then on around noon.  However, the past couple of days they have turned it on about an hour earlier than the projection.

Darren on the water all day last Monday with Matt and Grant from Texas.  They caught fish but they worked for them.  No place in particular was best on the river.  Patterns were a rusty midge and the sowbug/scud combo.

Tuesday, Gary took Parker out for a half day wade trip.  They had several hits and rodeoed several fish.  Did bring some to the net on the G-bug and a peach egg pattern.   Jim was on the water with Mike from Mississippi.  No best flies but they did bring in a few fish.

Wednesday, Jim was on the water again.  This time he had Robert out for half a day.  Another no best pattern day.  Darren had Randy and Tim from Illinois on a wade trip.  They caught some fish on a double zebra midge combo.  Had a battle with a nice one, but it broke off right at the boat.

Gary out with Randy, Isaac, and Joel on a wade trip Thursday.  They finally brought some on a black soft hackle.  They had a few hits on a black wooly bugger but did not get them in.  AND, this was one of those days when the water came on earlier than projected so they did not get their full half day in.  Dana had Jamie and Trevor.  Because the water is so clear, we have been using 7X tippet.  They had some hits but broke everything off before getting to the net.

Friday, Darren took Rene on a half day wade.  New fly fisher dealing with 7X and small bugs….midge

Bruce – 7/28/23

emerger and zebra midge.  He did get land a few.  Dana had a couple who had taken our fly fishing school in 2021, Bruce and Kelly from Iowa.  They brought in some fish on the holographic green crackleback.

This is the longest siege of tough fishing we have experienced.  Good news is that it will get better.

Looks like some fairly warm days ahead.  Mid to upper 90s through next week.  Might get to 100s by the weekend.  And, lots of sun.

No change in generation.  No generation during the morning and late evening hours.  Coming on from noon  to 2:00 p.m.  Then off around 7:00 or 8:00 p.m.

Dana had Chris and Terry  from Texas on the water last Wednesday.  Fairly new fly fishers.  They caught some fish on the mop fly.   Darren was out on a wade trip with Bruce, Emma, and Jennifer from Illinois.  Brand new to the sport.  They had a fun time and caught fish on the sowbug/scud combo.

Thursday, Darren had Jeremy and Amber out for half a day.  They two were new to the sport.  They worked hard and fished a sculpin and the sowbug/scud combo.

Saturday, Dana took David and Dwight out for half a day.  Another tough day but they caught some fish on the mega worm.  Carolyn had Steven and his friend Kirk (from Colorad0) out for half a day.  This was

Kirk – 7/22/23

Kirk’s first time with a fly rod.  We worked at it and caught fish on a black wooly bugger, but best was a gray scud under the ruby 2 midge.

Mike – 7/23/23

Dana had Mike and Eric from Florida out this morning.  They caught on the black copperhead and ruby 2 midges and a bloodworm.

Looks like heat advisory today with the temperature at 100 degrees.  Probably same for tomorrow as it will again be 100 degrees.  By Thursday it will drop to the low 90s followed by mid to upper 80s Friday and Saturday.  Yeah!  Sunday will be low 90s; mid 90s Monday then back up into the upper 90s Tuesday and Wednesday.

No change in generation pattern.   Off during the morning hours.  One unit came on yesterday at 11:00 a.m. and the second at noon.

Dana on the water all day a week ago last Thursday with one of his regulars Billy.  They worked hard and caught fish on the ruby 2, black copper head and P&P midges.

Lee – 7/10/23

Last Monday Carolyn and Dana took a group of guys who have been friends and have gotten together for the past 35 years.  Eric and Arlen fished with Dana and Lee fished with Carolyn.  Lee caught fish on the holographic green crackleback, a sculpin pattern and a ruby 2 under a big ruby.  Dana’s guys were fishing the holographic green crackleback.  Tough day!

Lyndol and Aaron from Oklahoma fished with Jim last Tuesday.  Fished very slow but they brought a few fish to the boat on a small JQ streamer.

Wednesday, Gary took Jay and Mike from Pennsylvania out for a wade trip.  It was a P&P midge and orange egg pattern for them.  Slow bite and the water came on at 11:00 so they were off the river by 11:30.

Gina took Jim and Brett from Texas out last Friday.

Jim – 7/14/23

Brett – 7/14/23

L’il Ruby, tiger tail, black copperhead midge and a #14 wooly bugger were their patterns.  They did get a few hits on a soft hackle.

Gary, Dana and Carolyn were on an eight person wade trip.  We had two families of Mom and Dad and two sons on the river.  What a fun day!  It was one of those special days

Matt – 7/14/23

when the fish God was looking down at the new, young fly fishers and let them catch fish.  One of the better days we have had for weeks.  Christina, Chris and their sons, Noah and Ethan.

Kim – 7/14/23

The other couple, Kim, Matt and their sons, Winston and Sterling.  We had just had a heavy rain that morning so we

Noah & Ethan – 7/14/23

rigged everyone up with a red San Juan worm dropped from a midge and the fish were on the worm.

Sterling – 7/14/23

After a while, this action stopped so we changed to a cream mop fly and the bite was on again.

Christina – 7/14/23

Sunday, Carolyn had a couple who had taken our Orvis fly fishing school back in 2020.  We were back to the slow bite

Pat – 7/16/24

Susan – 7/16/23

days, but brought several to the boat on the cream mop fly.  The action kept us busy enough and we had a fun day.

Monday, Carolyn had Hanna and Makayla on the water learning the basic casts and presentation techniques.  We rigged up with some flies to try and catch a fish.  Unfortunately, it was a tough day and we only brought one brown trout to the net.  Good news is that these ladies are going to be great casters……especially if they practice a little!

Hannah and Makayla -04/17/23

Mid 80s through the weekend.  Then Upper 80 and low 90s for the following week.  Slight chances for showers showing up almost every day.  Wish some of them would materialize!  We to need some rain.

No change in generation pattern yet.  Still off during the evening hours and next morning until noon or later.

Matt – 7/3/23

Mike – 7/3/23

Gina on the water Monday with Mike and his sons, Matt and Kent.  Good day for them on an olive wooly bugger,

Kent – 7/3/23

Blake – 7/3/23

P&P and red midge, and a cream colored mega worm.  They had a wade trip so she had them lined up across from the boat ramp catching fish.  Barbara and her grandson, Blake were fishing with Carolyn.  Both are brand new so we worked a little on getting the fly into the water.  Blake caught his first trout on a fly rod.  Caught it on the P&P midge.

Fourth of July, Darren took Chris and Cooper out for half a day wade trip.  Some more new fly fishers got instruction on getting the fly into the water.  They caught fish on a sowbug/scud combo.

Wednesday, Dana and Darren on the water with a group from Texas.  Dana had Matt and Blakely.  Darren had grandfather Dave, grandson, Kamden and Kevin.  They were fishing a micro midge.