Whew! Fishing Definitely Better!

July 29th, 2013

Beautiful weather over the weekend.  Temperatures in the 70s and overcast off and on during both days.  Another nice day today, 70s and overcast.  Slight chance of showers tomorrow with cool temperatures.  I think we might see the 80s Thursday and creeping back into the low 90s by the weekend.  We are looking at chances of showers starting Friday.

Generation schedule has been fairly consistent.  Low generation in the mornings, followed by two units starting up sometime after noon.  The weekend was wonderful….no generation almost all day both Saturday and Sunday.  They hit one unit for an hour each day late in the day.

Stan had Daniel and Zamir  from Springfield on the water for half a day Saturday.  Definitely better then that tough day last week!  Good day for these gentlemen on the black copper head midge and a b-bug.  Darrell’s guys from here in Branson, Donald and Mark, also did well on the black copperhead midge.  One of the ladies who took our July full-day fly fishing clinic decided it was time to venture out and test her skills and knowledge.  

Debbie - 7/27/13

Pretty sure she has this fly fishing figured out.  She caught this nice rainbow on the black copperhead zebra.  Of course, I had to venture out to see how she was doing and fortuntely was there to take a picture of one of her rainbows!  Decided to wet a line and was happy to start catching fish again on the holographic green crackleback on the sinking leader.  They have not been hitting this pattern for a while and I keep trying.  It is working again, especially on a nice sunny day. 

Sunday, Jim took David and his son Hunter out for some instruction and some catching.  They learned a lot and had a good day catching on a varigated CQ streamer and stripping an orange body 56er.  Guess who else was out….Debbie.  This time, she not only caught fish on the midge, she threw a black size 12 wooly bugger on the sinking leader and caught several fish on that.  She is ready for another weekend!

Tough Day!

July 27th, 2013

Much needed rain the past couple days.  Out of the forecast for the weekend, but chances for scattered showers on Monday and Tuesday of next week.  Good part of this is that the temperatures will remain very pleasant….upper 70s, low to mid 80s until the end of next week.

Some kind of generation all last week, mainly low in the a.m. and 2-3 units for the afternoon.  Yesterday, no generation until 3:00 p.m.  No generation projected for today except a low one unit coming on at 4:00 p.m. for one hour.  Tomorrow looks like an exact repeat of today.  Monday, will go back to the low flow in the a.m. and a couple units coming on early afternoon.

Tough day on the creek this past Tuesday.  Darrell had Jerry and his daughter, Sarah out for the morning and they could not find any producing fly.  Jim had Harold and Sophie out while Stan took Mike and  Curt.  Everyone boated a few fish, but it certainly was a battle to find fish. 

Glad to say by Wednesday, fish were a little more agreeable.  Carl and Paul from Ohio spent the morning on the water with Jim.  Good day for these guys on the weighted CQ streamer.  Stan had Terry, from South Carolina out for the morning and Terry had a good day on the black copperhead zebra midge and the peach egg drifting the high bank on the drift out.

Dale spent Thursday all day on the water with Jim.  Fair to good day stripping the olive CQ streamer or the rusty midge. 

Stan’s new fly fisher yesterday got off to a great start.  It was one of those very good days on the black copper head midge.  Nice fish to boot!  Several nice sized fish, 16-18 inches.    That was the good news.  Bad news was that he spent most of his morning in a downpour.  Rain off and on all the time he was on the water and mainly “on”.  However, we think he likes fly fishing!

Jim – 7/26/13

Thank heavens we don’t have those really tough days very often!

Sometimes Good…Sometimes Not!

July 24th, 2013

We have seen some much-needed rain the past few days.  Actually cancelled a trip Monday because of the heavy lightning.  Today, we are expecting mid 80s by noon and upper 80s for the day.  This will be pretty much the same forecast through the coming weekend.    By early next week, the temperatures will rise back into the 90s. 

Not a whole lot of change in the generation patterns.  Over the past three days, we have seen low generation in the mornings instead of no generation.  They are still running 2-3 generators every afternoon.  I really doubt that this pattern will change much over the next few days.

Not a bad day for the Louisiana Kerrs last Thursday.  James Albert spent the day with Jim working streamers and pulled a respectible number of fish on these.  Carolyn had Dawn and Albert.  They too had a good day on the CQ streamer, copper dun, black copperhead and P&P midges. 

Friday Stan took Doc from Oklahoma out for the day.  Slow bite on the copper dun and P&P midges.  No generation and temperature was near 100….I’d lay low too! 

Scott and Adria spent all day Saturday on the water with Jim.  It was a size 10 CQ streamer day, mixed with the P&P and gold head olive midges, and  dark gray scuds.  Good day for these two.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the rest of the crew had a group of new fly fishers from the Leawood, Kansas Orvis store who were taking the Orvis 301 Clinic.  This was a full day of actively learning and fishing.   Stan had Mark and Becky from Blue Springs.  Good day for these two on the copper dun, big ruby (when the water came on) and the P&P midges.  Jim from Columbia, spent the day with Darrell.  Their best pattern was the CQ streamer.  It was streamer work for Jim!  Dana had Toni and Dan from Warrensburg.  Not a bad day on tha tab b-bug and a black midge.  Carolyn had Dan and LuAnne from Kansas City.  

LuAnne - 7/20/13

Although they caught fish on the copperhead black zebra and copper dun midges, the CQ streamer was the most consistent pattern for most of the day.  Once the water came on, it was a big ruby with a red San Juan worm or a peachy king egg pattern along the high back on our drift out.  

Dan – 7/20/13

Sunday was another Orvis 301 group.  More fun!  Jay and Terry from Harrisonville were with Jim.  If I remember correctly, Jay caught most of the fish in the a.m. and Terry got even in the afternoon.  Good day for these guys on the big ruby and the rusty midges.  Darrell had Nathan, who works at the Orvis store, in his boat.  Nathan had a good day on the CQ streamer.  Michael and Kenny, from Kansas, were with Dana.  Best patterns were the CQ streamer and the tan b-bug.  Carolyn had Ralph and Marianne

Marianne – 7/21/13

from Kansas City.  This was one of those “whoever sits in the front of the boat” days.  Marianne could do no wrong.  Yes, we let Ralph catch some fish too!   Good day for these two on the copperhead black and rusty midges.  Fished the rise with the big ruby midge and a red San Juan dropper.  At least two doubles for Ralph and Marianne.  Crazy weekend!

Working For Those Trout!

July 19th, 2013

Weather is hot!  90s yesterday and again today.  90s looks like the projection into the weekend.  There is a slight chance of showers every day into next Tuesday.  Not much relief in slight.

No generation in the mornings the past three days.  Prior to that, it was low flow in the morning and then a ramp up to a high one unit or low two.  Really preferred that generation pattern to what we are having now. 

Jim had an interesting trip out last Saturday.  Tim from Kansas brought his nephew, Sverjen from Poland to fish.  Whole lots of sign language going on.  Jim didn’t speak Polish and Sverjen did not speak English!  Fish did care.  Sverjen hooked fish on the blood worm dropped from a P&P midge, a size 18 gray scud dropped from the P&P, or the copper dun midge.    Keith and Claudia from here in Missouri spend the morning with Stan.  Claudia is a new fisher, and I think she likes it now.  They fished the P&P and copper dun midges.  Carolyn had Ron and Joyce,

Joyce - 7/13/13

also from here in Missouri, out for half a day.  Not a fast and furious day, but lots of fun and we caught fish on the CQ streamer, the hot hair nymph, the black zebra and a copper dun midge.  The trip was a very thoughtful present from their son. 

Sunday, Cassie and David from Kansas City spent quality instructional time on the river with Jim.  They are both new, fishing was slow, so they did a lot of skill and technique work. 

Debbie - 7/15/13

Monday, Stan and Carolyn took Vic, Ken, Debbie and Laura out for half a day.  Of course, Carolyn took the ladies and Stan took the gentlemen.  Lots of stories on this trip that will never be disclosed!  This was Debbie and Ken’s first time with a fly rod.  both did well.  Best patterns were the copper dun, P&P and the copper headed black zebra midge. 

Laura – 7/15/13

Steven, from Illinois, on the water all day Tuesday with Jim.  Jim said “tuff”.  Worked for them, but caugut fish on the CQ streamer, the copper/black midge, a gray midge and an all black midge.  Wednesday, it was James and Diane for a half day with Stan.  Was off at put in, then one unit came on and then three units blew through at 1:00 p.m.  Good for the drfit out!  Best pattern was the copper dun midge.  

 
Yesterday, Gina took Dylan and his Grandpa, Don out for half day of instruction and catching.  They fished the copper/black midge, a red midge and a gray scud.  Darrell had Rick and
Dylan and Don – 7/18/13

Trent out for half a day.   They really could not find any best pattern either.  Another “tuff” day on the water.  Jim and Carolyn has the Louisiana Kerrs on the water all day.  Once the water came on, it really fished better.  Pulled fish all the way though to the take out on the CQ streamer, a P&P midge, the copper midge, the copper head black zebra and a size 18 gray scud or blood worm dropper.

With these warm days, the oxygen is burning out of the water pretty quickly, especially when there is no generation.  Consider going to 7X tippet and stay with the small size bugs.  Slow down a bit when stripping patterns.  Go early!  Fishes fair early in the a.m.  Once the sun has warmed up the edges, fishing starts slowing down big time!

More Ups Than Downs!

July 16th, 2013

Weather has been pretty nice the past week.  A bit of wind yesterday, but the temperatures have been pleasant…..for this time of the year.  Looks like low 90s into the coming weekend when they are calling for scattered showers.

Generation patterns have been it’s usual spactic self.  However, seems like the levels are up more than off of down.  The few times of low flow have been great.  Wish it was stay at the low levels more.  We did have off water in the mornings over the weekend.

Darrell on the water last Tuesday (wow!…running late again)  He has Pat from Texas out for the morning.  They had a pretty good day on the CQ streamer.  Terry was out with Dana.  They too had a good day on the CQ streamer.  Also caught fish on the tan bug and a P&P midge. 

Wednesday, Jim took Dean from Oklahoma out for half a day.  Fish were pretty tight lipped that day.  They caught fish, but no pattern was working best .  Bret, from Iowa, was out all day with Stan.  They caught fish on the holographic green crackleback, and the P&P under the big ruby.  Unfortunately, as soon as they found the pattern and a pod of fish, another generator would come on and scatter the fish again.  It was frustrating, but they had a pretty good day.  Darrell took Greg and Deb out for the morning.  P&P was their pattern.

Thursday, Teresa and Trey from Tennessee spent the morning with Carolyn.  Fun couple.  Fortunately, it was one of those off mornings and Trey started hooking and catching on the CQ streamer.  Also caught fish on the blood worm dropped from the ugly midge or a black zebra.  Jim was with Jorge from New York.  Pretty good day for these guys on the copper head black zebra and a gray scud.  Jorge is pretty new, so Jim did quite a bit of work with him on his skills.  Dean and Bev spent the morning with Stan.  It was the P&P, Rusty and big ruby midges for them.

Lots of Fishing Going On!

July 10th, 2013

Hot!  That is the only word you can use to describe the temperatures today.  It was 102 in Branson around 4:00 p.m. today.  We are looking for a slight cool down over the next few days.  Upper 80s to low 90s….at least into the first part of next week.

Generation has been off for most of every morning, and the past three days they have turned on two, then three generators anywhere from 11:00 a.m. to as late as 2:00 p.m.  Today, they came on at noon.  The projection for tomorrow is generation to come on around 11:00 a.m. or noon and we will see two to three generators until late in the day.

Lots of fishing going on.  Last Friday, we had four boats on the water.  We were scheduled for five, but one of our customers hurt his back and had to cancel.  We hope he is feeling better!   Stan, Darrell, Gina and Dana took out a large party of eight fly fishers.  Stan had Chris and Jeff.  They had a good day on the P&P and black zebra midges.  Ron and Jimmie were with Darrell.  Started with the black zebra and finished up with the CQ streamer. 

Cade - 7/5/13

Gina had Cade and Carter. These two brothers are good fishers. Carter was good as manipulating the olive filoplume.  They they also caught on the tiger tail, and the P&P midge. Dana had Dusty and JD.  They had a great day on the tan B-bug and the P&P midge.  Good day for everyone until they turned on the generators and the water turned to “juck”!  Really turned very dirty.

Carter - 7/5/13

Saturday, Gina had Brandon from Arkansas on the water for half a day.  The really flat, no generation water that made getting a good drift very difficult.  The fish were not too

Brandon - 7/6/13

   happy with this either.  Had to work for them, but they were there.  Best flies for Brandon were the burgundy midge dropped from an egg, the UV gray scud, and stripping a flasher behind the CQ streamer.   Darrell had Ben and his father Tom out for the morning.  Best patterns were the black zebra and copper dun midges.

Ben - 7/6/13

Tom - 7/6/13

 

Elayne and Carl, from Illinois, were out with Dana.  They are thinking of retiring the the area one day.  Best flies for them were the B-bug in tan and an olive scud.  Stan took Ron, who now lives in Branson out for half a day Saturday.  Carolyn had Ron’s son, Aubrey who currently lives in Chicago, and his brother-in-law, Warren from Texas.  Ron had a good day with Stan on the P&P and copper dun midges.  Carolyn’s guys are new, so they were wading and working on casting.  Early on, their patterns were the black zebra (very early), then the copper dun and finally the P&P midge.  Once they started throwing some line, it was the CQ streamer.  Good day for these two new fly fishers.

Warren - 7/6/13Aubrey - 7/6/13

Aubrey - 7/6/13

Sunday, Bob and his father-in-law, Alan were out with Stan.  Good day for these new fly fishers on the copper dun midge.  One unit came on at 9:00 a.m. and it was the big ruby midge with a red San Juan dropper.  Little tough keeping the bugs clean when the water first came on.  Once it cleared up though, the bite was back on.

Great Weather!

July 5th, 2013

Wonderful, nice temperatures, and sunny to partly sunny days for the past week!  More of the same through tomorrow and then they are predicting more seasonal weather….90s and humidity.  Great way to start July though with temperatures in the 80s. 

What can I about the generation schedule?  Five days of generation through July 1.  Then on  July 2, it was off for a few hours early, early in the morning.  Then they cranked it up for the day.   Wednesday it was off with a little  generation mid day (wadeable), then back off, and basically the same pattern for the 4th.  Although on the 4th it did not come on until around 4:00 p.m. for a couple hours then back off.  This morning they were supposed to be generating, but much to our surprise, it is off as I am writing (8:50 a.m)  We will see what the balance of the day brings, but I am betting on some generating some time during the day.  If we are lucky, we might see no generation most of the weekend……hope…hope!

Lots of folks fishing.  Stan and I had Bob and Marcie and their son Rob and his wife Shawn on the water Monday.  First time for Bob and Marcie to fish this much water.  This was Rob and Shawn’s first time, so no surprises.  Fun half day and everyone caught fish.  With the high water, it was the big ruby, P&P and copper dun midge droppers.  Darrell had Eric and Christy out for half a day.   Tough with the high water, but they boated fish on the  big ruby.

Kristi with nice brown - 7/1/13

Rick and Kristi needed their fishing fix, so they spent half a day on the water with Carolyn on Monday.  Good day for these two on the big ruby with a size 18 scud dropper, or the peach egg dropper on the high bank.  Rick landed his brown on a size 6 sculpzilla.  Stan had Dan and his daughter Hayley out.  Think Hayley out fished her Dad.  Best pattern was the big ruby.

Sam - 7/2/13

Carolyn took Sam, from Texas,out for half a day on Tuesday.  Sam has done some fly fishing in the past and getting back into it…..big time!  Before the morning was over, he was back into casting and throws a good line.  Good day for Sam on the big ruby and a black zebra early in the day, then the copper dun midge.  Caught a few on the CQ streamer and the size 18 gray scud under the big ruby.  Fun day!    

Tanner - 7/2/13

 

 Darrell has Steve and Tanner,
 from Arkansas out for the morning
on Monday.  The guys had a good
day on the black zebra midge. 

Steve - 7/2/13

Fourth of July was a busy day for us.  Stan and Dana out with a group from Oklahoma.  Stan had Tim and Dana had Jacob and Braden.  Weird morning.  The fish were not really taking midges and scuds fast and furious.  They were eating them, but they seemed to prefer a streamer.  All are new fly fishers, so the P&P and rusty were their best midges.  Dana also caught some on the B-bug and the CQ streamer.  Edd, from Texas spend the morning with Darrell.  He is also getting reintroduced to fly fishing.  They with best on the P&P and CQ streamer.  Sam didn’t get enough fishing on Tuesday, so he went out again with Carolyn.  They pretty much started with and finished up with the CQ streamer.  Very good day for Sam and he is really throwing some line now that he spent a whole morning casting and stripping streamers.

Good Days….Tough Days!

June 30th, 2013

Weather has been nice, other than the wind!  We are looking at 80s all the way into the coming weekend.  Fourth of July looks like mid to upper 80s and no chances for rain.

Generation has been non-stop, other than a two hour off period from midnight to 2:00 a.m. Friday morning, for the past seven days.  I know they have generation on the projection for tomorrow and we will just have to see what this week brings.

Stan out last Monday (yes, I am a bit behind) with Paul from Texas.  Paul is fairly new to fly fishing and had a good day on the size 12 ruby midge and a CQ streamer.  They had three generations going at 9000 cfs while they were on the water.

Wednesday, Peggy and Jerry, from New Hampshire, spent the day on the water with Stan.  Pretty good day for these two on the big ruby and a holographic green crackleback. 

Matt, from Parkville, and his friend Dana, needed a fly fishing fix after attending a meeting most of last Thursday.  So, around 4:30 they hit the high water with Stan.  Hot day when they started, in the upper 90s or low 100s, and three generators going.  Good day.  Fog started moving in and everything cooled down.  Pattern was mainly the big ruby with all the moving water!   Great way to finish the day. 

Friday was a busy day on the water.   Stan had Marty from Louisiana, out for half a day.  This was Marty’s first experience fishing in heavy current.  He had a good day on….you guessed it….the big ruby.  Darrell was out with a couple of his regulars, Dwayne and Gabby.  Worked for them but had a good day on the big ruby and a big Primrose & Pearl midge.  Trina and Todd from Louisiana were fishing with Dana for the morning.  Brand new experience for these two.  No best pattern for them.  It was one of those “a fish a fly” days.  Carolyn had Wayne and Colleen from Hawaii out for half a day.  They fished with Jim all day Monday.  Tough day for them Monday as the water was playing yo-yo.  Also, it was way too hot.  They decided to only go half a day with Jim on Wednesday.  Good idea.  It was still pretty hot, but half a day was much better and it was definitely a better day on the water on the coperhead black midge, red midge, and copper dun midge.  Had a good half day with Carolyn Friday on the copper dun, P&P and big ruby midges.  Also pulled a few with the CQ streamer.  Fun couple to fish with. 

‘s

Two New Fly Fishers In The Works!

June 24th, 2013

Pretty warm days!  Think is has been in the 90s past 3 to 4 days and we are looking at more in this range.  Slight chance of rain Friday, but temperatures holding warm.

Defintely had some wading water Friday and Saturday.  Supposed to have had off water most of yesterday, but they turned it on around 9:00 a.m.  Good news about this was the fact that they turned it on very low….maybe 1300 cfs, so it was a great flow still for wade fishing.  Generation all day today and we will just have to see what happens the rest of the week.  It is that time of the year when they need power during the week as businesses fire up for the day.  Probably see some off time over the weekend…..hope…hope!

Friday, Jim and Stan had out a group of guys from Iowa out all day.  I think all but one of them had fly fished before.  John, who was in the boat with Stan and his friend Ron, has fished with us over several years.  He now has a place in Florida so he does a lot of salt water fly fishing.  Stan’s guys had a very good day on the big ruby, the holographic green crackleback and the P&P midge.  The water was off when they put in but two units came on at 9:00 a.m..  Once the water cleared up, fishing was back on.  Jim had Russ and Ed.  Good day for these new fishers on the CQ streamer, a red midge and a black midge.  Dana had Phillip, from West Virginia out for half a day.  This was Phillip’s first experience with a fly rod and he did well on the CQ streamer, a rusty midge as well as the red midge. 

Darrell out half a day with new fly fishers, Pat and Barb from Arizona.  They had a fun time.  Caught some fish and learn how to throw that fly rod!  Best pattern was the P&P midge.  

Barb - 6/22/13

Pat - 6/22/13

 Jim worked with two new, future fly fishers, Blake and his brother Grant.  Neat couple of young men who both picked up casting, and eventually hooking and landing fish on the copper dun midge with a blood worm dropper.  Their father, Ron, was downstream a little ways watching, fishing and catching on the CQ streamer. 

Blake - 6/22/13

Grant - 6/22/13

Happy new fly fishers!
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Ken and his friend John from Kansas, spent the day on the water with Stan. Very good days for these guys on the big ruby (water came on at 2:00 p.m.), the P&P midge and the holographic green crackleback. Did hook a few on a red soft hackle. Gina had out one of her regulars for the day, Dale from Oklahoma. They had a good and fun day on the CQ streamer, the flasher, a crackleback, a P&P and the little red midge. Dale pulled a nice brown out!

Dale - 6/22/13

We Are Seeing Some Wading Water!

June 21st, 2013

Great, but hot weather we have seen over for several days.  And, it looks like it will continue for a while.  The are slight chances for moisture through Sunday, but these are slight.  After that a row of 90 degree days into next weekend.

Yeah!  We have had three days in a row with no generation in the morning.  Yesterday, the water came on at 1:00 p.m.  Wednesday it came on at noon.  We are not expecting generation today until around 1:00 p.m.  With the hot days, it’s time to get off the water anyway!

Tuesday, Jim was on the water for half a day with Ron from North Dakota.  Water was tough Tuesday.  They did land some fish on the #16 red midge, and #18 black and ugly midges.  Carolyn was finishing the second day of a two-day fly fishing school with Bill Miller (no relation) from Kansas.  We experimented with lots of different patterns and techniques and Bill either hooked or landed fish on most of them.  I think the big ruby with the copper dun dropper was our most consistent patterns. 

Roger and his friend, John, from Texas spent half a day on the water with Jim Wednesday.  Another tough day for these two new fly fishers but they had a lot of fun.  Patterns were the red midge, black midge and the P&P.  Stan had Kevin, a red fish fly fisher from Texas out all day.  Of course he liked stripping the CQ streamer.  They also caught fish on the big ruby with a peach egg dropper.  Most of his fish, however, were on the CQ.  Used the ruby and egg on the drift out.  Good day for Kevin.

Thursday. Stan spent all day on the water with Mike from Arkansas.  Mike fishes in Arkansas a lot and had never fished Taneycomo.  He thought it was a pretty good fishery!  Good day on the P&P and big ruby.  Gina had KC (his father fished with Jim the day before) and Izzie on the water in the morning.  they wanted to learn how to cast well enough to hook a trout.  Success!  Best patterns were the P&P with a blood worm dropper and a size 12 olive wooly bugger.

Izzie & KC - 6/20/13

Tommy, from Oklahoma, took half a day trip with Carolyn.  Fun day on the water.  Highlight of the day was the trout that was cast to, hooked, and landed…all on the other side of a large downed tree!  Good day on the P&P, blood worm dropper and the big ruby with the red San Juan worm dropper when the three generators came on.  Lots of fun action this way. 

Tommy - 6/20/13

Price and Marge from Kansas had not fished with Jim since early last year.  Time to get on the water again.  Great day for these two on the CQ streamer, black zebra midge and blood worm dropper. 

Unfortunately, they must have had some unexpected power needs today.  Projection for generation was not until 1:00 p.m. this afternoon.  They turned on two units at 9:00 a.m.


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