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

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!

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. 

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.

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

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.

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!    

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.

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

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

Dale - 6/22/13

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.

Hot today!  I think it is around 90 degrees with 51% humidity.  Yesterday started out looking like it was going to be pretty warm, but the storm that hit Springfield cooled us down.  We did not get rain, at least where we were on the river.  Overcast sky, some distant rumbling, and a cool down, but that was all.  Looks like a cool Monday with upper 70s and a 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms.  Slight chances of rain all week with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s.  Chances of rain almost nil by the weekend and 90s.

Happy Day!  Yesterday, they had the generators off for the first time in a couple weeks.  Didn’t turn them on until noon, as projected.   Turned on one unit and one hour later, they turned on one more unit.  At 2:00 they turned on the third unit.  Today, again, they had the generators off until noon.  Right now they are running the equivalent of a low two units, again, as projected.  Tomorrow they are supposed to have them off until 1:00 or 2:00 p.m.  Mondays are always ” up for grabs”. 

Wow!  A little behind here.  Stan on the water last Sunday and Monday with Kirk from St. Louis.  New to fly fishing and wanted to learn.  He is slated for a trip to Montana in a month or two to go fly fishing.  He probably won’t be faced with the conditions there that he had here.  9000 cfs of water on both days.  He did hook and land some fish on the big ruby midge.  Monday, Jim and Darrell  had Chris, Gaby, Kyle and Ryan, also from the St. Louis area, on the water for half a day.  Pretty much instructional trips, and they caught fish on the ruby midge, and various size black zebra midges. 

Thursday Jim took Jim and his son Branson out for half a day.  It was a size 16 & 18 black midge day.  Stan had Bob and Jan, from Kansas out for half a day.  He and Bob worked together at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department in Olathe, KS.  They had a fun day, and I think Jan outfished Bob.  Big ruby and P&P midges.

Dana took Tom from Texas out for half a day Friday.  They had a good day on the rusty midge and a CQ streamer.  Three boat group from Ohio, was taken out by Jim, Darrell and Stan.  Barry and Larry were with Darrell.  Paul went with Jim, and Stan had Tony and Mike.  Big ruby and size 18 & 16 black midges were the patterns for this outting. 

Saturday, Stan took Claudio and his son, Sebastian, from Puerto Rico out for half a day.  This is something Claudio was wanting to try.  He did and he likes it.  Said he would be back again next year when he picks his son up from Camp.  Good day for they on the big ruby, P&P and black zebra midges.   And, it was a happy day for Carolyn.  I spent the day with friends, Dawn and James Albert.  We had a great day we had.  With the water off, once we found the magic color, the copper dun midge, it was pretty fast action.  It also worked well with a size 18 gray scud dropper.  Once the water came on, we changed out and fished the rise of the one unit with a big ruby and a pink or red San Juan dropper.  As the speed of the water picked up, we moved on down the river and found another shallow area with the water starting to rise over this area.  Again, it was the big ruby and San Juan worm dropper.  We did decide that the red San Juan was the best.  Second generator came on and fishing stayed fast and furious, just like the water.  Not too much lag time with the three of us fishing between someone hooking up.  Once they turned on the third unit, the fast and furious calmed down.  We did pick up a few more on the drift down, but no action like we had had.  But, what a great day!

Clear skies are for forecast for the next several days and warmer temperatures.  Before we were under the normal temperatures….looks like we are going to be above normal for a while.  Keeps us discussing the weather!

We continue to see non-stop generation.  We had a few days of fairly low in the early morning and then they ramped it up to two or three units by 9:00-10:00 a.m. and pretty much kept it there for the balance of the day.  All we can hope for is some off time in the mornings as we get closer to the power pool level.  In the meantime, we will probably see two to three units.

Jim on the water with Ralph from Texas last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  They were “thundered” on early Wednesday.  A little squall came through in the morning with a few thunder boomers in it and a little lightning.  We saw maybe five minutes of rain and it went on it’s merry way.  However, not before the guys decided it was best to get on down the river.  Tuesday and Thursday fished pretty good for them, despite the fluctuating water.  No specific pattern, but pulled a few out on each thing they tried.

Saturday, Stan took Rick and Kristi out for an afternoon float.  Pretty good day with three units going.  Good day for them which included at least two doubles.  Big ruby with the P&P dropper were their best patterns.