This weather has been absolutely wonderful!  Mornings are crisp, in the upper 40s or low 50s; the days are in the upper 70s to low 80s, and lots of sunshine.  By Monday of next week, looks like we will creep back into the upper 80s or low 90s.  See some chances of showers toward the end of next week, but we know how that goes…maybe so, maybe not.

Generation schedule….lots of wading time.  They are still pretty  “right on” with the schedule, so people wading.

Sunday, Dave and his son Jefferson, from Oklahoma, spend the morning learning how to fly fish with Jim.  Their best pattern was the varigated gold sculpin pulled very slowly.  They also caught a few on the blood worm.  Meanwhile, Stan had Trahy and his wife Beth, from Kansas out for half a day.  They had a pretty good morning on the rusty midge, and, when the water came on, the red San Juan worm. 

Fishing is spotty.  Find the right spot and you’ll pull several fish, so keep moving if you are not catching.  Depending on the day, either the golden variant sculpin or the charcoal gray sculpin have been working.  Several mornings, even with the sun out, the black zebra has been the one to go to.  Don’t forget the filoplume.  I fished for a while Monday and this was the best pattern for me, in certain places, using the sinking leader.  As the sun got higher in the sky, the primrose & pearl with a bloodworm dropper was the ticket.  However, takes were very, very soft.  With the wind blowing, it was a challenge to know when you had a hit!

Lovely weather we are having.  Low 80s today and, so far, overcast skies.  Sun peeks out every once in a while, but not for long.  Into Friday, they are forecasting low 80s and upper 70s.  Relief!

No change in generation pattern.  Off in the mornings with generation starting around 1:00 p.m., and running until 7:00-8:00 p.m. 

Yes, we did have an oil slick on the upper part of Taneycomo Thursday morning.  Jim had a half day wade trip out and he called me the moment he saw the river.  I checked with the Hatchery folks and they had just become aware of it.  Not certain what caused it, but they did fire up a generator early that day and it was soon gone.  There is no sign of any residue from the incident nor negative affect on the fishery.  

Jim out with Jeff and Donna from Nebraska on Tuesday…the day with the strange film on the water.  Both are new fishers, so Jim worked with them on various skills and techniques.  It was an interesting day with the water going up and down due to the oil slick on the water.  They hooked fish on various patterns, including the red midge, red San Juan worm, a white midge and the primrose and pearl midge.

“Stan the man” on the water Saturday with Jonathon and Melinda from St. Louis.  Melinda caught on quickly to fly fishing and they caught fish on the primrose & pearl midge and holographic green crackleback.  Definitely a slow start but picked up when the water started coming on.  Jim had Matt and Josh, from Oklahoma out for an instructional morning.  They caught a few fish on the gray scud with a blood worm dropper.   Carolyn was in the water with Marcie and Bob, from Nebraska.  Slow, but fun day for us.  Marcie caught her first fish on a dry, the Big Ugly.  Had another nice one hooked on the golden variant sculpin.  Think Bob caught his fish on the primrose & pearl midge.  Fun couple that I think will spend lots of time together fly fishing!

Over the past few days, lots of people fishing.  Best catching has been in the Hatchery area in or near the outlets.  Fishers are catching a few fish in other area, but it will be one or two fish on this fly, then change.  Best patterns in the Hatchery area have been the tan scud, especially the flashback tan scud, gray scuds size 16, the white grub, the pellet pattern and primrose & pearl midge.  Also heard a few catching some stripping the golden variant sculpin.

Everything holding steady.  Weather remains nice, although yesterday felt pretty hot during the middle of the day.  Still have a chance for showers, possibly starting tonight, then into tomorrow.  Temperatures still look reasonable for this time of the year…low to mid 90s. 

Yesterday’s generation was a surprise.  The projection was for one generator to come on around 3:00 p.m. and stay on for a couple hours.   The surprise came when they started it up at 11:00 a.m. and it stayed on until 7:00 p.m.  And, instead of the equivalent of one generator, they turned on the equivalent of two.  Just remember, those are only projections….subject to change.  Otherwise though, they have been pretty accurate.  Let’s see what happens today!!

Clayton's first fly fishing - 8/27/11

Clayton got his Christmas present yesterday.  For Christmas, his grandmother, Loretta, gave Clayton an instructional fly fishing trip.  Clayton has wanted to learn how to fly fish, so Loretta and he spent the morning with Gina.  Gina worked with them on all the basics and said they were both managing their casts and drifts well.  It was a tough day on the water, but Clayton came through with a few fish on the red San Juan worm.  He had a pretty good grin on his face when he came into the shop and I asked him how he liked fly fishing.

Still more of the same in weather.  Mid 90s, low 90s, maybe upper 80s through early next week.  Looks like a little warm up toward the middle of the week.  Still a slight chance of rain on Monday.

Generation fairly stable.  Worst thing that happens is that they fire it up an hour or so earlier than the projections.  Today was even earlier, but they only started with one.  Still fishable in many places.

Jim out yesterday morning with Larry from Texas.  He and other family members try to fish with us at least once every year and sometimes twice.  They had a pretty good day on the varigated sculpin, the primrose & pearl midge, and a white midge.  Jim said the streamer fishing was actually better during the

Dawn 19-20" rainbow - 8/26/11

 rise.  The Louisiana Kerrs were on the water all day yesterday with Darrell and Stan.  Darrell had Albert and James Albert and they probably did best on the red San Juan Worm.  Stan had Dawn, aka “The Stripper”.  Give her something to strip, in this case it was a size 12 holographic green crackleback and she’s catching fish.  Stan was trying to revive one of the fish she had just caught when she hooked this one on her 4 weight Trout Bum.  Gave her a bit of a fight on that rod!  They also caught fish on the ruby, primrose & pearl, and the size 16 red midge when the water came on.

Beautiful morning today!  Temperature in the upper 60s, sun shining and very little wind.  Still looking at a great weather forecast for the weekend on into next week.  Mild temperatures and a slight, very slight chance of rain next week.

No major change in the generation schedule.  Still lots of time in the early mornings until noon, and again in the late evenings, around 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. to do some wade fishing. 

Stan on the river all day yesterday with a couple from Carthage, MO., Doug and Rachele.  Good day for the two of them.  In the morning before the water started up, they hooked fish on several patterns, primarily the Primrose & Pearl midge and golden variant sculpin.   Seeing some really pretty rainbows.  Once the generators fired up, all four of them, they sat out the rise and had lunch.  The water has really been dirty and full of junk on the rise.  You spend more time clearning off you fly than it’s worth.  Once it came up and settled down, Stan drifted the high bank below Pointe Lookout and they continued catching and missing on the red size 16 tunghead midge.  All in all, a good day.  Jim had Forrest, from Excelsior Springs out for the morning.  They caught fish, on the red San Juan, primrose & pearl midge and a brown scud.  Forrest has not been fishing for the past couple years and think he missed quite a few more than he hooked up with.  Need to get out and fish more Forrest!

Absolutely wonderful forecast.  Low 90s to upper 80s for the next 6 days and lower humidity.  Sounds good!  Let’s hope this is what we get.  Slight chance of rain by next Monday, but again, that’s a ways off.

Generation schedule still pretty much right on.  Day before yesterday, they surprised everyone with a 10:00 a.m. start up, but pretty much noon or 1:00 p.m.

Marcie's 1st on fly rod - 8/24/11

Think we have another new lady fly fisher on the river.  Marcie spent Wednesday morning with Carolyn learning how the roll cast and pick up and lay down cast.  She worked on the two basic knots, we flipped a few rocks looking for aquatic life, plus proper line management.  She has the word “mend” down, and is already pulling in fish stripping!  The progression was wonderful to watch.  From really working hard trying to get everything right, those moments of utter frustration, to finally taking that deep breath, making a

Marcie - 8/24/11

nice crisp back cast and laying that line right out in front of her.   Still has lots of practicing to do, but those good casts are there.   She presented the Primrose & Pearl midge with success, the holographic green crackleback subsurface with success, and had a really nice one hooked on the golden variant sculpin pattern using the sinking leader.  That one will give her something to come back for! 

The river is fishing good right now.  One of my other students from four years ago, Ellen, was fishing up stream from us.  Looked up her ways several times to see her with a fish on.  She finally had to come down to see what all the hooping and hollering was about down our way.  She was doing well on the pumpkin crackle back.  Talking to other folks, they have had some good fishing over the past two days.  Water is clearing up and you are starting to see fish below your feet.  Still now seeing any scuds in the water around the boat ramp area.  We picked up several rocks in the river yesterday and found two very small sowbugs.  One had an egg sac on her tummy, so that made me very happy.  Lots of really small midges coming off yesterday.

Still looks like tomorrow will be the warmest day of the week, upper 90s or low 100s.  The rest of the week will be hovering around mid 90s, maybe low 90s. 

No change in generation pattern.  Get down there and fish in the mornings if you want to wade. 

Jim, from Arkansas, spent the morning on the river with Stan yesterday.  He first learned how to fly fish with us this past March and fell in love with it.  Wishes he could be here more, but has to make a living!   They had a good day but had to do a lot of changing out on patterns.  No one pattern or method was consistent.  They went through the golden variant sculpin, black midge, red San Juan worm, and the copper head black zebra.  Good day on the creek!

One of the guys who came into the shop yesterday did well on the golden variant sculpin.  He came back for more as he lost most of them.

Thought it was supposed to cool off a little more this week, but looks like we will hit upper 90s again on Wednesday and Thursday with mid 90s by Friday. 

Generation has been pretty consistent in that we have no generation every morning, some generation by mid-day, then off anywhere from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. for the rest of the night.  This Saturday and Sunday, just a short shot of water around 1:00 p.m. for a couple hours.   Monday looks more like the pattern we have been seeing during the week days.  Off in the morning and then on around 1:00 p.m. ramping up to the equivalent of a low three generators until 10:00 p.m. 

Stan on the river Wednesday and Friday with a couple from Texas, Wade and Wendi.  First time fly fishing for trout AND their 25th wedding anniversary.  Two events in one week!  Wednesday was a pretty slow day.  Got a few fish to the boat, but…  Friday was come back day.  Fished much better and they not only caught fish drifting the primrose & pearl midge, but also learned another technique, emergers.  They thew and caught on a size 18 olive WD40 and a soft hackle.  Much better number of fish to the boat and lots of misses.   Hope you guys are still fly fishing together on your 50th anniversary!  Congratulations!

Maybe the hot spell is over.  Monday and yesterday were really nice, except for a bit of heavy rain yesterday morning!  Looked like most of it was going east..but, not all of it!  Anyway, fish don’t mind a little water.  Temperatures for the rest of the week to be mid 90s to low 90s by Sunday and Monday.   Slight chances of rain all the way through Monday.

Generation schedule still consistent.  No generation in the early to late morning or even early afternoon (1:00 p.m.)  So, here’s your chance to get out and do some wading.

Jim our with Jim and Dave from Festus.  Water low and slow, so the moving patterns are still doing best.  Did boat a few on the copper dun midge with a blood worm dropper, but the holographic green crackleback worked best.  One 18 incher on this pattern.  Dana took David from Ohio out for the morning.  David wanted to do some wading, so they headed down to the now much larger gravel area above Trophy Run and threw the holographic green crackleback, filoplume and olive wooly bugger.  David commented that “Dana had worn him out”.  Think they had a pretty good day!

Tuesday, Rick Canup, from Texas, brought his fishing family and a soon to  

Eric - 8/16/11

be new member (Lindi) for their annual fishing event.  Think this is the 5th year in a row they all come to fish wih us and what a really fun group they are.  Dana had Alex and Eric out this year.   Althought the early part of the morning started out slow for all of us, once it picked up, it was a good day.  Dana’s guys were catching on the holographic green crackleback. 

Nice 17 incher for Alex - 8-16-11

Jim had Rick and Davis.  They were fishing a size 20 gray scud and a copper dun dropper.  Not fast and furious, but they landed and missed quite a few fish.  Stan took Chase and they too has a good day pulling the cracklebacks, both the holographic green and the silver bullet (tied with holographic silver tinsel). 

Lindi - 8/16/11

Carolyn got the soon to be newly weds.  Taylor and Lindi are getting married in September.  Not sure who is getting the best deal, but I think it is Taylor.  Lindi took to fly fishing pretty fast and she likes it!  She is going to be a natural if she stays with it.  No, she didn’t kiss all her fish….didn’t want to make Taylor jealous.     At point point Lindi had Taylor down 3 to zip.  He was getting worried, but after 3 to 4 doubles (these two are working together already!), he started catching up.  Fun day on the holographic green and silver bullet cracklebacks.  Once we saw fish sipping, we were stripping these just under the surface off the edges of where shallow areas met moving water.  Our best wishes for a long, healthy, and happy marriage.  Don’t forget to include many happy days of fly fishing together!

Taylor and Lindi - 8/16/11

Lovely weather we’re having.  Temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s through most of the coming week.  Looks like chances for showers again toward the end of the week…long way off, we’ll see.

Generation has been pretty consistent.  No generation from midnight until as early as 10:00 a.m. or late as noon over the past four days.  Although the projection has indicated a low one generator to be running, they have pretty much ran the equivalent of two generators until 9:00-10:00 each night.

Dave Jones -20" Rainbow - 8/13/11

Stan and Dana both on the water yesterday.  Stan had Mike and his son, Dave out for the morning.  No water when they started so they fish various things, but the best pattern for them was  the size 18 Primrose & Pearl midge.  Dave landed this nice 20 inch rainbow on one.  Although it was a bit slow, they had a good morning.  Dana had Dawn and John, from St. Charles, Mo. out for a couple days.  This was their first morning on the water and they had a pretty good morning on a brown beadhead wooly bugger and a tan B-Bug.  Sunday was a much better day for both of them.  They were using the brown beadhead wooly bugger and the olive floozie.  John even caught a crappie!  They are on their way in September to fish the North Platte out of Casper, WY.  Have fun guys!