Low 90s today and we are still looking at rain both tomorrow and Thursday with highs in the mid 80s.  Back to upper 80s and low 90s through the weekend.  Mostly upper 80s and some mid 80s for next week.  Can’t complain.

No generation in the a.m. continues.

Stan on the water last Tuesday and Thursday with Tom and John from Kansas.  Fun day for

Stephen – 8/23/18

these guys mainly on the black copperhead midge.  Gina out Thursday with Stephen from Oklahoma.  Happy guy.  Just getting started with fly fishing and he had a good day on the ruby 2 midge and a size 18 gray scud.

Friday, Stan took Doc and Terry out for the day.  Good, day for these two guys from Oklahoma.  Doc has been a long-time fisher with Stan and he said this is his last full day.  Just too much fun for a day.  (Doc is in his mid 80s).  Long, hot day.  Now he’ll just have to do more 1/2 days!!

Wednesday Jim was back on Monday!  He fished with Gina yesterday and they had a wonderful day on the black copperhead

Jim – 8/27/18

midge, tiger tail and an egg pattern.  Best fishing for them yesterday was after the water came on.

Chances for rain today, especially from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.  We’ll take what we can get.  Still need some rain.  Also chances tomorrow, but not as great as today.  After that, it will to back into the low 90s with sunshine through early next week.  By Wednesday, slight chances for rain again, but temperatures will slide back in to the upper 80s.

No change in the generation schedule.  Off all morning and back on some time in the afternoon for a few hours.

Gary on the water Monday with Rich and Sean.  Good day for these guys on a red soft hackle egg pattern and the ruby 2 midge.  Carolyn had Andrew and his friend Marissa out wading

Marissa – 8/20/18

for the morning.  Marissa is fairly new, but she caught on quickly and was catching fish on a mega worm got a short time, then it was the ruby 2 midge.  Andrew started out the morning catching on the JQ streamer, but after they shut down on that, he switched over to the ruby 2 midge and the bite was on again.  They had at least 4 and maybe 5 doubles (both hit fish at the same time) on this pattern.  Generators came on and the party was over.

Tuesday, Dan and Roxanne spent the morning with Carolyn .  They took our two-day fly fishing

Roxanne – 8/21/18

school back in 2016 and definitely are “hooked”.  They take there camper and fishing gear and head for fly fishing destinations.  Had a good day on the ruby 2 and black copperhead midge.  Think this was Roxanne’s first brown trout.

Barbie – 8/16/18

Having a bout of rain right now and it looks like we might get some heavy stuff around 7:00 p.m.  Might have some showers in the a.m. tomorrow with the high 80 degrees.  Tuesday and Wednesday look great.  Low 80s and dry.  Thursday and Friday show slight chances of rain, but temperatures still in the 80s.  By the weekend, mostly sunny and low 80s.  Next week is more of the same, mostly sunny and upper 80s to low 90s.  Sweet!

No change in the generation pattern.  No generation all morning.  One to four hours of generation some time in the afternoon.

Corbin’s 1st trout – 8/15/18

Carolyn on the water last Wednesday with Doris and her grandson, Corbin.  Fun day.  This was Corbin’s first time fly fishing for trout and he did really well.  Doris first fished

Doris – 8/15/18

with me in 2006 and then a few times since, but it’s been a while.  It was nice to back on the water with her.  She definitely has not lost her touch.  Unfortunately, it was one of those days where it would pour for several minutes, stop for a while, then start up again.  Everything we owned was soaked!  Seemed like the fish liked the rain too as they would hit better when it was raining.  We were fishing the size 18 black copperhead midge and the Ruby 2.

Linda – 8/16/18

Thursday, Gina and Carolyn took a group of sisters out for the morning.  Linda, who had fished with us before, set up

Diane – 8/16/18

the trip so her sisters could try fly fishing.  Gina took Linda

and Diane and Carolyn had Alice and Barbie.  We took the new fishers through a quick and dirty roll cast and pick up and lay down cast lesson then to the fishing

Alice – 8/16/18

hole.  Everyone had a good day early on the black copperhead or ruby 2 midges.  When the water came on, Gina and her group drifted the big ruby

Barbie – 8/16/18

with a scud dropper.  Stan out that day with Earl from South Carolina.  They had a good day on the black copperhead midge also.

Peter and his friend Charlie spend Friday morning on the water with Stan.  That is, in between heavy downpours.  Black copperhead midge and ruby 2.  Seems it was another day when the fish really liked the rain.  Fishing was good while it was raining.  When the rain shut down, so did fishing!

Phillip – 8/18/18

Saturday, Carolyn took Dwight and his friend, Phillip out for the day.  They had just finished our Orvis 2-day school and wanted to try when they had learned.  They both did very well and it was a good day for these guys mainly on the black copperhead midge.  When the water came on, we changed over to a sinking leader and stripped the JQ streamer.  Not a lot of fish, but they did pull a few this way.  Also had an opportunity to see how it was fishing from a drifting drift boat (not much water during the mornings for drifting).  We drifted the big ruby with a red San Juan worm dropper.

We received a real nice downpour yesterday and some through the night into early this morning.  Sprinkles off and on later in the morning.  Right now it is sunshine and a pretty clear sky.  Hope we have some more rain lurking somewhere!

No chance in the generation pattern.   What more can I say.

Jim on the water Saturday with Tad and Carter.  New to fly fishing so Jim worked with them on the basics.  Caught a few fish stripping a size 10 JQ streamer.  Stan also on the water that day.  He had Greg and his daughter Liz.  Both are good fly fishers and casters and they had a very good day on the black copperhead or P&P midges under a stimulator.  Lots of nice fish.

Carolyn on the water today, Tuesday, with David from Minnesota.  He’s been fishing for most

David – 8/14/18

of his life but just started getting into fly fishing.  Today was his first trout and biggest on a fly rod.  He had a good day mainly stripping the orange belly 56er on a 3 ips sinking leader.  Picture is a little blurry as it rained on us more of the day and camera lens was wet.  For fun, we threw a Big Ugly with a black copperhead midge under it.  Several hits, but no cigar.  Missed, or picked and rolled all of them.  Fun day!

Temperatures look good over the next week.  Mostly upper 80s.  Also chances for rain increased to 60% starting Tuesday and running through Friday.  Would not break my heart if we got some of it, but so far, in the forecast then disappears!

Generation pattern pretty much unchanged.  Off in the a.m. then on for a few hours in the afternoon then back off again.

Jim, Jackson & Spencer – 8/4/18

Fun day for our Orvis 301 group last Friday.  Jim and Carolyn had Spencer, Pat, Tibor and Jackson standing in the water learning

Tibor – 8/4/18

more about fly fishing.  JQ and Tiger Tail streamers were the patterns of the day.  We did catch some on the black copperhead midge.

Saturday, Stan took Frank and Hans out for the morning.  This was Hans first experience with a fly rob and he did good.  Black copperhead midge was their pattern for the morning.

Gina had a new lady, Diana, on the water Monday.  After they finished working on classroom stuff….knots, rigging,

Diana – 8/6/18

etc. they went to the water to work on casting.  Diana is hooked.  She got fish on the black copperhead midge and worked with streamers when the water started coming up.  Jim, from Arkansas, spent the morning with Carolyn.  Fun day just fishing everything.  We caught fish on a black ant, the redass soft hackle, JQ streamer, 56er and the holographic green crackleback.

Wednesday, Stan took Reagan and his son, Will out for half a day.   Good, fun day for them on the black copperhead midge, ruby 2 and 56er.

Back into the 90s until early next week.  Both Tuesday and Wednesday show chances for showers with temperatures in the mid 80s.  Looks like 80s through the weekend, but again, chances for showers.

We continue to see no generation during the morning hours.  Generally cranking it up to at least 3 units and sometimes 4 for the afternoon.

Dan – 7/30/18

Gina on the water last Monday with Dan and Roy from Kentucky.  There were here for the Fly Fishing Expo.  Good day for these guys on the copperhead black midge,

Roy – 7/30/18

ruby 2 midge and stripping either the JQ or tiger tail streamers.  This was their first time with streamers and they really like it.

Tuesday, Carolyn took Audrey out to teach her

Audrey’s 1st on fly rod – 7/31/18

how to fly fish.  Her father, Drew, took half day instruction from Carolyn back in 2003.  He’s looking for a fly fishing partner and I think he just might have one.  She picked up casting quickly and soon was hooking fish on an apricot or roe egg pattern.  They would not look at a midge that day.

Mark, from Nixa, spent the morning on the water with Stan Wednesday.  Mark has been out of the fly fishing world for a while, so they worked on casting for a while.  Didn’t take him long to get back into the grove.  Another no midge day, but Mark landed several on the peach egg pattern.

Crystal’s lst – 8/2/18

New woman fly fisher on the river Thursday with Carolyn.  Fun day for Crystal learning how to cast and catching fish on the black copperhead or ruby 2 midges and a few stripping a JQ streamer.

Had a little rain yesterday.  Probably not enough to make much of a difference.  However, it did cool things down and we are expecting low upper 79s today, low 80s tomorrow and upper 80s Wednesday with sunshine!  Nice!  As we move into later in the week and weekend, it will be low to mid 90s.  Still now bad, especially for this time of the year.

Generation continues to be no or low in the morning and a couple on in the afternoon.  Lots of time to get in some wade fishing.

What a fun weekend.  The Branson and Springfield Chapters of the Missouri Trout Fishermen Association held their second fly fishing Expo this last Friday and Saturday at the Lion’s Club in Branson.  Lots of great fly tiers demonstrating their skills with some really neat and unique patterns.  Good showing of several of vendors were also at this event.  I got to spend most of each day showing potentially new fly fishers how to cast.  Really neat was that several of these were young men and women.  There will be another Expo next year during the month of July.  They announced the dates but I forgot what they were.  Will post as soon as I find out.  Then you better mark your calendars as this was a really good event.

James – 7/23/18

Now let’s get the fishing activity up to date.  Jim, Gina and Carolyn had a three

Jim & Aidan – 7/23/18

generation family of six out last Monday.  They were all brand new and wanted to see how they liked fly fishing.  Everyone at least got one fish to the net and several managed to do more.  Of course, the water was not cooperating, but we

Andrew – 7/23/18

certainly made the best of it.  They all tried both nymph style fishing as well as pulling streamers.  Mainly, we caught on the black copperhead or ruby 2 midges and stripping the JQ or 56er streamers.  We had

Eli – 7/23/18

James (grandfather), Jim and his son, Aidan, and Jason and his sons, Andrew and Eli.  Hope I got that right!

Stan took Jim and his grandson, Max out again on Tuesday.

Jason – 7/23/18

Very slow bite in the morning.  Finally caught some fish on the big ruby then they slide down the back side of Lookout Island.

Wednesday, Carolyn had a great time!  Hope the boys did too!  She took Thomas and his exchange friend from France, Nathan, out for their first experience

Nathan’s first trout – 7/25/18

fly fishing.   After a little instruction on the roll cast, and regular cast, they both were getting their fly into the water.  The challenge was communicating to Nathan what he had to do when the indicator (what’s that in French?) went

Thomas & Nathan – 7/25/18

down.  It was a black copperhead midge day for them.  Neat couple of young men.  Hopefully, they will keep on fly fishing!  Gina had David and Diana out a couple half days on Wednesday and Thursday.  Good two outings on the black zebra and P&P midges first day, and big

David – 7/26/18

ruby, black midge and tiger tail on Thursday.  Jim paired up a couple fishermen, Tom from Grain Valley, and Bob from Michigan on Thursday.  Off and on day for them with

Diana – 7/26/18

the water fluctuating up and down.  They caught on the ruby, gray scud and stripping the tiger tail.

Dawn and John fished again with Stan on Friday.  Good day for them on the P&P, mega worm and JQ streamer.  Pleasant day with the water off until 1:00, and the temperature was great.

Weather has cooled down a little.  Instead of mid to upper 90s we are seeing low 90s and upper 80s.  Much better.  Plus, most of the days, the humidity has not been as bad as it had been.  Looks like we might have some rain in the forecast, especially (at least right now) Sunday and Monday.  Temperatures look like they will continue to be mild.

Generation pattern has changed a bit.  Several days now, we have seen low generation in the morning.  Some days they ramp it up early….10:00 or so, some days it is later.  This morning it was to have been off all morning until 1:00 then a couple on for the afternoon.  NOT!  They started it early with a low one and just turned it off at 7:00 a.m.  Not sure what the rest of the day will bring.  Oh well, that’s fishing on Taneycomo!

Missed reporting Jim and Gary’s trip last Monday.  They had a first-time fly fishing family out on a wade trip.  Amy (Mom),  Brad  (Dad) and their two sons.   Fun day for them on a size 18 scud and stripping the bug-eyed bugger.

Stephen – 7/19/18

Last Thursday, Stephen and his friend, Ward spent the morning on the river with Carolyn.  This was Ward’s first time with a fly rod and he picked it up pretty quickly.  Think he even likes it.  Had

Ward’s 1st on fly rod – 7/19/18

some water moving this day so it was the big ruby with the #16 red tunghead midge dropper.

Nick and Michael spent most of last Saturday on the water with Gina.  This is part of the Orvis 301 fishing program being

Nick – 7/21/18

held by the Leawood Orvis store.  Both are fairly new at fly fishing and they had a good, fun day catching on the black midge, white mega worm and stripping the

Michael – 7/21/18

tiger tail.  Lots of good instructi0n was going on!  Jim had a couple more guys in this 301 program, Stan and Richard. Their best pattern was the dragon fly nymph.  Stan was  out with Sid and Walter.  Slow start in the morning for them, but it definitely picked up after noon and they were catching on the P&P.

Ron and Cathy from Louisiana were back to fish again with Carolyn.  Definitely fished better for them than their trip on Friday the 13th.  Ruby 2 was the midge of choice and then we pulled several fish stripping either the 56er or the JQ streamers.  Stan had Michael and Jeremy out for half a day.  They started out with the big ruby and the ruby 2 dropper.  Finished up in style stripping the holographic green crackleback.  Guys really likes this!  Jerrad and Michael spent the morning on the water with Jim.  He had them stripping and catching on the JQ and tiger tail streamers.

Pretty nice day today!  Almost noon and it’s only 78 degrees.  What a change from the temps we have been having.  Unfortunately, this will be short lived.  Upper 90s are the forecasts into the weekend.  Maybe we’ll see upper 80 mid to late next week.  Other than today, chances for showers are far and few between.

Same old, same old generation pattern, except for yesterday!  Yesterday they turned on a unit at 10:00 a.m., another at 11:00 and kept going till they had all four on.  Today, the schedule is back to two on at 1:00 and then four in an hour.

Last Thursday, Stan took Keith from Arkansas out for the morning.  (we have not been doing full day trips due to the HOT weather and the way they are coming on with generators)  Had a pretty good day on the ruby 2, P&P, but especially the rusty midge.  Gina had Paula out that morning and they too had a pretty good day.  Just like

Paula, aka “Spanky” – 7/12/18

many mornings here lately, it was tough early, but eventually, (especially after the fog lifts) they got into them.  Best bug in the morning was a black soft hackle or P&P.  Later in the day, after some water came on, the tungsten beadhead tan scud was the ticket.

Friday the 13th, Gary took Larry from Texas out for a morning wade trip.  Pretty good day for Larry, especially on the rise.  They were catching on a size 18 gray or tan scud and the P&P midge.  Carolyn had her long-time Louisiana couple, Cathy and Ron on the water

Cathy 7/13/18

Friday.  The way our day started out, we were moaning about it being the 13th!  Another slow start, but eventually we brought several fish to the boat on the black copperhead or ruby 2 midges.  As usual, Cathy caught the most!

Jim from Louisiana, spent Saturday morning on the water with Stan.  It was the black copperhead and ruby 2 midges for them.  Jim had a hoot of a day.

Elijah – 7/15/18

Derek and Dustin fish with Dana on Sunday.  Pretty good day for these guys on the ruby 2 or black copperhead midges, or stripping an orange crackleback.  Carolyn and Gina had a group of young men out for a morning wade trip.  Gina had Erin and Carolyn had Elijah and Ezra.  Along with their father, they all took our fly fishing clinic a few weeks ago.  They are all getting

Erin – 7/15/18

ready for a trip out to Yellowstone this fall and want to get good at fly fishing.  We worked an area with midges with some success.  Decided to move and try something different.  Between the group, we put on the JQ or a Tiger Tail.  After some more work on casting, everyone was throwing a pretty good line and stripping.  This was definitely

Ezra – 7/15/18

more successful than the midging was.  Good and bad thing was the generators coming on at noon.  Bad thing was we had to quit wading…..good thing, we quickly rigged them up with the big ruby and a San Juan worm and fished the rise.  This really helped them with the importance of, and “how to” mend their line.  Fun day!

Stan had Truman from Florida out this morning.  Throws to a lot of salt water fish, so he is a good caster.  After fishing and catching on the black copperhead and copper dun midges, they put on a JQ streamer and finished up the morning in good style.

We continue to see 90s almost every day now.  Getting down into the 70s at night and early morning.  Don’t see much of a change in this pattern for a while.

No major change in the generation pattern.  Still no generation from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. until the next day as early as 11:00 a.m. but as late as 1:00 p.m.  An exception last Monday when they turned it on at 10:00 a.m.  Monday’s are always a surprise.

Jerry and Cathy on the water last Monday for a half day float with Carolyn.  As usual, slow in the early morning while the fog was on.  Once it lifted a little, a size 20 black soft hackle, the black copperhead midge or ruby 2 were the best patterns.  However, this was one of those days when they cranked on the generators early….10:00 a.m. so we quickly changed out to the big ruby with a red San Juan dropper on one and the white mega work on the other.  As long as we could, we rowed up below the fish ladder area and drifted down.  Two doubles and several others hooked doing this.  Fast and furious catching for a little while.  Another unit came on and we found a spot and pulled a few out on the JQ streamer.  Then it just got to dirty and fast so the fun was over.

Tuesday, Jerry and Cathy spent that morning on the water with Stan.  This day they left it off until at least noon.  Another slow morning, but they finally caught some fish on the ruby 2 midge.  Jim had Charles and Kris out for half a day.  They had very little experience with streamers and wanted to learn a bit more about this method so Jim hooked them up and they pulled fish on the tiger tail and also a few early on a #20 black soft hackle.  They had a great time with these techniques.

Jim had Jonathan from Kentucky out Wednesday morning.  Low/flat water made fishing tough for them plus this was Jonathan’s first time with a fly rod.  Worked on skills and Jonathan brought in a few fish on the tiger tail, bug eye bugger and baby ruby.