Lots of Water!

May 9th, 2021

Just what we did not need today……rain!  Looks like it is out of here for the rest of the day.  Monday and Tuesday show a 20% chance with temperatures in the low 60s.  Wednesday have rain chances up a little and still in the low 60s.  Friday and Saturday will be in the mid 70s and by Sunday and Monday, we’re back to 40% chances for rain and temperatures in the low 80s.

Unfortunately, the rain doesn’t seem to be slowing down so the river won’t be slowing down for a while.  We still have five spillways and three generators going for a total flow of around 14750 cfs.  It will be a while before this lets up.

Gary took Ted from California to Roaring River this past Monday.  Ted took our Orvis 2-day fly fishing school last October and wanted to get some more experience and especially the chance to wade fish.  They had a good day over there even though the water was a little up and running as well as off colored.  They nymphed with a cerise worm and did some streamer catching on a #14 olive bugger chasing the tiger tail.

Beth – 5/6/21

Thursday, Dana took Beth and John out for half a day.  Good day for them on the black copperhead midge

John – 5/6/21

, the mega worm or a cerise San Juan worm.

Ron fished half a day with Dana on Friday.  He had a good day on the copperhead black midge under the big ruby.  Carolyn was finishing up a River Run two-day school with Bruce.  Since he

Bruce – 5/7/21

will be mainly wade fishing, they went over to Roaring River.  Water was still moving along and a little off colored, but they had a good day on the ruby two midge under the big ruby and stripping an olive wooly bugger on a 3 ips sinking leader.

Five Spillways Open!

May 2nd, 2021

Lots of rain on Wednesday and by Saturday, they opened up five spillways.  Now running almost 15000 cfs 24/7.  Some rain in the forecast Tuesday and we hope it is not much.  Temperatures in the upper 60s or low 70s through next weekend.

Like I said, almost 15000 cfs running 24/7 and it will probably continue this way for a while.  Table Rock Lake came up almost five feet!

Dana on the water last Thursday with Anthony and Austin from Kansas.  Good say for these guys on the mega worm, orange egg pattern and big ruby.  Water a little off due to the rain earlier in the week.

Saturday, Darren took George and Robert out for half a day.  Bad day for them.  What they caught was on the cerise San Juan worm.

Bryson and 20″ Rainbow – 5/1/21

Brian and his son, Bryson fish half a day with Darren Saturday.  Nice 20 inch rainbow for Bryson.  Ruby 2, mega worm and cerise San Juan worm.   Gina had Natalie out.  She wanted to work on casting

Natalie – 5/1/21

as she is going out to Montana later this year.  Worked on lots of stuff and caught fish too!  Black copperhead midge and the ruby 2 midge.

 

Beautiful Dogwoods!

April 27th, 2021

We have had a great couple of days around here with temperatures in the 80s!  Looks like it is going a little south tomorrow as they are predicting rain starting early in the a.m. and ramping up around 8:00-9:00 a.m. and continuing through more of the day.  Temperatures look like 70s for Wednesday then upper 60s through Friday.  Through the weekend and into next week it will be upper 70s and low 80s.  The dogwood bloom has been gorgeous this year!  Hope some of you got a chance to see them.

Looks like we are going to see a couple of units continue to run for several more days.  They are dumping water from Beaver to get it back to power pool and we are expecting some rain tomorrow into Thursday morning.

Mike from Oklahoma on the water with Jim last Wednesday.  Really good day for Mike on the ruby.  Mike is fairly new so Jim worked with him on techniques.

Fred – 4/22/21

Thursday, Dana took Fred and his friend Jim, from Kansas out all day.  They also had a really good

Jim – 4/22/21

day.  All their fish were caught on either a ruby 2 midge or gray scud under the big ruby.

Ansel – 4/24/21

Saturday, Darren took Ansel and Steve out for the day.  Another really good day.  Best fishing was on the flat below

Steve – 4/24/21

outlet 3.  It was a black copperhead midge under the big ruby or a roe egg for them.  Dana was on the water with Jeff and Bill.  Grey scud under the big ruby was pretty much their patterns for the day.  Lots of fun and lots of fish!

Jon and his Dad, Derius, from Kansas spent a half a day Sunday with Jim.  Both are pretty new so he worked with them on casting.  They certainly caught some fish too on the ruby 2 and JQ streamer.  Sunday, they

One of Jim’s Fish – 4/25/21

started up the generators in the middle of the day (when they said they were only going to run one unit all day) and it trashed up the river pretty good.  Darren was out for

Jim’s Bamboo rod – 4/25/21

the day with Jim and his son Jim.  Ruby 2 under big ruby and a worm pattern were their patterns for the day.  Jim was enjoying fishing is bamboo rod he had recently built.  Fun day for them.

Gary – 4/26/21

Monday was another really good day for Gary and his brother Ansel.  They spent half a day on the water with Carolyn.  Gary’s ruby 2 midge under the big ruby had no color and was still catching fish.  He had to break down and get a new one after it got caught in the anchor rope.  The guys also did well stripping the Tiger Tail streamer below Lookout Island.

Today, Jim had Ken from Kansas out for the morning.  They had a good time on the water with the ruby and BB ruby.  Soft takes again today so they also had lot of misses.

 

 

 

Waterflow Down and Fishing Up!

April 20th, 2021

Have had some beautiful weather days on the water.  Then we have to get this…snow, rain and colder temperatures.  However, it should be short lived and temperatures into the low 80s by next Monday!  Then more normal, upper 60s and low 70s.

Table Rock is currently just a little below power pool at 714.9 (715 is power pool), so we have been seeing lower generation flows.  Yesterday was mainly around 75 mwh (about a three foot rise in level).  Today is projected to be 50 mwh all day….not quite three feet.  This, of course, opens up a few more places to wade.

Fishing has been very good.  Jim on the water last Wednesday with Alec and Jim from Manchester.  They had a really good day pulling JQ streamers, or midging with the big ruby and a baby ruby.

Jody – 4/15/21

Thursday, Dana took Jody and his friend Brandon out for all day.  They did very well on a grey scud or red San Juan worm under

Brandon – 4/15/21

the big ruby.  Both are new fly fishing and picked up quickly.  Carolyn was on the water with Lewis and his friend Mike.  Really good

Lewis – 4/15/21

day for these guys.  Lewis had fished with Carolyn before, but this was Mike’s first time with a fly rod.  Think he is in love.

Mike – 4/14/21

Lots of fish on the ruby 2 or red San Juan worm under the big ruby.

Lisa – 4/17/21

Lisa and her friend Janelle, from Oklahoma, spend all day Saturday and half of the day Sunday on the river with Gina.  Fun couple of days for these ladies catching fish on the ruby 2 midge with a black copperhead

Janelle – 4/17/21

dropper or an egg with the black midge dropper.  A bit chilly that day but it didn’t affect their catching.  The second day was the ruby 2 midge under the big ruby or stripping a tiger tail.

Wayne – 4/19/21

Yesterday, Wayne from Illinois spent the morning on the water with Dana.  Good day for Wayne.  It was either the black copperhead midge or a grey scud to make a happy day for Wayne.  A couple new fly fishers from Texas, John and his friend Roger, spend

Roger – 4/19/21

half a day on the water with Carolyn.  They might just be hooked on fly fishing too.  John is already throwing a pretty good line.  They hooked lots of fish on

John – 4/19/21

the ruby 2 or black copperhead midge under the big ruby.  We had a nice low flow when we hit the water and it dropped out a little more while we were out there.

Better get out and do some fishing.  It is really good right now and will continue to be quite a while.  Also, the fish quality is great!

 

Another Off Water Day!

April 13th, 2021

Looks like a cool spell for a few days.  Low 60s through Thursday and then mid to upper 50s through the weekend.  Also looking at chances for rain Friday, and slighter Saturday and Sunday.  Monday back into the low 60s and riding up as we get toward the end of the week.

Back to the equivalent of two units all day today.  Just a little over power pool so we are crossing our fingers that we’ll see low water again.  Unfortunately, that rain chance Friday could change this.

Cody & 21″ rainbow – 4/12/21

Dana on the water yesterday with Cody from Oklahoma.  Great day for Cody as he landed a nice 21 inch rainbow among his many to the boat.  It was the Ruby 2, a grey scud or the black copperhead midge.  Due to the generators being off and the spillways only coming on for a brief time, they were able to stay up around the boat ramp area.

No Generators!!!

April 12th, 2021

Beautiful weather again and now, no generators the past couple of days.  Looks like we are going to have a few more dry days with temperatures in the low 60s.  It is supposed to cloud up later today and probably partly cloudy days ahead also.  By Friday, rain shows up again (60% chance right now) and temperatures in the upper 50s of low 60s.  Slight rain chances through the weekend.

Hit the water yesterday and the generators were off!  Looks like they will be off again today until 5:00 p.m.  The only kink in this process was the face that they turned seven flood gates on yesterday a little after 2:00 p.m.  Of course, these are not show on the generation schedule projections.  They also had them on this morning for a little while.  They are working on dam, so maybe when this work is completed, we will see things go back to normal.  Whatever that is…..

Now to get caught up on trips!  Jim on the water a week ago this past Sunday with Jerry from here in Missouri.  They had a good day on the ruby midge and the white grub.

Solomon – 4/5/21

A good day for Solomon who fished with Carolyn last Monday.  They were catching on the white grub or the ruby 2 under the big ruby.  Two units running as well as lots of wind.  Lots of nice fish.

Tuesday, Jim took Eric and his friend, David out for half a day.  Had to hunt for fish, but they found several on the ruby midge or stripping the JQ streamer.

Jim from Texas, fished all day with Dana on Friday.  Good day for them on a gray

Jim – 4/9/21

scud, the white mega worm and a red San Juan worm.  Jim was on the water also with one of his long-time regulars David.  They hunted for fish again and found enough to keep them happy on the ruby midge and JQ streamer.

Rod – 4/10/21

Saturday it was Rod and Scott out with Carolyn.  Started off a little slow, but when we finally found them, it fished pretty stead the rest of the morning and into early afternoon.  Best combo

Scott – 4/10/21

was the white mega work under the big ruby.

Sunday was a different day!  Carolyn got to the water with Doc and his friend, Brian, and there was no generation!  Doc has been fishing with us every year since 1998!  Still a little current from when they shut down the generators from

Doc – 4/11/21

running early in the morning so it was dropping which gave us a nice current.  The only negative was the wind…again!  Otherwise, it was a beautiful, sunny day with temperatures finally getting into the upper 70s.  Wonderful day with no generation.  Hard to get a good

drift as the wind was to our

Brian – 4/11/21

backs, but we picked fish drifting as well as dropping anchor and sitting.  Ruby 2 midge under the lightning bug was the combo for the day.

 

Gates Off! Fishing On!

April 12th, 2021

AND, weather is beautiful.  Cannot remember the last time we had such beautiful weather on an Easter Sunday!  Today will be in the mid 70s, and we will see mid to upper 70s Monday and Tuesday.  Little cooler Wednesday as there is a 40% chance for rain on Wednesday and into very early Thursday morning.  However, the temperatures will hold pretty much in the low 70s.

Finally shut down the five spillways last Monday afternoon.  We now have the equivalent of two generators running 24/7.  Just a little over half a foot above power pool.  At the rate it is currently dropping, it will be another 6-7 days before we reach power pool.  Just have to wait and see what they do then.

Dana on the water last Tuesday and Wednesday with Todd from Maine.   They had a couple good days on the cerise worm under the big ruby or fishing a white shad pattern that Todd brought with him.

Arlan – 4/1/21

Thursday and Friday, Carolyn had a couple of her regulars from Oklahoma, Arlan and Rick, on the water.  Good, fun couple of days.  With all the shad that had been floating

Rick – 4/2/21

around, we dropped the white mega worm under a bug ruby and caught fish.  We were able to get out of the wind and heavy waves created by all the boats by going down the back of the long island.   Fish were fat and beautifully colored.  Plus, we had great weather.

Darren took Grey and Paul out Friday and Saturday.  They had a couple good days on the water too.  They were fishing the white mega worm under the big ruby or stripping a JQ streamer.  They did well working the water from the fish ladder down to the boat ramp on Friday and the Rockin Chair area down to Trophy Run on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow! Tons of Shad

March 30th, 2021

Nice day today, but the weather folks say have a cold front coming through later today which will run into Thursday.  Tomorrow’s high will be in the upper 50s.  Thursday might make mid 50s with the morning in the 30s.  Good news is that Friday will go back into the 60s with upper 60s Saturday and low 70s by Sunday.  About a 30% chance for rain tomorrow and then nothing for a while.

Finally turned off the five spillways and pulled the generators back to the equivalent of two.  Yeah!

Sunday when several of us were on the river, it was a flood of shad.  Must have come over the spillways as they were swimming all over the place of there were tons of them just floating at various levels.  The fish had more food than they could handle!  Jim and Carolyn had a family from Mississippi on the river.  Jim had the guys, David and his daughter’s friend, Cole.  Carolyn had the ladies, Brit and

Makenna – 3/28/21

Makenna.  These two were brand new and wanted to learn a little about fly fishing so we spent some time learning the roll cast as well as the pick up and down cast.  With all the shad in the water, the fish could have cared less about what we were doing.  However, the ladies worked hard and did manage to bring a few fish to

Brit – 3/28/21

the boat on the white mega worm under the big ruby.  It was the ladies’ day!  One of our regulars, Mike, was on the water with Dana.  They also brought in a few fish on the mega worm or the lightning bug under the ruby ruby.  Not only was the abundance of food a challenge that day, the wind did us no

Mike – 3/28/21

favors.  At one time, with five spillways and three generators rolling, I was bring blown up stream by the wind!!

 

New Fly Fisher!

March 21st, 2021

Weather has taken a turn for the better.  Mid 60s today and tomorrow.  Upper 50s Tuesday with a 50% chance for rain.  Then it will warm back up again into the low 60s, upper 50 by Thursday and low 70s by Saturday.  50% chance for rain again on Thursday.

Of course, no change in the water flow.  Five spillways and three generators.  Currently, Table Rock Lake is sitting at 917.45.  Starting to see a sloooow drop in level.  We certainly do not need any more rain.

Everyone on the water Friday.  Unfortunately, not much

Rylee – 3/19/21

improvement in the fishing.  Dana took Rylee and her friend Cade out for half a day.  Both are new to fishing and Rylee caught her first trout on a fly rod.  It was the big ruby with a cerise San Juan worm dropper.  Carolyn had Levi and his grandfather, John.  John has fished with us for many years, but this was Levi’s first trout outing

John – 3/19/21

with a fly rod.  What a trooper.  Despite the tough conditions, he stayed with it

Levi with 1st Trout – 3/19/21

and finally hooked his first trout on a fly rod.  Fun day!  Jim was on the water with another of our long-time fishers, Mike from Iowa.  They landed some fish, including a nice 23″ rainbow.  They were fishing a JQ streamer or the ruby midge.

Yesterday, Carolyn took Keith and Nick out for half a day.  Slow morning, but we finally landed a few fish on a chartreuse egg pattern under the big ruby.

Keith – 3/20/21

 

How About This Weird Weather?!?!?

March 18th, 2021

Weird weather.  This morning when I woke up it was 36 degrees.  Yesterday it was in the 50s!  Think our high today was 42 and yesterday we were in the low 70s!  Oh well, this too will change.  Tomorrow we are supposed to see mid 50s and low 60s Saturday.  Mid 60s Sunday through Monday.  Seeing low 70s by next weekend!

We are in our fourth day of five spillways and three generators for a total release of almost 15000 cfs.  Projection for tomorrow is for more of the same and I imagine we will continue seeing this level for several more days!  Table Rock Lake is two and three quarter feet above power pool.

Jim on the water Tuesday with Kyle and Brennan from Tennessee.  Fairly new fly fishers and the conditions were tough.  They fished the JQ streamer and a ruby midge.  Dana and Carolyn had a family from Iowa on the water.  Dana had Jim and his son, Luke, and Carolyn took Trisha and Keira.  Everyone was brand new.  Good day to work on casting as catching was not good.  Fished lots of patterns, ruby, with ruby 2 dropper, white mega worm, gray scuds, lightning bug, crackleback, salmon and yellow egg patterns.  No magic button!


*