Great weather!  70s and 80s the past few days.  Looks like low 90s through most of the coming week, and maybe into the 80s through the weekend.  Right now, slight chances of rain next Sunday and Monday.

Schedule for this weekend showed no generation Saturday.  NOT!  Ran a little less than a full unit almost all day.  Ramped it up to a low two late in the day.  Today, however, they are following their schedule!  No generation going…..at least for right now.  Projection for tomorrow is zero units until noon, then a low two units ramping up to three units within one hour.  Running three units for five hours.

Nyla – 9/12/19

More fun days on the water.  Thursday, Carolyn took Nyla and Dan out for half a day.  Nyla started fly fishing with us last year.  She has come a long ways in

Dan – 9/12/19

one year.  Keep up the fishing Nyla!   They had a good day on the apricot egg under the big ruby.  A low one unit was running for the entire drift.  Nice quality fish.  Dan, from California, spent the morning on the water with Darren.  They had a quality fish day.  Hooked a couple big browns, probably over 20″ each but didn’t get them to the net.  They were fishing sizes 14 or 16 gray scuds under the apricot egg pattern.

Mica’s first – 9/14/19

Satuday, Carolyn took Mike and his daughter, Mica, out for half a day.  Mike has done some fly fishing, but this was brand new for Mica.  After we worked out a few “kinks” on casting and line management, it was off to catching.  Mica played her first

Mike – 9/14/19

fish on a fly rod like she had been doing it for a long time.  We started the morning with lots of hits and fish on the apricot egg.  Around 10:30 a.m. they decided no more eggs and we switched to a gray or UV gray scud under the big ruby and started catching again.

We are still seeing 90s and the past few days it has been mid to upper 90s.  We’re ready for some relief.  Not much in the way of rain chances until late next week.  We’ll see.

Very little change in the generation pattern.  Low one unit until noon or 1:00 p.m.

Jim on the water last Friday with a couple of his regulars, Jim and Bob from up in Springfield.  Pretty good day for them on the JQ streamer or a gray scud.

Laura – 9/7/19

Carolyn had a new fly fishing lady, Laura, and her husband, Joe, on the water Saturday.  This was Laura’s day and she did well.  First fish on a fly rod!  Best patterns were the cerise San Juan worm, or a clown egg.  Drifted either of these under the big ruby as they had a unit going.

Jim and Janice from Chesterfield, fish with Darren on Sunday.  Fun time catching on the holographic green crackleback.  Carolyn fished with Dale from Texas that day.

Dale – 9/8/19

They had a good day.  It was another cerise San Juan worm or apricot supreme egg pattern under the big ruby.  Mainly, it was the egg pattern.

Bill and Dan from Platte City fished with Jim on Monday.  Pretty new so Jim worked with them on skills.  Caught a few fish on the size 8 JQ and a size 12 scud.

Wednesday, Jayson and Darren, (they just finished our 2-day Orvis School, fished with Jim.  Another JQ and scud day.

WOW!  Check out the following for the article on one of our local guides catching a new record for the biggest brown.  It is just shy of the world record of 42 lbs. 10 ounces caught in New Zealand in 2019.  https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Branson-fisherman-sets-new-state-record-for-biggest-brown-trout-559394751.html

We are still seeing very warm days.  90s and humid both yesterday and again today.  Looks like we will continue to see this trend until the end of next week when it seems to be moving into the mid 80s.  Not much in the way of moisture in the forecasts.

Lots of fishing going on.  Still experiencing tough days and some okay days.  That time of the year.  We will continue catching fish, but we get spoiled from the Spring fishing when you’re catching lots of fish.  When the dissolved oxygen starts going down, numbers of fish to the net also go down.  As mentioned in one of our earlier posts, take some extra time with you fish when you land them.  Make certain they are totally revived.  They are fighting hard, but are exhausted by the time you get them to the net.  Starting to see quite a few dead fish on the bottom possibly due to poor releases.

Darren on the water last Saturday with Matt and Devin.  Not a lot of fish, but nice size.  Best pattern was the #18 black copperhead midge.

Sunday, Darren was back on the water again.  This time he had Todd and Scottie out for half a day.  A little better fishing this day on the P&P midge and stripping the holographic green crackleback.  Fun day!

Carolyn had Bob from California out Tuesday.  Worked hard and caught some fish on the holographic green crackleback or drifting the cerise San Juan worm.

Jim – 9/4/19

Thursday, James, from North Carolina, spent the morning with Gina.  They found and landed some fish on the root beer midge and the red tungsten midge.  Jim was on the water with Tom from just outside Kansas City, MO.  They were catching on the JQ, ruby midge or a gray scud.

Today Jim took Joel out and they caught on the size 8 JQ streamer, the ruby midge or a gray scud.  Said it was a definitely better today on the water.

Looks like we are done with the rain for a few days.  This coming week looks like mid 80s almost every day.  Slight chance for rain showing up next Saturday, but right now, it is very slight.

No real change in the generation pattern.  Unfortunately, over the weekend, they started up the units early in the day instead of the 11:00 a.m. or noon they have been doing during the week.  Figure that!  Today, they turned on the first unit at 11:00 a.m.  Think that is the same projection for tomorrow.

Jim on the water Sunday with a couple new fly fishers, Trish and Tim.  The caught a few fish stripping a #8 JQ streamer.  Really spent much of the time learning how to cast.

Monday, Carolyn took John out for half a day.  Slow, tough day.  We landed a decent number of fish but certainly had to work for them.  Our best fishing was probably after they turned on the first unit and we were fishing the rise.  Before that, it was a few on a red soft hackle, then a couple stripping the JQ.   Just before the first horn went off, he hooked one on the ruby 2 so we stayed with this as a dropper under the big ruby while fishing the rise.  Caught several on this and then it dried up when another horn went off.  Pretty day to be on the water!

Rain in the forecast the past four days.  Looks like, after today, it might be out of here until next weekend, when we are seeing slight chances both Friday and Saturday.  Otherwise, sunny days, mostly in the 80s.  Nice!  Had a few trips scheduled that we cancelled due to the forecast of thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday.  The forecast kind of fizzled out and it really wasn’t as bad as they were saying.

Generation pattern has remained pretty much the same until this weekend.  Yesterday, they turned on two units at 9:00 a.m. and kept them on until evening.  Today, they turned on a low one around 5:00 a.m. and upped it at 10:00 a.m.  A little more than the equivalent of one full unit.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be back to what they have been doing…nothing until noon or so and they two ramping up to three until evening.

Oxygen level has been less than a desirable for the trout.  We are starting to see more dead fish in the water.  Just a reminder, take a little more time with your fish before you release them.  Make certain they are fully revived before sending them on their way.

Terry – 8/19/19

Terry and Brian from Mississippi, spent last Monday morning on the water with Carolyn.  Pretty new

Brian – 8/19/19

fly fishers and we had a fun day stripping the filoplume and drifting the black copperhead midge.  Several rainbows and one beautiful brown!

Wednesday, it was a full house.  Jim, Dana and Carolyn had a group of six new fly fishers on the water.  Jim had two of the guys, Brent and Joe.  These guys were catching on the rusty midge.  Dana had the sons, Ethan and Caleb in his boat.  The copperhead

Kim – 8/21/19

midge was their pattern.  Of course, Carolyn took the ladies, Kim and Laurie.  Our quote for the day was “what happens on the river stays on the river”.  Good day on a size 20 tan scud

Laurie – 8/21/19

with a red soft hackle trailer, or stripping the JQ on a 1.5 ips sinking leader.  Fun day for these two ladies.

Saturday, Dana and Carolyn back on the water again.  Kevin and his son, Drew, attended our 2-day Orvis school last year.  They came back to catch some fish and brought Eli (who will soon be part of the family) with them.  This was one of those change in the generation pattern days.  Two generators came on at 9:00 a.m. but was and did remain at that flow day.  Thank you.  Dana took Kevin and they were catching on the ruby 2 with a red San Juan dropper.  Carolyn’s guys, Drew and Eli had a good day fishing the big ruby with a ruby 2 dropper or a cerise San Juan worm dropper.  The ruby 2 dried up late in the morning so the San Juan was it.  Also caught on the JQ streamer with a 4 ips sinking leader.  Rained like the devil a couple time this day and the forecast was showing it moving out.   So much for forecast!

Warm this morning, but a front came through after lunch and cooled it down.  Lots of lightning and some rain.  Forecast is for more rain possible tomorrow morning but temperatures cooling off into the low 80s.  Nice!  Chances for rain through Saturday.  By Sunday, we are looking at mid 80s, then upper 80s to low 90s for most of next week.

No change in generation pattern.  Off every morning until 11:00 a.m. or noon, then one or two units on for an hour and usually three for the rest of the day.  Today they did not turn the units on until 2:00 p.m.  Off around 8:00 p.m. until the next morning.

Fishing has been up and down.  Noticed the dissolved oxygen went below 4.0 last week so they injected liquid oxygen the next day.  You could certainly tell the difference from the one day to the next as far as the fish and catching were concerned.  It’s that time of the year!

Janell – 8/13/19

Gina on the water last Tuesday with a couple brand new fly fishing ladies, Janell and Joanna.  What a fun day.

Joanna – 8/13/2019

She started them out with casting, mending and worked them up to pulling streamers.  Hooked some, broke off on some and landed some.  Best pattern was the filoplume with no generation and best once the water came on was the red midge.

Thursday, Jim took Bill and Sylka out for half a day.  They worked a small, size 12, JQ streamer all morning and did very well on this pattern.

Friday, it was more of the same for Jim and his client, David.  Jim had him pulling the #12 JQ and they did well despite the rain and fog.

Saturday was a family from Texas.  Dana had Ross, Mike and Chris.  Some of them wanted to wade, so Dana had them fishing the B-bug and Ruby 2.  Gina’s guys, Whit and his sons Alan, aka “Cinco”, and

Wit – 8/18/19

Billy fished the #12 bugger, a filoplume and the crackleback.  Several to the net and several “rodeoed”.  Whit’s boys, who are 8 and 11, are already great casters.

“Cinco” – 8/18/19

Whit and his boys had such a good time Saturday, they went out again on Sunday with Gina.  Great day!  Lots of fish on the

Billy – 8/18/19

the #12 JQ, copper dun midge and root beer midge.  Seth and his son, Ryan were on the water with Carolyn.  They had a good day catching on a tan scud or an olive filoplume.

Beautiful weather.  We had a little rain, but not enough to take note of.  Unfortunately, the weather folks are saying we are headed into some more hot, humid days.  Oh well, we’ll be fishing we had these days around January!

Not much change in generation pattern.  No units running during morning or late evening hours.  Generation during afternoon from three to four units.  Looks like the pattern for a while.

Beebe – 08/12/19

Gina on the water last Monday with Beebe and his son, Jake.  Fun day for these guys on the JQ streamer, black copperhead midge and the holographic green crackleback.

Jake – 8/12/19

Fortunately, the JQ streamer was working while it was foggy as the fog didn’t lift until around 10:30.  Wasn’t too long after that, they blew the first horn.

Wednesday, Gina took Joanna and her sister-in-law, Janell out for an instructional/fishing trip.  She took the ladies through casting, mending and stripping.  Fishing was tough

Joanna – 8/13/19

that day as the dissolved oxygen levels are starting to drop….it’s getting to be that time of the year.  They did hook and bring in fish.  Lots of hits stripping the filoplume and after water rise, it was the red midge.

Sylka and Bill spent Thursday morning on the water with Jim.  Good day for them stripping a #12 JQ streamer.

Days have been hot and humid.  One could almost cut it with a knife.  Expecting another hot one today and tomorrow might just hit 100!  By Tuesday, we are looking at low 90s, then upper 80s into the weekend when it will probably be in the low 90s again.

Generation has been off almost every morning until noon.  For several days they have bumped up all four units.  Yesterday an exception, only the equivalent of two.  Much better!  Projection for today is off until noon, then ramping up to a little under the equivalent of four units by 2:00 p.m.  Monday looks like off until 11:00 then a little under the four units again by noon or 1:00 p.m.

Have to say that fishing has definitely slowed down.  Catching fish every day, but some days we certainly work harder than others.  Carolyn had Jack and Mary Kay out last Tuesday.  No generation so we opted to stay high.  Very slow start to the foggy morning.  Finally found some fish on the ruby 2 and JQ streamer.

Will – 8/7/19

Wednesday, Darren took Celeste & her son, Will out for half a day.  It was scheduled to be a trip for Will, but Celeste decided it looked like fun an went along.  Darren worked with her on casting and she was looking great before the morning was over.  They rodeo’d several.  Best patterns were a scud and a little black and white thread midge.

Rebecca – 8/7/19

Carolyn had Rebecca from California out for the morning.  Fun day on the water!  When she wasn’t catching, she was telling jokes!  Think we kept everyone on the river awake.  Best pattern was the black copperhead midge.  Meanwhile, Jim had Bill and James on the river.  James is new to fly fishing so Jim worked with him on all the necessary skills.  Best for them was the JQ streamer.

Friday, David and his son, Zack fish with Jim.  This was one of the days when the water came on earlier than projected.  Everything turned black, then green and fishing went south!  They did bring in a few fish before the water came in.  No best pattern that day.

Jim back on the water Saturday.  This time it was with Charlotte and Ernie from Kansas.  These two are beginners so it was lots of casting work.  They did get to catch some fish on the scud and JQ streamer.

Days are getting hot again.  Worst yet, lots of humidity the past two days.  Looks like low 90s the rest of the week and slight chances (right now) showing up Thursday through Saturday.

We have actually had four days of no generation during the morning hours.  That was the schedule again today.  Have been turning on two units at noon.

Last Tuesday, Jim took Don and Cindy from Texas out for the morning.  Pretty good day for them stripping the JQ or Tiger Tail streamers.

Don – 7/31/19

Don and Cindy didn’t get enough fishing in Tuesday, so they spent Wednesday morning on the water again, this time with Carolyn.  Another good, fun day for them.  Water running most of the trip so our best pattern was a cerise San Juan worm under the big ruby.

Thursday, David from Illinois fished half day with Carolyn.    Beautiful day, overcast and fishing was good.  Black copperhead midge was the best pattern that day.

Friday, Jim and Carolyn took a group of brothers out for half a day.  Carolyn took the oldest and youngest brothers, Rick and Dana.  Jim

Rich – 8/3/19

had Norm and Bob.  Fun day for everyone!  If I understand correctly, Jim’s boat had to ‘pop’ for dinner and beers that night!  Jim guys were catching on the JQ, ruby midge and San Juan worm.  Carolyn’s boat was catching on the black copperhead with zero units going and then

Dana – 8/3/19

dropped it under a big ruby to keep catching after the two units fired up.

Darren had a couple guys from Kansas on the water Saturday morning, Hugh and Adam.  Good days for these guys on the black copperhead midge with a thread midge trailer.  Adrian and Larry fished with Dana.  They had a good day mainly on the ruby 2.

Adam – 8/3/19

Sunday, Jim took Jim from here in Missouri out for half a day.  Jim got started fly fishing with us a little over two years ago and he’s still at it!  Good day for Jim on the holographic green crackleback, P&P midge or the JQ streamer.

Beautiful weather.  Looks like we will have more of this for possibly a week.  Yeah!  No rain in the near forecast.  Temperatures will continue to be pleasant for several days.  No mid to upper 90s!

We will continue to see the low flow during the morning and late evening hours then 2-3 units coming on around noon.  They estimate it will be at least another 10 days before Bulls Shoals gets low enough for them to evaluate the probable at Power Site dam and get the boards back in operation.

Fishing during the low water flow in the mornings is nice.  Lots of fishing trips, schools and the Missouri Trout Fly Fishermen’s Third Expo was this past weekend at the Lion’s Club on 76 East.  Saw lots of faces we had not seen for a while.  Great time.  Now for the fishing.  Needless to say, I’m a little behind on fishing reports.

Jim on the water Saturday, July 20th (that’s how far behind I am!).  One of him long-time regulars, Carmen and his son, who is now 10 years old, Randy.  Good day for them.  Carmen had not fished for a while so it was a refresher course.  Caught fish on the JQ, ruby midge and hit

Tiffany 7/21/19

hare’s ear nymph.  Sunday. Carolyn took Tiffany out for half a day.  Really good day for this young lady who caught most of her fish on the black copperhead midge.  Tiffany is pretty new and she did great hooking and bringing in the fish.   Jeremy, from Oklahoma, was on the water with Dana.  They had a good day on the black copperhead and Ruby 2 midges, and striping the tiger tail.

Monday, Gina took Lisa out for half a day.  Lisa is a very good caster and got several fish

Lisa – 7/23/19

to the boat stripping tiger tails, cracklebacks, or fishing the big ruby.  Mainly it was stripping that day.  John and Lucia spent the morning on the water with Carolyn.  This was a weird morning.  We rowed up toward the ladder area and got started fishing.  Pretty soon, two horns went off.  Oh boy!  More water.  Better re-rig.  Change everything out and two more horns.  What’s up?  Checked with the actual via phone and no more units had really come on.  Back to the original rigging.  Before we left the upper area, at least eight horns had blown

Lucia – 7/23/19

(we only have 4 units).  The water did keep going up and down, but not as much as they horns they blew.  Anyway, a good day for John and Lucia on the ruby 2 or black copperhead midges under the big ruby, including a couple smaller browns.   Wednesday, Darrell and Carrie fished with Carolyn.  Tough day.

Carrie – 7/24/19

All our guides out that day had the same story.  Picked some nice fish, but we worked hard for all the fish we caught.  It was a cerise San Juan worm with a gray scud dropper in

Darrell – 7/24/19

the shallow water for us.  Jim had two Bobs on the water.  They worked the size 8 JQ streamer, a size 12 ruby and a 14 hot hare’s ear.  Ian and Hal from Pennsylvania fish the morning with Darren.  Big ruby with a scud dropper were their bugs.

This past Friday, Jim had Norman from Indiana out for half a day.  Lots of water and it made for another tough day.  Did catch several fish on the JQ, ruby midge and hot hare’s ear nymph.

Sunday, Jim had Jerry on the water.  Another JQ day with a few on the ruby midge.  Gina’s guys,

Dan – 7/28/19

Dan and Roy from Kentucky were here for the Expo and always try to fish with Gina after the event.  This Sunday was the day and they spent the whole day on the water

Roy – 7/28/19

catching on the JQ and Tiger Tail, crackleback (1st fish and biggest), and pink San Juan worm.  Beautiful, sunny day and the fish were cooperating.