Looks like our 80s days are over.  Rain coming in this afternoon with a cold front behind it.  By tomorrow morning, we will hit our high for the day…..upper 60s.  Thursday morning we will see the beginning of some mid to upper 40s for the start of the day.  High Wednesday looks like maybe mid 60s!  Trees are starting to turn, so it is time for Fall to move on in.

Still no generation during the morning hours.  Something coming on around 1:00 p.m. or maybe later.

Carolyn on the water last Tuesday and Wednesday with Don and Cindy.  Cindy is fairly new and is doing great.  Caught several fish and one nice one on either the ruby 2 or black copperhead midges.  Al and Shelly spent more of the day on the water with Jim.  Tough day for them but they did get some fish to the boat on the P&P, hot hare’s ear and the miracle scud.

Friday, Jim took Mark and Jim out for half a day.  They were beginners and wanted to learn and fish some.  They worked on everything including catching a few fish stripping the JQ streamer, size 10.

Gary and Jerry from Ohio, spent Saturday on the water with Jim.  Little better day this day on the P&P and hot hare’s ear.  Didn’t get in a full day, but they had lunch, including broccoli salad!

Carolyn had a full day school for Kristen and Leif.  After classroom and then going through casting, they got a fly and were able to land some fish on the ruby 2 midge before being blown off the water with the generators coming on.

Today, Jim took Bud and Dennis out for half a day.  Tough day!  Three units came on an hour early (they were supposed to only turn on one) and by noon, it was raining.  Carolyn had Stephen and Ward out for half a day.  Agree….it was tough.  A few fish caught stripping the holographic green crackleback and only one on a black midge.  Maybe had a few hits, but one of the toughest days we have had on the water for a while.  We’ll try and blame it on the fronts or backs coming through.  Message from the weather station while on the water was that a tornado watch had been issued for Branson.

Wonderful sunny, not too hot days the past week or so.  A slight increase in temperatures for the next few days will put us in the upper 80s.  Not typical October weather, but still not hot as we had been.  We can handle this.  Slight chances for rain by Tuesday and again by Saturday.  Then temperatures will drop into the upper 70s for a while.

Past seven days we have seen no generation during the morning hours.  Then, one to two units on for two to four hours anywhere from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Of course, yesterday was an exception.  They turned on a couple units to start with at 3:00 and ramped it up to four units before shutting down about five hours later.  Oh well, keeps us on alert.

Fishing has been good.  The dissolved oxygen levels at times are running as low as 2.5 mg/l, but are also getting up into the 6.0 or better range at times.  So, we are happy with the fishing right now.

Stan on the water last Tuesday with Mark from Nixa.  Second time he and Mark have fished together and they had another good day…all on the black copperhead midge.

Dave – 9/27/18

Thursday, Carolyn took Martin and Dave, from Texas, out for the morning.  Good day for these two fly fishermen.  They have a few years behind the “sticks”.  We caught

Martin – 9/27/18

almost everything on the black copperhead midge.  It was overcast almost all of that morning.  Jim’s long-time clients, Marge and Price were on the river with him that day.  They had a fun day mainly on the miracle scud.  Hooked a few stripping a size 10 JQ streamer.

Donna – 9/28/18

Rick and Donna from Illinois, fished with Carolyn all day Friday.  They’re gluttons for punishment!  Good day on the black copperhead and ruby 2 midges.  Jim was on the water for half a day with Mike from Texas.  A lot of instruction, but Jim had him catching on a size 10 JQ streamer as well as a P&P midge and the hot hare’s ear nymph.

Saturday Carolyn and Gary spent the day with a group from various places who came to the River Run full-day fly fishing clinic.  Think we have some more folks ‘hooked’ on fly fishing.

Sheryl – 9/30/18

Matt and Sheryl fished with Carolyn Sunday.  This was their 25 year wedding anniversary and they have spent several of their anniversaries on the water with us.  Really fun day and lots

Matt – 9/30/18

of fish on the black copperhead and ruby 2 midges as well as a size 18 gray scud.  TJ spend half a day with Gary on a wade trip.  They had a really good day too on the tan scud and a ruby 2 midge.

Rain came in early today, cleared for a while, and we will get some more tonight which will continue into early tomorrow morning.  Currently, it looks like most of it will be out of the picture by 9:00 a.m. or so.  Temperatures tomorrow will be cool for a change…..upper 60s!  Sunday looks like mid 70s and then more normal temperatures for this time of the year, low 80s and 70s through next week.

After a couple weeks with low flow every day, we have had no flow, except for one unit a couple hours late this afternoon.  This looks like it will be the pattern through this weekend.  Monday will be no flow all day, then two units on at 2:00 p.m. for three hours.

Jim on the water Monday with Dick from here in Missouri.  Dick is getting started so Jim took him through the paces.  They caught fish on a hot hare’s ear nymph, scud and stripping the tiger tail.  Stan was out with Paul, also from Missouri.  Think this was his first time here on Taneycomo although he fishes various Parks throughout the state.  He caught a nice 18 inch rainbow on a P&P under the ruby 2.

Tuesday, Kevin and Patty spent the morning with Jim.  Fished a little slow for them that day, but they did catch from on the hot hare’s ear and a ruby midge.

Carolyn had Kathy and her husband out Wednesday.  This was Kathy’s day.  Jim was just going along to observe.  She is brand new to fly fishing so Carolyn worked with her on the roll cast to start with.  Lots of hits on a black copperhead midge and several hook ups but could not get them to the boat.  Think the fish were just barely taking this pattern that day.  Finally put an apricot egg pattern on her and first hit, Kathy hooked up with her first fish on a fly rod that she got to the boat.  After that, it was several more to the point that Jim decided he needed to get into the act.  Before going in, Kathy mastered the regular pick up and lay down cast.  Think she is “hooked”.

Awesome weather.  60s in the morning then mid to upper 80s during the day and lots of sunshine.  Looking at more of the same Thursday.  Friday shows a little more chance of rain with highs in the mid 80s.  Pretty much the same for Saturday, and then Sunday rain chances increase and the temperature drops to the upper 70s.

We have had the same generation pattern for over a week now.  Low generation in the morning (had been no generation), then ramping up to 3-4 units around 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.  The low flow has been good for fishing and one can still wade in various areas.

Stan on the water Thursday and Friday with Mark from the St. Louis area.  Couple of good days for Mark.  What more could one want….beautiful weather and catching fish!.  Thursday he

Mark – 9/14/18

fished a little ruby under the big ruby, a partridge & orange soft hackle, holographic green crackleback and a 56er.  Friday it was a P&P under the little ruby midge.  Also caught some on the holographic green crackleback including at 19 incher.

Carolyn had Edward and Jim from the St. Louis area out Friday and Saturday.  They had booked two full days but with the water coming on high in the afternoons, we hung around for a little while to see how it would fish.  Both days when it came on, fishing basically went south so we went in early.  However, while it was low flow, we had lots of hits and caught some fish on the ruby 2 under a big ruby or the red tunghead midge.  Pulled a few on the holographic green crackleback and 56er.   And caught some on an apricot egg pattern.  Saturday, nymph style fishing was mainly on the ruby 2 midge.

Jim on the water Saturday with Chris from Tennessee.  Chris has fished with us in the past but quite a while ago and he had to brush off the cob webs.  Got the hang of it again and it was a tiger tail or the hot hare’s ear nymph.

Great weather.  Upper 70s and low 80s for the highs.  Actually in the upper 50s the other morning when I left for work.  Looks like it will continue through the weekend and into next week.  Probably see some mid to upper 80s in the mix.

Definite change in the generation pattern the past six days.  Now we have low, somewhere around 35 mwh, every morning.  Some days they kick it up a little and other days, it stayed pretty much in this same range.  This puts the tailwater levels anywhere from 1-1/2 feet to 2-1/2 feet higher than with no generation.  Although it reduces the wadeable areas down a little, it is good to see some water movement both for fishing as well as for the fish!  There is still quite a bit of wading water.  One just has to go looking.

Caleb – 9/6/18

Gina and Stan on the water last Thursday with four firefighters from Oklahoma.  Gina had Caleb and Russell.  Caleb fished with us last year but is still learning and this was a first for Russell.

Russell – 9/6/18

Stan’s guys, Corey and Ben were also new, so everyone worked on basic skills as well as catching fish.  Gina had her guys catching on the ruby 2, an egg pattern and the JQ streamer.  Stan’s were catching on the ruby 2 and a peach egg pattern.  Fun day for everyone!  Jim had Larry and Ann out for the morning.  Fairly new fly fishers so he worked with them while they were catching fish on the ruby midge, gray scud and a size 10 Tiger Tail.

Dwan and Robert spent Saturday morning on the water with Stan.  Pretty good day for these guys on a peach egg under the big ruby.  This was one of those days when they ran water, up and down, all day.

Rick and his father, Richard, spent the day on the water with Carolyn yesterday.  Good day for these two on an apricot egg pattern, or the black copperhead midge under the big ruby.  They actually had a couple of doubles during the day.  They also pulled some fish on the holographic green crackleback below Lookout Island on a 3 ips sinking leader.  This is one of Richard’s favorite ways to catch fish.  Fun day, lots of fish and a beautiful day!  Jim had Terry on the water yesterday morning.  Terry just finished the Orvis 2-day school we held here at River Run.  He wanted to reinforce what he had just learned.  He had a good time stripping the tiger tail (like this the best) and catching on a gray scud or ruby midge.  He’s hooked!

Keep watching the sky looking for the rain that has been forecast.  Cloudy all morning, but it is actually sunny here right now (1:30 p.m).  According to the forecast, there is a 75% chance for rain right now.  I’m sure we’ll get it sooner or later.

Not much change in the generations schedule.  They did forecast generation all day Tuesday.  NOT!  The turned it on the afternoon, as usual, but with a little more flow.  Forecast generation all day today.  Again, nothing until noon when they turned on 2 units.

Jim on the water this past Sunday with Jason and Haley from California.  This was Haley’s first time, so Jim worked with her on the basics.  Pretty tough day as they would not even take streamers.  Did catch some on the ruby midge and a size 18 dark gray scud.

Monday, Carolyn had Andrew and his son Joe on the water for half a day.  They just finished the Orvis 2-day fly fishing school and wanted to reinforce what they had learned.  Started out a little slow, but did pick up and they caught fish on the black copperhead midge and yellow/orange egg pattern.  Peter, from California, spent the morning on the water with Stan.  They had a pretty good day on the ruby 2.  This was Peter’s first experience with fly fishing and he really enjoyed it.

Jim took Dean and his son, Josh out Wednesday.  It was instructional for John as this was his first time fly fishing.  They caught fish on the P&P, blood worm, and stripping a size 12 JQ streamer.  It must have been new fly fisher day, as Carolyn had Scott and his wife Tricia out for the morning.  This was their first time

Tricia – 9/5/18

with a fly rod, so we went through the basic roll cast, pick up and lay down cast, and later after catching a few fish, worked on shooting line to get a little more distance.  When we first hit the water, first cast of the ruby 2 hat a hit.  After that, nothing for what seemed like forever.  Changed to an egg pattern and again a hit, then nothing.  Let’s move!  Finally a good and fun day for them on the black copperhead midge and the yellow/orange egg pattern.  Think both of them are hooked!

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!