Weather in a word it HOT!.  Can’t believe it is just the middle of June.  Looks like more in the forecast through Tuesday, then a slight cool down into the 80s due to chances for rain through Friday.  I’ll take it!  However, the weekend and following week appear to be back into the 90s.

Same generation patter we have been seeing since Memorial Day.  No generation from around 8:00 p.m. at night until noon of 1:00 p.m. the next day.  Lots of wading time.

Stan out last Thursday with Brandon from Arkansas.  Fairly new fly fisher, learn a few things and caught from fish on the ruby 2, P&P and stripping the JQ streamer.

Blake – 6/15/18

Friday, Carolyn took Blake from Georgia out for the morning.  Slow start again, but we finally found fish stripping the holographic green crackleback behind the Tiger Tail.  He also hooked up with a few stripping a red size 16 soft hackle.  Fun stuff!

Dale and his son Trey spend Saturday morning on the water with Stan.  Good day for these guys mainly on the ruby 2 with a P&P dropper.

Weather has been hot.  Some rain in the area, but it certainly is scattered.  Rain at our house 15 minutes away.  Not a drop at the shop.  We are expecting more of the same.  Low to mid 90s for the next five days at least.  Right now we are seeing a slight chance for rain by Monday, but still 90s.

No generation from at least 8:00 p.m. at night until noon or more frequently, 1:00 p.m. the next day.  Lots of good wading time.  When they turn it on, it is ripping in a hurry so don’t take your time getting out of the water.

Dave – 6/11/18

Dave and Tom fished with Carolyn this past Monday.  Slow start to the day.  Lots of fog on the water and once it lifted, about 10:00 a.m., the bite certainly improved.  Still not as good as we normally see with no generation.  The water was extremely flat that day too.  We did managed to put some fish to the next, mainly stripping the tiger tail.

Wednesday, Carolyn took Lauretta out for her Mother’s Day present given to her by her daughter, Haley.  We even let Haley ride along!  Lauretta had fly fished some 20 years ago and must have mentioned that she would like to do it again.  It was a done deal.  Slow start again with the fog on the water, but we persevered.  After the fog lifted and we moved around a little, we found several fish on the ruby 2 midge, but best of all, stripping a red soft hackle.  This was the ticket and she really liked catching this way.  Fun day and Haley took lots of pictures!  Stan had Raymond, from Louisiana out for the morning.  Slow start for them too, but they also starting catching on the ruby 2 and the red soft hackle.

Today, Carolyn had Bill and Dan, from Florida, on the water.  Bill and his wife have fished with us several times.  Dan does lots of salt water fishing, but is pretty new to fly fishing for trout.  Throws a good line, so no problem…just a little difference in some of the presentations.  Tried streamers, but it was a midge day for us.  P&P, Ruby 2, and several on the red soft hackle.  Good day, especially for Dan.  Stan was on the water with Brandon, from Arkansas.  P&P, Ruby 2 and JQ streamer were their patterns for the day.

Beautiful weather we have been having!  80s with lots of sunshine.  Just right, especially if you’re standing in the water with a fly rod!

Generators have been off every morning until noon or 1:00 p.m.  Yesterday they turned them on a little earlier, but that’s a Monday for you.  Back off again this morning.

First fish on fly rod – 5/29/18

Fun day on the water last Tuesday.  Fortunately, the water was off so Jim and Carolyn took a group of seven out for a half day of wade fishing.  Grandfather, sons and grandsons….from 7 to 70.  Four out of the group were new fly fishers so we worked with them for a while on casting, hook set and playing the fish.  Everyone caught fish!

Nathan – 5/29/18

Great seeing the young men having so much fun with a fly rod.  When the horn blew, the new fly fishers left the water and Jason and his sons drifted on down for the balance of a full day with Jim.

Carolyn had Charlie and Brenda on the water Thursday.  Again, the water was off so we all got into the water and caught fish.  Brenda

Brenda with another one on! – 5/31/18

wanted to work on her casting, which we did.  But, most of the time they were catching fish.  Started out with the ruby 2.  Both wanted to get some streamer experience, so we switched to the tiger tail on the sinking leaders.  Both the 1.5 ips and the 3 ips leaders were working well that day.  So then they started catching on the tiger tail.  Another fun day.

Monday, Stan took Peter out for half a day.  We always say to take the Monday SWPA projections with a grain of salt as it is difficult to predict what you need to do three days ahead.  As usual, their projection of no water until 1:00 p.m. fell on it’s nose.  At 10:00 a.m. they turned on a low one unit and bumped it up some more at 11:00.  Until that time, Peter was hooking up on the ruby 2.  Fishing definitely dropped off with the rise of water flow.  But, it was a beautiful day on the water and Peter caught some fish and had a nice get away for a few hours!

Weather has been hot!  Lots of upper 80s and 90s.  Slight chances of rain here and there, but so far, not much has happened.  By the time the days gets here, the rain has disappeared.

So far since Saturday, we have had no generation during the morning hours.  The, at either noon or 1:00 p.m. two to (the past two days) four units come on for four to five hours.  Back off around 8:00 -9:00 p.m.

With the generation pattern covered, fishing has been great when the water has been off!.  Stan out last Wednesday with Tim and Cindy from Texas.  Wonderful day for them….fish catching that is.  Turned on three units at noon which slowed down the bite, but the real culprit was the rain.  Heavy rain forced everyone off

Joe – 5/23/18

a little early.  Ruby 2 was the bug of the day for them.  Gina had Joe out again,  Joe fished with Gina last year about this time.  They had a great day too on the ruby 2 and tiger tail.

Dennis 1st trout & Dad – 5/29/18

Tuesday, Jim and Carolyn took Jason and party out for half a day for some and all day for others.  Carolyn had John, Austin, Dennis and William out catching on the ruby 2.  This was pretty much the first time for this group and everyone had a really good day on the ruby 2 or copperhead black midges.  Jim had Jason, Nathan and Seth.  These guys had fished some before, so they were ready for a full day.  Red copperhead midge and blood worm dropper were their patterns.  Lots and lots of

Nathan – 5/29/18

hits, misses and hook ups.  Almost every thing was on the ruby 2 midge.

Everyone coming into the shop is having a great day on the water.  Check the schedule or check with us to see if the water is off and get out there and fish!!!

Yep!  We just steamed past Spring.  Temperatures in the mid to upper 80s all the way through most of next week.  By next weekend, looks like 90s will be the norm.  Chances for scattered showers over the next four days.

Seeing some lower flows during the morning hours the past several days.  Today, however, it was off until noon then they turned on the equivalent of two units.  They should shut down around 8:00 p.m. and we’ll have to wait until the report comes out this afternoon to see what they will be doing tomorrow.  My guess would be that we’ll see low or no flow in the a.m and they fill fire up something early afternoon.  Especially with all this warm weather.  Need that power!

Vicki – 5/18/18

Carolyn out last Wednesday with Bill and Vicki from Oklahoma.  Started out in the early afternoon on Wednesday and as soon as we hit the water, they fired up another generator.  Had to take a break as the water trashed up so bad one could not keep their fly clean.  Once it cleared up, we managed to catch a few fish on the ruby 2 under an apricot egg pattern.  They didn’t get enough, so we went out again for the whole day on Friday.  Much

Bill – 5/18/18

better day.  Lots of fish on the ruby 2 either under the big ruby or the apricot egg.  Low flow in the morning.  We broke for lunch when they added another unit and by the time we were ready to fish again, water had cleared and fish were biting.

Gary and his friend, Barry fished half day with Stan last Thursday and again on Friday.  Good days on the ruby 2 under the egg pattern.

Harlan from Indiana spent all day Saturday on the water with Stan.  He did well on the ruby 2 under the apricot egg pattern.

Jim – 5/21/18

Monday, Barbara and Jim fished all day with Carolyn.  They just finished the Orvis 2-day fly fishing school and wanted to used what they had learned.

Barbara in the zone

Good day on the water for them using the cerise San Juan worm under the big ruby.

Gorgeous day yesterday.  Temperatures in the upper 80s and a little wind with lots of sunshine.  Had some very light showers this a.m. but expect 80s and partly cloudy most of the day.  Tomorrow is our best chance for rain but still temperatures in the 80s.  80s and 90s seem to be the trend for the next week and after tomorrow, just slight chances for rain….we know how that can change!

Since they shut down the gates, we have seen some low flow at least part of each day.  Today we are supposed to see the equivalent of one or less until noon or 1:00 p.m. when they will pump it up to the equivalent of two units.  Back down to one by 8:00 p.m.

Carolyn on the water with Tony and his son-in-law, Bryson this past Sunday.  This was the first day of lower water and it fished well.  The morning started out pretty fast stripping the tiger tail and/or the holographic green crackleback.  As soon as they stopped hitting these patterns, we changed over to the big ruby with the ruby 2 dropper and the catch was on again.  Really good day for Tony and Bryson!

Folks coming into the shop are either catching really good or having a tough time.  Tan scud and tiger tail have been the best two patterns being reported.

Beautiful blue sky and sunny weather.  Temperatures in the 80s.  Looks like more of the same over the next week.  Slight chances of rain Wednesday and Thursday, but right now, they are slight!

Gates finally closed around 11:00 a.m. today.  Currently, they are running three generators.  According to SWPA.gov, projection for the weekend is one unit or lower all weekend!  Yeah!!

Carolyn on the water most of Thursday with Gabrielle and Knox from Illinois.  These two took our two-day school in June of 2015 and they have continued to fly fish lots of different places over the past few years.  They are really happy that they took up fly fishing.  Very good day for them stripping tiger tails with a holographic green crackleback even with give gates going!

It’s summer!  At least that’s what the temperatures seem to be these past several days.  Upper 80s, probably hit 90 in some places.  Today is upper 80s and we’re looking at the same all the way through the weekend.  Plus sunny skies!  Next Monday there is a 50% chance of rain but still in the 80s.

Last Friday, May 4, they opened five gates 1 foot each.  This put about 5000 cfs plus what is being run through the normal generators, so we are seeing 14000-15000 cfs of water 24/7 right now.  The word is that when they get Beaver down to 1128.5 when will drop back on this much flow.  We will see.  Right now Beaver is sitting at 1128.98 and not moving down very quickly.

Stan on the water May 4 with RJ and her friend Amy.  Good day for these ladies stripping the JQ streamer.

Judy – 5/6/18

Sunday, Carolyn took Tim and Judy out for half a day.  They just finished our 1-day fly fishing clinic and wanted to apply what they had learned.  Tough day due to the high water, but we muddled through and caught some fish!  It was a JQ streamer or holographic green crackleback on the 4 ips sinking leader day.

Stan took Jim and his brother Mark out on Monday.  Still lots of water and Mark is new to fly fishing.  They did managed to hook some fish stripping the JQ streamer.  Nice day….88 degrees and NO WIND for a change!  But 15,000 cfs of water.  Can’t win them all.

The Weather has been great until today.  Upper 70s and low 80s with lots of sunshine and, quite a bit of wine.  However, today we have lots of rain.  Should be through here by 6:00 p.m. and we will go to party cloudy with a nice day tomorrow in the upper 60s or low 70s.  Looks like cloudy most of the day, but Saturday will hit low 80s and partly sunny.  Same for Sunday, then Monday is full sunshine and 80s again.

Generators were actually off Tuesday.  Up until then, we have had the normal ups and downs.  Yesterday was back to the low one unit, 35 mwh, then the equivalent of two generators on around 1:00 p.m.  Tomorrow is looking about the same with two coming on at either 1:00 or 2:00 p.m.

Stan and Jim on the water with a group of four guys last Friday and Saturday.  Mike and John fished with Stan and Jim took Ed and Gail.  Fun two half days for the guys on the ruby 2 midge.  Good day of catching.  Rob and Ray from Oklahoma spent half a day on the water with James.  Good day of catching for these guys also on the ruby 2 midge under a peach egg pattern.  Ray lots a really nice rainbow at the boat ramp.

Monday, Carolyn got to take Kimberly and her father, Dale out for the day.  Dale has worked

Dale – 4/30/18

at various Orvis operations back East and he was here visiting Kimberly who lives here in Missouri.  This was Kimberly’s first experience fly fishing for trout and

Kimberly – 4/30/18

she did great.  They had a really good day on the ruby 2, tiger tail, JQ streamer and holographic green crackleback.  Stan on the water with one of his long-time customers, Larry from Kansas, who brought a friend, Don.  Short half day for them, but they pulled several fish on the ruby 2 or lightning bug under the big ruby.

Tuesday was a “you should have been here” days.  They actually had the generators off until 4:00 p.m. or so.  Jim had Joe from Kansas out for the day.  Joe is brand new to fly fishing and wanted to learn.  They

Kathy – 5/1/18

fished the blood worm, P&P, black midge and a gray scud.  Kathy from Louisiana spent all day on the water with Carolyn.  She set herself a new record of fish to the net!   She actually had blisters on her hands at the end of the day.

Carolyn back on the water

Lee – 5/2/18

Wednesday with Lee and Charlie both from Texas.  New guys to fly fishing so we worked a little on the roll cast and the basic cast.  Biggest problem for a while was the hook set, but they got the hang of

Charlie – 5/2/18

it and caught some fish.  I think at the end of the day, it was almost a tie…Charlie may have had a few more.  Fun day with these guys on the ruby 2 and black copperhead midges.

Gina had Bill and Frank from Illinois on the water again.  Really great day for

Bill – 5/2/18

these guys on the ruby 2 under the big ruby and a few stripping the

Frank – 5/2/18

tiger tail.

Overall, gotta say fishing has been pretty darn good.  Especially at the lower levels or best of all, no generators!

This past Saturday, April 21, we had an outstanding gathering of women from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas at the fly shop.  They were there to help the River Runners Women’s Fly Fishing Club celebrate it’s 10 year anniversary.

Most of the charter members who started the club in April 2008

The day was off to a great start with fly tying,

Fly Tying

rigging, making bracelets out of used fly line and browsing

Rigging and knots

through the many auction items we collected for silent and live auctions.  Outside there was casting for those who wanted to learn or brush up.  By 10:30 or so, Dutch oven preparation was starting on some great lunch desserts.

All the ladies in attendance!

After a great lunch, it was fun and games.

Tag team putting on waders

It was a wonderful day of making new friends, sharing stories, learning new things and reinforcing what you thought you new, but the best is still to come.

Live Auction

.

The grand finale of the event was the fact that these ladies raised over $3000.00 which was given to the Reel Recovery of Arkansas.  This wonderful organization helps men recovering from cancer.

We thank each and every lady who attending our event and helped us celebrate our 10 years as a club for women with a passion for fly fishing.  We also want to thank all the companies and individuals who donated items for our auctions.  Without them, this would not have happened.   THANK YOU!!