Beautiful day today.  Yesterday wasn’t bad either, except for the wind.  60s today and little wind.  Saturday and Sunday are both supposed to be in the 60s.  Sunshine tomorrow but clouds moving in on Sunday to make way for the showers on Monday.   50s Monday and Tuesday.  Tuesday could also have some strong winds!  Looks like Wednesday will be the coolest day of the week, upper 40s, but sunny.  Thursday 50s and Friday low 60s.

Lots of water right now.  Running all four generators 24/7 since early Monday.  We did make the turn late last night and are now seeing a slow drop in the level.  At the current rate, it will probably be 5-6 days before we are back to power pool.  Will they shut down then?  Who knows?  However, I would bet that they will continue to run something at least part of the days to be prepared for another big rain.

Jim – 2/28/18

Gina on the water Wednesday with Jim.  Good day for him with the high water!  Peach egg pattern and the big ruby were the bugs to drift.  Also stripped the tiger tail some.  Best part of the day was the quality of the fish.  They look like they are being well fed.

Yesterday was the first time we have seen the sun for several days!  It was absolutely beautiful.  Today we are having more of the same.  Right now it is 66 degrees and sunny!  Tomorrow is supposed to be partly cloudy and chances of rain later tomorrow into tomorrow night.  Wednesday we might see scattered showers, especially early in the day.  Thursday might be cloudy in the a.m. but sunshine in the afternoon.  Friday and Saturday look nice with sunshine and upper 50s or low 60s.  Glad to say not too great a chance for more rain.  We don’t need it!

Table Rock lake went up 8 feet in 7 days.  Right now, they are running everything they have and keeping it from rising any more.  Projection for tomorrow is more of the same….all four units going as maximum flow.

Carol – 2/25/18

Andy and Carol managed to get on the water yesterday with Carolyn.  Thank goodness as they would have seen lots of water today.  Great fun and catching day for these two who are celebrating their anniversary today.  Happy Anniversary and many more!  Beautiful, sunny day so the primrose & pearl midge dropped from a Lightning Bug was the combo for them most of the day.  The upper part of the river definitely fished the best, but it was such a beautiful day, we couldn’t come off early so we floated

Andy – 2/25/18

the full run.  Picked a few fish from Trophy Run, down to Lookout Island, and on with the ruby 2 under either an egg pattern or the red tunghead size 16 midge.

Today will be an interesting day.  Right now, it is 65 degrees.  Supposed to hit close to 70 by noon then down to the low 50s by the time I leave the shop today.  Chances for rain most of the day and especially by early afternoon.  Tomorrow we are looking at the high in the upper 30s.  Chance for more rain on Thursday but temperatures will be in the upper 60s.  Friday will be a little cooler….upper 50s, but rain.  Good news by Sunday when it will be in the lower 60s and mainly sunny.

Generation schedule this weekend did pretty much what they projected for a change.  The 35 mwh actually happened.  They did not turn it off as they had done all last week but ran water all day both days.  We’ll see what they do today.

Gary on the water Saturday with Monica and Tom from Texas.  These two attended our two-day Orvis school last October and wanted to get back with it.   They fished the low one unit (35 mwh) and had a very good half day on the ruby 2 and black copperhead midges.  Now they are really hooked on fly fishing!

Ray, from Oklahoma, spent the afternoon on the water with Stan Sunday.  Other than 30 mph wind gusts, and the water changing up and down, it was a really good day on the ruby 2 and lightning bug.  They did pull a few on the holographic green crackleback.  Fun day.

Got into my car this morning to come to work (shortly after 7:00 a.m.) and the outside temperature gauge in my car said 68 degrees.  As I sit here writing, it is up to 70!  Then, tomorrow, the high is supposed to be 45?!?  Right now, we are looking at rain very late Friday night and going into Saturday morning.  Saturday’s high will be in the low 50s.  Sunday there are slighter chances for rain with a high in the upper 50s.  Then, a mixed bag next week with  60s, upper 50s and by Wednesday, maybe back into the mid 40.  Right now, next weekend looks good….mid to upper 50s.

Same generation pattern so far this past weekend and into this week. Three to four units in the morning from 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m.  Then, the 35 mwh which has been actually 0, and the units are shut down until around 5:00 p.m.

Stan on the water yesterday with Doc from Oklahoma.  Doc celebrated his 85th birthday last month.  He set up a half day trip but they came off early after Doc had caught more than enough and was ready to kick back and relax before his drive back to Oklahoma.  Really good day for him, mainly on the ruby 2 midge.

Great weather this week.  After a nasty weekend of freezing rain and temperatures in the 20s during the day and teens at night and early morning, I’m glad to say we might see 70s on Thursday.  The down side of that is there also might be some moisture.  We will see.  We have had moisture forecast several times over the past two weeks and very little, if anything has happened.  Fortunately for the Branson area, the freezing rain was no where as nasty as a little north (Springfield) of us.  Next weekend will not be as warm as it will be during this week, but still pretty good for February.  Saturday should be in the upper 40s and Sunday looks like 50s.

As I mentioned in last report, 30 mwh seems to be the new norm for “0” generation.  If I remember correctly, they did this same thing last year about this time for the projection schedule.  Anyway, we have had 3-4 units running in the early morning for 3-4 hours then it has be shut down around 10:00 or 11:00 a.m.  Yesterday they turned on a unit at 5:00 p.m.

Fished with a friend Friday and we had a great, fun time.  Most of the fish were caught on the Ruby 2 until later in the day when they flat shut down on this one.  Dawn fished a size 16 gray scud for a while and did well on this.  Stripping was not great, but we didn’t fish this way very long.

The River Runner Women’s Fly Fishing Club will be celebrating their 10 year anniversary on April 21, 2018 here at the fly shop.  We started with 12 ladies are now well over 100 members.  “Fishing is our Mission” and we have certainly accomplished that over the past ten years.  It has been a great group to fish with, learn new things, fish new places and just support each other while enjoying our love for fly fishing.  We are hoping for an exciting celebration with lots of activities and definitely lots of fishing.  We would welcome any of you ladies who are not certain fly fishing is for you, or those of you just getting started and/or have been doing it forever to join us with this celebration.  Come help us with our “Mission”.

Our Agenda is a work in progress, but we will gather at the fly shop Friday evening for a “Meet and Great” gathering.  Saturday will be filled with activities and lots of fishing.  Mark your calendars.  We will keep you updated.

Today and tomorrow are going to be great!  Lots of sunshine and upper 50s today and more sun tomorrow with lower 60s.  February?!?  However, back to reality Saturday and Sunday when the temperatures will be in the 30s and chances (60% right now) of rain showers in the morning Saturday then a mix of rain and freezing rain.   We pretty much had this forecast Tuesday and I’m glad to say, it fizzled out.  The good news is that once we get through the weekend, it’s back to sunshine and temperatures in the upper 40s, and low 50s.

Generation has been all over the place this past week.  Monday, it was off for about four hours in the afternoon, came on low, then back off until early Tuesday.  Basically ran all day Tuesday.  Small window of no generation Wednesday afternoon.  Today they were projecting a flow of 35 mwh at 10:00 a.m. and as of right now – 10?45 a.m. it is 0 generation.  They are running 20 cfs probably from the in-house generators, and it a normal no generation flow.

Fishing continues to be good on almost everything.  Better get out there on one of these nice days and go fishing!

Just wanted to remind folks we have fly tying clinics in progress.  They have all been well attended and a lot of fun.  This weekend, egg patterns and flashback scuds are on the schedule.  Next Saturday, one of our newer, younger, guides will take everyone through some advanced techniques on tying those big streamers.  Give us a call if you are interested in attending one of these.

You should have been here yesterday!  Beautiful weather, sunny, AND the water was off most of the day.  Today is not going to be bad….temperatures in the mid 40s and partly sunny.  Friday is a normal February, 40s day and sunny.  By Saturday, we might see some moisture in the afternoon and temperatures again in the 40s.  Temperatures to hover somewhere in the 40s and even some low 50s next week and into the weekend.  Highest probability of moistures looks like next Tuesday.  We’ll see…

Generators were off both yesterday and the day before by at least 10:00 a.m.  Today, the projection is 55 mwh this morning and dropping to 35 around 11:00 for six hours.  55 is a bit much to wade since is puts out over 4000 cfs which raises the level 3-3-1/2 feet.  If they drop back to 35, that only raises it 1-1/2′ and around 2500 cfs.  This can be waded in some areas.  Remains to be seen.

Jim – 1/31/18

Gina out with Wednesday Jim yesterday.  Really good day for them.  While the water was running in the morning (2 units on low), they were catching mainly on the big ruby.  After the water was turned off and dropped out, it was a Tiger Tail day.

Several fishers came in yesterday looking for Tiger Tails and/or reporting that was the hot pattern for them.  For you tyers, recipe is on our website.

Weather has been much better this week.  Temperatures in the 40s and 50s.  Only negative has been the wind.  Lots of wind.  I think today is supposed to be the worst, especially this afternoon.  Tomorrow is looking like upper 50s and Sunday in the low 60s.  Lots of sunshine Sunday and Monday.  Next week is also looking good until Thursday when a 50% chance of rain pops up with temps in the mid 40s.  By next weekend, it is looking good again but temps will only be in the 40s.  Even that’s not bad for this time of the year.

Generation pattern has been lots of water in the morning until 9:00 a.m. or so then low generation or no generation until late in the afternoon.  This weekend is calling for no generation both Saturday and Sunday. Monday we’re back to heavy generation in the mornings again and low or no generation during the late morning into the afternoon.

Fishing, according to those fishers coming into the shop, is very good.  Had a guy come in yesterday with what was left of a Tiger Tail…..hook, lead, some red thread and a few hackles on the tail…who “couldn’t keep them off that fly”.  Black zebra midge, red midge, gray scud, black WD40, and I’m sure there were several other patterns fishers were coming in to get or telling me they had had a good day catching fish!  So, if you’re suffering from cabin fever, this weekend looks like the answer.

Crazy weather we have been having.  Almost 70 one day and 30s to 40s the next.  Oh well, keeps us on our toes!  Yesterday was not bad temperature wise, but you had better been hanging on to a tree or you would have been blown away.  Looking at nice weather the rest of this week.  Wednesday should be in the mid 50s and Thursday might be in the low 60s.  Mid 50s through the weekend, with a chance for showers in the morning.  Right no, that chance is low.  50s seem to be the trend through next week also.

The generation has been strange the past several days.  Also, what they say they are going to do wasn’t quite what they did.  In any event, it was low enough all weekend to get out and wade in most places.  Today they are suppose to run the equivalent of three units for four hours.  Turn it off at 11:00 a.m. and not come back on until 5:00-6:00 this afternoon.  If the weather does what it is supposed to do and the water does too, it will be a great day to get in the river!

Debbie with one of her 1st on fly rod

Stan on the water Saturday with Lee and his brand new fiancée, Debbie.  What a neat couple.  Our congratulations to them for a long and happy life together catching fish on their fly rods!  Nice day, except for the wind and the water fluctuation on a pretty regular basis.  Despite this, they had a good day and Debbie caught her first fish on a fly rod along with several others.  It was a P&P day!  She would probably been happy had she caught nothing, but this topped off the perfect day for both of them.

The whole crew – Deb, Stan & Lee

We will have a spey/switch rod clinic on March 31, 2018.  Give us a call if you are interested in attending.  417-332-0460

Looked out the front door this morning and my car had white stuff on it!  Drove to work in it and it stayed around until around noon today.  Looking at the railing coming up the stairs to the shop, it looks like we got at least 2 inches.  Hopefully, this is it!  Unfortunately, I am seeing a 60% chance of snow in the forecast for tomorrow.  Tuesday is partly sunny but the temperatures don’t look like they will get out of the teens.  Shiver!  Good news on the horizon.  By Thursday, I am seeing sunshine in the forecast and mid 40s.  Friday looks low 50s with 60 forecast for Saturday.  Sunday and the following week we are bouncing around in the mid 40s, upper 40s and some low 50s.   I’m ready!

The past three days have seen generation in the morning with at least two units or more, then lower generation of not quite a full one.  Monday and Tuesday look like more of the same.

Jim – 1/10/18

Wednesday Jim knows how to start his New Year off right.  As he was walking to Gina’s car last Wednesday he was saying, “I know how to pick a good day for fishing” and he did.  Temperatures were in the 60s, some wind, but not what they had predicted, and the generators were off!  Plus the fish were biting.  Good day for Jim.  The morning started out a little slow, but he caught several fish on something red, mainly the ruby 2.  After lunch, they started stripping.  First it was the JQ, then the holographic green crackleback in a size 16 and finished up the day with the Tiger Tail.