Hello all and thanks for checking
in at the O’Grady Flyfishing Adventures. I hope I remember how to do this
because it feels like it’s been ages since my “hunt and peck” has created
anything. As most of our readers know here in P-town we have been dealing with
some serious water fluctuations over the last few weeks and it has really put
down my will to fish, now a call from an old client last week really got me
hoping the water would cooperate again.
A few years back I had a client
book me to take himself, his two nephews and his niece out fishing. I had met
David before but it was only in passing and Cat had raved about what a nice guy
David was. I was a little leery about taking out three kids but after a really
productive day the day before, I was hopeful I could teach the kids the kids
the joy of flyfishing. Unfortunately it was one of those March days and the
fish were not very interested, but even after a brutally slow day they were all
in great spirits. I remember thinking that I wished I could handle difficult
situations with the same positive attitude. I have seen David several times
since and I am always amazed at the fact every time I see him I actually like
the guy a little more. So with that in mind, the guilt from my slow guide trip
with them still haunted me. So I got the call from David a few weeks ago and
his brother was going to be in town and he wanted to show off “his, shop,
river, and friends” and I desperately wanted to make this trip way better than
his last. Now I told him about the high water and that fish can be had but
definitely were earned. We were able to get them set up with Cody on a float
trip upriver but with flow reaching 1600 here it looked to be a lost cause.
They floated on Thursday and had an incredible “Codylicious “ and here, like just
short of a biblical miracle, the river plummeted down to 400cfs by Thursday
afternoon. We set the trip up for today and the flows stayed fishable, they
bumped a little on Saturday and then again to 720ish this morning. I knew at
720 that nothing was coming in easy but they were totally up for the challenge.
One of David’s good friends also joined us for the day. The trip started a little
spooky when we pulled in and saw the parking lot full, and even spookier when
our first fished run produced nutten. Luckily my superior guiding took over and
we spent the next two and a half hours fighting fish. David’s brother Richard
had a grin on his face most of the day and his repeated quote of the day was “
I can’t believe these fish fight this hard”. And that was followed by the
shaking of his hand trying to get the feeling back. It was one of those days
that guides dream of, worked my tail off but it was SO worth it, and any
residual guilt is only for his niece and nephews. I think Richard landed a few
more and it all made sense, he was fishing a One. Thanks guy, days like this
make guiding a joy.
I fished a little on Saturday and
could not believe how active the fish were. The major feeding window right now
is between 11:00a.m. and 2:00p.m. and feeding definitely slows down after that.
BWO hatches have been strong but almost every fish has been on the Ninja. Not
sure why but who cares. With these flows it is extremely important to be extra
careful or book a guide that knows the river inside and out(me). We had a
customer slip and lose a rod as he was going down last week when the flows were
about the same so please fish cautiously. I’m hopeful that we might get a few
more weeks of fishing friendly water before the gates open up. As always,
Connell, Cat, Winston, (David,Richard,Andrew) and The Drift Fly Shop want to
thank you for reading……
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