Heavy Water....

Hello all and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. It sure has been an interesting summer this year. With the last two summers being so incredibly mild and this year feeling more like the “real” Pueblo, I keep hearing the new Coloradoans talking about how hot it is here in P-town. I guess for my first 22 summers in Southern Colorado I remember nearly every day between the middle of June and the middle of August being over a hundred degrees. I would talk to my dad back in Omaha about walking 18 holes in the afternoons and he couldn’t believe I would play in that kind of heat. I always explained that it was a “dry” heat and he would give a little chuckle and then laugh at my stupidity. I have made the mistake of going back to Omaha in the middle of the summer a few times over the years and I want to tell you, there is a difference. Big time!

This evenings blog post is kind of on the same line; discussing something which appears to be the same, but is actually very different. As most of you know our tailwater is still running a bit high. Though that is only part of the story…. In fact, a very small part of the story. 900cfs can offer some amazing fish when the clarity is good, the water temps are right, and the fish are eager. 900cfs can also be impossible to fish when muddy. Same flow, two very different fishing experiences. So at which end of the spectrum does the tailwater currently sit? Right now the river sits in a realm all its own. Our water is having clarity issues, but it is not muddy. Instead, it is what I call “heavy” water. When water is green and the water has a certain texture of large particulate matter, I deem it “heavy.” This type of water can fish well, but it is a challenge. Unlike Muddy water, smaller flies which match the aquatic life are a must, but the increased flow makes landing fish difficult.

Today I had the pleasure of guiding a very productive trip, even with the heavy water. This was Chris’s first time fly fishing in Colorado. We got to the river around 7:30am and the flows were right around 800cfs. We worked a little on the basics, and then pretty quickly afterward we got our first take. The fight was quick and won by the fish. Chris was thrilled just with the fight and really fought the fish well, I felt the need to pull out the “heavy” water for his excuse. We moved down a little and lost the next few as well. The next fish took a couple of minutes and he managed a 17inch piggie to the net. We landed a smaller fish next, and then we moved up into some quicker water. I told him that the run could be good, but very difficult to land big guys out of, I know that from experience. A few casts in and wham-o, the fight was on. With the heavy quick water this fish started running down river and the chase was on. Chris must have had an awesome guide(hehe) because he managed another gorgeous 17 incher to the net. We began fishing our way back and then we had our surprise of the day. Chris hooked another and as it was getting closer to us we noticed the color of it was off. We got the fish netted and even though it was only around 11inches, it was a full- blooded cutthroat. I must have caught over a thousand fish on the tailwater, but I don’t ever remember catching a full cutty. Great effort was made to get the photo of it, but the fish won and only gave us a tail-shot. Oh well and to make things even more impressive, the water had come up an extra 100cfs and yes it was a heavy 900cfs.

Anyway, hot flies over the last few weeks have been Twenty Inchers, Zipp’s Whiskey Nymph, and the Beaded Soft Hackle. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Chris, and The Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…….