Hello
friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. As I
was driving to the river this morning I couldn’t help feeling giddy for the day
to come, and how after eighteen years of fly fishing, I am still completely
elated with the sport. When Cat first started working at the fly shop, our
river was for the most part a “put and take” river, and so most of our fishing
was on the upper Ark and smaller creeks. We made yearly trips to the Taylor’s
Hog Trough but the fish were usually better than us, but we kept trying. One
year, all of our reading and listening finally took hold and we began to catch
large fish on the Taylor. We were so excited and every big fish landed grew our
obsession for bigger and more. I remember talking to some fly fishing old-timers
and they explained to me that there were four stages of fly fishing. I was
intrigued so I listened; the first stage was simply just catching a fish on a
fly. The second stage was to catch huge numbers of fish and the third stage was
the big fish stage. The final stage was not caring about anything but just
enjoying being on the water with a fly rod, a type of fly fishing Nirvana.
Cat and
I have talked about these stages over the years and this blog will be all about
a made-up stage that we will call Four Plus, which is the sight fishing phase.
Our sight fishing stage began several years ago when we just happened to meet
up with a friend on the Dream Stream. I felt I was pretty good at catching big
fish in holes and that day I started by landing few really nice cuttys and then
I got to watch Anthony(Ants) just take over. As the sun got higher he continued
to put the river to shame. Finally, I went up next to Ants and asked what the
heck he was doing. He began pointing out the fish and I was lost, I could not
see what he was seeing. He had me move down and as I was waiting he said there
were several coming right at me. Once again, I saw nothing. He told me to cast
and shortly after my rig began to drift, my indictor shot up river. The battle
was fun and I landed a twenty-two-inch bow. I was excited but the feeling that
I couldn’t shake was that my fly fishing arsenal was seriously lacking. When we
got home the next day I bought a new pair of sunglasses and I began going to
the river almost every afternoon for an hour or so looking for fish. At first
the only fish I could see were from above but as the days became weeks and then
months, I began to see fish everywhere. A whole new world, or four plus stage
was born in me and I began to find the other stages a little boring. We still
have fun hitting the lakes and we even still hit a few of the smaller creeks
but nothing compares to stalking a fish and beating them head to head…
With the
river coming up last week the phone has been ringing off the hook with people
wanting to know how it has affected the fishing. This has been a really
difficult question to answer because to me the fishing is incredible and the
most amazing it will be all year. However, after hearing quite a few frustrated
anglers on the river and in the shop, it may be a little more difficult for
many anglers. With the extra water the fish have more room to move, people
fishing their normal spots are still somewhat successful and happy, but nothing
like the faces we see of anglers that have learned how to sight fish. I got to
spend today on the river with a friend that is usually pretty successful but
today we were trying to open a new stage for him. We got to the river just
after 10:00 and seeing the bump in the river and the high clouds, I knew that
would put a damper on the sight fishing. We hooked a few right off the bat and
then we started scouring the river for feeders. Fish were a little scarce and
then I found what we were looking for, I found a pair of fish tucked away and
eating in a corner. Mike came over and after setting up a plan he took the
shot. I was watching one of the fish when Mike lifted and said he had one, I
was looking at the wrong fish and then he shot across and under a tree. Some
people would be upset with the five second breakoff but to me it was the fish
of the day. We moved around and Mike landed a few more. The sun broke out for a
little while and I was able to sight out and land a few and then we fished our
way out. It wasn’t the killer day we were looking for but just watching the one
fish eat was pretty cool.
So, to
finish off this blog I want to plug my abilities as a fly fishing guide. Over
the weekend, Cat and I have spent a lot of time talking and selling flies to
people wanting to catch fish on our river. We have sold FOD’s, Ninjas, True
Bloods, Tube Wings and basically everything I have caught fish on over the last
few weeks and we have had a little bit of everything coming back in the shop.
We have seen people catch their first big fish ever, we have seen people that
have had their best day ever and unfortunately, we have had people in saying
that the flies we sold them didn’t work. I have warned people that fishing at
times right now can be technical and the fish don’t get that big by being
stupid but I feel they think we are holding out on them. My push now is if you
are not a proficient sight fisher, look for a sunny day, higher me for a day
and come learn the most incredible way of catching fish. I spent months
learning to see fish and years learning how to use those abilities together.
Guided trips right now will be working on finding the fish and then how to feed
them properly. We can only help so much in the shop, but it kills us when
people think we are holding out on them. With the amount of snow in the high
country and the lack of moisture down here, we have no idea how long these
conditions will remain awesome. Call the shop or call me and get your trip
booked now. Just be aware, you may be stuck in the four plus stage for
eternity. Shop 719-543-3900 Cell 719-568-4927.Pics are from today. As
always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Ants and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you
for reading……..
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