Spring into Amazing Fly Fishing: April 22, 2012

      


Hello and welcome to another addition of the O’Grady fly fishing blog. Today was another magnificent day on the water, the weather, the water clarity and especially the company, made for a perfect day. The water was bumped up to about 350 cfs Friday evening and brought back down to about 300 on Sunday but the clarity stayed very good and allowed for great sight fishing and the weather was absolutely perfect. With the extra water, the fish seemed to spread out a little but still at least a couple in every hole.



I worried that this might have been Cat’s day of glory when she hooked and landed a 14 inch bow on her first cast. She had landed 5 fish before I even had my first take. After about fifteen minutes I finally landed my first fish and I think it was only about 10 inches but it seemed to open the flood gates. Every spot we stopped and fished, we picked up fish. I landed a 21 and a 20 inch bow today, but the excitement came when I hooked what my best guess would be about a 23 inch bow. In the video I worked him to within a few feet of me but when I grabbed the net he moved forward a few more feet. As I was replacing the net, the fish had had enough and shot up river and ran me into the downed tree. It was the first time in quite a while that a fish actually made my knees weak and my hands shake, it took a while to rerig with the shaky hands.



Hopefully we learned a lesson today about keeping our camera lenses a little cleaner. I was so disappointed when I saw the video quality of the 20 incher Cat caught. The whole scene was set up perfect, she sighted it out, dropped her fly right in front of it, hooked it, and fought the absolutely gorgeous fish but the camera lens must have been dirty and so it came out blurry. We will try real hard to keep those cleaner in the future.



I was looking back at last year’s photos and if this year follows the same pattern we should have a couple of very good weeks of fishing left. The guides at The Drift Fly Shop are passionate about giving clients a day of fishing that rivals the old Fantasy Island shows (slight exaggeration). Thanks for reading Connell 719-543-3900 www.thedriftflyshop.com

Guide Trip and Fishing Report April 20th

   Fishing was fantastic today, we got to the water just before noon and the fish and were already on the feedbag. Mayflies were the bug of choice and the fish were munching on FOD's, RS2's, and Barr's emergers. Later in the day the fish the fish switched to a size 24 black midge. Skip landed a good number of fish today with the largest landed measuring off at 19 inches. He also hooked a few that my best guess would put them about 21 inches. With the water being so low, it is extremely important to get a natural drift, any drag and the fish will be put down. Fishing should still be excellent for the next few weeks, get out and enjoy it while you can. Runoff is just around the corner. We at The Drift Fly Shop are passionate about fly fishing and will do everything we can to make your day on the water a success. Thanks for reading, Connell www.thedriftflyshop.com

**Loved the last pic, Cat said it looks like those commercials that ask if your food is fightin you and has the chicken wing slapping the person****

April 12th guide trip with Andy and Bill

Trick Or Treat

   I remember growing up that Halloween was pretty much my favorite holiday of the year. With September being the time to go back to school and the first couple weeks of October getting cold, the fifteenth would hit and you would start thinking about Halloween. We didn’t have a lot of extra money growing up so most years I was sporting my football uniform and that was okay with me because I felt faster in it. The excitement of the day was extraordinary; I could barely make it through school. 5:00 P.M. would roll around and I would be out the door and hard at it. Two pillow cases and running from house to house til about 9:00 when the lights would shut off. Getting home I would find a solitary place to dump it out and start sorting; Snickers and Reese’s in one pile, 3 musketeers and the rest of the chocolate in another, the pectin based Skittles, Dot’s and JuJu be’s in another, the sugary sweet tarts, pixie sticks ,gum, kandy korn, and candy cigarettes in another, and finally the nasty little orange and black peanut buttery things in another. After counting out a complete inventory I would start the pigging out process, three days and the best chocolate was gone, then the pectin candies, next the sugary and gums and finally all that would be left were those little nasty orange and black candies. Unwrapping the orange and black wax wrappers, sullenly I would rue the fact that I did not do a better job saving the good stuff, but hey, Christmas was on a month and a half away.

  I hiked down to check out some of my favorite spots on the river today and it kind of reminded me of those Halloweens as a kid. The spawn like September, always seems to linger longer than it should and I had been anxiously waiting for the completion. It is an amazing thing to see everything fall into place at the same time every year. Under the City Park bridge I counted twenty or so quality fish (16 inches and up). The fish are feeding like crazy, the water is in perfect condition and the bugs are hatching like there is no tomorrow (actually that is true for the mayflies). The last few weeks of fishing have been nothing short of full sized Snickers and Reese’s, the feeding lanes are packed full of feeding fish, but I also know that it won’t be long and the bag will be empty or just a couple of those orange and black things. If the pattern holds the same as the last few years, we should have about three more weeks of tremendous fishing. Lake season is just around the corner but don’t rue the fact that you did not enjoy your candy a little better.

  I know I have been harping the last few posts about now being the time to teach the newbies to fish and I will keep it up. We have several Guide trips going out this week but still have a few slots open into early next week. We at The Drift Fly Shop are passionate about fly fishing and will do everything we can to make you time on the water a success. There is nothing quite like watching a client land his or her first 20+ inch fish. Thanks for reading, Connell 719-543-3900

Look What The Cat Drug In!!!!!!

  My life in a nut shell can be summed up by an old Emerson Lake and Palmer song; Oh, What a Lucky Man He Was, and there can be no better example than today. I got to spend the entire day today with the most AMAZING person on the face of the planet!!! My Wife, Cat. Cat and I have been married for seven and a half years and I still feel like I need to pinch myself on a regular basis to remind myself that this not just some fantasy dream. I took part of the day off work and we were able to make the most of it. We got to the river at about 10:30 A.M. and the first hour was a little slow. We hooked and landed a few, but the fish didn’t really seem to be feeding. Just before noon, I didn’t hear it, but the dinner bell must have gone off. For the next three hours they were feeding hot and heavy. Every hole we walked into, we saw several fish feeding, and we gave them something to eat. Hehe. Now I need to confess that I need to figure out how to work my camera a little better. In addition to the troutzilla fish on the video, Cat landed 2 absolutely beautiful Bows that I thought I was videoing. I’m sure some of you are thinking that I did that on purpose but seriously I did not. During the afternoon feed time, the fish were munching on RS2’s, FOD’s, SOL’s Ninjas and several other letters(lol). Early and late, our point fly was a rather large blood midge. Yep, when the day is over, life has been way better to me than I deserve. I am the Lucky Man they were singing about.
  The water has come back down since Monday’s storm and the river is in prime condition. I always say that between now and runoff is my absolute favorite time of the year. The fish have made it through the spawn and are healthy as can be and are feeding like crazy. We at the Drift Fly Shop are passionate about Fly fishing and will do everything we can to make your experience a joyous one on the river. We are still doing the open tying on Friday’s from 6 to 8P.M. and Cat will be teaching an entomology class on the 14^th of April. Thanks again for reading Connell and Cat O’Grady 719-543-3900

April Fool's Day Fly Fishing

Fishing today was incredible!!!! I will try to give a detailed report but I am not sure I could be any more accurate than I was in first line. I got stuck fishing by myself today so the video taken from today was kind of poor. It is a little hard to land fish and video at the same time. The attached video is from today and last night when Cat and I were together.

I got to the water today about 11:00A.M. and the fish were already on the feedbag. The first hour had them feeding on Red midges and small caddis. After the first hour, the May flies starting hatching and the fish were attacking FOD’s, RS2’s and large Ninjas. I went from hole to hole and it seemed as if every fish in the river was starving. If today was not the best day ever on this tailwater, it was darn close.

Throughout the year, we get tons of people in the shop that are considering hiring a guide to teach their spouse, love ones or just friends to fly fish. This is the perfect time of the year to do it. The weather is great, the river is in perfect condition and the fish are strong and hungry. We at The Drift Fly Shop are passionate about fishing and will work hard at teaching the finer aspects of fly fishing during guide trips. We also have a couple of Flyfishing 101 classes coming up on April 21^stand another in May. Thank you for reading and enjoy the video/ fish porn and if you have speakers, crank them up!!! Connell 719-543-3900

***Also please remember that your fishing license expired on the 31^st so get you new one.***