Home Again........

  It is always interesting going back to where I grew up in Omaha, last week was no exception. I had not really kept in touch any high school friends over the years and we decided to go back for my 30 year reunion, nothing quite like showing off my 29 year old totally hot wife. Springsteen sang about “Glory Days” but to me the reunion kind of reminded me of a farm with us guys walking around like roosters having our chests sticking out and our colorful feathers primped out telling stories of women, money and success. The ladies so much like hens flocking together for protection but also trying to be loud enough to be noticed again. How so many things have changed in thirty years. Us good looking people (hehe) no longer have hair, the skinny were much larger and our tight skin had been exchanged for leather. As Cat and I were driving back to Colorado she took my hand and asked me if Omaha still feels like home.  I had to think about it for a second then gave her the “wonderful husband” answer of “home is where ever I am with you”. (fifty points)

  It took me a couple of days to get caught up but was able to head to the river this evening. I pulled out my 4 weight Winston B11-MX and tied on a Blood midge, followed by my two favorites, an FOD and a size 22 Black Ninja, I began getting goose bumps from anticipation. As we were walking to the river, the sound of the trees from the breeze and the smell of the Arkansas made my mouth start watering. We went straight for my favorite riffle and no anglers were in sight.  We stepped into the river and got a slight jolt from the initial chill and then started searching for feeding fish. It didn’t take long and I spotted two fish munching on midges. Placed my first cast about three feet above and it drifted by with nothing. Second cast and, Money! A quick battle, with the fish and Winston wanting a piece of the action, and a beautiful 18 incher landed. I released the fish and took a breath, I looked around, Winston was standing next to me and Cat had a huge grin on her face and then it hit me..Now I am Home……

  Fishing was incredible this evening, from the time we got on the water right up until dark, the Rainbows were munching on Ninjas and blood midges. Landed a 21,19, and an18 incher and numerous fish in the 12 to 16 inch range. Cat started a little slow but caught fire the last hour and a half before dark. If you look close at one of the up close pics you can see Cat landing a nice one in the background. As always, thanks for reading and get out and fish. Connell

 

Before I Wake

  All of those that know me will be very tempted to call BS on this blog post. Not because of the huge numbers, or even the huge size of the fish but because my alarm went off at 5:45 A.M. and I got out of bed and went fishing. Yep, everyone knows not to call Connell before 10:00A.M. because Connell is not a morning person. Don’t really know why I decided to try fishing this early but I am glad I did.  I got on the river at a little after 6:00 and after about a step and a half into the water the cold shock reminded me that the water is a little cooler that early in the morning. Second cast hooked and landed a beautiful and feisty 14 inch bow, next cast a 12 incher. There were no visible hatches going on and I really saw no bug activity at all but the fish were munching all the same.

  The first half an hour was very peaceful, the birds singing, the fish rising and the wonderful sound of a running river was all I heard. I caught something out of the corner of my eye and I watched a big doe cross the river about fifty yards above me and shortly after one of her fawns followed. After about an hour or so I started seeing people showing up. Some type of small may fly hatch started coming off and I switched to an Adams and a dropper rig. Picked up several on the dry and finally I had worn out my welcome.  I switched back to my Nymph rig of a FOD, RS2 and a black Ninja and started working my way down river. Every stop would hook up a fish or two and then it would be time to move down. I got into the Peek-a-Boo run and could see it was full of feeding fish. Caught several there and moved down and saw the biggest fish of the day feeding. I fished to them for about a half an hour and could not get them to take anything. I moved down and caught a few more and moved back in to try the big fish again. I got rid of the indicator and ran just the weighted nymphs through and they hammered it, only problem was, it was a 17 incher and not any of the piggies. Another cast and this time it was a 16 incher. I am not whining, just wanted to hook one of the pigs. After landing the two, I could see that the big fish had spooked out and so I started fishing my way back to the car. It was a great day in all, landed probably 20 or so and lost another ten or so, makes me wonder why I waste my mornings sleeping, jkjkjk.

  Some observations from this morning. The grey FOD in a size 20 was the best fly of the day; a size 22 Ninja was a close second. I tried different blood midges but was not able to take anything on red today. I noticed that the larger fish were a little indicator shy so try fishing without one. 5x Fluorocarbon did not seem to spook the fish but with these low flows 6x may be better. And last, the Froggs Fanny and Loon Dust really seem to be making a difference. If you are fishing a nymph rig and put the powder on you last couple of flies it brings them up right into the feeding zone. Experimenting today I found I was getting twice the strikes when I had fresh powder on the fly. As always, thanks for reading and I hope your days on the river are memorable, Connell