Sunday, August 24, 2014

Summer Inspirational...


  Hello all and thanks for checking in to The O’Grady Flyfishing Adventures. What a Looooonnnnnggggg runoff we have dealt with this year. It had been so sad continually checking water flows just hoping that this would be the day that flows began to drop. Around mid-summer an executive decision was made about our guide trips. Even though the flows had begun to drop by this time, it was decided that we would not book any guide trips until “quality” conditions were reached. The shop’s focus for the summer was to try and help all our customers to make the absolute most of the many other incredible fisheries in the area. It was so nice watching the faces of those coming back from their vacations, giggling about the new place they had just fished. We want to give a big thank you to everyone who shared their adventures with us.

Lately things on the river have changed. After fishing a few times over the last few days the shop has become comfortable with the conditions, and has decided to go ahead and start booking trips again and to promote this jewel that we call home. Cat and I have fished a few times over the last week and have really had a blast. Sight fishing is still limited, but if you hit the spots that you remember holds fish, you ought to find them.
  While lazily laying around this summer I went back through some of the footage from last fall and put together a short video in hope of reminding you all why we love this tailwater so much. The last three minutes of the video are from our Friday evening so, we hope it inspires you to put Pueblo back into your Fall fishing plans. Conditions are not perfect but definitely fishable. We are so glad to be back on the water again and are so looking forward to seeing our friends and customers back on the water. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, and Bandor want to thank you for reading…..



  *** Sorry but a sad not here, if anyone happens to find a Gopro at the river in it's case please let us know. The case has an A on it and the camera inside also has an A on it.

 
 
 
 
 

Monday, August 18, 2014

Kudos To Simm's Women Departmant


   Hey all and thanks again for checking in at The O’Grady Flyfishing Adventures. I was flipping through the Simms product catalog the other day and came across their Women’s Guide Jacket.  It seemed like a really nice item and it got me thinking about women’s fly fishing gear.  With Cat being one of the few women flyfishing pro’s in Southern Colorado, it has been interesting over the years to see how many male customers come into the shop, and asked Cat to be friends with their wives.  They make this request not because they think their wives need someone to scorner the streets collecting them friends, but because that have the hope that Cat could teach them to love fishing as much as she does.  Then there are the husbands who have decided to teach their wives themselves.

 When I have been in the shop and have helped customers that want their wives to learn flyfishing, I have watched the same mistake made by spouses over and over again. My whole life I have been trained to read customers faces and try my best to make them happy. What almost always seems to happen is that the wives/daughter/sisters will quietly stand back as the spouse begins to ask what type of rod or flies would be best for her. During the whole discussion looks of excitement and fear bounce back and forth on the lady faces. Once the rod and reel conversation is out of the way, I then normally ask about the waders she will be wearing, while stressing how important it is for women to first be comfortable and second to look good. At that point the husband almost always cuts in and says she will be using his old waders until they know for sure that she likes it. WRONG ANSWER MEN!!!!!! I only wish husbands could see the look on the faces when that is said. I was thinking about that and how that would look if it were turned around, if Cat wanted me to learn how to swing dance and while signing up for lessons the instructor asks if I have the correct clothing and Cat butts in and says I can use her old ones. Wow, how exciting would it be to lean to swing dance looking like Mrs. Doubtfire. I shudder at the thought of me in a dress.  I kid, but the reality is that is exactly what you’re asking them to do.

    On the other hand there is a point where too much femininity can also be a bad thing. In this predominately male sport there is a fine line between looking good and looking capable for women. For example, Cat and I were at BassPro (don’t freak out Alex, we were out of town, didn’t spend a dime, and were just curious) over the weekend and while strolling through the fishing department my eyes landed on their women’s hot pink flyrod. Teasingly I asked Cat if she wanted one.  The look she shot me was pure disgust as she shook her head no, and walked away.   Cat is a unique creature and far more hardcore than most the men we know so to her priority is in function and durability, but over the years she has found joy in looking sexy and female as she kicks tail.  So anyway this blog is about me giving Kudos to what the Simms Women’s department has come up with over the last year.

Cat bought a new pair of G3’s waders and now a new guide jacket from them, and I am blown away by how well Simms mixed the looks with the ruggedness of the gear. The jacket comes in the “storm cloud” color with light blue accents and fits her curves. Cat looks as hot in this jacket as she does in her fancy evening wear. The Women’s G3 waders come in “Greystone” with the light blue accents as well, they offer five layers of Gore-Tex, plus feature a fit specific for women. Now I know everyone can’t afford the guide products so I will also bring up the Headwaters, a little less wader but still designed for women. The accents and color coupled with the quality on all of the Simms women’s products should make for a lifetime of fishing adventures. Thank you Simms for keeping our Fly Fishing women both hard-core and sexy!

  I would love to tell you that we carry all of these incredible women’s products in the store, but unfortunately we don’t have the space or ability to have them all in stock, but if anyone is interested they can come into the shop and see the amazing gear Cat has purchased. If you are one of those men that have tried over the years to get your spouse to love flyfishing and keep scratching your head as to why they don’t love it the way you do, then I think you might want to consider how they look and feel while on the water, do they look like the Michelin man?

  As always thanks for reading,

Sincerely Connell, Cat, The Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, and Winston.