New Rods, New Curse

 Hello all and thanks for checking in at The O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. Regular readers of this blog should remember a post I did a year and a half ago called Out Of Cat's Head. The Blog basically talked about the fishing curse that Cat was haunted with and her eventual release from it. Tonight I am afraid might have been the start of a new curse for the both of us. I have been fishing and bragging about the same rods for a few years now, but after talking to our Sage Rep. the other day, Cat decided to try their newest rod, the Accel, and I was going to try their Sage One premium rod. I had tried the 9ft 5 wt. a few years ago and was thrilled with the way it casted, but felt like the stiffness put too much strain on my arm while fighting fish. Having not tried the 4wt however, I decided to give it a shot.

Cat and I hit the river this afternoon and I would have to say I was a little skeptical with the weapons we were brandishing. I had the Sage One 9ft 4wt and Cat was sporting the new Accel 9ft 5wt. I realized this evening that my dog can actually read, because he couldn’t figure out why his name wasn’t written all over my rod.

 We got to the water at around 4:30pm and after a few very refreshing false casts I tossed my set up exactly where I was aiming. The rig drifted a few feet and then an effortless mend was followed by the indicator shooting upstream. I could tell immediately that it was a nice fish and was thrilled with the way the rod actually helped me land the fish. In the net I measured my best bow of the early fall season right at 19inches. I couldn’t believe how nice the rod handled the battle, the power of the fish was completely absorbed by the rod, and I could feel everything the fish was doing. I hooked two more in that run and landed one, I got the same delightful feeling while fighting these fish as well. I walked back up to Cat and she was telling me how well she like the new Accel she was fishing, she was so excited that after fishing for half hour or so, it never occurred to her that she wasn’t fishing her eight hundred dollar rod.

 Now I need to change the subject for just a second. I need to tell you that I think Cat may have accidently played a mean little trick on Winston tonight. I think most of you know that Winston’s three favorite things in life to do are first to eat, second to fish with daddy, and third to fetch anything that gets thrown. If you don’t believe me ask Tino, he made the mistake of throwing a stick for Winston a few years ago and now Winston will not let him fish. When we see Tino on the water, Winston finds a stick and runs to Tino and bangs the back of his legs with the stick until he throws it. Anyhow, Cat hooked and landed this super tiny rainbow that measured all of about 3 inches and Cat thought that the markings were so adorable that she was going to take a pic. Just like last weekend, the less than 17 inch fish slipped out of her hand and before it hit the water, Winston snagged it out of the air. He gave a quick “OMG” look and dropped it immediately and the tiny bow swam off. Winston followed Cat around pretty much the rest of the evening. I am guessing at this point he is wondering how much trouble he would have gotten in if he had woofed it down really quick and would it have changed his post fishing Subway sandwich reward.

  So now back to the fishing, we made our way down river and Cat hooked, fought, and then landed a beautiful 19 incher as well. We switched rods for a little while and after just a few casts each, we looked at each other and simultaneously said, “I can see why you like this rod.”

As we were making our way back to the car Cat nervously stated that she hope it was her and not just the rod that landed that fish this evening. I grinned and said the thought had crossed my mind as well. Before I became hopelessly addicted to this sport I was a golf addict. I remember reading the golf magazines and I remember watching Taylor Made come out with three “Newest, Greatest, and Longest most forgiving” drivers of all time. Each new driver was ten yards longer than the one before. I remember thinking that I shouldn’t buy a new one today, because if I wait a month I could add another ten straighter yards. Then I realized that with this ideology and if what they said was true, in just the five or six years with a brand new club I should be able to drive the ball 800yds. Obviously that never happened, otherwise Tiger would be watching me on Sundays.

Luckily for us fly fishing addicts, the rod companies are nothing like the golf companies. Most will change their high end rods every five or six years, but the false promises aren’t attached. The rod companies understand that a poor cast is a poor cast no matter what rod is in your hands. What they do improve on is the feel, lightness, and creating rods of a higher verity to suit different casting styles and fishing conditions. Not to leave out that every new rod tends to increase the ….Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

So should we be worried about a curse……. Nah we have two new rods on the way, can’t see a curse in that. Winston may be sad that his name won’t be on them, but maybe mommas new game will make up for it, NOT A CHANCE.

As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Sage and The Drift Fly shop want to thank you for reading….

I almost forgot, while fighting a fish tonight I watched a fly box float by me, I chased it down and grabbed it. The box had to have been lost this evening and is very distinct. I found the box just below Valco Parking lot. If you lost a fly box or know anyone that has, call me at 719-568-4927 and describe it to me, I would love to get this to the owner, losing stuff sucks!!!!!