A New Creation.....

Hello all and thanks for checking in at The O’Grady Flyfishing Adventures. I wanted to start by wishing you all a very happy Easter. As a Christian man I have always looked at Easter as a celebration of my eternal salvation and my life as a new creation or new beginning. Now I know that Flyfishing will never ever even be in the same ocean as salvation but I will try and make the connection anyway.

As most of our readers know I grew up as a spinner and bait type of fisherman. I thoroughly enjoyed every second with a “pole” in my hand, whether actively casting or propping it up and locking down with a rock. Stink bait that was so awful that you had to wear gloves to touch, spinners, worms and even the dreaded power bait and the outcome was almost always the same, a lot of nada. I think in those days I used the whole (you don’t have to catch fish to have a great day fishing) mantra on a regular basis.

Years later I got to watch my friend Mark teach my dad flyfishing and I knew that someday, that would be me. It’s now been many years, but I still remember my first day flyfishing. I had bought my first flyrod and it was time to head to the river. Available flies consisted of two big Princes and some type of dry that I had tied a few years before. I got to the river and put on my neoprene waders; I tied on one Prince and stuck on my foam indicator. As I was walking down to the river a flyfisherman was just leaving and I asked how he had done. He told me he caught several fish and that they were eating his olive colored nymph. I was like sweet, I have a prince. He showed me his fly and I was a little confused, he said olive but the fly was green. Oh well, the guy must have been confused and I hopped on down to the river. I started just above Juniper Bridge and after only a short hour or so my indicator did something funny and as I lifted I could feel the fish on the line. I landed one more fish that afternoon and that was all it took, I was a flyfisherman, a new beginning and a new creation. If you are wondering if I ever figured out that color quandary, the answer is yes. I was lying in bed a few nights later and it occurred to me that they were talking about green olives and not black, yes I was quite green at one time too. It must have been a Subway thing.

   Friday I had a guide trip out and one of the clients was a never ever, Bryan. I started Bryan off with a few quick casting instructions and then moved on to the importance of a proper drift. I moved Ron, who has flyfished before, into place and as I was walking back to Bryan, Ron’s first drift was exploded on by what looked like a really sunburned back of an NFL lineman. Ron had a bit of a stunned looked on his face and a little shakily stated that I had picked the correct nymphs. Shortly after that Bryan hooked his first fish of the day and battled a beautiful 17 incher to the net. He told me that he certainly didn’t expect to catch anything that size and that his day was already a success, music to guides ears. A short time later Bryan was hooked up again but the battle took a little longer. I was quite impressed with his natural ability and nearly cheered when he managed a gorgeous, measured 22incher to the net. I explained that all my clients catch fish that big, oh wait, April Fools was last week. Well they hooked fish all afternoon winning a few battles and losing a few more but in the end, Ron told me that he didn’t think it would be difficult to get Bryan to go fishing with him again. The statement was confirmed by an e-mail on Saturday “Pardon the pun but I believe I am now hooked for life, Bryan”. Yep I, know it’s only fishing and has no bearing on eternity but he is now a new creation, Bryan is a flyfisherman…

  What an incredible Easter. Cat and I started the day going to church with some friends and then headed to the river. It was an incredible day with fish feeding all afternoon. If you make it to the river this week start the day with the new caddis pattern we have in the shop with the second fly a FOD and the last should be a small Bling. When the BWO’s begin to explode switch out the Bling for a loop wing emerger. Fishing is off the hook right now so enjoy it every chance you get. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, the Easter Bunny and The Drift Fly shop want to thank you for reading….