Farewell Tour Part 4

             Hello all and thanks for checking in at The O’Grady Flyfishing Adventures. My trip to the river today got me thinking about something very peculiar that I have seen many times over the years. I think it was in 1983 when I was listening to the radio one day and they were talking about the upcoming farewell tour for Elton John. Now I’m sure a few of you are giggling right now and have lost a little respect for me, but I can honestly say that there was a time that I really liked his music. Occasionally even today his songs can get me going. So a few years went past and I had moved to Colorado and I saw that he was making an appearance here, I scratched my head and wondered if this was the second edition of his farewell tour. Well now we are in 2015 and I think he is still touring. I think Aerosmith is on its fourth farewell tour and I don’t think we should forget about the athletes either, do the names, Roger Clemmons or Brett Favre ring a bell.

            The flows this spring have been so erratic that if you are a blog follower than you might think I belong in the same hold out mode as the previously mentioned. Yep, and I think I am okay with it. I remember back in mid April writing that the river in town here is finished only to find the flows back to ideal a few days later. After last weekend’s incredible day and then hearing about the kids getting stuck down by Runyon, I thought for sure that Mothers day was the end, flows jumped into the 1400cfs range late this week and I was totally okay with putting the “One” away in its case til the Taylor trip. My plans for today were an hour or so at work and then a few hours napping on the couch with golf in the background. Well I made a quick stop at the shop when I found that the flows had dropped back to 1100. That was all it took and I headed home to grab my weapons and my pups. On the way to the river I called my buddy Tino and he laughed and said I better hurry or he was going to catch them all first. I met up with Tino and we jumped down into my favorite high water runs and I was so glad I didn’t spend the day on the couch. I lost my first couple and was then able to watch Tino land the fish of the day, unfortunately the pic does not show the size of the piggy that he collared. The fish measured just a hair under 22 and had a belly like me. My first landed fish of the day was a 21incher and he gave me everything I wanted. The higher flows have turned our normally feisty bows into MMA-ish heavyweights. The main feeding frenzy only lasted for an hour or so with only a few bugs seen, any longer and our arms would need ice.

            So I wanted to finish by saying that I am 95% sure that today was my farewell fishing trip to the Ark for the spring, unless of course something changes. Hehe. Fish were on grey emergers and black Ninjas. If you do get to the river this week please be very careful, fish can be had but not a fish in this river is worth drowning for. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, The Rocket and The Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…..