Add Three Inches

            Hello everyone and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. (This is Cat writing today, Connell is starting his birthday celebration a day early and is currently glued to the 2015 PGA Championship.)

 Most of the year we gauge our lovely Arkansas River Tailwater by the CFS (cubic feet per second) Are the flows up? Are the flows down? How long have flows been stable? Due to the amazing amount of water we have received this year however; our measuring stick has been altered a bit. Yes, in the shop there is the occasional hopeful soul who inquires about the flow and yes we still check the gauge more often than we check facebook, but many of us have surrendered to the fact that when the river will drop is a big, fat unknown.  Due to this fact the topic of conversation has changed from flow to clarity.

You learn a lot about a man based on how he measures the available clarity of the water. The optimist adds three inches, the pessimist uses words like chocolate milk. Personally, I would have guessed today’s clarity to be around nine inches, so it was more than likely six. Honestly, I was just excited to be knee deep today and still be able to see my boots. That being said, the clarity is improving as is the fishing. Our river is turning from brown to green and hopefully sooner than later it will be clear.

Regardless of the color, fishing the Ark Tailwater right now is giving some of us an opportunity we haven’t had for awhile. Those of us brave enough to wade through murky waters are not only getting a chance at a few fish here at home, we are also receiving the gifts of wet wading and SOLITUDE.  Today, Connell and I hit the water about 10:30. We fished up from Valco and saw one other fisherman. Yes, there was a tube hatch on, but they floated by pretty quickly. As you can see by the pic, Winston may be a little out of shape and crashed hard about 8 seconds into the ride home.  

Having the chance to stretch out and hit every single spot we desired was incredible. Through the day, Connell and I hooked around ten fish and ended up with three in hand. Not a stellar day for the O’Grady’s, not even what we would call a good day, but to be back on home waters made all the difference.  The flies of choice included FOD #16 and Black Beauty #18. At the end of the day I hooked a toad, which I fought for a few minutes and got to the surface before he spit the fly. He took a streamer which I call the BM (Bloody Minnow) made you think about that one huh?! Anyhow, below are a few pictures from the day. Sorry there aren’t more, we were so excited to hit the Ark today we forgotten our personal cameras, our gopros, our nice camera, and a camera man. Thankfully, we still had Connell’s phone. Thanks for reading, Cat, Connell, Suspended Solids, Winston, and The Drift Fly Shop.