Wednesday, May 18, 2016

The First Day...


                    Hello all and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. If you have been following the blog over the last few months than you probably know how awesome the last month has been on the Ark. However, and much like the season finales on TV, all great things come to a close. Some are cliffhangers and this year there seemed to be quite a few cast finales and even show endings. In the spirit of the season, I actually wanted to let you all in on a new development in Cat’s and my life. Just over twenty-five years ago, my baby brother had this crazy idea to get some cash together and buy a Subway that was going out of business. We started with basically nothing and after several years we began to make a serious go of it. We have seen a little of everything, some years I could feel my blood pressure trying to blow the top of my head off every time my phone rang, and other times, I couldn’t figure out why God was making it so easy on me. The last few years had been especially difficult so when the opportunity to move on came about, we decided to take it. As of close of business on May 17th, Cat and I are no longer Subway franchise owners. 

                    I woke up this morning absolutely terrified. I had a little bit of running around to do and then I came home to quiet. The dogs looked at me a little strangely and I began to wonder if I had made a mistake. I didn’t see last night’s finale of NCIS so I decided to watch it. I knew it special agent Anthony Dinozzo’s last episode and I was dying to see how they pulled it off. Ten minutes in and I knew this was the best sign off ever. I was glued to the show and as the show was ending, and like the manly stud that I am, I had to turn my head so that Cat couldn’t see the tears. Tony was heading off to live his life. Wow, what an ending, Cat and I looked at each other and said, “let’s go fishing.” We knew that the higher flow was bringing the spring season to an end, but what the heck, lets enjoy every second.

                    We got to the river at around 12:30 and the swallows were thick. We have been fishing this river long enough that we have a pretty good idea where the fish are at just about all flows. The first stop made us look a little silly, but soon we began to see fish. We spent a few hours fishing and we even spent a little time kicking back and enjoying our existence. We hooked a total of eight fish but did not get a single fish to the net. I worked one all the way back to me but just as I was lifting his head, I think he smiled a little and spit the hook. We were able to spot out two big browns, one we hooked and the second freaked himself out when he hit Cat’s indicator. As we were heading back to the car, I started thinking about how much more dramatic Dinozzo’s exit from the work force was, and then I realized, it’s just a stupid TV show. What a way to spend the first day of the rest of my life.

                    I’m looking at trying to get a few health problems taken care of over the next few months. Hopefully, by fall my schedule should be much more free with no limitations for amounts of guide trips. As for river conditions, the water today was much clearer than we expected. If you do decide to give the river a try, please just keep a few things in mind. First of all, don’t go alone, 1390cfs can put you in danger in a hurry. And secondly, bugs have not really changed, fish are still gorging on BWO’s and midges. There seems to still be a little bit of fishing left but please stay safe: finish the season in a Tonyesque way or maybe even like me. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo, and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…….

                   


                   

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