Sunday, October 9, 2016

Baby Steps.....

            Hello all and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures blog. On Friday I had my re-evaluation on my knee and after getting the go ahead, I made the most of it. 8 miles on the bike both Friday and Saturday, and today Cat and I made it to the river. We got to the water at just after noon and had an incredible day. I was hoping the fish would be as happy to be reunited with me as I was with them, but they had other ideas. Clarity was much better than I expected and Winston and I both acted like Pavlov’s dog when I spotted my first fish in a feeding lane. I took an extra second to collect myself and then laid the flies in front of the fish. I watched his mouth open just as my indicator jumped and it was game on. Well not really game on, it was a little more like todays Bronco game. The fish bolted straight for the rocks and as my first thought went to chase, my second thought was to be safe and take baby steps. I got my rod way in the air and flipped the line over two separate rocks. Just when I thought I had slowed him, he took off down river and then the line went dead. He had taken me under a tree. My next three hookups were the same, excitement and then the smell of smoke. Finally, I hooked one and was able to chase him just enough to get him in the net, it sure was great getting reacquainted. We started to make our way down river and I landed my next three, plus several super dinks. Cat was catching fish the whole way down but more than catching fish, I think she was just totally enamored with her new Sage X.
            Today was so much fun, but we did have a few not so great moments. I walked up on one fish and pointed him out to Cat. I measured him up and got several good drifts on him. After several drifts with nothing, my indicator dropped and I set. I could feel tree immediately and then walked over, and yes even when a person thinks they can really see fish, sometimes I get fooled. I’ve said it many times before, if you can’t learn to laugh at yourself, you are going to miss the greatest joke of your generation.
            It sure was great getting back into our river. At times the new knee felt great and at times it felt like I was dragging around a wet log. I have friends coming in next weekend, but after that I believe I should be able to start taking guide trips again. Clarity was really good today but I think it will bounce around a little over the next few weeks. Hatches will continue to increase from now until the end of the year. We saw a mixed bag of bugs flying around, giant Sulphurs, tiny PMD’s, and lots of midges but fish were mostly just eating caddis. As always Connell, Cat, Winston, Dr. Feign and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…….












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