Spinney Stories...

           Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. If you ask almost any fly shop employee what the most difficult part of working in a fly shop is, without question, it will be the over exaggerated fish stories. Now I’m sure our readers will think, isn’t that how you get so many readers. Yes, emphatically! I tell a lot of stories, but I promise most of them are true, I mean even Fargo claims to be completely true. Today's story happened in South Park Colorado, and in respect of the fish, will be told exactly as it happened.

            With the river season nearing its end, Cat and I wanted to do some lazy man fishing and decided to hit Spinney. This was our first trip this year and really had no idea what to expect. We got to the water at around 8:30 and after about twenty minutes I got my first take. I was late on the set and hoped that I didn’t screw up my only take of the day. I re-casted and just as my flies were sinking, I could almost hear them go tick-tick-tick and them BOOM. The next five hours was unbelievable, I would cast, count it down, and just as the indicator stood up..Boom! I don’t normally keep a count but the first several hours definitely would fall into the “crap load” number. At around 1:00, Cat headed in to use the restroom and, being the all loving husband that I am, I decided I would count how many I caught while she was out of the water. As she began to paddle out I was at five. I continued to count until we left and I finished at twenty, plus the crap load from earlier. I’m guessing most of our readers think that every time we fish we have days like this but it just isn’t true. We have had a lot of really great days on lakes but the size and number of fish that were landed today by far put it in the best “lake” day ever. Cat had a slight gear error today and had to work a little harder than I did, but estimated at least thirty fish to the net. The majority of the fish today were in the 18 to 22 inch size plus half a dozen under 14 and another half a dozen in the 24 to 25 range. Unfortunately, the selfie pics just don’t do these fish justice. Trying to hold one of those big piggies with one hand and the camera with the other just doesn’t work. Anyway, in a couple of the pics you can see me fighting a fish and Cat is doubled up in the background.

            With the river beginning to move into runoff stage, this is the perfect time to get this lake thing figured out. Spinney is near and unbelievably healthy. We at the Drift know how trying something new can be intimidating so we are continuing to run our lake special. With the purchase of a Sage Accel fly rod or any Fishcat/Outcast pontoon boat, you will receive a free sit down with either Cat or I and we will go over rigging, fly selection, accessories, safety and lastly how to attack a lake. The fish are there and ready to get caught. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Hanzee and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading……

Kissing Your Sister.....

            Hello all and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. Well if your favorite college football team plays in the SEC and you read the title and are hoping for a little soft porn, then you will be a little disappointed. When most of us hear the “kissing your sister” saying, it makes us just a little uncomfortable. For me, todays trip to the river fit the saying perfectly.

            The river came back down under 400cfs yesterday morning and after giving it a day to settle, I wanted to check out todays conditions. Even with the lower flows, the river has a green tint to it and has about a foot of visibility. After the last two and a half months of sight fishing to spooky trout, and seeing todays tint, it was a little difficult getting really excited. I stepped into the first run and after several drifts, the indicator shot up river. It was a quick battle and I managed a fifteen incher to the net, it wasn’t sight fishing but it was…..well liking kissing your sister. Anyway, I fished for the next few hours moving from run to run quickly and after hooking and losing my third fish, I decided to call it a day.

            All Spring I have been watching the mountain snowpack and the upper Ark flows and it appears to me that our Spring tail water wading window is beginning to close. Now just because one window is closing, doesn’t mean fishing is over. First off, I was talking to Cody today and he was out on the reservoir, the temps are beginning to rise and the bass are beginning to take top water flies. If you have never tried it, Billy is currently doing our res. trips and the next month should be fantastic. Secondly, our shop is now permitted to do take float trips through town. And lastly, the mid-level lakes are just beginning to turn on. We at the Drift know that fishing Wahatoya or Spinney can be a little spooky so we have a special that we run this time of the year. We are such fans of the Sage Accel and Outcast pontoon boats, that any purchase of an Accel or a Fishcat/Outcast pontoon boat gets a free sit down with Cat or I and we will go over tactics, safety, accessories, fly selection and all we can to make your trip to the lakes wonderful.

            Now to finish, I wanted to wish all the mothers out there a spectacular Mother’s Day. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Barbara O’Grady and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading….

Challenge Accepted....

                      Hello all and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. I remember when I was a teen ager driving through a little town in Nebraska called Broken Bow, as I was entering the town there was a huge sign saying that Broken Bow was the home of the world famous, One Box Pheasant Hunt. I was a little confused and when I asked a resident, I was told that teams would come in from around the world and over the weekend and were allowed only one box of shells. Years later, when I was playing a lot of golf I noticed that nearly every golf course would have a yearly “two club” tournament. I guess people must get so good at their hobbies that at times they need to challenge themselves by changing their normal tactics.

          While floating with Cody the other day we found ourselves reminiscing about how so many of our local anglers have gotten so much better. We watched one kid walk into a hole and drill a fish on his first cast and we laughed because it seemed like just last week, we were showing him how to tie on flies. We saw another friend that was teaching another and I could remember a few years back, him telling Cat that there were no big fish in Pueblo. Now I don’t know if it is because we are such awesome teachers or that our customers are such great learners, but sometimes it hurts a little that we can’t always know so much more than our customers. Many times, someone that we remember as being a little raw comes in and as we begin our advice, they tell us that they know and they got it.

          When I got to the river today I decided that like the One Box Pheasant Hunt and the two club golf tourneys, I was going to challenge myself by changing up my normal tactics. Well I would love to tell you that I had done this on purpose but that was far from the case, you see, as I opened my pack I realized that my lanyard was sitting in our spare bedroom at home. Now that might not seem like a biggie to you, but to me it is my fishing life line. My lanyard holds my tippet, weight, floatant, nippers, forceps and my knot tier. I thought about calling it a day but instead I decided to accept the challenge.  My rod had one fly and one BB weight on it from Sunday and luckily, I had flies and one old spool of 6x tippet. As I stepped into my first run I knew that one bad cast, drift or a poor fight and my day would be done. I hooked one on my first cast and took my time landing him. I couldn’t believe how exhilarating every take and head shake was. I moved down river and for the first few hours it seemed that every run produced one fish. At just after 1:00 the river just absolutely turned on. Bwo’s were everywhere and the fish went absolutely nuts. I sat in one run and landed close to a dozen. I finally had one fish run me under a rock and when I pulled my line loose, it was empty. I was ready to leave but I decided I would take a quick look in my box, I hardly ever fish bead heads but I had one bead head FOD and I sure am glad I did. I moved up river and rock sets were now producing three fish. It was such an awesome day that I actually burned through three Gopro batteries. Well the inevitable happened when I had another toad drag me under a rock, and after one more unsuccessful scan of my fly box, my day was done.

          As I was walking back to the car I started thinking about all those people that have the Ark dialed in and are getting bored. Take the Connell challenge, now it doesn’t have to be your lanyard, maybe only take five flies, try fishing left handed, or if you’re really smart just don’t forget your gear. Anyway, the river dropped again today and the hatch was incredible. We have some openings this week and this would be a great time to book a guide trip. I promise I will bring all my necessary gear. The video is just a little of the action from today. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, the town of Broken Bow, and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…….