Antero 6/26/2017..Feed the Addiction....

            Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. It’s funny how often I get strange looks when I decline an adult beverage. The looks even get funnier when I explain that I have absolutely no self-control. There are good and bad parts to having no self-control, it helped me become a pretty good golfer, skier, ping-pong player, and even a pretty good fly fisherman. Now the bad part is that it can be very difficult moving on from great times. As most of our readers know, Cat and I made a trip to Spinney earlier this year and had such an unbelievable time that it has been hard getting South Park out of my head. The last few trips to Antero have been fun, but I really needed more. Last night when Cat got home from teaching a fly fishing clinic, I asked her what she wanted to do today. I could see she had a sad look on her face and after working eight of the last ten days, she said anything as long as she doesn’t have to use the word fish. Being that I’m such an awesome husband, I told her that she really needed a day just to herself and I called Richie to see if he wanted to fish Antero. I needed a fix.

            After the last Antero trip shenanigans, I wanted to try a different spot so we spent the first half hour or so looking for fish. My first two takes I have no idea what happened, twice my line was sheared off clean just above my fly. I finally landed my third fish and he was a chunky twenty incher. Fishing was off and on all day long, at one time Richie was right next to me and the fish were going nuts. We double hooked up a few times but the landing of the fish seemed to be a little bit difficult today. A few hours in, I was at seven fish in hand and I told Richie that if I didn’t get to fifteen than I would consider him really bad luck. As if the fish were listening and laughing, they shut off for a while right after that. The next several were one after another and then I got stuck on fourteen. I told Richie that if I catch one more that he has no luck, but if I land two more than he would be good luck. My indicator exploded down and I was begging for the number, the fish made several really big runs and I could tell that my “Frazier” fish was going to be nice. I got her netted and I could not believe her size. It was hard to get a hold of her but if you check out the pic, that net is the Fishpond El Jefe and the opening is twenty-two inches. I took my time getting her revived and after releasing her, I was spent. Three trips to Antero and fifteen fish a piece. So how does my addictive personality look at today, I’ll have to see if Cat wants to go again on Wednesday. There has to be a twenty-four incher in there. The first four pics are of the big fish. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Richie, and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…

Antero, A Bad Taste....

           Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. Well Cat and I had today off from the factory and we decided to head to South Park. We were trying to decide between Spinney and Antero but after Cat fell asleep ten minutes in to the ride, I just couldn’t make Cat deal with the consequences, so Antero it was. It was an interesting day to say the least. We got on the water at just after 8:00 and it was hard to believe we were in South Park. The lake was glass for the first two hours and the only way we could get the fish interested was kicking around. As my legs began to get tired, the wind exploded out of nowhere. The rest of the day I spent kicking just trying to stay on anchor. Fish were feeding real sporadically today, I landed a total of fifteen but the action was pretty slow.

          The real excitement happened near the end of the day. A friend of mine had told me a terrifying story he had dealt with at Antero several years ago. As he was finishing his day and getting out of the water, two guys started yelling at him for catching all the fish. One of the guys got his attention and the other sucker punched him and then they both did a number on him. I spent much of the day looking for structure and weed beds while being aware of the people on the shore fishing. I set up at around 75 yards off the bank and made sure I was way out of the casting area of the two guys on the bank. I could hear them talking with each other and they were having a ball. I landed several and I heard them catch a few and after about half an hour I heard one of the guys say that there wasn’t enough room for these other guys squeezing in. Shortly after that I heard a very loud “Kurr- sploosh” about twenty feet behind me. I glanced around and figured it was a big fish. After that I heard the guy on the bank tell the new comer that that was pretty lame trying to hit the guy in the boat. A moment later I heard the “Kurr-sploosh” about twenty feet in front of me. I then heard the guy on the bank really getting loud at the new comer telling him that he just crossed both his lines. I then heard a grunting sound on the bank and the new guy was trying to tell me to go away. Wt*, there was a day when I would have handled it differently, but today I decided it was time to head out. By the time Cat and I got out we thought for sure there was going to be a brawl, the yelling got louder and everyone was standing. Not sure how it all shook out but Cat and I had an enjoyable day on the lake, and I left only slightly bad taste in my mouth. I think the next trip to South Park, Cat is going to need to stay awake. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Spinney,  and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading….

Antero 6/14/2017

            Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. Todays drive to Antero was very lonely. As I was finishing my breakfast burrito, Cat exclaimed that Antero Reservoir knows nothing of Her and Spinneys “respect pact”. The next noise I heard, as we were driving through Hartsel, was a grunt and then a “where are we”. Today’s trip was a learning trip and we were checking several things out. One, Cat upgraded her Fishcat pontoon boat to a new Outcast boat. Two, we were trying out new rods and lastly, we hadn’t fished Antero in several years and we thought we better see what the fuss was about.

            As we got into the lake I looked at Cat and I thought to myself with all we wanted to check out, she shouldn’t have taken the chance and slept on the drive. We headed out and just as my first cast began to settle, the indicator shot downward. As I got him in the net, I looked up and saw Cat was fighting a fish as well. Over the next hour, it seemed that every time I looked up, she was fighting another fish. I’m guessing we have seen our last Spinney trip, she can sleep and still catch fish. My next several takes were a little frustrating, fish would hit and they would head straight down. They would take me to the bottom and then I would feel them pull off, and my flies would come back full of weeds. The wind rolled in at just after 9:00 and we found ourselves battling waves the rest of the day, fifteen minutes on and fifteen minutes of crickets. I’m not sure if it was the water temp or just the strength of the fish but the fights were incredible. The aerials, the dives, and the just plain brute strength was incredible. We bounced off the lake at around 1:00 and I was happy to realize I had just “Fraziered” Antero. Now if you are a Husker fan, I landed 15. Cat finished with 10 and believes the “pact” is over. Lots of lost fish today and worn out rod arms.

            With Spinney and now Antero fishing well, this is a great time to learn how to be successful with these stud fish. We are still running the Accel or Outcast/Fishcat special for a free sit-down class. If that doesn’t work for you, we have a friend that guides float tubers in South Park and he has the lakes dialed in. Check with us if interested, it’s a great time to learn. Lots of cool pics and Cat got her usual bugs and oddball pics. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Tommy Frazier, and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading….

The D's D.......

             Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. If you are wondering about the title of this blog, I want you to know that it has nothing to do with the Huskers new D-coordinator Diacco’s 3-4 scheme, it has nothing to do with the Denver Bronco’s new D, and I would never be so dirty to bring up the double D’s. Nope, what the title is describing is the new defense that the Delaney Butte Lakes have come up with. Cat and I have made the yearly Memorial Day trek to the Buttes for several years now and have really done very well most years. This year as we were driving out I could almost hear the Lakes whisper “who’s your daddy now." Now I would love to complain about the week but how could a person truly complain about spending four days fishing with your brother in law, one of your oldest friends and mostly, the love of your life. And as you can see by the pics, Cat always finds at least one new friend.

               Fishing lakes can definitely be interesting. Cat and I thought we had it all figured out a few years ago. If you know Cat, then you know she is not morning person and usually on our drive up to Spinney, Cat passes out about five minutes out of P-town. One time a few years ago, Cat stayed awake the whole way and out fished me that day. She realized at that moment that as long as she shows proper respect for the lake and stays awake, the lake would likewise treat her with respect. On our drive to North Park, Cat was bubbly and alive nearly the whole trip but as we were driving through Rand, I noticed that she was out. I didn’t want to jinx her and say anything but after a first really slow afternoon, she brought it up. The weather was the best we have ever seen in North Park, instead of the normal 40 mph gusts, it was perfectly calm. The week was difficult, we spent four days searching for fish and every time we felt like we found them, something would change and they were gone. Our best fishing of the week was the times when we were off our boats and we were throwing dries to big cruisers. Like I said, how do you complain about dries to big fish. The funniest part of the week was watching Cat wake up early and get out of the tent quickly as if the lake was watching.
        So, to finish, fishing the Delaneys this year was kind of like going up against the Alabama defense, even missing most of their teeth (the wind), it was difficult. Fish were caught but every fish was earned. So, what am I doing next year at this time? Pay Back!!! Lots of pics. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Jimbo and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…..