Good Times...

            Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. Now that we are nearing the end of 2017 I wanted to share some good news for the year. As our readers know, this has been a very trying year for the O’Grady household. Now sure, there were plenty of good times but it was one of those years where every time I turned around, life felt like it was giving me a swift kick to the jewels. Now several months back while I was throwing the ball to Winston he dropped and had a hard time putting any weight on his front legs. He would rest for a few days and just as I thought he was fine, he would go back to a severe limp. Now in most cases, a limp for a dog is not a bad thing but for my first Golden, he began to limp and we found out it was bone cancer and the fear of cancer seemed like an appropriate end to the year. Over the last month I noticed that he had made a turn for the worse and he even lost interest when he watched me put my fishing gear in my car. I wanted to take him to the vet but was too afraid of what it might be. I finally made it to the vet last Friday and after a thorough exam and x-rays, it is only arthritis. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear, arthritis can be managed, heck from a personal level I know that.

                Winston will be put on a monthly anti-inflammatory injection along with a Hemp and glucosamine supplement and should be back on the river in no time. Now I will have to say with the Hemp oil, next time you see him he may be wearing a flat brimmed hat and barking out, “Sup Brah”.

                Now that I knew Winston was okay, I made a trip to the river. The first hour was quite a struggle but when the Bwos began to hatch, the river began to turn on. I landed a few 15inchers and hooked a few smaller fish and then as I was walking up, I saw a bright red stripe come out of the water and looked as if he took a fly that was still in the air. 
           I hurried over and began to drift my flies where he was and after several drifts, the indicator shot up river. I set the hook and the fish freight trained across the river, I was a little confused because the air born fish only looked to be about 16 or 17 but this was a tank. He worked himself into a lower pool and I got a few looks at him as he would surface. I know he was over 20 and just a complete fatty because every head shake I could feel up my arm. I had him in the perfect place and as I was going in for the win, he had a huge head shake and he popped loose.
          In the old days, a rather colorful expletive may have echoed through the valley, Steve could attest to that, but today I just had to laugh. Now I’m sure the fish is telling his friends how he kicked Connell’s tail, but to my friends, I’m calling it a draw.

                I jumped back into the run and hooked a few more fish and got a chunky 18" to the net. The hatch was a little short lived today but it was fun while it lasted. The bigger fish of the day were landed on a Grey Darth Baetis and the smaller fish were keying in on purple.

                The 15^th is just around the corner and when the flows drop, the crowds will follow. We have another 9 days of a rather quiet river so if you are thinking of getting in a quiet guide trip, now is the time. Tomorrow is calling for rain and snow and might be incredible. If interested call me on my cell, 719-568-4927 or call the shop. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston Cheech Marin and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…….