Sunday, March 18, 2018

A Sushi Type of Day.....


           Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. Well hopefully the title of this post has your interest and even more so, I hope the analogy isn’t too much of a stretch. A few years back, my incredible wife Cat had a lunch date with a friend and she came home raving about how awesome sushi was. Now if you know me at all, then you know that the thought of eating not just fish, but raw fish just turns my stomach. Yep, after I spend the day on the water and before I eat, I have to scrub my hands to remove the smell. Last year, Cat and I went to Hawaii with a few of our best friends and I had already decided that I wanted to try my hardest to eat as the Hawaiians do. The Kahlua Pig, Macadamia Nut Pancakes and Musubi were easy but I was dreading the trip to Kuru Kuru, the world-famous sushi restaurant. I think there were twelve of us that went and they all seemed to be looking like Pavlov’s dog as we entered. Cody noticed my confused look as I was scanning the menu and he pointed out a few items that I might be able to stomach. I watched as they all prepared for their dinner, they pulled out their chop sticks, put wasabi in a dish and then stirred in Soy sauce. When the food came I watched Cody perfectly pick up the piece and dunk in in his sauce and shove the whole piece in his mouth. I didn’t get it, my roll had rice, raw fish, seaweed, mystery parts and then I had soy mix. Other than the fish, all the items seem okay but just nothing seemed special about any of it. I managed to get my roll up with my sticks and I dunked it at put it in my mouth. The whole table was watching for my reaction and as it hit my tasted buds, the magic happened. By the third or fourth piece I got down, I tried to figure out how so many strange parts can make anything so perfect. Cat and I have since made sushi a regular in our dinner plans and I think it is the only item that as we eat it, we look at each other and just say Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
          So here is where the comparison comes in, over the last month or so we have had all kinds of days on the river. We have had lots of great weather days, lousy weather days, great water days and dirty water days, we have had spawning fish days and eating fish days, on guided trips we have had experienced anglers and brand spanking new anglers and most of the days have felt a little like the individual parts of sushi. Now with sushi, the parts seem pretty bland but when put together, they are magic, and today everything fell into place. The water was clear, and the fish had entered feeding lanes and my chop stick skills were adequate. I didn’t want to spend time just fishing runs so I went out looking for fish. The first few I saw didn’t seem interested and then I found the dinner table. For an hour and a half, it was a sushi type of day, I’m not sure how many I landed but it seemed every third cast or so I hooked a fish. I got two landed that looked as if their life goal was to replace the pigskin with fishskin and several that felt very spawned out. As the clouds began to move in, I felt like I needed to say, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
          The river is absolutely incredible right now, it is not easy, but oh so good. If you have been thinking about a guide trip, now is the time to get it booked. We are looking at a serious flush at some point but I don’t think it will begin until April. Fish the last few days were on Ninjas and a few on FOD’s. If you are planning on fishing the tail water between now and run off, make sure you stop by the shop and stock up on FOD’s and Ninjas. Sorry, this wasn't my best picture taking day. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Miyakis, and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading……..









Tuesday, March 6, 2018

The Ark, a 3/6/18 Update....


           Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. When I was just a wee lad I remember a fad toy that a bunch of my friends had. It was called the Magic 8-Ball and you were supposed to ask it a question and then shake the toy and an answer would show up in the window. I had really mixed emotions about the toy, I was so jealous that everyone I knew had one and I didn’t, but at the same time I thought the thing was so stupid. The answers were very generic that came out as “most certainly yes”, “not a chance”, and the really generic answer of “that is a definite maybe”.  After the last week of answering the phone in the fly shop, I kind of wished I had a Magic 8-ball to answer the questions about the river conditions.
          This blog is my best attempt of giving info on our river. I wanted to start by what we have been told and I will finish with my best educated guess. First, we were informed that on Monday, the tear out of the cofferdam above Juniper Bridge would begin and last possibly into next week. With that, we were expecting very dirty conditions. Next, we know that the 15th is the end of winter storage and flows could fluctuate depending on water calls. And lastly, we were told that before the 15th of April, the Reservoir level has to be drastically reduced to a predetermined level and there is a big water release planned for some time in the first two weeks of April.
          I had a friend run by the river yesterday to tell me how dirty it was and he called and said it was still clean. I wanted to check for myself and headed to the river today and I was pleasantly surprised. The water had a green tint and very good visibility. So, the removal of the cofferdam has not yet begun and we really don’t know when that will happen but it has to be out by the 15th.
          I spent the day fishing and had really varied success. I saw lots of fish on redds, with just a few Billy Bobs harassing them, I saw lots of fish staging and a few fish actively in feeding lanes. I didn’t see many bugs today so the lack of feeding fish didn’t surprise me. The fish that I did land were really prettied up but the battles made me think the fish were spent. And once again, the fish all ate the J-bomb.
          Now I wanted to give my own personal opinion of how the river will fish in the near future. With the increase in flows, the water temps have dropped several degrees and the hatches have really slowed down. Last week I was seeing BWO’s showing up but the water was way to cold for them today. Between now and the 15th, look for feeding fish in the tail outs of feeding lanes and try to get really small midges in front of them. If you make the trip and the water turns dirty, put on an egg or a Depth Charge and dredge the deeper pools. Now after the 15th, look for the water clarity to really clear up and we should have some really great feeding days. If you happen to be here on a water call day and you begin to see trash and debris float by, take a break and give the river an hour or so to clear. As we near the end of March and the temps begin to edge up, start looking for BWO’s
          As April hits, we will try our best to give info on the lowering of the reservoir. As for April 15th and beyond, I am really hopeful that we will have an awesome late spring season. With the really full reservoir and the relatively low snow pack we don’t have a clue what the flows will do but the construction should be completely done and the water should have great clarity.
          Well I’m not sure if that has cleared up any of the questions about the water but I hope that it is better than the answer you might get if you call the shop, “that is a definite maybe”.  Fishing is always better than not fishing so get here and enjoy. As Always, Connell, Cat, Winston, the Magic 8-ball and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading….