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……..