Spinney Stories 2018

          Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. Today I am writing about the greatest fishing story ever told and I hope you enjoy it. I’m going to start by stating that we fished Spinney today and fishing was incredible, I will be needing some ice this evening. The fishing story however is about the most amazing person I have ever known and one of the oddest but quite possibly the most amazing fishing feat that has ever happened.

          Before we get into the story, I need to give a little background on todays event. I’m sure most of our readers and most anyone that has ever spent anytime with Cat knows how incredibly knowledgeable she is about fly fishing. When Cat was first offered the job in the shop, the owner at that time explained that she needed to know everything, about everything that has to do with fly fishing just to keep face at all times. She studied knots, different graphite, different drag systems and even bugs, well not sure that was studying but just reading. Anyway, so last week Cat was working in the shop one day and a gentleman came in and said that he had met someone catching a lot of fish on the river and they told him to come by the shop and get some help. At this point he looked straight at Cat and asked if she knew when someone would be working in the shop that could help him with knots. Cat told me the story and I shook my head and said, did you tell him to come in on the third Thursday of every month, because that is when the knot guy is here. Cat said she should have but told him that she could help. The guy then went on and said he means the really good knots, you know like the ones for fly fishing. I had to stop listening at that point and I’m sure he was very impressed with Cat by the time he left.

          So here is the amazing fishing story. Cat had just finished landing and releasing a Spinney piggie and as she was resetting her indicator when a fish ripped her rig from her hands. On great days this happens quite frequently and usually you just grab the rod and finish the fish off normally. Unfortunately, this time as her leader was shooting away, her indicator caught the top of the rod and spun everything into a nasty old birds nest. There was about fifteen feet of line hanging off the end of the rod and she felt a little like she was now fishing Tenkara, not ideal for Spinney. She tried to lift but couldn’t get the fish any closer than about ten feet, she began to wind the line on her hand but the fish began to fight and the line started cutting into her hand. She was stumped, she didn’t want to break her line because she just remembered that she had forgotten tippet and she would have had to tell me. She noticed that the fish wasn’t to freaked out if he could stay in the ten-foot away zone so Cat got a great idea. Yes, this could be scary, that will be written on Cats tombstone. So, with nothing to lose, Cat reached up as far as she could and cut her line. The line going to the fish she wrapped on her hand just enough to keep it in place and the she quickly reached to the top of the rod and with her left hand, was able to clean up the nest. Wow so far, next she unwrapped the line from her hand and shoved it in her mouth, she quickly pulled the tab from her mouth and tied a perfect blood knot. Anxious but a little nervous, she began to let the line out and put the fish on the reel. A quick battle and Cat landed a beautiful 19inch piggie, she gave it a little wiggle and the fish swam off as if it had never been caught. Now I know that one of Rush Limbaugh’s favorite saying is beating liberals with half his brain tied behind his back, but how nice would it be for Cat to go back in time and answer that guys question. Yeah, I know the really good knots, how about if I teach you while blindfolded, with a fish attached on one side, and the rod hanging by a thread on the other. You see, the most amazing fishing story ever.

          Spinney was absolutely amazing today, If I was forced to throw out a number I would guess I landed 93 today. Fun was had by all; Tyler and his crew were hooking fish all day and every time I looked up it seemed half of us were fighting fish. I didn’t catch any monsters today, they are very difficult to hold but I got one that measure off at 24 inches. One thing about the El Jefe net is that it makes your fish look small. Cat got the big fish of the day, that measured at 25 on the dot, what a hog. If you are thinking about trying the lake fishing, get it going now. With the purchase of any Fishcat or Outcast pontoon boat, you will receive a free sit down class with Cat or I and we will go over rigging, safety, accessories, reading the lake and hopefully everything to get you started on these amazing days. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Tyler, and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…