Thursday, October 18, 2018

Turnover......


         Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Flyfishing Adventures. If you are checking in because you saw the title and are thinking I have some kind of inside info on this week’s Broncos or even my beloved Huskers, offensive game plan, you have been duped. Sorry guys, were just talking about our river. For those of you that aren’t sure about what turnover means, and what it means to you, this blog is for you.
          Every summer in our reservoir, the coldest water sinks to the bottom and that is the water that comes out of the bottom of the dam. If the reservoir was not there, our water would be way to warm to allow trout to live through summer. Every fall as the weather begins to cool, the cooler water begins to work its way to the top and the warmer water makes it way to the bottom. This is why our river stays warm enough to keep the fish eating all Winter long. The moving of the water causes a churning in the lake and the water coming out gets the milky green look and we lose visibility.
          Every year when the reservoir begins to turn the shop gets tons of questions as to how long it will last. I will try my best to answer. The last few years the reservoir has been really full and the weather took forever to cool so we dealt with the milky water until late in November. This year the weather is turning quickly and there is less water in the reservoir, so I am hopeful the reservoir should turnover quicker. I am hopeful that as soon as we get to November, the first real cold snap should complete the turnover, so best case scenario, I’m hoping first of November.
          So how to fish turnover water, this morning I headed out and my first run was really milky green. I put on a size 18 A&W, followed by a few small midges and I ran it through a normal feeding lane. First drift and I got my fish of the day, he was just a hair under twenty inches. I fished that run for a little while and not another take. I began to make my way up river and every run seemed to take one fish. I got into one of my favorite runs and ended up hooking a few nice fish, and then they just stopped eating. The river had sporadic bugs flying around all day and I think that is why the first drift was normally money and then I needed to move. I began working back down river and I began to see the dinks rising. I always say that little fish need love to, so I set up a doubly dry rig. I was having so much fun hooking the dinks that I almost didn’t see the big fish that was sipping. When he caught my attention, I slipped in below and I notice several shadows moving around. I tossed the flies out a few times with no success and then finally I watched one come up and take a look at my first fly. He backed away and then moved over to the trailer, he opened his mouth and sucked it in and as I set the hook, my flies came straight back at me. I casted again and the same fish moved over and sucked down the trailer again. I set the hook and came to the conclusion that either that fish had a big hole in his mouth, My fly was missing the hook, or possibly, I’m not a very good dry fly fisherman. I checked the hook and it looked fine so I’m going with the fish having a void in his mouth area.Hehe.
          Looking toward the future. As of now, we are still seeing a few tricos, caddis and pmd’s, and when temp drops and the water clears we will be back fishing the Bwo’s. Yummy!
          A few odds and ends, now I’m sure I’m going to sound a little like a homer but after going back and forth the last month fishing my Igniter and X, I just can’t say enough about those two rods. Light, powerful, and an absolute blast to fight fish(as long as the fish don’t have holes in their mouths). The shop still has a limited number of A&W’s in the shop and when they are gone, they will be gone until next year. And lastly, our tip to Belize next year is nearly filled. We have one room left and it will be first come first served. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Scott Frost & Vance Joseph and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…….




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