New Year, Same Awesome River!!!!!

           Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly fishing adventures. I wanted to start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year and hope that 2019 is your best year ever. The last few weeks have been a little strange for me watching more college football than I have watched in years. The house was really quiet for the Holidays and although I really enjoyed the together time with Cat, I was beginning to feel a little stir crazy. I figured the river would be crowded today but there was no way I was going to spend another day wasted in front of the T.V., so today's plan was to walk the river, look at fish, and occasionally throw a fly.

            I got to the river a little after 11:00, and it already seemed crowded. I started walking up and noticed the dinks were going crazy. I jumped in and the first ten or so were a blast. I started moving and checking out all the rock piles and then I looked down and saw one of my favorite Winter holes was open. I jumped in and after several drifts, the indicator moved and it was on. 
            My first thought was that it was a giant sucker but after a few seconds I could feel the head shake. As he neared the surface, his cherry red side flashed and I knew he was a special fish. What went through my head, was Alex telling people that this is the time of the year when most people land their biggest fish. I was fishing 6x and one 22 and two 24 midges so I was a little nervous, but my Igniter won the battle. Now here is where thing got a little funny and hoping its not an omen for the year. 
          I moved into the shallows with the fish and net in the water and removed the hook from his jaw. I snapped a few pics of him in the net and then tried to move him next to the rod (the winner), but he was a little difficult to get my hand around. After fidgeting for a second, I got him in place and did two quick cluster pics, set him on the net for a measurement and set him free. I was elated he measured off at 23 inches and I don’t remember the last time I caught a fish that big. 
        The sun was perfect for the pics and my fish was going to be the envy of the river. I casted a few more times and hooked and landed a chunky 14 incher. As I was releasing him a friend came up and we got to talking. I hate the old (check out my phone) thing but I planning on showing it off anyway. I looked through my pics and had to laugh, I had two pics in the net and a dozen or so pics of my palm. I had to rethink the old joke about having a picture of my palm in my wallet.

            Anyway, I fished that spot for a little longer and landed a few more nice fish and then it felt like they were on to me. I headed down river and found another great winter hole open and I jumped in. I hooked and lost two more tanks, and then finished by landing an absolutely perfect 18 incher. What a great day on the river!

            Over the last few weeks the river has moved into complete winter conditions. What does that mean? The little fish are extremely active for a few hours most afternoons and the big fish are sitting in the slower and deeper runs. There were lots of people on the river today but the spots where the fish are seemed to be open. I saw lots of midges and a few bwo’s. We should be seeing the same conditions for the next six weeks or so. If you are thinking about booking a trip, it’s a great time of the year to work on technique and learn how to read our river, and I promise that if you land a really big fish, I won’t screw up the pic. All fish today was on either the New Moon or Chocolate Noon Midge. As always, Connell, Cat, and Winston want to thank you for reading….