Hello friends and thanks for checking in at
the O’Grady Fly fishing Adventures. Now that our river flows are beginning to
ebb, the shop phone has been ringing off the hook for current and future river
conditions. I have been lucky enough to have been guiding the river for the
last ten years and have been fishing it for nearly twenty and want to let you
know what I think the river has in store, but I wanted to start giving you a
little perspective.
While my youngest son was growing
up, and I’m not sure if this was because of poor parenting skills, he was
absolutely obsessed with sharks and tornados. His two favorite movies were Jaws
and Twister. One of the more iconic scenes in Twister was when the group of
storm chasers were at the drive-in and they were talking about a storm cloud
that was near. The lead actor was Bill Paxton and while he was looking at the
trees and dropping some dust to check the breeze, he very dramatically said
“it’s already here”, but it was too late and just then the tornado takes out
the movie screen, I will explain later.
Watching the flows drop over the
last few weeks I was really hoping to see improved clarity but that has not
been the case. Cat and I fished the other day and the water was brown and dirty
with only about a foot of clarity. Afterward, we drove up to the Reservoir and
were surprised to see it was a dark blueish green and really no staining. Now I don’t think we will be sight fishing
anytime soon but I do think in the next two weeks, the river ought to turn back
to what we call “summer green”. Water temps are perfect and with the amount of
water in the lake, I don’t foresee any temp issues. The last few weeks of
August, I expect to see great hatches of caddis and start seeing tricos. As we
move into September, this is where I really expect the fishing to improve and
this is also where the “it’s already here” comes into play. When the tricos go
off and the fish start gorging, you want to be here there will be a few hours
each day where people can have “their best day ever”. With tricos, it seems
that by the time we let people know they are popping, it’s too late. Caddis,
pmd’s and midges should be hatching through November. There are so many
variables to when turnover starts but as of now, I am guessing mid-October and
it could last a while.
If you are looking at booking a trip
with us, now is the time to get it set-up. If you wait until conditions are
perfect, it may be too late. Anytime between mid-August and mid-October ought
to be productive. Turnover ought to still fish pretty good but just not quite
as pretty.
Now I want to toss out some info on
an upcoming event. On Saturday, October 5th, the Drift Fly Shop,
along with the Pueblo Tailwater Renegades and the Pueblo, Greenback chapter of
Trout Unlimited will be hosting a Friends of the Ark, Fly fishing Extravaganza
at the Lake Pueblo state Park. I can’t tell you how many times over the years I
have had local clients tell me that they would love to fish more but don’t know
anyone else that fly fishes. This event is planned to do several things, one is
to bring the local fly-fishing community together and for people to meet some
awesome other fisher people. The event will have free casting lessons, Euro and
regular nymphing demos, Tenkara demos, free Sage Rod demos, free raffles and
much more, so keep your calendar free.
More info later. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, the late Bill Paxton
and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading……..
