Monday, August 5, 2019

Conditions !!!!


             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……..

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