Winter Tips !!!!

           Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly fishing Adventures. With Winter coming in so fast and furious this year I wanted to toss out a few winter tips but I need to start with a warning, if you are offended by a little adult content, this post is not for you.

          While standing in the river today I began thinking about an event that happened to me a few years ago. It was mid-December and we were several days into a nasty cold spell. Water temps were still in the low 50’s but outside temps were around 10 degrees and the breeze had me chilled to the bone. Someone with a functioning brain would have been home curled up on the couch but I was out stalking trout. I was half a mile above the NC area and the water had cleared and I was looking for fish and side stepping down river. I caught a little flash down to the right and I began to move, my foot was stopped by a rock but my momentum already had me moving.  I was three quarters the way down when somehow, and I have no idea how, I was able to get upright and probably save my life. I stood there for a second and realized how similar this was to my very first sexual experience. Both physical and emotionally the were the same, my legs were shaking and every muscle in my body was twitching. My emotions went from complete terror from not knowing exactly what was going on, and then complete joy knowing I may never look at life the same way again. And finally, in both experiences, I sat up, took a gulp of air and then looked around and saw I was completely alone.

          All fun aside, I have thought about that day many times over the years. Had I actually ended up in the river that day, I’m not sure I would have made it back to the car. So please on those super cold days, take a friend with you. One, if you do get in trouble you have help and secondly, and like the other experience, it’s so much more enjoyable with someone else.

          The second tip has to do with how to take care of the fish for pics. Now I’m not biologist but my wife is and we don’t believe there is any way pulling a fish out of 55-degree water and holding him out in 10 degree weather can be good for fish. I know when I get out of my hot tub at night and run into the house, I get really cold quickly and my lungs aren’t exposed. So please on the super cold days, take a quick pic and get them back fast.

          Next tip, stop by the shop and get yourself a bucket full of FOD’s. Water temps are dropping fast and the plethora of bugs and hatches we were seeing a few weeks ago have diminished to small midges and BWO’s. The other day I was hooking a few and as soon as I put a FOD on, it just turned on.

          And the last winter tip, is how to deal with perhaps another really long winter. Now I have no idea how this winter plays out but if October is any indication, the season will be awful. The lodge Cat and I go to in Belize has added a few upgraded rooms and April in Belize is a great way enjoy the cold. We still have a few rooms left and right now is the least expensive time to get airfare. If you are interested, please let us know quickly.

          As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…….

Mind Games...

            Hello friends and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly fishing Adventures. Wow, I was looking back through old blogs and I realized it’s been a long time since I have written two blogs in the same week. I guess I have been letting to many outside circumstances slow my mind wandering while fishing. Today, that was not the case.

             As most of you know, I have a life long curse of being a Husker fan. So today my mind started going through some of the great moments in Husker history and I was surprised as to where my mind wandered. I was trying to think about the 70 and 71 National Championships and even the three undefeated teams in the 90’S but my mind kept drifting back to 82 heartbreaking loss to PSU, where they caught a ball three yards out of bounds and the refs gave them the catch. In 83, it was a failed 2 pointer that left us a point behind. In 93 it was a missed field goal as the time ran out.  And even now that I know my Huskers aren’t very good, it’s the BYU Hail Mary, and the shanked kick against CU is where my mind drifts. I was questioning myself and was wondering, am I just that negative of a person that all I seem to remember in sports is the negative. Then I thought about golf and how exactly opposite I am. I will never forget Tiger making the put on the 72^nd hole to tie up Rocco. And Tiger walking up the fairway at last years tour championship will be etched in my mind forever. So, on my trip to the river today I was hoping to see it through my golf fan eyes but my Husker eyes won out.

            When I got to the river today, I started in one of my favorite runs and landed a fish on my first drift. I hooked a few more and began to move up river. I hooked a fish or two in each run but had a really difficult time getting fish landed. I stepped into one run and put through what I thought was a perfect drift. I was just getting ready to lift and the indicator exploded across the river. As I set the hook, I immediately felt the incredible power of this fish and my attention was thoroughly aroused. I ran to the bank and chased him about thirty feet down river. I began moving him back across toward me and he gave me a huge head thrash and then headed further downstream. Now I normally fight fish very quickly, but this guy felt different. I wondered if I might possible be hooked up to a big carp or more likely a massive brown. The fish settled across the river and after a quick scan I realized this fish had no place else to run and the “real battle” was going to happen here and now. I started reeling and got him to about thirty feet and he stopped dead in his tracks. I gave him just a second to catch his breath and tried lifting him toward the surface. A light shadow turned into a giant golden silhouette and my eyes and heart nearly jumped out of my head. I hate being that guy, but conservatively he was in the mid-twenties. I started working him my way and the dreaded pop as my flies flew back my way. The fish sat at the surface, as if to mock me, for just a second and then flipped his tail and disappeared. I have no idea how many fish I have caught so far this year but like the shanked field goal attempt, that is the fish I will be thinking about when I close my eyes until at least my next big lost fish.

            The action on the river is hot right now so get here and fish. Ninjas were the hot fly today. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Turner Gill and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…..