Fly Fishing Report for March 22, 2012

Enjoy this Video of our water adventures on March 22, 2012. 

Two Great Caddis Patterns

The Hunt For Red October

  It all began one sunny afternoon in October of 2010. I was taking my usual afternoon stroll to the City Park walk bridge to watch the fish and that is when I first saw him. Trying to learn as much as I could about trout habits, I have spent a ton of time over the years studying them from the walkover bridge. This day started out like every other; the 21inch silvery female, the two 18inchers that always seem to be at her side were there. The far upper riffle was filled with its usual 6 to 10 fish ranging from 15 to 20 inches. The slow deep run had its usual nice fish intertwined with the nasty pod of suckers. There was an acquaintance fishing the feeding lane riffle below bridge and as I was saying hello, I caught a glimpse of a shadow moving up the deep run and under the bridge. I walked over to the other side and as he emerged from under the bridge I almost soiled myself. He moved up next to miss silver and dwarfed her by about 10 inches. I could not believe what I was seeing. This fish was massive, the guide in me told my friend to cast up under the bridge and into the run below the rock. First cast with his dry dropper rig ended up in the perfect place, the dry moved about 6 inches, stopped and dipped. I yelled set, and as he set the hook, I saw the fish shoot to the left; head shake and snap the line. As he disappeared into the depths, I was reminded of some of the greatest movies of the 70’s and 80’s; the Jaw’s shark tail, and the Hunt for Red October submarines propellers slowly and methodically fading away into the abyss. And thus began my own personal Hunt for Red October.

  Cat and I headed over there the next day but found only the usual suspects. We caught several fish over eighteen inches but left with a yearning for the monster I had seen the day before. Over the next several weeks, I spent countless hours trying to hunt this fish. It was amazing, every time I showed up with my gear, he was nowhere to be found, and if I showed up just to watch, he would slide up into the feeding lane, take a few bites and flip me the fin as he would swim away. In mid January of last year I had two clients in the area when the monster drifted into the feeding lane. I pointed out the fish to my clients and they both got buggy eyed and started to shake a little. I moved in below with one of them and got into the perfect place to drop the emerger in front of him. My mouth went dry with excitement and I had him cast.  First cast was a kind of a round house and he caught the tree to the back and side of us, I nearly cried. We slowly backed out, but before I could get the other client into place, the fish had disappeared. That was the last time I saw him in that spot.

  A couple months later I was fishing about three quarters of a mile down river when I saw what I thought was my old friend and nemesis. He had snuck in to a hole that had some great protection, four boulders, a log and part of an old concrete drainage pipe. I had my gear and started fishing to him. This fish is so smart; he actually has two smaller 21 and 22 inch fish hang out in front of him. First cast I caught the 21 and scattered the others. I spent the next three weeks almost every day trying to catch him. I knew we were getting late in the season and the runoff would be starting very soon. At night, he was the last thing that would go through my head before drifting off. That tail slowly and methodically disappearing away from me, it was becoming maddening. Finally the perfect day, I showed up just as the Blue Wings were coming off and I knew he was vulnerable. He was alone, so no other fish to worry about. I laid the FOD out in front of him and I saw the flash. His power was amazing. I knew I only was fishing with 5x and had to give him some line. I figured he would head for the upper rocks, but actually he turned and ran me over the old concrete pipe. I felt the leader running down the edge and there was nothing I could do. Snap, it was over. That was the last encounter I had with that fish. A couple days later, the water came up and tail water was done till fall.

  The ending of this Blog will take some participation on the part of the readers. I want to partially change movie themes and get you, the readers, to clear your throat, stand up tall, shoulders back and in your very best Morgan Freeman voice finish this blog.

    I have been freed from this fish for some time now and so often I don’t know what to do, I find myself aimlessly wondering the banks of the Arkansas searching for the companionship and pride that only this fish could give to me, I try to pee, but not one drop without thinking about him. How I long to hold him just once and snap a picture. I have not seen him in some while and I think of what he was telling me as he was swimming away, remember your black fly box the one that has no business in your jacket. I think about him all the time,  I miss my old friend, I miss Red October……..

 

  Thank you for reading these blogs, they have been a riot to write and bringing back some of my old memories gets me excited to keep going back. I had been writing this one for a while but wanted to get it published now because I have an update on Red October.

Heee’sss Back!!!!!!!!!!

  You may not be hearing from me for a few days because I saw either Red October or his brother yesterday while filming. If you are thinking about hiring a guide to catch a true trophy Rainbow, do it quickly because we never know how much time we have. The river will rise soon, and all you will have is the thought of that tail swimming away.

Connell and Cat O’Grady

The Drift Fly Shop 719-543-3900

To Fish Or Not To Fish

  Hello and thank you all for your continuing support of the O’Grady fly fishing blog and with a name like ours, I hope you all had a marvelous St Patrick’s Day. I would like to start this blog by apologizing to almost all who have had their feelings hurt over the last few weeks because of my soap box preaching on fishing to redds.  This seems to be the time of the year that brings out the most intense feelings of trout fishing etiquette, so we would like to discuss this a little and hopefully let you form your own opinions. Cat and I went out today and tried to get a little more video of what redds look like so any readers not familiar with what they look like, can recognize them easily.  We also have some hopefully interesting facts on trout spawning. I would also like you to know that what my idea of fishing etiquette to these fish may not be the same as yours and you almost always have the right to be wrong..JK.

  First some fun facts. Rainbow trout maturity ages start between 2-5 years and a one pound female can lay 1,000 eggs per spawn; a three pound fish can lay up to 2,800 eggs. The eggs after fertilization take 4-7 weeks before hatching. After hatching, the fish will carry and feed off the yolk sack for up to 2 weeks. The chasing males you can see is interesting in that the larger males will pair up with females and the smaller males will sit back and wait for them to get distracted and then they dart in and strut their stuff. This is a rare occurrence in the trout family. The survival rate is determined by too many factors to even give a general idea; water temp, water quality, disturbances and predators to start.

   Watching the Pueblo tail water fishery turn from a “put and take” to a true tail water has been a true blessing the last several years. It was four years ago when I first saw a true spawn here in Pueblo. I really had no idea what I was looking at and was wondering why these fish were in the water they were in, why they were chasing each other around, and even more, why they were not interested in my flies. Over the next month I began to figure out what they were doing. I do admit that I tried fishing to them at different times with staggering degrees of success. Talking to much better fisherman than me, I have heard tons of what seems to be contradictory ideas on if they will feed, aggression strike or if they can only be snagged. I have one friend that was once a professional bass fisherman and has no problem at all fishing to redds. He claims that after you catch them, you put them back and they go right back to their beds. With the fishery blossoming into an awesome tail water and the ability to watch these fish live and grow, I think my natural progression has been to try to protect the spawning fish. I will never forget the time I was fishing the Dream stream and landed a beautiful cutbow, after releasing, I felt like caca when I saw she had spilt fifty or so eggs on the bank. I hope with just this little bit of info you will be able to develop your own opinion and I will get off my soap box for now.

  I did see something last week that goes way beyond what I think is okay. Cat and I were walking back down river when I looked down and saw a fly fisherman standing over and swinging flies through a bed. This is not illegal, but just disgusted me as I watched him snag off and put a 22 inch male on a stringer. I was so angry that I cussed at him and then threw a rock at the redd to try and protect the rest of the spawners. Cody, one of our guides, was telling me of a time last year when he walked up on a guy that was raking a treble hook over a bed. Cody told the guy it was illegal and threatened to break his rod and throw it into the river. If you know Cody, he does not seem like the type of person you want to make angry. The guy said “you fly fishing guys think you own this river”. Nope, but we sure enjoy it!!!!

  Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and if you are as passionate about fly fishing as we are, I hope you stop in to The Drift Fly Shop and say hello. Thanks again, Connell 719-543-3900

  

  

Great Quotes with Even Better Fish

  Every year as Spring rolls in, the shop gets steady stream starry eyed anglers in asking if Cat and I are planning to head up to the Dream Stream. It gets me thinking of one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite actors of all time. Paul Newman was considered one of the sexiest men alive and when asked how he stayed loyal to Joanne Woodward for over fifty years. He smiled and said “why go out for hamburger when can eat steak at home.”

   I was fishing with a friend today and when I first met up with him he asked me if I was planning on heading up to the Dream Stream. Don’t know, I sure like the taste of steak, I answered, then I explained my strange response. Ben has been in the market for a premium rod so I was letting him try out my Winston B2-MX, 9 foot 5 weight. He had fished it on Saturday and was extremely impressed with the casting and ability to blast through the wind and was hoping to hook a pig to see how it fought big fish. Fishing was very interesting today and I could not believe the difference in conditions since Thursday. On Thursday it seemed as if the fish were finishing off the spawn and were moving back into feeding lanes. Today it seemed as if someone had been pumping  Barry Whitefish tunes into the river the last few days. I saw beds everywhere and they all seemed full of big fish. The feeding lanes had fish but they seemed to be smaller. I landed a dozen or so but the largest was only about 13 inches. Ben moved into a slow deeper pool behind me and caught a few big suckers. Then he started getting excited, this fish feels strong as heck but he said he thought he could feel the head shake. The fish headed to the other side and I thought I could see the stripe as it moved to the surface. It kept diving though and I thought maybe it was another sucker. As Ben worked it in he kind of made a little squeal as he saw that it was definitely a rainbow, and a nice one at that. He finally got it landed at it measured off at a plump 20 inches. The biggest fish he has ever landed and the rod and reel made all the difference in the world is what he said. I had to take off shortly after that and that one big fish seemed to make the day.

  I don’t know what Ben will be eating for supper this evening but I would like to say Enjoy the Steak!

This fish is not spilling milt but is urinating!!!!!

   We at the Drift Fly Shop are passionate about our water and fly fishing it. We spend a ton of time on the Ark and know it inside and out. If you would like to learn more about our water, this should be the best time of the year to do it. Fish should be finishing the spawn soon and will be feeding heavy when done. Thanks for reading, Connell 719-543-3900

Fishing Report and Video for March 15, 2012

The fishing was VERY good today on the Arkansas River below Pueblo Dam. They have only brought the water up to 100cfs plus the 40cfs from the hatchery outlet so far which is almost perfect. This video only caught some of the action..... however you bug lovers will like it. I got some good footage of "under rock" and shuck floating action. Enjoy :) Cat

Spring Time in the Rockies

     It was the top of the fifth and the Rockies were up 7-2 with everything going their way. In comes the middle relief and the first batter gets the brush back, next pitch, plunked in the back. A walk, a single another walk and then a grand slam. Before the Rocks knew what had hit them, the game had finished with a 17-8 loss. Why did they have to poke the proverbial tiger?  

  I know what you are thinking; does he think he is a good enough of a  writer to tackle Baseball? Has he gone crazy? Or is he even writing about baseball?

  The answers: no, maybe and Not Even A Chance!

  Cat and I went fishing today and what an eventful day. I had gone up and around a corner and was hooking fish but kept losing them. Cat walks up and says are you catching a bunch? I have already caught 7 and the biggest was 20 inches (that was the brush back). Next she says “you only caught 2” and then she grinned (the plunk). I know I get accused of being way too competitive, but sometimes you just gotta go with it. Putting on the game face, I pick up 15 of the next 16 fish with a grand slam of a just under 21 incher and a triple 19 incher.

   I have told you all before that I used to play a lot of golf and I had a particular friend that I would always compare my game to. Jim was a scratch golfer and one of the better players around. Playing with a golfer of that caliber made me a much better golfer. Even though he was given seven stokes a round, he could usually beat me. The times that I would beat him it was celebration time, so even though it was not a real big deal beating a scrub like me, my reactions brought out the competitiveness of Jim. I guess in a way it is kind of an honor to be put on those types of pedestals.

  Heading back to the car today, I was thinking about how fishing can be so competitive and got me thinking about a day last October. I had a friend come down from Canon City named John. John has been a friend of mine for over ten years and we have fished together several times. Shortly after he had started fly fishing his schedule got really tight. He barely got to fish for about three years or so and finally started fishing again last year. One day last spring he was down here in Pueblo and he hooked a couple pigs, the first ate his lunch, but the second he had done everything correct and got about a 22 incher up to us twice. Finally it took a quick turn and snap, I thought he was going to cry. So anyway, back to October, I had decided that my number one concern that day would be to get john into and land a big fish. Brandon called the night before and asked if it would be okay if he joined us and I said no problem. We got to the river and everything seemed perfect. It was snowing and we were the only anglers on the water. About ten minutes in, Brandon started grunting and we saw his rod was bent over. He then fought and landed a beautiful 19 inch buck rainbow. The next few hours I put John into ever hole that I know holds big fish. We were not hooking anything big but were catching gobs of little fish. We finally got into my favorite hole and after getting John set up in the perfect place he took a couple casts. One intense take and snap, then arms up in the air in disgust. I gave him my rod and started working on rerigging his rod. A couple more casts and BANG!!, out of the water and it was on. Seeming like forever, we finally got Johns fish landed. It was a healthy 18 inch rainbow. I think I was as relieved as he was. We fished a little longer and then we decided to fish our way back to the car.

   The walk back was odd, all of a sudden Brandon and John were walking by themselves, away from me. I could hear them talking but  they were talking low enough so that I could not hear. Then it hit me, my biggest fish of the day had only been about 14 inches, and I was sure that was what they were talking about. Could this finally be the day? It got very difficult to act cool on the way back and I started cherry picking all the best holes. Ever step, they were fidgeting more and more and I could see it was taking everything they had not to start talking trash. Finally we had made it to the last corner before we were to cross and get out. They were both twitching bad as I said “alright lets go” I felt a little like the Devil after losing his golden fiddle, I knew that I had been beat. A couple of steps across and I see a fish rise on the far side. One cast, and like in an eighties hero movie and in slow motion this pig jets himself about a foot out of the water. Everything went deathly silent and then I heard a collective ugh…behind me, followed by “are you freaking kidding me”. A couple minutes later, John netted and measured my fish. Un-freaking-believable..21 inches. I just smiled and said its okay; we all had a good day today.

   So I have decided that if I am ultra competitive, maybe it is not entirely my fault. I think I will just take it as a great honor to be the angler that other anglers compare themselves too. And always remember, it is a long season, at one time the Rockies were up 8 games last year.

   Thank you for reading these blogs, it is a blast to write them and share some of our stories. Cat and I are passionate about fly fishing and everything that goes along with it. If you have the same love and we do not know you, we wish you would stop by The Drift Fly Shop sometime and introduce yourself. The pictures are from the snowy October day and  up in the tree was a Bald Eagle looking for food. Cat will post a fishing report from today later.

Thanks, Connell

The Drift Fly Shop 719-543-3900