On The South Park Bus..... A Day At Spinney

          Hello all and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures Blog. Today’s title came to me about an hour into the day. Between Facebook posts and customer gossip, yes our gossip comes in the form of fish tales, Cat and I decided to make our way up to Spinney this morning to “meet some friends of ours.”  Not so whispered exclamations of the BEST FISHING ever bounced around the shop walls and after looking at the weather forecast, we decided before we even got to South Park, that this would indeed be the best day ever.

        We got up many hours before normal and made it to the reservoir around 8:30. The entire drive up, I envisioned the exact spot I wanted to wet a line in, but as we arrived, I could see people shoulder to shoulder along my entire hopeful area. A bit disappointed, but not phased, we moved to the other side of the lake and found a spot that both of us could fish without hooking someone in the eye. After about an hour, I had come to the conclusion that South Park should be part of the Jenny Craig program. Every time I go there I absolutely freeze my A** off. I know, very corny. Now back to the story, an hour and a half in and with hundreds of anglers in sight, I did not see a single hookup. This is when the South Park theme song went through my head, because when you’re not hooking fish such things do go through your head, and the bus scene at the beginning reminded me that the Cat and I and the rest of the anglers were getting schooled. And just about the time the feeling completely left my toes, I saw a fish rise to the side of me. I quickly casted over and had a miss and then BAM my first fish of the day. People quickly crowded in and needing to warm up we headed back to the car.

          After warming up and heading to a different area, Cat and I found a spot with the wind at our backs. We got there just in time because a group of seven guys were hot on our tail. I hooked a fish pretty quickly and then lost him.  Here is where the story gets interest, Spinney, over the years has been much nicer to me than to Cat, and I found myself beginning to feel just a wee bit sad for her(but not sad enough to give up my spot). And then, the schooling came from Cat. In the next 45 minutes, Cat landed a total of five absolutely gorgeous fish. The biggest was determined to escape the net before a proper measurement, but looked between 23 and 24 inches and it made Cartman look like the skinny kid.

Now here is where things get strange; being what I think is a pretty good angler, I quite often get asked in the parking lot, on the river, or wherever what I was doing that allowed me to catch so many fish. As Cat was half way through her roll, I watched several of the people up the bank staring and cussing under their breath. Then I watched a lady set her stuff down and walk down to Cat, “excuse me miss, can you tell me what it is you are using, none of us have even gotten a bite.” I was so proud of my wife, although I wanted to inform the lady that I had caught some too. We both caught a few more and cold sent us back to the car. As we were heading back, we saw that the place I originally wanted to fish had slightly cleared of people. We jumped in between a boat and a few spinner guys, and second cast I hooked another bow. A minute or so later another and then it just died for us. I’m not going to say that this was a magnificent day for fishing, but spending the day in South Park sure beats the heck out of sitting home and watching my boy Spieth implode. I don’t know if it was true or not and I don’t know if I should be happy or not, but as we were heading back to the car, Cat told me that when I hooked the second fish, one of the guys in the boat said, “Screw it, I’m done”.

While I truly feel our bit of Ark still has some sweet spring fishing days waiting for us, I thought it would be good to start getting everyone thinking about still water fishing. We know fishing lakes, reservoirs, and ponds can be a little intimidating and to help out, we are offering the same spring special as we did last year. I believe that the Accel in a 9.5’ 6wt may be the absolute best lake rod of all time, and the Fishcat and Outcast pontoons are typically the best way to fish lakes. So, if you purchase a fishcat or Outcast pontoon boat or a Sage Accel rod from the Drift, we will give a free private sit down with Cat or I to go over rigging, fly selection, specific lakes, needed accessories and hopefully everything you need to know to fish our incredible lakes. We want your time on the water to be as productive as ours and for you to get the most out of your investment. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Kenny(those bas*****), and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading……

Reunited !!! (With Spring 2016 Epic Video)!!!

“Reunited and it feels so good”!

If you are under thirty years old you are probably wondering if this was one of those cheesy 70’s pop love songs, and if you are over thirty than you are sure it was one of those 70’s cheesy pop songs.  I wanted to start by thanking you all for checking in at The O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures blog. It sure has been an absolutely incredible spring here on the Ark. I hate to admit it but after the flood waters of last summer and the high dirty water of last fall, at times I began to worry about the health of our river. As spring rolled in, I anxiously awaited to finally get a great look at the river and boy was I thrilled. I have seen (not caught unfortunately) fish that are over 25 inches and I have landed more 17 to 22 inch absolute perfect bows than I can try to count. The river is in better condition than maybe I have ever seen, and yes that includes the “Glory Days” of 07 through 11.

Now onto the goofy Peaches and Herb song; I have been lucky enough and abetted enough to have been thoroughly involved with this sport for over 15 years. I have been lucky enough to watch my incredible wife catch her first fish on a fly rod, and then see her obsession turn into not only a profession for her but me as well. Reunited comes into play as we turn our attention to the tools of the trade. When Cat first became addicted to fly fishing, she had just encouraged me to purchase my first high end fly rod, it was a Sage XP. Being the uninformed sexist that I am, the first rod I purchased for Cat was a Sage Light Line. She tried it out a few times but I could see that it was too slow for her and she moved into the same XP that I had been fishing. It was perfect for us because we could absolutely rapid fire at fish, side by side, as we made our way up our favorite creek. I still remember those calls to each other, “that was number 79, what are you at”? The competitiveness for numbers and beauty continued on but the camaraderie with our tools stood for years. Well we both drifted a little and our obsession with competitiveness became more about each other’s rods and less about the fish. As most of you know, I made my way back to Sage a couple of years ago and Cat made it back early this year. Reunited and it feels so good! A warning to the fish, our team is now focused on just you.

Cat has recently been asked to be part of the Sage Elite Pro team and after this spring fishing the One, she jumped at the chance. Reunited and it feels so good. It is such an honor to be part of the greatest fly rod company in the world. I hope all of our readers get a chance to congratulate Cat on being a Sage Elite Pro, the honor is well deserved and a little overdue.

The video we are putting out is of the river this spring. Due to surgery, a cold and a lot of guide trips, we didn’t get to fish as much as we wanted, but after going through some of the footage, we were reminded of what even a small amount of time on the Ark can produce. One of the great things about going through the footage is seeing things that you never saw on the river (the lady at the bridge comes to mind; Taylor 2014). This year’s surprise comes in the third clip when out of nowhere I see a small submarine make its way up a sand bar, just out of my fishing line of sight, smart fish. The Sage Accel and the Sage One with the 4250 reel did the dirty work for the video. Cat and just sat back, and enjoyed the process. Winston was once again overjoyed with the chance to close out the video, so make sure you watch until the end.

If you had noticed the river come up the other day, it doesn’t mean that all is lost. I’m not an expert, but I do play one in our fishing videos, but I can’t imagine the water staying this all the way till runoff. My best guess, and it is only an educated guess, is that the flows will bounce back and forth between 400 and 1100cfs until runoff hits. And yes the river is fishable at 1100cfs, just be smart, safe, and wise. The midges have been hatching on and off all day, and BWO can be seen popping in the late afternoon. Fish are mostly done spawning and have starting turning their focus to eating.

As Always,  Connell, Cat, Winston, Bandor, Peaches and Herb, and The Drift Fly want to thank you for reading……

Revealing The Natural

            Hello everyone! Thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventure. This is Cat writing today, so I am afraid if you were hoping for a great sports analogy or thinly veiled story about a firecracker, you will have to wait for Connell’s return. Meanwhile, sit back and let me share the tale of the rare sighting I have made.....

            They lurk among us, hiding on golf greens, playing video games, and sometimes playing basketball at the slabs. These creatures exist without warning and with no outward sign of what they are capable of.   Beware! They might even be in your own home. What are these bizarre beings of whom I mention? They are THE NATURALS, and this week I had the pleasure of guiding one.

            As a guide I see all manner of skill level in my clients. From the never-ever to the well salted semi-pro, the goal for trips is ultimately the same; to spread knowledge and have a good time doing so. With this in mind I happily accepted the chance to spend a few trips with a great set of gentlemen, a father and son pair.

            The father is a seasoned fishy guy. He has fished in many places and has followed the journey of a fly fishing spirit in many directions. As we spoke a few weeks back, he made it very clear that he wanted his son to have a fun introduction to fly fishing. You see, his son had never fly fished. Which for a barely sixteen-year old from a big “fishless” city, this is no surprise. Needless to say I was so excited to help and prepared myself for a few days of teaching.

            For day number one, we decided to do a half-day on the Tailwater. Once on the water I suggested a spot for the dad and set to work on the son. After a quick explanation of casting, line management, hooking and landing fish, we were off. Half an hour later I had my mind BLOWN.

            I was standing in a run with JD, the son, when in his quiet voice, he asked, “Can I fish to those fish over there?” Peering over to the direction of his pointing I was shocked to see two shadows shifting under the surface. I smiled and said yes, and watch him make beautiful casts to fish hidden from the view of typical fisherman. This young man could see fish in a way most advanced fisherman have yet to achieve. JD with his superhuman fish spotting eyes, his keen ear for direction, and his desire for perfect execution, is a NATURAL. The first fish JD landed was a nineteen inch beauty. His father, David, and I teased him that having this fish as his first ever on a fly rod was going to ruin him. JD didn’t understand what we meant until his next few fish were closer to twelve inches. We enjoyed the rest of the day. Picking up some fish and enjoying the Ark.

            For the second day of our adventures we headed to private water. There both father and son landed beautiful fish and enjoyed each other’s company. From time to time when I wasn’t landing fish or taking pictures, I watched father and son fish side by side. The sight warmed my heart and made me realize something. Yes, Natural fly fishermen are rare, but even rarer is a father going to great lengths and taking such great care to persuade a sports playing, tennis shoe collecting teen, to not only try fly fishing..... but to potentially fall in love with it.

As always Cat, Connell, Winston, NIKE, and The Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading!

           

Easter O'Grady Style !!!!!

                Hello all and thanks for checking in at The O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. I wanted to start by wishing you all a wonderful Easter. As a Christian man I know that this is what it is all about. Death has been defeated, period. Now with that being said, Easter for us is normally a time just spent with family and usually on the river for part of the day and part of the day spent with my oldest and my granddaughter.  Well this year was a little different, Cat had a guide trip go out and I thought I had one as well, mine didn’t happen. Brandon called and wanted to know what I was doing and he decided to go fishing with me and Winston. Fishing started a little slow with fish being a little picky to start the day. I started with my normal rig but after Brandon hooked up a couple of times I went ahead and took off my egg. It was almost immediate and the fish were taking both my FOD and a mercury black beauty. Fish really turned on at around 1:00 and fed for an hour or so.

                My two exciting parts of the day came when at first I noticed this big hook-jawed bow sipping blue wings off the surface and I decided to try my dry luck. I casted several times and then noticed I was missing my second fly. Brandon walked up and after pointing out the riser I casted in and watched the fish come up and grab my dry. I had no intentions of landing the fish because he was sitting a foot in front of a bush, but I was miraculously able to get his face up and away from the danger and worked him into a landing area. Well after all the hard, and excellent work on my part the fly popped out of his mouth, I didn’t even care. The other excitement came at the end of the day when Brandon had already headed back to the car; I wanted to hit one last spot. I hooked five and landed two and then I decided one more run. I casted a few times with nothing and I started heading across the river. I began to slip and I quickly recovered and no sooner did a smile appear on my face, I caught one more rock and did my first faceplant in eons. Yep, make no mistake, sometimes I’m an idiot as well.

                Now I did feel a little like a drug dealer for a few second today. I could see that Brandon had a bit of a nest and so I told him to come up and I could help. While retying he asked if he could cast my Sage One a few times and I said go ahead, first hit is free. I watched as he casted a few times and then he battled his first really good fish all the way in. I went ahead and let him catch one more fish and then took my rod back. With a tear and a small crackle in his voice he said that it was okay, and I felt a little bad because he continued to stare at my One the rest of the day.

                Anyhow, Cats guide trip went well. Her client was an absolute never ever and his first fish ever with a fly rod was a 19 incher. Can you say ruined for life. Fish today were on FOD’s and black beauties, we have no idea how long these flows will last so take advantage as much as you can. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Bandor and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…. 

           

Better Than Ever !!!!!

                Hello all and thanks for checking in at The O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures. With the shoulder surgery and then this nasty crud keeping me off the water, I found myself going crazy over the last few weeks in anticipation of getting back on the water. I knew my schedule for today looked open and Cat and I planned a trip to the river. I fell asleep at my normal time last night but woke in the middle of the night and had a heck of a time getting back to sleep. I was so ready to go that I felt a little like Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber fumbling with the proper words to say. “ I desperately want to make love to a school boy”. I eventually got back to sleep and when morning hit I flew through my morning work routines. Cat and I got to the river at just before noon and like the all the years between Bronco Super Bowl wins, it was totally worth it. I walked in the first run and saw a few fish just circling and I could see they were not eating. I walked down to the first feeding lane and after noticing a “true” BWO hatch I licked my lips. Half way through my first drift, my indicator rocketed up river. A brief battle and I netted an absolutely gorgeous 21 incher. I stepped back in and next drift produced a 20 incher. It took a couple of runs for Cat to catch fire but when she did, it was on. Winston had no idea where to stand because most of the day it seemed every other cast produced a fish. By one o’clock he just laid between us because he was worn out from running to see every fish. The BWO’s were on the water from the time we stepped in til we left at around three and the fish knew it as well.

                The excitement of the day came when I heard the “ciggle” ring out as loud as I have heard in years and as I turned I watched an absolute hog rocket himself about three feet straight in the air. When the fish hit the water I saw everything go limp and Cat dropped her shoulders of shame. She backed out and while voice trembling, she said she thought it was the biggest fish she had ever hooked here in town. My excitement came when a real non assuming fish changed his direction and completely smoked me. Half an hour later as I was landing a pretty nice fish I realized it was the same fish from earlier. He had two of the exact same fly in his mouth and I got my entire setup back. Did I mention the fish were eating today?

                I wanted to finish today’s blog by talking a little about the condition of our river. I know last fall there was a little fear about how our fish made it through last summer’s record runoff. Our early winter took forever to get going and even then we never really got a great feel for the fish. January seemed to last forever but today seeing the quality of the fish and the pure numbers of fish spread out. OUR River is in AMAZING condition!!!! Now does that mean that every day will be like today, probably not, but the fish are there. Fish today took everything we through at them. Eggs, FOD’s, Ninjas, and even glass bead R**’* and you know I don’t use the full name of that fly. As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Lloyd and Harry, and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading…..

Bad Wing and All...

          Hello all and thanks for checking in at the O’Grady Fly Fishing Adventures blog. It’s been three long weeks since I stepped into the river and I think the fish missed me. I’m not sure my doctor said it was completely okay to start fishing again but he did say it was time to begin slowly working it back into shape. My plan was to fish lefty all day long but the new wing felt pretty good even casting righty, although I may go through a little extra ice this evening. When questioned about March conditions I always tell people that it can be real hit or miss, today it was on. Fish were out and they were eating!

          Cats guide trip out yesterday really had us chomping at the bit. We got to the river around 11:00 and on the third cast I knew I was where I belonged. He wasn’t large but a colored up 13 incher and my smile was there to stay. We moved down river and Cat jumped into her new favorite run. I wanted to do plenty of recon today and it sure payed off. I found one run with several red stripes and I hooked three of them. When those fish had had enough, I moved up and found another bunch, several more hookups and after more recon I found still another pod of feeding fish. I would love to tell you how many piggies I landed today but my landing percentage may have been my worst ever. I would like to blame it on the bad wing but I think in reality, today the fish were just better than me. I don’t think I will have any problem telling the time this evening after having my clock cleaned so many time today. Anyhow we continued down river and kept finding pods of fish, and yes they continued to kick my tail. Cat got several nice fish all the way in today and it was an incredible day to be out. Hopefully it will be a long time before I need to take three weeks off from fishing, it was so good to be home.

          Fish today were on peg eggs and Ninjas. We have no idea how long these flows will continue so I would suggest you get to the river. A reminder for all, Saturday the 12^th the Drift will be hosting the Fly Fishing Film Tour at the Runyon theater in Pueblo, it should be an absolute ball. You can get discounted tickets at the Drift and regular priced at the door. Hope to see you all there! As always, Connell, Cat, Winston, Dr. Davis and the Drift Fly Shop want to thank you for reading………