Fly Swap

One of the great parts about being a fly fishing guide is meeting other guides.  It's really great when you run across another guide that does not chase what you chase.  And it's even better when you both want to fish for the other guy's quarry.  That is exactly the story for Dave and I.

Dave has started a guide service for brown trout on Ohio's Clear Fork River.  Clear Fork is one of the 3 Ohio streams that is stocked yearly with brown trout fingerlings.  ODNR has selected these 3 streams based on water temperature and habitat that should allow the trout fingerlings to holdover year to year and grow up big and strong.

Clear Fork river has upper and lower sections separated by Pleasant Hill Lake.  I am very familiar with the lower Clear Fork and have caught some nice browns down there over the years.  What I really wanted was someone to show me around the upper Clear Fork to see if slinging my streamers was just as effective up there.  Dave is the guy with the knowledge to help with that.

Dave is a fantastic fly fisherman, but has not had the time to get dialed-in to the steelhead game on the Lake Erie tribs.  Well, you see where this is headed.

We spent 2 days together fishing Clear Fork and then Rocky River in April.  It was fantastic learning some new tactics from Dave and being able to share some knowledge of steelhead waters to help him with his game.

If you have wanted to check out the brown trout fishery on Ohio's clear Fork River, Dave Radomski is your guy.  He has excellent knowledge of the river and the fish and his rates are really great.  Contact Dave with Mohican Fly Fishing Guide Services, LLC for a great experience on the Clear Fork.

This is a 2nd year holdover Clear Fork brown.  You can see a year of naturalizing to the stream diet has allowed for the red dots on the adipose fin and the blue-gray dot behind the eye to start to develop.

In the 1st hour of the morning the trout were really active.  We both caught about 5 brownies each ranging from 10-15".

Dave showing off his landing skills.

We didn't catch any monsters on this day, but the trout were beautiful.

This pretty little hen hammered a wet fly on the swing.

Dave let's one go so it can head back to the lake and return next season even bigger!

Just Kiddin' Around

It's March.  It's 27 degrees outside.  And these boys...they want to go fishing.  Well then, let's git'r done!

The reality is, this was a tough day to get out on the water.  It was cold and the water conditions were deteriorating rapidly.  Taking kids out in these conditions is difficult no matter what you are doing.  Asking them to wade in icy water to fish for steelhead on the fly seemed a little crazy, but hey, that's what we do.

Blaise, Brandon, Jarod and I hit the water at daylight this morning.  The air was cool and crisp and we could all see our breath through the light snow fall.

I was pretty confident I could catch fish in this weather, but let's be honest, I was less confident I could coach 10 & 12 year old boys to catch steelhead on fly gear when they had never even touched a fly rod before.

As we walked down to the stream I gave the boys my typical preparation talk about what to do with snags, icy guides, and tangles.  Instead of trying to talk strategy with them I just said one thing to them, "Boys, when we hit the water, if you will listen and do exactly what I tell you, I think we'll catch some fish today.  What do you say?"  They were all in.  AND...they both did exactly that!

There is some extra thought involved in guiding kids.  You have to put them on a creek with flows they can wade in and water that is not too deep for them.  Of course you are thinking about where there will be fish and you are praying that there will be some stain to the water so the fish are not too spooky, because, let's face it, kids struggle to be graceful and stealthy when wading.  By the grace of God...all of that came together today.

We approached the 1st hole and I pointed to various places throughout the run that would likely hold fish.  I told the boys I was going to make a couple of drifts and I just wanted them to watch how I handled the rod and what I did with the line.  Two great things immediately happened.  First, the boys listened to what I said and watched what I did.  Second, I hooked a dime bright chrome hen that jumped and screamed up and down that run before a humble long distance release.  The boy were pumped!

Jarod was the most excited about this trip.  He reminds me of me when I was ten.  All he wants to do is go fishing...ALL OF THE TIME.  So, of course we had to let him take the first crack at fly fishing for steelhead.  He did great and within a matter of 10 or 15 casts WHAMO...his line was shooting across the run.

I was so pleased with him and this fish.  I told him how to keep pressure on the fish and to get his hand off that reel...and he actually did it.  Within no time Jarod had landed a pudgy kyped-up buck.  The boy was all smiles.

Older brother Brandon was is not quite the fishing enthusiast Jarod is, but he certainly was not going to be out done.  The second verse was the same as the first.  Brandon made a few well placed drifts and BANG...a rosy-cheeked buck of his own inhaled a pink egg.  Brand too did a great job of following my instruction and within a half hour to 45 minutes of being on the stream both boys had put steelhead in their hands.  I considered suggesting we go have an nice hearty breakfast and call it a day right then and there.

But, we pressed on.  We had a nice day of finding and hooking fish.  Now, boys will be boys, and at times they got bored with the whole thing and played in the creek throwing rocks and breaking off some thin shelf ice.  I would expect nothing less.  Their preoccupation gave me some time to chat and fish with Blaise as well.

Blaise took to the whole fly fishing game quite well.  He quickly became pretty efficient with his casts and managing his line.  He did everything very well, except one small detail...he never did land a fish today.  He had 4 or 5 great fish on the line and every one of them gave him the slip.  And again, boys being boys, Brandon and Jarod reminded him of it the entire way home.

 Today was probably one of the most rewarding trips I have ever guided.  Fly fishing in the Winter for steelhead is pretty difficult for anyone, experienced or otherwise.  I tell people all of the time, "If you are catching steelhead in the deep freeze, you have to be doing it right.  There is little margin for error." Jarod and Brandon did it right today, the very first time they ever touched a fly rod.  I can't wait to fish with them again in the future and I hope they now have some fuel to keep the fire burning for a lifetime of fly fishing.

If you're ready to try your hand, call me.  LET'S GO FISHIN'!

Stone COLD!

February was cccccold on the Alley, but here and there we found some open water to get it done.   The bite was a little sluggish at times, but precise offerings kept plenty of fish coming to hand.  And, don't give up on swinging flies in cold water.

As much as switch rods and spey rods are all the rage these days, remember, you can swing from the top of any run without all of that.  I love my switch rod, but many of the runs here on Steelhead Alley don't require any fancy casting to swing a small streamer through a run with big results.  I was reminded of this on a small creek one morning this month after a few hours of rain.  Where I entered the creek there is a run that always holds fish when there is reasonable flow and some stain.  The flow was up a moderate amount, but nothing that required a sink tip.  I stood at the top of the run and swung a white woolly bugger through the run 5 times and landed 2 fish.  Not a bad way to start the morning.

The last bit of good news as February winds down is that the Winter stonefly activity is really ramping-up.  When I was out 2 days ago there were black tiny Winter stoneflies all over the snow on the river banks.  There was quite a bit of the larger brown stonefly activity noticeable on top of the slack water as well.  Don't forget the stonefly patterns in February and March here on the Alley.  The fish that have been in the systems all Winter long are munching on them and it's a great way to entice a hit, especially with fish that have been casted to by many other fisherman.

It's raining hard as I type.  The Spring steelhead numbers will begin to rapidly increase with every rain from here on.  If you want to get out call me ASAP, the Spring schedule is filling fast.  LET'S GO FISHIN'!