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There are many different approaches you should take in order to get a good game plan for a trip or a day of fishing. Also remember that things change and these reports are what we know at the time of posting only. Keep in mind that we do express opinions and personal preferences from time-to-time which may be different from yours or what you may read elsewhere. Thanks for checking and don't forget to call us if you need any further information or a more up-to-date report. 614-451-0363
Mad River
USGS Gauge- Urbana
USGS Gauge- St. Paris Pike
Mad River Map
As predicted....what a weekend it was for those that got out. A ton of reports...thanks for those...but this one tops them all. Our good friend Bryan Clem sent this report to us via Facebook. Congrats to Josh!!!
"I’m sure you’ve received several reports from this weekend given the number of people on the river, but I thought I’d drop you a line and some pictures... I did well this weekend getting a few nice fish, and my friend Josh did great! He ‘killed 2 birds with 1 stone’ when he got his first brown over 20”, which also happened to be over 25”. Everything from watching this fish come up out of dirty water and do a Jaws-style attack on a big streamer to the pure excitement we felt when we finally got her in the net is something I’ll never forget. As always, thanks for running a great shop and online store. Have a great 2016!"
Bryan Clem
Bryan Clem with a nice fatty!
Bryan's friend Josh with a fish of a lifetime....right here in O-H-I-O!
The Mad has been on a nice steady drop and is still in pretty good shape. Might not be the streamer bite that we had last weekend, and the cold will slow things down a bit, but still worth getting out and fishing if you can.
We'll try to post again over the weekend but thanks again Bryan and all who checked-in.
USGS- Upper Clearfork
USGS- Lower/Mohican State Park
Clearfork Map
Both stretches of river in good shape. They did bring the lower back down on Sunday and it's at a pretty nice level. Haven't heard too much here about the lower is it was un-fishable there for a few days but the fishing should be good to excellent. Let us know/send some pics if you get down there. Should be worth the trip.
The upper Clearfork continues to fish very well. Again, some really nice fish caught the past week on streamers. The streamer deal is catching on up on the Fork as well! Nymphing has also been producing fish as well. Seems that the fish are feeding on the smaller stuff, especially midges, but don't be afraid to throw a big attractor. Nothing reported on the surface but would surely have some midges in the box especially if it's a warmer, sunny day. Might try an egg pattern here also, they can produce fish up there when nothing else will.
USGS Gauge
Clear Creek Map
The creek is in great shape. The rain finally gave the stream the flush it has been needing. Lots of gravel, wood and boulders gave away the sediment and leaves. This flush did move around some wood too. I didn't get to see the whole creek, but from what I did see there are some new trees and log jams to hold fish. The deeper holes and runs still contained some stain and gave that perfect "winter/steelhead green."
Although the water has chilled dramatically in the past week the streamer bite has been fantastic.There have also been a few fish rising taking emergers. This just proves the importance of being prepared for whatever might happen with a diverse fly box. All of the fish caught today had nice potbellies and still slammed my streamers. There is a good number of holdovers this year and keeping away from this year's stockers will only help to add to the fish population later this year.
Ice on the guides was getting to be an issue while fishing the streamer. It is finally time to pull out the Stanleys Ice Off for the streamer sessions. Swinging streamers was also productive and a good choice for those of us that don't put the streamers away in the cold weather.
A long belly line and single-hand spey style casts keep the stripping to a minimum and thus taming the ice build up. These casts are also a great choice while nymphing giving you the opportunity to practice your steelhead tactics a little closer to home. Another tactic that we use in the winter utilizes Tenkara and traditional kebari or western softhackles. Along with traditional Tenkara methods dead drifting the fly and then utilizing the "wet fly swing" to finish out the drift bring the most fish to hand. There are no worries about frozen guides or iced up drag systems with Tenkara. A traditional level line with only the tippet in the water is the best choice to keep the ice under control. Braided or furled leaders would need to be treated with floatant being that the added surface area can cause ice buildup.
Erie Steelhead
Gauge Links and Maps
Alot of larger fish caught over the weekend!
Just a quick report to let you know what we saw and heard over the weekend.
As expected, the high water definitely brought fish in throughout the region. We even heard of a few fish being caught in the Vermilion for a change!
The Rocky, Chagrin and Ashtabula fished very well over the weekend. Definitely a big push of fresh Manistee chrome. Alot of larger fish also, some topping 28". The Rocky in particular seemed to get a really big push and fished extremely well. Not too many reports from Conneaut and we didn't get that far over but it surely fished. The bad news is that most of these are now back to low and clear and we need more water....again.
Our friend and guide Michael Bennet (Dr. Steelhead) always used to say that New Years weekend was his favorite to fish. He claimed that the larger Manistee fish knew and would run into the rivers for the new year. It's pretty amazing how it does seem to happen more than not. Just sayin'.
The Vermilion is right back to where it was and the Ashtabula and Chagrin are in need of water again too.
The Grand should turn on here in the next few days. If the tribs to the Grand are any indication, it got a nice push of fish as well. The Grand looks to be the hot ticket later this week and into the weekend unless we get some more rain.
The temps have now come into more winter like and the fish are responding as such. They are in the deeper runs and holding in the slower water.
Egg patterns did seem to be the ticket although many folks caught fish on nymphs. Swinging and stripping still caught a few fish but not like previously. Fish slower and deeper and you'll probably do better. Go with smaller flies and more subdued colors in clear water and larger brighter stuff if you find off-colored water.
Just a quick report here for those thinking about heading out later this week or this weekend.
We'll get a full report up for everything on Saturday. Stay tuned here though, we have alot of big news coming!!!!
Mad River Outfitters
Fly Shop, Guides, Schools and more!
813 Bethel Rd.
Columbus, Ohio 43214
www.madriveroutfitters.com
614-451-0363
