* Please remember to call us for more up-to-date or detailed information! These reports are not meant to be your one and only, daily source of information. They are typically general, even seasonal type reports and we currently don't have a set schedule as to when we update. Please, just because we don't update as often as we like, it doesn't mean that we don't care.
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
Thanks as always for reading our reports friends. As the weather gets more conducive we should be reporting more regularly....but we need your HELP!
Send any and all reports to admin@madriveroutfitters and we'll do our best to get them up.
Warmwater
Mad River
Thanks as always for reading our reports friends. As the weather gets more conducive we should be reporting more regularly....but we need your HELP!
Send any and all reports to admin@madriveroutfitters and we'll do our best to get them up.
Early Holiday News hit inboxes last night. Didn't get it? Click Here to read.
Cool Kid Alert!
Young Roberto Noden and his father booked a 1-Day Private School through the Midwest Fly Fishing Schools back in June. Brian was their instructor and they had a blast!!! He's been applying his skills on Ohio Trout ever since. We couldn't be more proud.
Now, he and his father are booked to go steelheading on December 2nd and also to do a float on the Mad on December 16th. Surely you'll be seeing more of this kid....he's a fishing machine!
Roberto Noden and friend with a nice Rainbow on Apple Creek near Wooster.
Roberto holding a nice little Upper Clearfork Brown
We love to get feedback from MWFFS alumni.....especially the youngsters. We love working with kids and are delighted when they get hooked on the sport like Roberto has!
Warmwater
The local streams are currently pretty high and in general the Bass fishing is about done. Not that it can't be done, but there will be very limited fishing opportunities from here on out.
Fishing the very small window of the warmest day time temps and targeting winter holding area will produce for those who know their local river well. This time of the year is not a numbers game, but that one or two fish you do come in contact with will be very nice. Also do not be surprised by a by catch of Saugeye and Hybrid Stipers. With the water temps in the 40's though your best bet will be to target Crappies and Panfish. This time of the year we like to borrow some tactics from the conventional fishing side the "Float n Fly Rig." Fishing a float/bobber/indicator (whatever you want to call it) with a heavy minnow pattern like a Clouser and trail it with a smaller lightly weighted fly like a Crappie Special, Little Devil, or Wooly Worm is a great setup. Target structure on drop offs either from shore or by boat.
Pike fishing continues to be great for our clients and once the leaves flush out the fishing will get even better. Depending on the weather Pike fishing can be great all winter as long as you are prepared to switch tactics. Good thing we know all the details and have the rigs to guide you in the right direction. Musky trips have also been picking up being that we have the right water flows and the leaves are starting to push out. Make sure to give us a call as our schedules are booking up fast!
Our good friend and GREAT customer Scott Smallwood was out with Josh the other day. Pike fishing continues to be good and Josh will be splitting his time between the boat for pike and waders for steelhead for the next month or so.
The rain has been very helpful flushing out the leaves and lingering vegetation buildup. The river is currently slightly higher than normal for this year which is a welcome sight after the past few months of extremely low conditions. Also a bump in flows help to disperse the stocked trout (or feeding of the resident trout as we like to call it).
Streamer fishing has been great with this high water, but as usual these levels do not last more than a day or so. The next week or so is going to be tough though with the leaves dropping.
Currently nymphing is your go to tactic. For this we like to fish long rods, indicators, and two flies. We have multiple options for great nymphing sticks. Take a look at the Sage ESN, Redington Hydrogen, and the new Peiroway Renegade 9'6" 5wt to name a few. Tight line, High Stick, or Euro style tactics are very productive and now is a great time to do some reading up and give it a try. Take a look at the book "Dynamic Nymphing" by George Daniels and other topic related books on our site. http://www.madriveroutfitters.com/c-172-trout-steelhead-and-general-fly-fishing-technique.aspx
The forecast looks good for a few chances of rain. If we do actually get more rain this will help keep the levels slightly elevated compared to normal. Once the leaves come down, we anticipate good to excellent trout fishing on the Mad.
Flies to have going into late fall will be nymphs like Double Stones, Cranefly Larva, Guides Choice Hares Ear, Trophy Nymphs, Psycho Prince and your typical trout nymphs like the Prince, Copper John, and Hares Ear. During the "leaf hatch" we typically like to focus on bright, attractor style nymphs as well as opposed to the more natural colors.
***Public Service Announcement***
Right now the trout are staging or are currently in spawn mode. Obviously these fish need to be left alone as they typically do not feed. This time of the year though is a great time to observe and get to see some nice quality fish. Also refraining from wading in areas that are "fanned out" for spawning Redds is advised. Natural reproduction is limited in Ohio streams because of our high clay and other sediment levels when the water does come up, but doing everything we can not to add to those problems is highly advised.
Clearfork River
Clearfork Map
Like on the Mad the rain has been very helpful flushing out the leaves and lingering vegetation buildup. The river is currently slightly higher than normal for this year which is a welcome sight after the past few months of extremely low conditions. Also a bump in flows help to disperse the stocked trout (or feeding of the resident trout as we like to call it). Streamer fishing has been great with this high water, but as usual these levels do not last more than a few days. Either above Pleasant Hill or below nymphing is your go to tactic for most conditions here on out. For this we like to fish long rods, indicators, and two flies. We have multiple options for great nymphing sticks. Take a look at the Sage ESN, Redington Hydrogen, and the new Peiroway Renegade 9'6" 5wt to name a few. Tightly line, High Stick, or Euro style tactics are very productive and now is a great time to do some reading up and give it a try. Take a look at the book "Dynamic Nymphing" by George Daniels and other topic related books on our site.
The forecast looks good for a few chances of rain. If we do actually get more rain this will help keep the levels slightly elevated compared to normal.
Flies to have going into late fall will be nymphs like Double Stones, Cranefly Larva, Guides Choice Hares Ear, Trophy Nymphs, Psycho Prince and your typical trout nymphs like the Prince, Copper John, and Hares Ear. Once the leaves clear out, and assuming we get some more rain, the streamer fishing should really pick-up as well.
***Public Service Announcement***
Right now the trout are staging or are currently in spawn mode. Obviously these fish need to be left alone as they do not feed. This time of the year though is a great time to observe and get to see some nice quality fish. Also refraining from wading in areas that are "fanned out" for spawing Redds is advised. Natural reproduction is limited in Ohio streams because of our high clay and other sediment levels when the water does come up, but doing everything we can not to add to those problems is highly advised.
The forecast looks good for a few chances of rain. If we do actually get more rain this will help keep the levels slightly elevated compared to normal.
Flies to have going into late fall will be nymphs like Double Stones, Cranefly Larva, Guides Choice Hares Ear, Trophy Nymphs, Psycho Prince and your typical trout nymphs like the Prince, Copper John, and Hares Ear. Once the leaves clear out, and assuming we get some more rain, the streamer fishing should really pick-up as well.
***Public Service Announcement***
Right now the trout are staging or are currently in spawn mode. Obviously these fish need to be left alone as they do not feed. This time of the year though is a great time to observe and get to see some nice quality fish. Also refraining from wading in areas that are "fanned out" for spawing Redds is advised. Natural reproduction is limited in Ohio streams because of our high clay and other sediment levels when the water does come up, but doing everything we can not to add to those problems is highly advised.
Clear Creek
Clear Creek Map
Like most every stream in the state the past rain event brought the creek up and flushed out the thick leaves. Flows are at a great level currently providing higher than normal flows. Despite the higher flows conditions are great and look good into this coming week. Like the other trout streams in the state nymphing will be the key for numbers. If you prefer the streamer game then Clear Creek offers great small streamer fishing throughout the winter. Rigs for nymphing will include long rods, indicators, and two flies.
The forecast looks good for a few chances of rain. If we do actually get more rain this will continue to help keep the levels slightly elevated and should help flush the leaves.
Flies to have going into late fall will be nymphs like Double Stones, Cranefly Larva, Guides Choice Hares Ear, Trophy Nymphs, Psycho Prince and your typical trout nymphs like the Prince, Copper John, and Hares Ear.
Streamer fishing will require a different rig. Most of the time we will pull out or 5-6wt rods and short streamer tip line or use our aggressive tapers and weighted streamers. With a sinking line a short leader is all that is needed. If you do not like to build your own then take a look at the Rio Big Nasty Leaders and cut the butt section back 2 feet. A floating line will require a 7 1/2' to 9' leader. Streamers to stock up on are Mini Dungeons, Barely Legals, Wooly Buggers, Autumn Splendor, Clousers, Trick or Treats, Orange Blossoms, Cougars, Wooly Sculpins, Cactus Wooly, and Near Nuff Sculpin to name a few.
Erie Steelhead
Gauge Links and Maps
"Steelhead Alley Double" for Don Belock and Joe Anclien yesterday. They were out with MRO Guide Josh McQueen and had an excellent day of Ohio Steelheading!
We have finally gotten the BIG push of water we have needed to continue the flushing out process of the leaves. With this rain we have also continued to have a great number of fish flood the Lake Erie Tributaries. Looking into the weekend we expect to have great fishing despite the cold temperatures. The end of the weekend and into next week will warm back up and provide great opportunities to catch your first steelie of the season. There is a slight chance of rain in the forecast so lets hope that every few days we a little water to keep the stream levels right.
Indicator/bobber fishing and swinging have been the most productive the past week. You will want to be prepared for just about any situation this time of the year as the weather can change very quickly. Ideal conditions for us are flows with stain that keeps the fish comfortably on the feed and move. The typical Indicator rig for us is either an Air Lock or Thingamabobber float on a custom build leader tied to our 7-8wt Scientific Anglers Anadro or Rio Trout Steelhead line.
Our go to rods are 10' single handers or a switch rod in the 6-8wt range. On this rig we will usually fish tandem fly rigs of two eggs, an egg and a nymph or a Wooly Bugger and an egg. Actual patterns for this type of fishing will include various colors of Wooly Buggers, Glo Bugs, Crystal Meth and Scrambled Egg also in various colors, Bloody Mary nymphs, Steelhead Candy, Chicken Littles, Steelhead and Wiggle Stones. Tippet sizes will range from 0x-2x fluorocarbon.
The typical rig for swinging flies will consist of a switch rod in the 10'6"-11'9" 6-8wt range. The new Jerry French Pieroway Renegade rods are the big talk in the shop as they are effortless to cast and light weight making them a dream to fish all day. We have a great assortment of rods in the shop to meet your specific needs so make sure to stop by or shoot us a call. Matching your switch rod with the right line can be intimidating if you do not have the proper guidance so make sure to give us a call! For swinging flies either a Skagit or Scandi line with a sink tip that meets your needs will get the job done. Add a short piece of 12-20lb tippet and a Flow Ryder, A.I Intruder or others and you will be ready to find those "grabby" fish fresh out of the "Big Lake."
We are continuing to book guide trips daily so make sure to contact us with a couple of your date options!
Click Here to check out the details and pricing on our Steelhead Alley Guide Service
Mad River Outfitters/Mad River Travel/Midwest Fly Fishing Schools
Fly Shop, Guides, Trips, Classes, Schools and more!
813 Bethel Rd.
Columbus, Ohio 43214
614-451-0363
