Tip Up....

  It was a fun few hours on the Rocky today, as I was able to meet up with soon to be Steelhead geek Dan C.  Dan has recently acquired the rod, reel, boots, etc and today may have been his second time fishing for Steelhead.

As we walked down to the river, we talked strategy and I mentioned that even after you hook a steelhead on the fly, a whole other set of issues presents itself.

Dan was setup with zebra copper john and a two toned egg pattern, as I followed behind swinging a big purple leech. The water we fished was the same as is has been sloow.

Walking back to the truck we laughed as Dan managed to hook into two nice fish but unable to coax them to the net.  We've all been there and the guy who tells you he hasn't is a liar.  I was fortunate enough to bring a nice buck to net.  Good times as always.

Cheers,

Owen Murphy

Just the Good Ole Boys

This past weekend I had a great friend in town from Indianapolis, we'll call him RP. Quick background on RP. The two of us spent several years in Wyoming guiding for monster trout on some of the most scenic and freestone streams in the lower 48. We've managed to stay friends over the 8 years since, and when we hit the river together in NE Ohio it brings back so many good memories of the trips and travels we've made together.

RP shot me an email last week telling me he needed a break, and wanted to head to Cleveland for a little retreat. With that the wheels were turing and I was trying to find something different to do in NE Ohio. We rounded up a total of five guys, one dog, two rafts, and managed to float 9 miles of river in Ohio on a Saturday and up until the last quarter did we see another soul.

Here's to Kyle, Brandon, Ara, and RP,one for the books. There s about 20 pics so there is some tunes to jam along with em.

Thanks Dudes.

-Owen

Hot Reels on a Cold Day

Floated the Grand yesterday with my good buddy Jay on his rig and had hot action on an otherwise frigid day. I'll tell you what, that river is absolutely loaded with fish. It was just like O said the otherday, mostly slow and steady water. We each had to alternate rowing to warm up through out the day as we spent the better part of 8 hours floating. I doubt ten minutes went by all day without someone hooking up... :)

Slow and Steady

Continuing to go with the flow and keep at the fish, I was knee deep again this afternoon. After swinging some big stuff for a bit, I came up with nothing and decided to switch gears. I threw some smaller nymphs and fished slooow moving water, almost too slow for my liking. I have nothing against slow water, but sometimes my attention span needs a little more action.

Once I switched gears, I was fortunate enough hook up and promptly break it off. After spending some time working over one run I was able to find a few more. All the fish were sitting in the very slow tailouts for me, and it seemed two toned sucker spawn was the gig. See you tomorrow river.

Get while the gettins good.

-O

A Great Morning After a Great Night

Spending last night at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History with friends and fishing enthusiasts was nothing short of good time. Over three hundred people were on hand to watch CONNECT a film by Confluence Media. The movie was excellent and opened doors to old memories of guiding the pristine waters of Montana.

Shaking off a bit of a whiskey hangover, my dog Timber and I ventured out to the East part of the state. My first stop being on the Ashtabula River. It seemed everywhere that look fishy already had someone working over the water and after watching one fly fisherman nymph up a steelhead, Timber and bounced to the Conneaut. After parking I walked probably for a good half to three quarters of a mile before I began to work over some great looking water. Swinging a sink tip and some big nasty flies I managed to hook into three and fortunate enough to land one of em. I tried to take some pics as best as I could on the river, need to teach Timber how to hold a camera ; ).

Ashtabula Water and Color Were Great

Finally a Good Connect

Solid Hen

Re Releasing for Another Day

Timber Not Happy About the Quick Release

Big Flies Cast Big Shadows

Sunburn and Steelhead

Two words that don't go together to often: sunburn and steelhead. Yesterday they did as we spent most of the bluebird sunny day floating around 9 miles of the Vermillion. What a season we've had to be able to do this in the beginning of February?