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?

Warm Breeze

I was fortunate enough to leave work around noon today. Sunny, 60 degrees, and being the last day of January, it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. After stopping by house to grab gear, cameras, bowl of oatmeal, and my dog, I raced down to The Rocky River to try and capitalize on an awesome January day.

I met a friend of mine Lee on the water and after catching up on the latest and greatest in our lives, we swung some flies. The river was starting to hold that nice olive/green color with decent visibility. We started at opposite ends of the run and worked towards each other, each hoping that one of us would get a grab.

As the time past, I enjoyed the warm breeze coming down the river and began finding myself not catching fish. Falling into a daze of just knowing I was knee deep in a river and not at work, my attention was gathered in an instant when my fly line began screaming out of my hand. It was the one thing that made the day and as the week progress I imagine the fishing will only get better. The fish was caught on a purple intruder and was sitting in the slower tail out of the run.

Spring days are starting to book up so make sure to get ahold of us for your spring steelhead season.

See you on the water,

Owen

CONNECT Fly Fishing Film by: Confluence Films

FRIDAY – FEBRUARY 3, 2012

Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
1 Wade Oval Drive
Cleveland, OH 44106-1701
Showtime: 8:00 pm (reception begins at 6:30 pm)

Mid-January?

Usually when January rolls around, the lake is frozen, rivers are locked up, and we are stuck inside tying flies, watching videos, and gearing up for the first thaw of the year. Not this year, yesterday I found myself 4 miles off Huron chasing monster walleyes on open water. Today I went to the Vermillion River and caught this behemoth of a hen steelhead. She was my biggest this season as I'm guessing around 32" and 13lbs.

All the NE Ohio rivers are loaded with giant steelhead and mother nature has allowed us to capitalize this over the last few weeks with the best winter steelheading I can ever remember.

-Ryan

Really in Ohio?

Lazy mans steelheading

One thing really nice I've noticed about the boat over the last couple weeks is that it gives your feet/toes a break from going numb after wading long days in 30 degree water. Yesterday we floated about 8 miles of river, hardly put a foot in the water, and caught fish all along the way. Not to mention, only saw one other angler at the put-in of our entire float. At one point in our conversation, I heard "Are we really in Ohio?" "Yes we are" I said with a smile. Thank you Sotar Rafts.

Post Turkey Day Float

It's been a long time coming but Ryan and I were finally able to meet up our new buddy Brandon who we met via OGF for a day on the water . Brandon hails from the eastside and Friday we made our way out to the Chagrin with the Sotar in tow. The water was a great color and on the drop. We talked about the prior days feast and put down a couple brews to help out the previous nights lingering headaches. With the water holding some color, black and purple swung streamers seemed to be on the menu.

If you ever see Brandon on the river make sure to say hi. Oh, and ya that man can swing a fly.

The rivers are up and may increase with more rain on the way. Have a hair trigger once they reach their and peak, and we'll see you on the water.

Cheers,

Owen