Doesn't Get Much Better

No words can describe a day on the water, when fish cooperate and you have a couple of great gentleman to share the day with.  George and his son John drove a little over three hours to check out what Cleveland had to offer in the way of steelhead. The day spent with them turned out to be one I won't soon forget. 

Big leeches seem to work the best for us, and as the sun rose throughout the day we had to back off on tippet size and go smaller. 

There are a lot of pics from yesterday, I tried to narrow it down as best I could.

Thanks Guys,

Owen

Walk Wade

Never thought I would be wading the Rocky River in my Chaco sandals and quick dry pants in March. It happened yesterday and although the hot weather is not helping the fish, I felt like I was back out west walking trout streams in late July. 

Timber and I went to check out the scene on the Rocky yesterday afternoon.  The water had a nice color to it and the banks were giving up lush greens with new spring foliage. 

I believe the weather is supposed to cool off this weekend to give these fish a break.  If you are out and are into to fish, try to get them back in the water and on their way as fast as possible.  Water temps this high raise mortality rates in fish greatly, so if your out do your part and take care of the fish.

Cheers,

Owen

I Kinda Like This Fly Fishing Thing

I met up with some good friends/clients in for a quick steelhead fix. Game plan was to fish Wednesday evening and Thursday weather permitting . Kelly hails from Mentor so he can scratch the itch often, will comes to us from Austin, Texas.  We were unsure what we would be able to come up with yesterday with all the rain and such predicted. Dressing for the occasion we fished in and out of showers all day and found fish along the way.

Kelly has been trying to transform from a pin man into a fly guy, after yesterday I think the transformation is complete.

We threw multiple patterns throughout the day, taking fish swinging/dead drifting  white buggers and orange eggs patterns.

 Cheers,

Owen

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