Ohio Trophy Trout Hunter

Friday, October 23, 2015

Mad River CleanSweep - Fall 15'

If you build it, they will come!

Conversations can often lead to nowhere, or they can create some of the most amazing moments; instants of time greater than any one person, and certainly greater than one individual could ever imagine.

Bitter cold greeted the Mad River Clean-Sweep volunteers as we began to amass at the rivers edge, and one of these moments in time commenced to being realized…pure greatness!

Trash from 36

Frost covered rubbish soaked and stung the fingers as Ohio weather greeted us with wind-chill temperatures in the thirty degree range, but the Army of ant like volunteers pressed on as if there were no barriers to the mission, rid the Mad River of the abuse she has suffered at the hands of man.

Twenty-one individuals gathered at the Mad River’s 36 Bridge on October 17, 2015, not to fish, but to return the treasured Brown Trout fishery to as litter free as humanly possible.

Got Bike?

Three drift boats covered the river from the 29 Bridge, to the bridge at Eagle City. Simultaneously, three mobile land teams covered the river’s parking spaces from the Pimtown to the St. Paris crossings. This sweep cast the broadest scope of a Mad River cleanup to date, netting 200 square feet of tightly packed rubbish, weighing in at 1750 pounds. One can only imagine the surprise as the payloads began being dropped off, and the realization set in as to how unprepared we were to handle this amount of trash. The solution was to make a mound and return the next day with a dump trailer to haul everything off to the landfill.

Still short by a boat load...

The Clean-Sweep derived from a conversation on an Ohio Trophy Trout Hunter Facebook thread. It was brought to the successful fruition by coordination from many individuals, organizations, clubs, and sponsors. I would like to thank Scott Smallwood, Tom Allen, Don Boysel, TU Mad Men Chapter, Miami Valley Fly Fishers, Central Ohio Fly Fishers, Buckeye United Fly Fishers, Cabelas, Mad River Outfitters, ReelFlyRod.com, and Urbana University for all of their coordination, donations, and members’ support. Most of all, I would like to thank each individual volunteer who sacrificed their day to assist with the first, but far from last, Mad River Clean-Sweep.

Lessons were learned and the future bi-annual events, as well as other planned solutions, should prove to maintain the river in as pristine condition as possible, and do so in a streamlined process.

May you all keep your lines tight, and our waters clean…see you in the Spring for our next CleanSweep!

Please enjoy the pictures...

Final crew off duty at 6PM

Sunday, April 12, 2015

First 2015 Spring Alley Trip

As many of you know I had planned a Steelhead Alley trip for April 8^th and 9^th, but had to cancel due to all the weather forecasts combined with river conditions.

That was until Scott Smallwood called with news from Josh of Mad River Outfitters. The weather forecasted was failing to make it to the actual East Alley basin over the past few days. They speculated these rivers were being protected from the storm cells due to the significant ice on the Great Lakes creating a cold front. When the warm Northern air hit this front, the cells were pushed directly East outside of the watersheds for the Eastern rivers. I am no weatherman, but, when you looked at the history of those past few days and put a little science to it, it all made sense to me.

Long story short, I took a call from Scott at 1930hrs while I was cooking dinner bitching about not getting to fish and he convinced me there was a chance…a chance!

That’s all it takes sometimes.

By 2100hrs I had the wife fed, kitchen cleaned, car packed, and was on the road to Columbus to meet with Scott and Steve. My wife thought I was crazy!

We departed Columbus around 2230 and began our adventure.

Arriving in Geneva, Ohio around 0100hrs on the 9^th we checked into our room and after a long five-hour nap on the floor for me, we were ready to roll and show the world how it is done. Then, I checked the gauges…bad news, the rivers in Ohio were all up and blowing out.

Continuing to review the data, we elected to try the backup plan to the backup plan… Pennsylvania! On the road again…

Arriving at Elk Creek, we witnessed the most beautiful sight a tired, hungry, and committed Steelheader could view…clear water with dark holes and decent flows. It was game on!

Rain caught up with us, but our area was being spared the worst of it. Getting waders on, we met a great guy, Jordan Rambo. Jordan and us hit it off and we decided we would all be fishing together this day.

In the water, the group immediately found a bunch of dark shadows scurrying about and excitement began to build. Within minutes, fish on came from Scott…we did it…it was going to be a great trip!

Sucker!!!…fish on…Sucker…fish on…Sucker…you get my point! We did catch a few fingerlings from the previous weeks stocking and continued to do so all day.

Then it happened…my line went taught as the indicator slid back toward the seam and I raised the 9’ 7wt Recon to ensure hook set. FISH ON!!!

A few seconds later and this was obviously not a sucker as Chrome Steel slid about giving the rod a workout, and us an aerial display. A few minutes later I was getting my grip and grin on and she was back with her friends.

As we continued to molest the water Scott took a Steelie to hand, lost one more beast, and we had a few hookups that were suspicious. In between this, a lot of Suckers and fingerlings were taken to hand and safely released.

We took a little break and decide to go up river from where we were as the rain began to threaten the river more minute by minute. Trekking on ahead I released a cast into a slight depression where the bottom was looking as if it were dark blue. Mend, mend, and once again, it was FISH ON!

About this time our luck had run out as far as weather was concerned. The rain began arriving in blinding sheets as I fought to bring this beautiful Steelhead to hand. I used my hand net to tail her and satisfied I had her secured, I reach for my camera. As I pressed on the power button she broke my grip, bent my rod in a gravel grinding U shape, and snapped the line clean. No picture…just a story! A great story though!

By the time I tied back on, the water was a nice cream color and prior to us getting off the river, it looked like coffee. Trip concluded…

In total we managed three fish to hand on the 9^th and likely had a few more on, but with no confirmation. That made for a great trip when it seemed all but lost on three occasions prior to departing for PA.

About twelve hours on the road for about five hours of fishing, sleeping on the floor, and getting to bed at 0130 on the 10^th, made this guy a tired man at work the next day, but it was all worth it.

Getting out with Scott and Steve, meeting new friends, and learning new water is what it is all about.

The Alley is back to producing nice fish so get on out there.

Tight lines and wade safely!

#OhioTrophyTroutHunter

Mad Situation 4/12/15

The Mad has once again taken a large amount of warm ground water and reached flows upward of 3300cfs on the Paris gauge. That’s a good thing…

She is now hovering in the 700 region and by looking at the graph is likely a deep green in color. This is a little on the high side to wade, so if you choose to do so please be overly cautious.

Monday should be perfect in flow and have good color if she gets there before the next bout of rain forecasted.

If you do get out post a report. I am working today and tomorrow so no fishing for me. That sucks!

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Mad River March 27, 2015

Welcome back.

The river was in great shape yesterday as far as flow and color were concerned. Temperature was not the best, but it has also been worse. Today will likely be the last of the decent water for this latest river rise. After today, I would expect low, clear, and cold water. Thats three strikes on the Mad!

I dropped in around 11AM and was disappointed to see my walk was being walked. Since my ride was on the way, I decided to stick to my plans and do what I tend to do...relax, and hope to get at least one.

It was cold, in case you didn't get that, it was cold...I must be getting wimpy as I age because it seems every year it takes longer to get my "Steelhead" hands. This year with limited fishing I have no cold hands tolerance. A friend, Phillip did advise IceBreaker gloves. I will be giving these a try. I have more gloves than my wife has shoes!

I began the day with a top of the water column presentation and was having no luck with every color presented. I decided to get the fly down and that seemed to do the trick. Totally opposite of how I would normally fish the conditions, but, never draw absolutes with anything. There is always a time and place to look at other tactics.

Eventually I found out they wanted a slow or no presentation. Once again, way outside of my normal fishing technique.

I ended up with three to the net. 19 inches topped the tape and the other two were in their mid teens. I did not measure them because it was cold...I only measured the 19 because I thought it may have been 20 inches or so (look at the shoulders on this guy). Did I mention my hands were cold :). I missed a double take and one other, seeing both, they too were in there mid to late teens. That made for a nice day on the water. Took a bonus chub and snagged a poor Sucker to round out the Mad River "Trifecta" :).

It was a great day to get out. I know a couple of others did as well and had a tough day fish wise. So if you were on the water and were skunked, know other good anglers had the same result. In the end I think it was about figuring them out...thats what I seem to have a knack for.

The next forecasted rain is Thursday and the temperatures are supposed to be in the 50's and 60's the whole time. This should kick the river into overdrive; both fish and fishermen will be in a frenzy. Good luck finding unmolested waters but if you do, you have a great chance at a big score.

Please remember to catch and softly release. These fish do not belong on a wall!. Take a good photo or two and the fish can be recreated for a lifetime of enjoyment. They are also not going to be good eating if they are big. If you must sink your teeth into a Mad River Brown please make it a one or two year old...about 12-14 inches. That said, the best fish in the area is at the fish farm upriver...eat all your Omega 3 from there if you would.

Be safe on the water!

#ohiotrophytrouthunter

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Ohio Trophy Trout Hunter on Facebook!

Be sure and join the group Ohio Trophy Trout Hunter on Facebook.

No political rants...I promise...just poor writing and bad photography along with sketchy information. It's defiantly worth your time.

Be sure and invite your friends as well.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/736396083115178/

#ohiotrophytrouthunter