As I fished today I was wintness to a great deal of wildlife. I saw a rabbit, several squirrels, a bluebird, a woodpecker, and a 15-16 inch brown trout on the end of my line. Guess which one I was most excited about??
Fishing was not bad despite the weather. The temperature was 36 degrees and the water temperature was near 42 degrees. The water remains clear despite the rain and melting snow we have had over the last few days.
I arrived at the Route 36 bridge about 10:00 a.m. and six cars and trucks had already beaten me there. I fished another location and was glad to at the end of the day. I used a Rainbow Prince, Tan Hare's Ear, and a Woolly Bugger with a lot of success. The stockers continue to hit just about anything they see. However, the nice brown was caught bumping a Woolly Bugger against a log. He literally attacked the fly.
I know it's early in the year, but I saw a small hatch of something (possibly tricos?). They were white, very small, and impossible to catch to get a better look at them.
January 7, 2001
This weekend during the NFL Playoffs the home teams were undefeated. On the Mad River today the home fish seemed undefeated to fly fishermen. I fished with two gentlemen from near Columbus (Mike and Bill) and we saw PLENTY of fishermen all day. However, with the exception of 8-10 stockers very few fish caught.
The temperature was 33-36 degrees and the water temperature was anywhere between 38-40 degrees. The water clarity was very clear. The few trout that were caught were fooled using cream colored caddis and nymphs. We tried Hare's Ears, san Juan Worms, and a few Woolly Buggers, but the fish just did not seem to want to cooperate with anyone today.
For those of you suffering through cabin fever I would suggest you try www.gofishohio. The site is full of helpful fishing information across the state, ideas for new equipment, and tall tales to help us all through the colder weather.
January 2, 2001
How many of you grew up dreaming you were Superman, Batman, or for you lady flyfishers out there Wonderwoman? Well imagine my surprise when fishing today I realized I had been granted the powers of the Invisible Man!!
As I fished a nice hole on the Mad three "fisherman" unawareof my special powers to be invisible elbowed their way into my spot oblivious of my power to be invisible. As William Tapply would say "bad manners on the water can ruin a dream day".
Although the water temp was cold the browns appeared eager to follow and occasionally take any small Hare's Ear nymphs.
Having trouble with ice on your lines and guides? Check out Loon's Stanley's Ice Off Paste from either Mad River Outfitters or go to the Loon home site and check out other great products at www.loonoutdoors.com or call them to order a catalog at 1-800-580-3811
Caught a brown trout this morning that was tagged by the ODNR. The tag # was 2-35714 which I found in the jaw. The tag was covered in algae and was difficult to read. I caught the tagged fish south of the Rt. 36 bridge.
