Fished the Mad for about an hour and half. Caught three browns between 8-12 inches using a Pheasant Tail. The water temperature appears to be slowly dropping. Although the air temp was about 75 degrees the water temp was about 62 degrees.
September 16, 2001
Floated the Mad with Mike and Dave from Findlay. This was their first visit to the Mad and we all had a very enjoyable float. The water temperature was 64 degrees. The water clarity was very good and few leafs were on the river.
Both Mike and Dave caught their first Browns on the Mad. Throughout the day we used Hare's ears, Pheasant Tails, and Rainbow Princes. The trout did not appear selective in what they wanted...instead they seemed to care more about the presentation. We floated from Rt. 55 to Eagle City. Earlier in the morning the browns appeared to be anxious to rise, but we could not determine what they were looking for. For those of you floating the Mad be aware that there are numerous trees across the river just north of County Line. For those of you floating there is no way to get around these monster trees.
Thanks to both Mike and Dave for an enjoyable day on the river!
September 9, 2001
Spent 8 hours on the Mad Sunday just before the tremendous rain began rolling in. The water temperature is 68 degrees and the fishing was pretty tough. We really need some cool weather to roll in and the nights to get down into the 50's. Caught a handful as I took two beginners out for their first trip on the Mad. They caught lots of chubs, but few browns. Although we saw lots of fish most seemed very disinterested in anything we threw at them. A small hatch of BWO's early in the morning, but they seemed most interested in ants and beetles.
The leaf hatch seems just about ready to start...please remember to catch and release any maple leaves not over 12 inches in length.
On a scarier note...we bumped into a local shooting a bow and arrow at carp. Not much of a challenge or sport standing on a bank 10 feet above the river tagging carp with a bow, but to each his own.
September 2, 2001
Fished the upper portion of the Mad Sunday morning. The river simply looked great and with an air temperature of around 75 degrees the only drawback was the enormous canoe hatch.
While fishing with a good friend from Columbus, Lou caught just about every species of fish in the Mad using a gray caddis nymph. Lou caught a couple of browns, a handful of chubs, and a few large suckers.
