Colors of Fall

When I think of fall two things come to mind, Gordon Lightfoot and Steelhead.  When  me and the boys start listening to the "Gord" I know that the first steelhead of the season will be ripping line from my reel (getting goosebumps as I type).  Something special about this time of year, the leaves are a changing, the pumpkin flavored craft beers are becoming more abundant in the fridge, the bullshit stories about "I heard this guy caught a steelhead" start flowing, and most importantly the Great Lakes greatest sport fish are staging up at the mouths of the rivers for their run up the tributaries. This is an extremely exciting time for die hard steelheaders, they start getting back on the vise, cleaning lines, online shopping for gear they need, all in anticipation for the cold fronts that bring in the cool rains that will kick off the season.

Intruder style fly

We have all been waiting patiently for the run and I'm a firm believer that it's going to happen soon, but until sit back and enjoy a little fishporn from last year and a solid song from some of my favorite fall collection  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c6_lecPRsU

Now don't forget to get over and check out Ohio Steelhead Drifters and book and guided trip with us so you can chase these fish of a lifetime, and after you book it head over and give us a like on Facebook OSD facebook page

Spring is in full SWING!!

Over the past few weeks the fish on the alley have become increasingly aggressive and hungry for a swung fly.  This time of year can be a great time to get a new angler on the water and get them excited about this awesome way of life fly fishing.  If you or anyone you know is interested in a guided steelhead trip check out www.ohiosteelheaddrifters.com and if your in need of any fly fishing gear swing by the the backpackers shop they pretty much have anything you'll need.  With warming temperatures and willing fish, this is a great time to swing flies for multiple species, here's some photos from the last couple weeks.

Long and lean bullet

Squidro

When it rains it pours

Release!!

Mustache

Big Boy!

Yea buddy

Chunker

Swung carp

Schwing!!

Slippery

Gurgle

watermark

Tom while the big water was blown

white woolly

Spring Time (Almost)

Even though the weather hasn't felt much like spring it is right around the corner and the fish are starting to show signs that spring is right around the corner.  As the weather warms and warm rains begin to fall fish will start to make their way into shallow faster gravel areas to start spawning.  This is an exciting time for anglers, but as a suggestion to angles new and old, fish for fish where they should be and not where you can see them, this will make you a better angler and IMHO is much more fun, and we have been seeing an increase in natural reproduction, so take care and Catch and Release!!  Here's some fishporn for those of you guys that like that kinda stuff haha

Hot Fish!!

Big Dan with a Bucker

Fish took me into my backing!!

Facial!!

Oh yea forgot to mention LMB are starting to come out to play as well, this guy hit a BIG pike fly

DIME BRIGHT I Love single hand swinging

Hit us up at Ohio Steelhead Drifters for spring dates we love to guide on this wonderful fishery we have here!!  And make sure you check out The Backpackers Shop for all your fly fishing and outdoors need this shop literally has everything you could need, and the knowledge of the employees is second to none!!

Well it's been a few weeks since I've posted but I've been busy traveling to Islamorada, Fla and fishing the flats with some success but without a guide down on the vast ocean waters it's tough to say the least.  I did however end up landing a few barracudas and blue runners, these fish are sweet to say the least.  Cuda's are fast and strike with ferocity, stripping clouser minnows over a a sand flat into some sea grass then BOOM FISH ON!!

This was just a baby that I landed but did manage a few around the 30' mark.

Little bit bigger! Had to fend off a pelican for this fish ha!

Casting for a cruising bone! Didn't get it got a cuda instead

It may sound sick to you, but I was glad to get back to OH where steelhead and antelope play haha.  When I left FL it was a balmy 79 degrees and when arriving back in Cleveland it was 20 oh well, let's fish.  The blizzard that was taking place in Cleveland made our drive longer than normal causing us to return home around 1:30 am.  I was on the river by 8 am the next morning (sickening to most, awesome to others).  The water was slushy and difficult to fish, but we managed to put the hooks into a couple nice fish!!

 Solid buck taken on flash minnow pattern, with my new Allen Alpha III

BOOM!

High of 18 degrees on this day, check the bend in that redington!

Big Fish!

Newest pattern for swinging these Chromers with!

The alley is starting to produce on a regular basis and spring is right around the corner! Fill those boxes up and check out the The Backpackers Shop  for all your fly fishing needs, and be sure to stay updated with ongoing events with Ohio Steelhead Drifters the guide service that I work for!!

Tight Lines and Fish On!!

Bob

From West to East...

With a slight heat wave in the middle of winter the rivers have started to ramp up with good numbers of fish.  Recently I fished the west side with the OSD crew and we managed to elude the crowds and put a few fresh fish in the net.  It's good to get out with your buddies, most anglers speak of solitude, and trust me I know all about fishing by yourself and it's all good, but there is definitely something to be said about being on the river with your buddies.  It is a tough thing to do sometimes considering most of us work regular jobs with the regular 9-5 hours, which makes it tough to hook up, but when you get the chance take it and enjoy the experience together.

Colored up Bucker

Boom!!

O starting off the OSD outing!

The day ended around dark and with a good amount of hook ups and laughs the day was a successful trip!!

The next day me and another buddy Ohio Fish (Tim) hit the west side again with hopes of having the same success as O and I had the day previous, needless to say that sure as hell wasn't the case.  We fished all day and managed 0 fish, we made the tough call of traveling back to the east side around 3 with hopes of putting a few fish on the bank and missing rush hour traffic, we managed to do both!!

3rd drift Tim's hooked up

This dude is a machine!!

Swinging doesn't always produce the most fish but they sure are fun!!

Check the tail, awesome!!

Blood Clot?

Couldn't believe the color!!

We ended up being the last 2 on the river this night, but goes to show that if your willing to move around and put some time in you can succeed at catching these fish!!

The next day me and Tim decided to hit the water again and to be honest I wasn't feeling my enthusiastic self about fishing after spending 20 hours or so the previous 2 days on the water.  Well to the enthusiasm was quick to return, with the air temps of 49 degrees and the water on a good drop, the fish were on the move and feeding, had constant action with good sized fresh fish.  Days like these in the winter don't normally happen so when they do you need to capitalize on them, we did!!  

 This big buck engulfed my swung bunny leech!!

 Big Fish!!

 Fishing is literally an addiction for me!

 Tim with a good 1

 Boom!

Been trying some photo editing!

Mike with success after a few straightened hooks!

This was one of those days where you have constant action and the weather was very nice to be on the water again for another 10+ hours.  With this cold front moving in the fishing may slow down, but here's to hoping the rivers don't freeze over to bad!! I need to fish more :)