Tough First Year

Once steelhead season was over I continued to fish the Grand and Chagrin Rivers hoping to catch some of the bass that take up residence. The first thing I noticed was that the rivers were virtually empty of other fishermen. I found out that many of the steelhead fishermen quit fishing the rivers, generally in May. They will stay out of the river until the fall. This was great for me, as I enjoyed being on the river early in the morning without another fisherman in sight. I only wished that being the only one would increase my catch rate, but that wasn’t the case.

I struggled to find and catch anything that first summer. I’m sure the mistakes I made didn’t help. Not being a quiet wader didn’t help. With river flows low there was no way I could sneak up on them. Then add in the fact that I was learning how to fish for bass in a river. Don’t know if I was throwing the wrong colors, or not fishing close to structure. It was probably a little of both.

My wife was always interested in how I did. Coming home and saying “skunked again” was getting old. If I didn’t have such a great wife I think anyone else would wonder if I was really fishing. Through this first summer I kept telling myself that there is a learning curve to fly fishing and not to get frustrated.

We made an early fall trip to Mohican State Park to see the changing leaves and fish the Clear Fork River. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources stocks the Clear Fork with brown trout. Additionally, the river has smallmouth, bluegills, and creek chubs.

 Covered bridge on the Clear Fork in Mohican State Park

 Doesn't get any better than this. Early morning on the Clear Fork.

While nymphing, I finally fooled a fish. It was a creek chub which a lot of fishermen would snicker at, but to me it was a step in the right direction. It didn’t matter that it was a chub. I used a nymph and caught a fish. To steal a Beatles phrase, getting better all the time.

First fish on a fly rod. 

It wasn’t until the Spring of 2012 that things started to fall into place. All it took was a trip to a Virginia springcreek with Art and a guide.

Go out and fool a fish!