Fall Trip To Mohican State Park

The covered bridge makes for a great photo any time of the year.

(Click on image for larger view.)

What is turning out to be an annual event, my wife and I made a day trip to Mohican State Park in Loudonville, Ohio. If we time it right, the fishing and fall colors make for a great day. This year the colors were at, or close to peak. The fishing…not so much. The water was low and crystal clear. The first part of the day the water was void of leaves, but then we had a major leaf hatch, and by the time we called it quits around noon the surface of the water was covered with leaves.

As for the fishing, I moved up and downstream to find some deeper pools. There were a few spots but the fish didn’t want to play. I did manage to hook into a small largemouth bass, but that was it. In the past few years the Ohio Department of Natural Resources stocks the lower Clear Fork River that flows through the park with brown trout. I didn’t see any trout, so the stocking may not yet have occurred.

Look close. The only hookup of the day.

Before calling it a day, we took one last walk upstream and as if out of nowhere I spotted some bass, bluegills, and suckers hanging out in the middle of a few downed trees. Unfortunately the only way I could get a fly to them was to dap a woolly bugger. I spent about 10 minutes trying to entice a strike, but they didn’t want to play. Just a tough day.

Here's nice shot of a few bluegill hanging around some cover.

I want to share some of the sights captured by my wife. The colors were spectacular. There is also a video to view. Remember, the fishing was tough, so what you will see will be the fall colors, and some casting to fish that weren't there. Enjoy.

Early in the morning the leaves were not present.

Come mid-morning the leaves were hatching..

Go out and fool a fish!

This Was A Surprise

Early morning, sun kissed trees make a good backdrop for a day on the water.

(Click on image for larger view.)

The morning was cold, the coldest of the fall so far. The type of cold that reminds you what is to come. Dressed in layers, I wanted to hit the river early for a shot at some chrome. There’s a deep hole that’s been productive, but also a magnet for fishermen. Be there late and you’ll have to wait your turn.

For whatever reason, the pool didn’t produce today. I don’t know if it was the cold front or the pressure this pool gets. I moved upstream just as the sun was kissing the tops of the trees bringing out the autumn colors. Using a tan woolly bugger, I began to slow my retrieve, literally bouncing the bugger off the bottom. Halfway through the retrieve I felt a tug. With the reflexes of an old cat, I lifted the rod and set the hook. The fish made a run upstream, and my initial thought was a small steelhead. Throughout the fight the fish never jumped. It just kept running around shaking its head. As the fish got closer to me it looked like a smallie, and not a steelhead. Finally, close enough to net, I brought a 14” smallie to hand.

A nice, 14" smallie saved the day.

That was a surprise. I wasn’t surprised that it was a smallie, as I’ve been catching quite a few this fall. It was the size and the lack of acrobatics that was surprising. I’ve never caught a smallie that large that didn’t jump at least once. I’m guessing that the fish was reacting to the cooler water temps, and was just sluggish.

Anyway you look at it, that fish saved the day, as the chrome didn’t want to play.

Go out and fool a fish!

“This Isn’t A Smallmouth”

Sometimes I just have to laugh on the river. For the last few weeks I’ve been using the 8wt rod hoping to catch some early steelhead. And during this time I have had at least a dozen strikes by small smallmouth bass. It seems as though these 6” fish can’t get enough of the woolly buggers I’ve been tossing. What I laugh about is almost everyone I’ve hooked has flown out of the water and landed 5’ upstream. For me at least, being gentle with a hookset using an 8wt is just not possible. Since a small fish can’t put any resistance on such a big rod, the fish flying upstream puts slack into the line. I’ve lost more fish from this than I care to remember. So, I just laugh and move on, knowing there’s a steelhead with my name on it somewhere.

This past week, the weather was great, and the water was in good shape. There had been reports of some steelhead being caught in the Ohio tributaries, so I was feeling confident. I hit my favorite spot with thoughts that I was going to hook into my first steelhead of the season.

The first hint of fall color on the trees is a good indication that steelhed are making their way 

into the Northeast Ohio rivers

True to form, within the first half hour I had four light strikes. In fact, I launched one the smallies into the air covering about 10’, a new personal best. Continuing to move downstream, hitting the deeper pools, I was swinging a white woolly bugger when I felt that unmistakable tug. The first thing that came to my mind was “this is not a smallmouth”. And I was right. On the end of my line was a hot steelhead that did not want to give up. It put three good runs on me, moving from the tail to the head of the pool. At one point I thought it wrapped me around a downed tree. In the end, the 8wt did the job. A very thick, 23" chromer came to hand. From the looks of it, it has been in the river a little while. Red is starting to appear on the gill plate and along the lateral line.

The first steelhead of the season. Thick and feisty.

You can’t catch a second steelhead until you get your first. It’s always good to get the first one of the season in the net.

Go out and fool a fish!