Kudos To The American Fly Fishing Trade Association

Hats off to the American Fly Fishing Trade Association for developing a recycled paper box to replace the clear plastic boxes that many fly shops use when customers purchase flies. For an industry that prides itself on conservation efforts it’s nice to see this change.

I first heard of the changeover from plastic to recycled paper in Trout magazine, Winter 2017 edition, published by Trout Unlimited. The article discusses the enormous amount of plastic being used. Colby and Brian Trow, owners of Mossy Creek Fly Fishing, began to look at their business to see where they can reduce the plastic footprint in their shop. Like any business, large and small, asking how can we make this better often leads to seeing alternatives. Mossy Creek was one of the first adopters of the recycled paper boxes. This move is now being replicated by many fly shops across the country.

The move is on to replace plastic with recycled paper. Nudge your fly shop to make the change.

If your fly shop still uses plastic, nudge them into changing to the recycled paper box. Good for you….good for the environment.

For more information visit the American Fly Fishing Trade Association website. See the link below.

Contact American Fly Fishing Trade Association

Go out and fool a fish!

An Encounter With A Steelhead Or Two

Friday was the warmest day in February on record for the Cleveland area. My wife and I couldn’t pass up the chance to take a hike through a couple of Lake Metroparks. Our last stop took us to a feeder creek of the Grand River. As expected, the parking lot was filled, and I imagined the fishermen on the Grand jockeying for position. But, the feeder creek was empty…..of fishermen, not fish.

The water on the creek was low and clear. I figured there had to be a chromer or two somewhere in this creek, and the clarity was perfect for sighting them. So, we made our way upstream and I began to look for fish. We came to an area where a tailout tumbles over some rocks. And there it was, sitting in about a foot of water. What a great opportunity to watch the feeding behavior of a steelhead. There was great visibility, and no fishermen around lobbing flies and lures at it.

This stretch of the creek was about 15 yards wide, and the steelhead was sitting right in the middle of the tailout. It was investigating everything passing in the water. It gave a couple of leaves a good look. Occasionally, the fish would open its mouth and probably inhale a midge or two. What was interesting was the fish covered the entire width of the creek. It would make its way to one bank and then to the opposite one. It would move a foot or two upstream, and then move back downstream. A couple of times it got so close to the rocks by the dropoff that I thought it was going to be swept to the lower portion of the creek.

This big male cruised all over a tailout, and would occasionally open its mouth and inhale a tasty morsel.

After about ten minutes the fish started to move upstream into the pool. This particular pool had a slate bottom, so it was light in color. Around the edge of the pool were darker rocks and boulders. It was interesting to watch the steelhead follow the dark edge to the head of the pool. It’s like it knew it would be better hidden, and it was. It was easy to lose track of where it went.

When we spotted the fish again it had its mate with it. The male, which we were watching, gathered its partner and they both made their way back to the tailout. And again, they made their way along the dark edge of the pool. There, they began their mating dance. They probably realized no one was around to bother them. Isn’t nature wonderful?

The male and the female beginning their dance.

My wife was able to take a few pictures and a short video. Enjoy.



Go out and fool a fish!

I’ll Take A Bit Of Luck Every Time

This can’t possibly be February in Northeast Ohio. No snow on the ground. No blown out rivers. Temperatures in the 60’s. This would give Steelhead Alley a bad name if not for the great fishing. There have been multiple reports of double digit days, and it appears as though the chromers are all over the rivers. Facebook is lighting up with photos. What I’ve learned in my relatively short time fishing for steelhead is that it’s never as easy as it looks. It seems that I’ve been proving that statement correct every time I’ve been on the water in 2017. A few poor hooksets led to short fights, and long distance releases. So, when I waded into the river yesterday there was one goal, get the skunk off. It didn’t take me long thanks to three fishermen.

I hit a spot on the Chagrin River that is turning out to be my go-to place not only for steelhead but for smallies in the summer. There are several pools with some good structure that always seem to hold fish. Unfortunately, when I arrived there were three fishermen in one of the pools. I didn’t want to see if the pool was big enough to hold a fourth so I moved downstream. Decisions like this will sometimes make or break the day. You have to have a little luck.

I began to drift a bright pink egg pattern through the water, working my way from the tail to the head of the pool. I made a cast close to the opposite bank and the indicator lazily moved downstream. Then it moved ever so slightly towards me. With the reflexes of a jaguar (OK, an old jaguar) I instinctively set the hook. A brief fight ensued, but in the end the chrome hit the net, and the skunk was gone. Looking back on that take, if I had not been watching the indicator I would have missed it. That was one of the lightest hits I ever had chasing steelhead.

It felt good to get this one in the bottom of the net.

Three casts later and I hooked up again. But back to my old ways, I didn’t get a good hookset. So I played with it for about 10 seconds and off it went. Two more casts and I hooked up again. But my shoulders slumped when it came off a few seconds later. So, in about 10 minutes I had three takes from the same pool. Now, that’s fishing.

Here’s where I have to thank the three fishermen that were mentioned earlier. As I moved back upstream I passed them. They asked if I had any luck. After telling them about the action I had they let it be known that they were blanked. I told them I’ve been there many times. But their bad luck was my good luck. If they had not been there I would have worked over the pool they were on, and the skunk may have still been alive.

Go out and fool a fish!

Why We Get Skunked

Getting skunked happens to us all. It doesn’t matter if you just started or have been fishing for 30 years. It’s going to happen. You can throw everything at them to no avail. The fish just won’t cooperate. Why is that? Well, let’s look at it from the fish’s point of view. Imagine if fish can communicate. Here’s what it might sound like.

Tommy, where have you been?”

“I was behind a rock for about two days. The sucker family was in the area, and I don’t like them. What’s been going on?”

“Not much. The food around here is nothing but eggs, eggs, eggs.”

“Tell me about it. Quick, duck, another spawn sac coming through.”

“Thanks Tommy. I’ve been ducking them all day. You’d think these creatures would have more imagination.”

“I know what you mean. Sometimes I want something big and meaty.”

“Crap, here comes another one.” “Let it go. Jill will eat it. She eats everything.”

“Jill’s gone. I saw her thrashing around yesterday, but I think something got her.”

Hey, it’s getting crowded again. I can see some boots. Let’s move upstream and hit the logs.”


Go out and fool a fish!

Winter Thoughts

Winter forces fishermen into downtime between storms and blown out rivers. So how do fishermen pass the time between outings? They think about being on the water while tinkering with rods and reels. I don’t know about you but my mind does not work in a straight line. In fact, I think it needs its own GPS. Somehow an ADD diagnosis was missed. Here are some recent thoughts.

When a steelhead hits a spawn sac do they want the eggs or the netting?

Almost time to purchase a 2017 license. Can’t believe there aren’t more people fishing. Ohio’s fee is $19.00. No better value exists.

I’d pay more if the Ohio Department of Natural Resources used the money wisely.

I remember summer trips to Canada in the 60’s to fish. There were no electronics on the boats. You had to learn the lake to find the fish. My father and I would troll until we found some fish. Then we tried to remember the spot by looking at the shoreline to pick out a landmark. It made us better fishermen. Now there’s a whole generation of fishermen who just look at a screen to find the fish. I think they are missing out on an important part of fishing. That’s why I like to wade and fish rivers. You have to work to find the fish. Seems more satisfying.

Fishing shows on cable are not realistic. They always catch fish. I guess it would make for bad viewing if they didn’t catch anything, but it would be more realistic. I don’t know of anyone who catches fish every time out. Getting skunked is part of fishing.

It would be great to experience the Cleveland area when it was first settled. Imagine the fish in the lakes and rivers. I’d go back in time if I could take my rods and reels……and a bathroom. Got to have a bathroom.

Pound for pound, a smallmouth bass fights harder than a steelhead.

 I'll take the fight this Rocky River smallie put up over a steelhead any day.

You would think water is the same no matter what river you’re on, but the Grand smell is different than the Chagrin, which smells different than the Rocky. Smell your net and you’ll see what I mean. Maybe that different smell is what locks the steelhead in finding its stocking river.

This country has worked too long and hard to clean up the lakes, rivers, and streams. It would not be progress to eliminate protections in place. Do you really think businesses would have stopped polluting the Cuyahoga had the government not gotten involved?


Go out and fool a fish!