Fall Colors And A Little Fishing

Nothing screams “Road Trip” like warm weather and fall colors. My wife and I have a favorite spot in the fall. When the opportunity presents itself we head south to Mohican State Park. We’ve made the autumn drive four or five times and have never been disappointed. Catch the maples just right and Mohican shines as bright as any other destination.

As for fishing, it is secondary on these trips. Oh, I’ll fish for a few hours, but the setting on the Lower Clear Fork is right out of a magazine or book. Pools that look like glass, and reflect the yellows and reds of the maples dominate the landscape. So, I forgive myself if a hookup is missed.

There's an old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words". I can't describe the day better than using pictures. Enjoy.

Go out and fool a fish!

View upstream from the covered bridge.

Do you think there is enough structure for the largemouth and smallmouth bass?

(Click on image for a larger view.) 

(All photos courtesy of Chris Zimmer.)  

I did not want to wade into the water.

The dam area always produces.

Mist on the water and a bass on the line.

 Just another mirror view.

Water so reflective there's two covered bridges.

I'm just a bit player in this scene.

The Lower Clear Fork River in Mohican State Park

Every spring and fall my wife and I make a trip to Mohican State Park in northcentral Ohio. It is a very popular park for hikers, campers, rafters, and fishermen. In fact, during the summer it is difficult to fish with all the rafters. We find that the best time to visit is while school is in session.

The part of the Clear Fork that flows through the park is considered the lower section, below Pleasant Hill Dam. Periodic releases can change the flow quickly, as we found out this last trip. When I planned our trip this past week the depth at the gauge was .75 ft. However, by the time we arrived there was a release that bumped it to 1.8 ft. That bump stained the water, and the fishing was not the best.

You can see from the photos the river has a lot of structure, good riffles, and deep pools. In fact, the lower could pass for a Pennsylvania stream. The river can get a lot of angling pressure, so the fish are wary. The most popular fishing spots are between the dam and the covered bridge. But for someone who will take the time to hike downstream, there are some very good spots that are less pressured.

Excellent structure will hold  fish.

(Click on image for larger view.)

A great run with good flow.

With a scene like this you could forget you're fishing.

Every fall the Ohio Department of Natural Resources stocks the Lower Clear Fork with brown trout. The brownies are found throughout the entire five miles of the river in the park. The park has a 12” length limit for any trout, so any trout caught right after the stocking will be released to be hooked another day.

In addition to brown trout, the river will give up smallmouth bass, bluegills, carp, creek chubs, and every once in awhile, a musky. It seems like a musky ends up in the river after getting caught in the flow when the gates are opened for a release.

Fly fishermen will have success using streamers, nymphs, and dry flies. The river can have some good hatches of midges, caddis, and mayflies. Last spring I had a good day drifting a Griffith’s Gnat on top. This past week, there were tan caddis everywhere, but no fish were rising.

This brownie fell for a Griffith's Gnat in the spring.

Summer will take a toll on the trout. Even though the river has good overhead coverage, the water warms to a critical temperature that is harmful to all but the heartiest trout. It’s a shame that something can’t be done to lower the temps, as the river could be a top trout stream. I don’t pretend to know all the intricacies of dam releases but if the Chattahoochee River, that runs through Atlanta, can hold trout year-round the lower Clear Fork should be able to.

Our favorite time to visit is during the fall when the leaves change from green to bright orange, red, and yellow. My wife, with her ever-present camera, takes care of the memories. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Go out and fool a fish!

An Unusual Day on the Clear Fork River

A couple times a year my wife and I make the two hour drive to Mohican State Park in Loudonville, Ohio. I like to fish the Clear Fork, and my wife brings her camera to capture the scenery and wildlife. In early June we decided to make the trip and little did we know how unusual the day was going to be. First, the fishing part of the trip.

Each fall in October, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources stock the Clear Fork with brown trout. The best time to fish it is either the fall or the spring, before the water warms too much, and stresses the fish. Mad River Outfitters gives periodic updates for the Clear Fork and they have reported that fishermen are having success in the lower Clear Fork that flows through the state park.

I hit the water around 7:30AM and started at the covered bridge. I tied on a dry-dropper, using a Parachute Adams with a Copper John dropper. The water visibility was good but there was little bug activity. The Adams was doing double duty as a dry fly and an indicator. As expected, the Adams didn’t have any action but the Copper John attracted a couple of sunfish. That’s okay with me but I was there to catch a brown trout as I had never caught one before. So I made the decision to move closer to the dam. That’s when things got interesting.

Making the half mile walk towards the dam I noticed some rises and few splashes. Maybe the Adams was going to get some action after all. Even the swallows were swooping in and picking bugs off. The problem I was having was in identifying what the fish and birds were going after. I waded into a run and continued using the Adams but after 15 minutes without any action I gave up on the dry-dropper.

Slightly frustrated I put on a small woolly bugger to see if I could fool something. Three casts in and I had a solid take but missed the hookset. As this was going on I was seeing rises and splashes all around. Next thing I know a voice in my head says “try a midge imitation”. So I ditched the woolly bugger for a Griffith’s Gnat, and found the pot of gold on the second cast.

Facing upstream I targeted the bubble line with about a 30’ cast. The first cast drifted back to me untouched. The second cast drifted about 10’ when something attacked it. I raised for the hookset and the rod broke. So here I am, midstream, holding a rod that no longer has the tip. Thinking the fish was lost, I reached for the broken piece and began to retrieve the line by hand. Pulling a few feet of line into my hand I noticed a tug. Unbelievably, the fish was still on the hook. I hand-retrieved a few more feet and realized it was a brown trout. Seconds later, I literally brought my first brown trout to hand. As for the rod, it is fully covered by Orvis, so I don’t have to worry about it. Fortunately I had a backup rod in the car and was able to continue fishing.

 Here I am midstream with a broken rod, hand reeling in my first brown trout.

(Click on image for a larger view.)

My first brown trout on a dry, with a broken rod. That will be a long lasting memory.
 (click on image for a larger view)

Now for the real highlight of the day. As I mentioned earlier my wife loves photography and has captured some great scenes. On this particular trip she also found a pot of gold. While taking pictures of the stream she noticed something moving over the rocks. It was something we had never seen before. It was small, sleek, and chocolate brown in color. Our first thought was it may be a weasel but after some research we realized it was an American Mink, which is in the weasel family. The unusual part was a mink is generally nocturnal. My wife took the photo mid-morning, so the mink must have had a late night and was heading to its den, which often times is near a stream. From the photo below it looks as though the mink stopped and posed for the picture.

An American Mink posing for a photo.

Go out and fool a fish!