I was able to get out for an early morning fishing excursion and ran into one of those perfect scenes where everything comes together for a great picture. The fog hung around the valley long enough to allow me to catch the moon as it was setting.
Wow! What a morning.
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The fishing wasn’t good but that didn’t matter. I’ll take scenes like this every day.
A cold front came through and finally got rid of the heat and humidity that’s choked us for over a month. To celebrate, the wife and I took a hike around the Walter C. Best Wildlife Preserve. The preserve includes a 30-acre lake that has a good population of bluegills and largemouth bass. It’s best suited for spinning gear as most of the lake has high banks. There are only a couple of spots where a fly fisherman can get comfortable.
As we were walking around the lake we noticed a snake making its way across the path. The closer we got to it we noticed it was dragging something. With an even closer look we saw it had a largemouth bass firmly in its grasp. It struggled to swallow the bass but could only get the lower lip in its mouth. As we were taking pictures a runner went by and spooked the snake. It let go of the fish and slithered into the weeds. The snake survived to live and hunt another day….the bass did not.
This water snake tried to make a meal of a largemouth bass. A runner went by and spooked the fish. It dropped the bass and slithered away.
This past week my wife and I made a quick two day trip to fish Mossy Creek in the Shenandoah Valley. Mossy is a beautiful spring creek in the valley with a good population of wild brown and rainbow trout. We’ve fished it only a couple of times in the past, usually in the springtime when we could be fishing anything from streamers to dry flies. But, being mid-August we knew the weather and flows were ideal for dries and terrestrials. Being from northeast Ohio I do not get to fish for wild trout so making trips like this ramps up my excitement.
Weed beds make for interesting fishing. Keeping a fish out of there-a challenge.
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A beautiful spring creek in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley.
It seems that when I take a road trip the fishing starts at 2:00AM. After getting four hours of sleep I inevitably wake up and begin anticipating the day, often envisioning holding a nice rainbow or brown caught on a dry fly. Then questions will begin to crowd my brain. What’s the water going to be like? Are the fish going to be feeding? Will there be some risers? This lasts until I nod off around 4:00AM and get in another hour of sleep.
We met my sister-in-law and her husband Art, the man responsible for my fly fishing addiction. Shortly thereafter Brian Trow, from Mossy Creek Fly Fishing arrived and it was off to the creek. Gearing up we received some bad news. Brian mentioned that the hex hatch arrived on the creek a week or two early, and the fish had been gorging on them at night, so the fishing may be tough early on. That was an understatement.
A landing pad for damsel flies.
We saw some fish feeding but they were very selective. Brian and I were watching a brown feeding under a tree while Art drifted fly after fly at him. The fish would follow his fly, turn away, then snack on something else seconds later. Later in the day, Brian and Art change flies multiple times at another brown. The fifth one did the trick but the fish quickly broke off the 6X tippet.
About mid-morning Brian noticed a few hex’s hatching so he tied on matching pattern and I made my way up a pool. Right at a shade line we saw a riser. On the third or fourth drift a rainbow came straight up and sucked in the fly. This was the moment I was waiting for. Fishing with 6X probably for the first time, I set the hook just like Brian instructed me to earlier in the day, quick but not forceful. Seeing the fish take the fly, then watching it run downstream about 20 yards, was a great feeling. The rainbow jumped, the splash sounding like a belly flop off a diving board. That fish was thick. Then it came straight at me and stopped dead. Brian said the fish went into the weed bed trying to shake the hook. For almost a minute there was no movement. I kept steady pressure on the line but couldn’t tell if the fish was still on. Finally the fish made a move, splashed on the surface, and went back to the weeds. At this point, Brian went into the water and with the stealth of a heron got the net under the rainbow, and in one movement scooped it up. That was fun, and thanks to my wife, most of it captured on video.See the end of the post for the link.
Casting a hex pattern to the shade produced a nice, spring creek rainbow.
Brian midstream with a rainbow and five pounds of moss in the net.
The fruits of our labor.
Unfortunately, that was all the action we would see. We just caught the creek on a tough day. Still, I won’t complain. I learned a lot (practice casting), and did manage to land a nice rainbow.
A final shout out to my wife and her sister. They endured an extremely hot day so Art and I can feed our passion.
The day started with blue skies and fair weather clouds.
It’s been hot and dry for the last two months, and the rivers around northeast Ohio have been low and clear. Fishing was good early in the summer but lately you’ve had to work hard for any action. If you are not out before the sun gets on the water, or around sunset, you are going to have a tough time. Even going out early the action has been slow. I’ve had enough success to keep me interested, but nothing spectacular.
Early morning on the Chagrin with a little fog.
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What’s interesting is the topwater bite has been nonexistent for me the last month. I can’t buy a topwater hit no matter what I throw. Early in June topwater was hot, but lately the only fish I’ve been catching have been on streamers, fishing faster water.
During these slow days I’ve had the luck to catch two new species on the fly rod. While targeting smallmouth bass on a popular section of the Chagrin River, I managed to hook a channel catfish on a woolly bugger. And, just last week, again fishing the Chagrin River, I hooked a largemouth bass fishing a tan color, golden retriever. Hooking the largemouth surprised me more than the catfish. I knew there were catfish spread out in the river, but largemouth bass aren’t as common in the northeast Ohio rivers as their smallmouth cousins. Fishermen do catch largemouth around the mouths of the rivers, and will occasionally catch them further upstream, but the rivers seem to be able to support smallmouth populations better than largemouth.
Channel catfish caught on a woolly bugger. It put up a good fight.
Surprise largemouth bass hooked on a golden retriever. Caught in a faster stretch of water.
Not wanting to shortchange the summer as I’ve enjoyed having stretches of water all to myself, but in another six weeks the steelhead will start to poke their noses in the rivers. Last year I was on the water with a 4wt in mid-September after a big rain event. Throwing a small streamer for smallies, I hooked a fresh steelhead, and was overmatched with that light rod. So, I’ll switch to an 8 wt after the first big rain event.
Steelhead will soon start their journey upstream. Need a big rain event mid-to-late September to get them going.
One morning on the Grand River the fishing was slow so I looked up and saw this. Now that's an office view.
I’m sure that at one time or another if you fish any river system you’ve seen rock formations that were built along the river or stream. These “stacks of rocks” are cairns, and the history of cairns date back to medieval times. In fact, google “cairns” and you’ll have many sites to choose from to learn about the history. In some instances these man-made rock formations are used to designate trailheads and directional markers. But in the fishing community cairns have another purpose, especially for Native Americans in the Arctic. Cairns are one of their visible, spiritual connections with Earth.
With the mound of rocks behnd this cairn my guess is it was going to be larger.
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One of the first times I remember seeing a cairn was on a television fishing show. About six or seven years ago while watching a show about fishing in the Arctic I noticed elaborate stacks of rocks at the river’s edge, some of which were 4’ in height. During the show it was explained that the Native Americans build the cairns to honor the fishing gods so their catches can be bountiful. I didn’t think anymore of it until I started fly fishing, and walking the rivers in Northeast Ohio. I began to see cairns, albeit smaller in scale, at the river’s edge. It seems as though Northeast Ohio rivers are loaded with rocks ideal for stacking. What I haven’t seen is someone building them, so I don’t know if fishermen build them or someone out hiking. More than likely the cairns are built for fun, and not to honor the fishing gods. To me, if a fisherman is having a tough day, change what you are doing, but keep the line in the water. Taking time to build a cairn will not catch fish.
This cairn was found at the Cleveland Metroparks South Chagrin Reservation.
Three days later it was gone.
I’ve included pictures of some of the cairns that have been built in the last few months. Unfortunately they don’t last long. Either heavy rains will push the water levels higher, knocking them over or someone will give them a gentle nudge and topple them.
Look closely and you will see a small stack on the left side. Like a small arm.
This small cairn was found on the Gand River. Next to it is a wood pyramid.
Not a lot of energy went into this one.
In the middle of the Chagrin River at the South Chagrin Reservation is a large boulder.
Someone used the boulder as a base to build this one. Notice the red bricks.
Twice now. Same spot. Mid pool, about four feet from the submerged tree. Same popper. Success and failure. Success in that I manipulated the popper to the smallie’s liking. Pop, pop, pause. Big swirl, heavy tug. Set the hook. Failure in that the tippet broke, again. I know that old saying, ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Now, it just got personal.
It has to be the same fish. I can’t believe there would be multiple smallies that big in that same spot. Trust me on this.
Now, I can add obsessed to superstitious and sentimental. At 3:00AM in the morning I'm awake formulating a game plan to get him. One size stronger tippet. Test the knots, test the knots. Sharpen the point of the hook. I am going to get that S.O.B.
It was not a total loss on the river. I did manage to net a couple of smallies. The one pictured below is not even average size but has some of the nicest markings I’ve seen. It was caught at first light and the vertical markings just jumped out. Who knows, I could obsessing over this fish in five or six years.
This smallie has great markings. Caught at first light on a golden retriever.
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This one hit the popper a minute before the mother of all resident smallies showed up again.
The weather has been hot, and so has the fishing. Even with water conditions being low and clear, the smallies have been active. They’re not picky either. They are taking streamers and topwater with equal enthusiasm. Add the fact that the waders are put away for awhile, and it makes for a great day on the water. Wet wading in the summer makes up for all the times during steelhead season when you need four layers of clothing.
This smallmouth inhaled the Sneaky Pete. Look close and all you can see is one of the rubber legs sticking out of his mouth.
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I've been rigging two rods. One will have a baitfish imitation, usually a Golden Retriever. The other rod will have a topwater fly, and my go to topwater fly has been a black Sneaky Pete. I don’t feel a need to switch to something else. It’s working in both low water and deep pools. Why change? I’m amazed at how even small fish attack this popper. I’ve had rock bass and small, smallies inhale it. They must strain their mouths to get around the hook. I like it so much that I had to rescue it today.
Even a small rock bass wants that popper.
I was fishing a big slow pool, and had already picked up a couple smallies when the quiet water was interrupted with a splash. A smallie surfaced and attacked the popper. I set the hook and the line goes slack as a knot gave way. Looking at the water I noticed the Sneaky Pete surfaced. Thankfully, the water was barely moving. I was able to get downstream and using the net, grab the popper. After I grabbed the popper I realized that the Sneaky Pete was the very first fly I purchased when I took up fly fishing six years ago. Now I’m superstitious and sentimental.
