Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Mad..dening River 9/25

I took a solo trip to the river yesterday (mistake number one!) I should have taken one or both of the kids! I felt guilty for that the entire trip. Mike was unable to go, so I tried to video some myself (mistake number 2!) Trying to film and cast (mistake number 3!) was next to impossible for me. Between the wind and the camera, I  was a mess.
The river was gin clear and much busier than I thought it would be for the opening weekend of bow season.I had hoped for some color to the creek, but I was greatly disappointed. I started the trip with a stop at the Macochee. I moved a couple of fish and the grasshoppers were ridiculous, but the water was soon muddied by a group doing a stream survey. I have never even seen another person fish this stream, but there were guys gearing up when I got back to the car.
I then swung past Pimtown, but again there were two cars parked there. I went down stream a little further and found some willing trout, but the clear water and falling leaves made for some pretty touchy fish. I did manage to see a couple fo really nice fish, but they were very skittish. One was a beautiful male that was all colored up for his fall mating ritual. I was happy to see such a large healthy fish in this section of the river.
I soon found myself stopping at the Route 29 bridge. There were five cars there and two more people pulled in to launch canoes. I managed one more decent fish here in a familiar spot and soon my afternoon was finished.
I managed a little footage, but I am not sure that I have anything usable. I will hand it over to Mike and see if he can work some magic. On a brighter note, I did catch two on a hopper. They were not very large, but they smacked that big fly.

Friday, September 16, 2011

"My Time on the Mountain" Article


After my trip to Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park, I blogged about the entire trip. My good buddy Steve Schweitzer follows the blog and asked me to write a destination article for a website he co-owns. He gave me some details about what he was looking for and asked me to submit the article along with some pictures to the globalflyfisher website. I was more than happy to share and looked forward to the opportunity to publish an article.
The article itself was very similar to the blog posts. However, advice on what to take, flies to fish, and what to expect overall were added. I am pretty pleased with the article, but there were a few errors that I missed and wished that I had edited better. It was a very cool experience and one that I hope to repeat in the near future. 
If I could just get some one to pay for me to go on a trip and write another article...
If you want to check it out, you can find it at: http://www.globalflyfisher.com/reports/my-time-on-the-mountain/
There are some great photographs that my brother-in-law took that really add to the quality of the article. I need to thank both Wes and Steve for such an awesome opportunity and for their fellowship and friendship along the way.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Castalia Video


Castalia Rainbows from Echo Productions on Vimeo.

For years I have relied on well-meant words to share my stories of fantastic fishing trips. I tried to share those stories with the enthusiasm that they deserved. Sometimes I was able to achieve this and other times I failed miserably. As fishermen, we are all great at exaggerating a story. However, with the advent of smaller HD cameras, we no longer have to rely on mere words or exaggeration.


Mike and I were more excited about the filming opportunity that Castaia would afford us than we were about the fishing. As you can see, the fishing was fantastic, but the video that this amazing resource allowed us to take is even more amazing. The underwater footage is some of the best that I have ever seen. The rises and takes were dream like. It is wonderfully amazing to watch these memories unfold before me once more.

I hope that all of you will enjoy this short video as much as we did making it. I have to thank Mike for putting this together. It is truly fantastic footage.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

FLATLANDERflyfishing.com

Here it is! After months of talking and discussing this idea, Mike and I decided to start our own website.We wanted a place where we could share our fishing reports and videos. We have had so much fun this summer fishing and filming that we wanted to share it on a larger scale.
I have thoroughly enjoyed learning how to run the camera and frame shots. I am still not very good at it, but Mike is patiently helping me learn more with each trip. I never thought I would enjoy watching some one else fish, but looking through the lens adds a whole other aspect to our trips. It has been great fun and a joy to learn and share.
With the website will come new blog posts, fishing reports, videos, photographs, and hopefully some interviews and podcasts. We want to share with people the many opportunities that we have here in Ohio and the surrounding states. I look forward to fishing and sharing those adventure even more than before. Stay tuned, it is going to be an exciting fall!
Check us out at flatlanderflyfishing.com

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Just Plain Ol' Good Fun!

Sometimes I think I am a good fly fisherman. Sometimes I am just plain lucky. Today was a result of that luck. Every winter for the past several years I have donated my three dollars for a chance to fish the Castalia Fish Hatchery property. I have waited hopefully each spring for my permit to arrivee in the mail only to be disappointed. This year my luck changed and my permit arrived with the promise of plentiful fish. However, there was a glitch: I had to fish on the designated date.
This is the second week of school after a long summer of vacation. My children were both hard at work and tests, practice and homework would prevent their attendance on this trip. My cousin, Zach, was ready to go until situations at his work changed and so did his plans to attend. Thankfully, my trusty fishing friend Mike was able to go and I was much happier to have a trusted companion for this amazing opportunity.
Mike and I decided to travel north the night before to avoid a very early drive. We laughed and told stories the entire time. We played music trivia and talked of familiar fishing trips from the past. I told Mike about how many of my students believe that I look like Owen Wilson and how I get sick of hearing about it. I don't look like him! It was a good ride.
We arrived in Sandusky at 10p.m. and began our search for a place to spend the night. We tried one hotel only to find it full of last minute vacationers on their way to Cedar Point. Finally, we found a room. However, I had to be reminded once more of my blond whiteness. The lady at the desk had to ask me if I have ever been told that I look like Owen Wilson! Mike thoroughly enjoyed that one.
We watched some TV and relaxed until it was time to sleep. I actually slept really well and was ready to catch some fish with the rising sun. We made our way to the hatchery property and soon checked in. They checked our licenses and reminded us of the rules. We would have the entire half-mile section of the stream to ourselves.
The grounds were groomed and the stream was slow, deep and cold. Cold Creek boils up out of the Blue Hole. It comes through the limestone aquifers and boils into an amazingly clean, cold, and fertile stream. The banks and stream side vegetation remind you of a classic European chalk stream. It looks like something out of a long ago painting that had an old pipe smoking fisherman with a bamboo rod and silk line. I really enjoyed the quiet and solitude that this opportunity afforded us both.
We were allotted five hours on the stream and would have to keep any fish that we kept. I am not much for killing trout, but I have neighbors that would enjoy a few fish. And, rules are rules.We spent much of the first hour just wandering through the property and watching all the feeding fish. Were both truly amazed at the number and size of the fish in this beautifully clean water.
Mike brought two cameras and we were able to get some great footage that we will share in the near future. We spent the rest of the morning fishing and filming each other as we took turns casting and catching fish. Fortunately, our fishing was prolonged by quite a few tight lipped fish. We tried to target larger fish that seemed to be alone in a feeding lane. However, many of them seemed to be offended by our offerings and quickly refused or even moved away. I was surprised by how easily spooked many of these fish were.
Soon, Mike and I had both hooked up on very nice fish and once again I was surprised. When a fish would fight, the entire pool would go crazy and began to frantically swim and rise as if there were a feeding frenzy. It was a spectacular sight to see a pool of frenzied fish spinning, twirling and rising as if they were entranced into dance.
We continued to fish and film throughout the morning. Catching our limits and losing a few fish along the way. Mike hooked a great hooked jawed fish that took him for a walk many yards downstream. That fish jumped, digged and dance for fifteen solid minutes before finally collecting enough vegetation on Mike's line to find his way free. It was exciting to watch and heartbreaking to see the fish free. I am so excited to see what Mike will do with this footage. I am also very excite about some future plans that I will soon be sharing.
We enjoyed another ride home full for fishing and tired from fighting. There were more good stories shared and future plans made. Stay tuned!