Pretty Cool!

Mike sent me a text today reminding me to watch for the Orvis Friday Film Festival. Orvis is one of the oldest and most widely known fly fishing companies in the world. Their name is synonymous with fly fishing. The company maintains several blogs, and their fly fishing blog is one of our favorites. Each Friday, they post interesting fly fishing videos from around the World Wide Web. This week, they found our latest video and decided it was worth sharing. Pretty cool!
I was elated when I opened the site and found that they had posted our video. It is quite an honor for us to be recognized on this site. Again, I need to thank Mike for all of his hard work and talents. He does an amazing job with these short clips and he is my favorite fishing friend. However, it is tough to think that the whole world will now have the chance to watch me tangle with a tree. Oh well, it isn’t my first dance with a tree and it certainly won’t be my last.
If you enjoy fly fishing, I would encourage you to subscribe to the Orvis blog. Mike and I always look forward to the Friday Film Festival. There is some truly awesome footage out there.
You can check it out here:  http://www.orvisnews.com/FlyFishing/Friday-Fly-Fishing-Film-Festival-012012.aspx

Clear Creek in the Snow

     Sunday the skies were bright and sunny. The thermometer rose from ten degrees to a balmy thirty. The sun felt warm. I hesitated to fish and hunted instead. Today, the weather was supposed to warm to the upper forties. A front was moving through bringing moisture from the South. Today we would fish! It was the coldest forty degree day I have fished in a long time!

     Neither of us had much time so we opted for Clear Creek. It is close to home, the scenery is pretty and we can always find a few willing fish. We parked at one of our favorite spots and fished a good stretch of the river. There was still plenty of snow in the valley and the water was quite chilly and very clear. The rain had begun to fall and my hands and toes were instantly aware of the fact that they were no longer in a heated environment.

     Mike and I tried different tactics in an attempt to find some sort of pattern. I dragged an ugly nymph through the promising pools and riffles while Mike bounced a bugger of the rocky bottom. He was the first to hook up and landed an energetic eight inch fish that came with a smile and the pride of getting on the board first. I soon switched to a bugger and lost a fish that followed almost to my feet. This would be a recurring pattern.

     We slowly worked our way down stream casting to all the promising water while losing the feeling in both our hands and toes.  We had several follows and both managed to miss a few fish. Finally, after losing my fly to a fish, I decided to go back to dredging a nymph. On my next two casts, I managed to land two small browns and rid myself of the skunk like smell that was beginning to fester. I would have never heard the end of that!

We ended just as darkness was ready to set in and walked gingerly on our frozen feet back to the car. It was a struggle to get out of our waders while working with such cold fingers. The car gave us the welcomed warmth that our fingers and toes had been craving. It was a pleasant ride home after the pain of my thawing hands finally subsided.

I forgot my camera. The stills here were extracted from the video footage. We filmed quite a bit as well, but we only took the GoPro today because of the cold and rain. It will be a few days before Mike has time to edit the footage, but I am not sure he has enough for another short video. 

We Have Video!

     I received a text from Mike last night saying something about hating to edit fishing footage. He complained that it made him want to fish. If the sun shines I want to fish. Heck! If the sun rises, I want to fish!

On our first trip of the year, Mike carried both his Cannon SLR with  the new lens and the GoPro. If you follow this blog, you have already seen what the new lens is capable of with stills. I could not wait to see what the video footage looked like. Well the wait is over and once again, Mike worked his magic and the footage is fantastic.

     Let me preface the viewing of this short video with one small note: I am not a professional videographer. Mike is. I have a theory that if you are not in the trees at some point; you are not fishing hard enough. With that said Mike fishes harder than anyone I know. He has caught more trees with my flies than any other person that I know, and this would include my own children. Don’t worry I am getting better with the camera each trip. It won’t be long before you all get to witness some of what I have been watching for the past several years.

      For now, you will only get to see me fishing as hard as I can. It was a nice tree. I let it go.

Finally!

Finally! We are a week into the New Year and I finally caught a trout. Seriously, the weather could not have been better. It has been in the fifties and beautiful here for the past two days. I hope the weather is this nice in April. I fear that winter is waiting pounce, so I will fish while I can. Mike also had a new toy to play with: a  new lens for his camera. As you can see, the pictures are amazing!

Mike, His father-in-law, and I headed for the Mad this afternoon. The skies were clear, the winds were light, and the temperatures were very comfortable for an afternoon of fishing in early January. Mike’s father-in-law, Denny, wanted to show us a section of the river further upstream than I had ever ventured. We started just south of interstate 33 and fished upstream and downstream from one of the bridges that crossed the river.

Denny told us he had caught two monster rainbows in this section a few years ago. I was excited about the opportunity to see a few rainbows.However, I would be happy to see any trout today. Mike and I headed upstream through some promising runs and riffles. It did not take long for Mike to find his first fish of the year. It was a short fight and a small brown, but it was the first trout of 2012.

We filmed a bit and played with the camera and soon, I found my first brown of 2012. It was one of the many fish stocked from the fall. The basic eight inch fish that jumped and dance his way to my hand. I was glad to see him and thankful for his visit.

We filmed, we fished, and we explored a new section of the Mad. We did not catch any more trout, but I did find a tree that Mike was glad to film me catching! It was a great visit with the winding river. I look forward to getting back to that section later this year. With the weather they are predicting, I hope to fish again soon.

Happy New Year!

The older I get the faster time seems to fly. I watch in awe as another year comes to a close. This time of year always allows me to reflect on the adventures of the past 365 days. I am grateful for those days and look forward to many more. I am thankful for my wife and my children and the health of my family. I am thankful for my friends. I am thankful for my job.

On the fishing front, this has been quite a year. It was a rough start with rain dictating the fishing in our part of the world. Winter allowed me a few fishing excursions, but spring was brutal. The perpetual precipitation left the local rivers at impossible levels for fishing. My favorite hatch of the year came and went without a day to fish because of flooding on the rivers. Before I knew it, it was May and the dry fly fishing in Ohio hadn’t even gotten started.

Let me address some of the highlights from this past year: The Mad was fantastic. Each trip there, I found my net filled with fat, healthy browns that were more than willing to take a fly. The water levels remained healthy throughout the summer and July was one of the best months of the year. As I do every year, I spent my late Grandfather’s birthday on the water. I believe that is how we should remember those that were dear to us; we should enjoy some of the things they enjoyed while on this earth. We honor their time here and create new memories even without their physical presence.

July would also find me in the mountains of Colorado. It was my first trip west and it will not be my last. I was fortunate to meet and befriend Steve Schweitzer. Steve went to high school with my brother-in-law, Wes. Steve is also the author of A Fly Fishing Guide to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was an amazing trip that I chronicled in detail here. I am grateful for Steve’s guidance and friendship. This trip, along with the blog, afforded me the opportunity to do a little writing as well. I was asked to write a destination article for Global Fly Fisher. It was a very enjoyable and somewhat tedious task. I look forward to more of this type of writing in the upcoming year.

My own children have really grown to appreciate their time on the water as well. Morgan and Matthew have worked hard on their skills and are a pleasure to have with me on any adventure. Morgan and I were even asked to do a local TV appearance. We filmed a fly fishing segment for fitTOGETHER, a local show that airs in Fairfield County. It was not my first time in front of the camera, but creating this memory with Morgan made it one of the most special trips of the year. As for Matthew, he is quite the bass slayer. I look forward to capturing more adventures with him as the New Year matures.

I even won the lottery this past year. The Castalia fish lottery! I have been faithful to donate my three dollars each of the past ten years. This year the Division of Wildlife gave a little back.  Mike and I(Owen Wilson) , travelled north to the booming metropolis of Castalia to fish the famed waters of the most pristine waters in Ohio, Cold Creek. This was chronicled in a short video that we shot and Mike produced. You can find it here or on Youtube and Vimeo. It is some of the best dry fly fishing footage that you may ever see from our great state.

Speaking of Mike, he created our new website http://www.flatlanderflyfishing.com/. We are very excited about what the future holds for this adventure. We have several videos from last spring and summer and this year promises to be even better. Stay tuned, you won’t be disappointed. I am fortunate to have such talented friends and Mike’s abilities often leaving me shaking my head. He is a great friend and a wonderful fishing companion. His abilities to lose my flies in trees also often leave me shaking my head.

As the year takes its last breaths, I am encouraged and excited to see what the future holds. It has been a good year on some fronts of my life and a very difficult year on others. I am grateful for both.

Happy New Year everyone!

It's Not Over Yet!

Two days ago, I sat here and typed my year in review. It was raining, again. I thought my fishing for the year had come to an end. I even mentioned that I did not think I would have the chance to get out again. I was wrong. I do that quite a bit. Be wrong, that is. Today, I had every intention of getting in the woods for an evening hunt. However, the weather was very warm and the wind was all wrong for where I wanted to hunt. With only a couple of hours of daylight left, I headed for Clear Creek. 

A little practice with the camera timer

I was not even sure if the stream would be fishable with all the recent rain. I was surprised to find the stream in great shape. It was carrying quite a bit of water, but it was completely manageable for flinging a nymph and a small bugger. I quickly rigged up and was soon on the water. The sun was warm and I only needed a light sweatshirt and a fleece vest. I was ready and comfortable for my   winter adventure. It is hard to believe that it is December 29^th and I am fishing in such nice weather. I think this creek was covered in ice last December.

Every turn offers another beautiful run

I chose to start with an olive bugger and began to swing it through the seams of one of my favorite runs. On the first cast, I had a fish miss the fly three times.  This continued as two or three more fish would come up short on their attempt to take the fly. I decided to slow things down a bit and tied on a bead head green weenie. The green weenie is an easy tie and a great winter attractor pattern. It proved its worth on the first drift with a small, but very healthy, brown trout. I proceeded to find two more willing trout from this run and my day was already as satisfying as it needed to be.

After beating that stretch to death, I worked my way through some other familiar spots as I headed for the car. I picked up another fish on the green weenie before switching back to the olive bugger. I managed one more fish to my hand and several that were short on the strike. Five trout on a winter’s day in Fairfield/Hocking County Ohio, that’s a darn good day! I was thankful for such willing trout and the warmth of a winter day.

I have to add a side note here: I was asked why I would post pictures of such small fish. Trout and their habitat are beautiful. I do not care if they are five inches or twenty-five inches; I am excited every time I see or catch one of these swimming gems. When I fish, I can often be heard oohing and awing when I miss a fish. Friends that fish with me just shake their heads and laugh. I just love catching trout, no matter how big or how small. I have been catching trout since I was old enough to walk and carry a fishing rod. I will continue until I can no longer walk or carry a fly rod!

My last fish of the day

As you can see, Clear Creek is a beautiful place no matter what time of year. I could spend the entire time taking pictures of all of the beautiful portions of this wonderful park. It is a great luxury to have such a place so close to home.

One of the many unique sights in the Park

The road home

A little Thanksgiving fishing!

Major holidays are spent with my wife's family. I am fortunate to have married into a family that I enjoy. I enjoy them even more when they move into houses that have ponds on the property. My brother-in-law, Wes, lives in a beautiful house with both a pool and a pond. Since there are no fish in the pool, it is not something that excites me. Besides, November is too cold to swim anyhow. However, the pond does quite a bit to get me excited about a visit to the in laws. I think this video clip sums up my feelings about a visit to the  in laws. I asked the same question and received a similar response. I couldn't agree more... the pond is just perfect for me!

Realizing that I have not fished this month, I grabbed a fly rod and a hand full of flies for some time on the water. After an amazing meal, I just had to try and catch a fish.
It was cold, damp and a bit breezy, but I was determined. The pond is the only back yard pond that I know of with yellow perch. There are some very nice perch in there as well, but today any perch would do. I was lucky enough to find one on my first cast. He was not much bigger than the clouser I was casting, but it was a fish, and a pretty one at that.

I was satisfied, but just like dinner- I wanted more. The water was very cold and the fish were not very active. I did manage to land a small bluegill before the cold and my common sense drove me back inside. It was nice to catch a couple of fish. I have been preoccupied with antlers for the past month, but I think that will all change very quickly.

Oh, and a picture of the pond. Trust me, the pool is there, but there isn't much to see this time of year.