Castaplaooza Success!

In spite of the poor weather forecast and postponement of the Canoe Race, we had a good turnout for last weeks Castapalooza on the Grand River. Spey-guru, Will Turek, did a very nice program on switch and two-hand rods to kick things off and the rest of the day was spent giving casting instruction, trying out rods, and fly tying demos. Thanks very much to everyone who helped out.

Here Will Turek explains the finer points of two-handers to the group.

Special thanks to Jim Linehan for his photos!

Muddler Dry Photo

Have had a couple request for this, so here is a close up of Dr. Mitch's Muddler.

Our steelhead have come up recently to an assortment of patterns, Muddler's, Bombers, Stimulators, and even one (very) brief encounter on a #18 Griffith's Gnat.

The big question now is how many fish are left in the rivers after the big rain we had on Sunday and if any fresh fish came in. Will keep you posted.......

Dr. Mitch's Muddler

Here's the recipe for Dr. Mitch Nahra's Muddler Dry:

Hook: Daiichi 2421 #6 (or equivalent)

Body: Purple SLF or PsuedoSeal w/silver rib

Wing: Sparse pearl Krystal Flash

Head: Deer body hair, spun & trimmed muddler style

In addition, Spey steelhead addict Jeff Liskay was able to entice 3 steelhead to dry flies last week and missed several others!

Dry Fly Steelie!

The recent low water had some of our Ohio steelhead looking up. Dog friend, Dr. Mitch Nahra shows off a nice buck that took a muddler-style dry off the surface last week. Mitch was dead drifting the fly and watched the fish come off the bottom and inhale the fly. Very cool!

On The Water With WRLC

It has been a busy spring on the water as I have been guiding a lot through the month of April. I had the opportunity to get involved with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. WRLC is a great organization working hard to preserve greenspace in NE Ohio. Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager and Ex-NBA player Danny Ferry is involved with the WRLC and I was able to introduce him to a couple Chagrin River steelhead recently. The fish or myself are not that small, Danny is just a really big guy! Go Cavs!

The Hammer Strikes Again!

Here is Scott's Fiber Hammer in full-flex action with a Grand River steelhead. You can exert an amazing amount of pressure on a fish with this rod and still have ample cushioning for head shakes- traits of most glass rods.

John Coulson is coming over to assist and the Fish Dog is keeping a close watch on me. Thanks to Jeff Liskay for the photo.

Putting the Hammer On Steelies

Here is my first steelhead on Scott's Fiber Hammer switch rod. The 10 foot 6 inch 7-wt. fiberglass rod is totally retro and a joy to fish. It is perfectly matched to a Scientific Anglers 450 gr. Single Hand Skagit Head and a dream to cast. At the recent Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo in Minneapolis, a glass rod afficianado described the rod as "delicious". After putting it to use on the water and catching several fish on the rod, I would agree. It is a super fun rod!

The Fish Dog conducts some stream entomolgy while I do the grip and grin.

Michigan Guide Meets Ohio Steelhead

Michigan river guide and dog friendJohn Coulson, made a recent visit to chase some Ohio steelhead. Here he shows a silver hen taken just before dark. Bright sun had the fish under cover most of the day, but they came out to play as light moved off the water.

Two Hands Are More Fun Than One

Jeff Liskay works a two-hand rod on Ohio's Grand River. The Grand is perfect water to swing flies with a two hander. Jeff normally uses a 13' -7 or -8 wt. with a Scientific Anglers Skagit head and 12 foot tips. Flies are normally big and flashy as the Grand often runs with a lot of color to it.

A Sniper on the Grand!

Jeff Liskay and I finally had a chance to take the Sniper driftboat on a Grand River (OH) float. Despite its compact size, the Sniper easily handled, Jeff, John Coulson, the Fish Dog, and myself plus gear. The boat is very easy to row and tracks well. We chose a Stealthecraft boat as Mike was willing to sit down and help us design and then build a boat specific for our needs.