Six-Gun
Member
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2013
- Messages
- 427
Let me put this out on table right up front: I've had a pretty miserable time fishing in Ohio so far, and not just for coldwater fish.
In Ohio, I've been out on 3 different bodies of water over 6 or 7 different trips - at various times of day - and caught exactly two fish that weren't creek chubs. To put that in perspective, on just one terribly truncated day fishing the Pere Marquette in central Michigan, I landed around 10 fish during the same timeframe. That's considering that the middle of that one day was totally blown by watercraft traffic through the heart of the river and only the later evening (3 hours or so) was fishable. Moreover, one of those 10 fish was a nice rainbow caught on a mouse pattern at dark.
When the Mad River in Ohio wasn't producing after 4 tries, I decided I would give warmwater fishing a try, but even that has been painful. I caught nothing out of Caeser Creek Lake in the southwest part of the state and just one dink smallmouth in the Little Miami River (supposedly one of the top smallie producers in the state). I've had rough stretches back when I was still spin fishing for largemouth while stationed out in Nebraska, but I don't think I ever had a stretch this ugly.
Regardless, I still want to tough it out. I could just continue fishing my annual license in Michigan, but then it's right back to 6+ hour drives to catch fish like I had out West (when I regularly trekked from Las Vegas to Utah for great trout fishing). Given the time of year, if there's any hope left in Ohio, I have to think that warmwater species will be it.
But what is it going to take? The locals say that many lakes down here are simply not producing and with the rain hitting almost daily, the rivers are nearly blown out at all times. When do the rains in western PA and OH tend to chill out? How much murk can you expect to have and still catch bass/bluegill/crappie/etc on clousers and such? Is there anything else I need to factor in to see productive warmwater fly fishing?
I thought I had this fly game somewhat figured out, but this latest funk has me totally miffed and feeling like I belong right back in the beginner forum. Thanks for your help.
In Ohio, I've been out on 3 different bodies of water over 6 or 7 different trips - at various times of day - and caught exactly two fish that weren't creek chubs. To put that in perspective, on just one terribly truncated day fishing the Pere Marquette in central Michigan, I landed around 10 fish during the same timeframe. That's considering that the middle of that one day was totally blown by watercraft traffic through the heart of the river and only the later evening (3 hours or so) was fishable. Moreover, one of those 10 fish was a nice rainbow caught on a mouse pattern at dark.
When the Mad River in Ohio wasn't producing after 4 tries, I decided I would give warmwater fishing a try, but even that has been painful. I caught nothing out of Caeser Creek Lake in the southwest part of the state and just one dink smallmouth in the Little Miami River (supposedly one of the top smallie producers in the state). I've had rough stretches back when I was still spin fishing for largemouth while stationed out in Nebraska, but I don't think I ever had a stretch this ugly.
Regardless, I still want to tough it out. I could just continue fishing my annual license in Michigan, but then it's right back to 6+ hour drives to catch fish like I had out West (when I regularly trekked from Las Vegas to Utah for great trout fishing). Given the time of year, if there's any hope left in Ohio, I have to think that warmwater species will be it.
But what is it going to take? The locals say that many lakes down here are simply not producing and with the rain hitting almost daily, the rivers are nearly blown out at all times. When do the rains in western PA and OH tend to chill out? How much murk can you expect to have and still catch bass/bluegill/crappie/etc on clousers and such? Is there anything else I need to factor in to see productive warmwater fly fishing?
I thought I had this fly game somewhat figured out, but this latest funk has me totally miffed and feeling like I belong right back in the beginner forum. Thanks for your help.