Brian’s Bass

Wednesday I fished with Brian B. This was Brian’s third year in a row fishing largemouth with me and I really wanted to put him onto a big fish. Last year he landed a great fish so I knew no ordinary fish would make the day.

We found the fish. It may or may not have been as big as last year’s fish but the fight it gave us certainly made the catch. Brian’s TFO 8 weight was bent in half and I had a hard time keeping the kayak out of the brush. The fish jumped twice and went deep into the weeds but eventually came to hand.

We measured the largemouth at 22 inches and this time I had my boga so we weighed it at 5 pounds. I also used my new waterproof case on the camera to get a picture of the fish underwater.

Perhaps the best part of the story is that the fly Brian used was one he’d specifically requested from Ohio guide and fly tyer, Patrick Robinson. It was Patrick’s “Munchable Minnow” that brought this fish and many others to hand that day.

April Bass

What a day to kick off the 2009 bass season.

I had the great pleasure to guide for largemouth bass on Sunday with a first time customer. The sky was blue and the sun was hot (my neck is reminding me how hot as write this some hours after dark.)

As we fished we talked about  bass fishing on the fly along with many other things. My customer was a accomplished caster so after some brief bass-specific instruction my job was easy, all I had to do was put the kayak at the right angle to reach the fish.

In the morning many nice bass were caught but nothing big, but boy did we ever see some big ones. After lunch things picked up and the average size increased. Mid afternoon we were already having a good day when I saw something in the water I could not quite identify. When the shape turned I had a good idea what it was.

As calmly as I could I told David what I’d seen and turned the boat to line him up for the cast. The cast was good but the fish immediately spooked in the clear shallow water. Instead of leaving the scene as we might expect the fish turned about a 20 foot wide circle and came back to the fly. The fish ate and we knew we had some work to do.

The Ohio largemouth bass measured 24 inches, we didn’t weigh it. Congratulations David. I hope Vic won’t be too unhappy with us.

Steelhead Success

Steelhead Alley Outfitters guide, John Miller had a great day on the water Friday. Attached are pictures of the anglers he guided with some excellent Lake Erie Steelhead.

The Ohio tributaries are fishing well. There is some rain in the forecast and that’s good news. Some water in the rivers will be a good thing and should continue to bring in fresh fish from the lake.

The Steelhead Alley Outfitters blog has more pictures and up-to-date reports on steelhead fishing conditions in the region.

Check out Mad River Outfitters to book a day on the water with John or any of the other Steelhead Alley Outfitters guides.

Busman’s Holiday

Thursday I went steelheading with friends Brian & David. We didn’t find any fresh fish but we did find a lot of fish and had a great day on the water.

Steelhead Season Is Here

The Ohio Spring steelhead season is in full swing. The pictures are from late last week. Mad River Outfitters’ clients from Columbus were guided by John Miller of Steelhead Alley Outfitters. I think the pictures say it all.

www.madriveroutfitters.com

Wilderness Medical Training

If you page down to the previous post you’ll see that Tall Man Outfitters is hosting two wilderness medicine courses in Ohio this February.

Below are comments from Steelhead Alley Outfitters Head Guide, Patrick “Flybum” Robinson.

“In many states, in order to qualify for a guide license you have to show proof of First Aid/CPR training. Pennsylvania is one such state but in Ohio we don’t have a guide license program. Many of our guides carry the PA guide license but at Steelhead Alley Outfitters we require all our guides to have some kind of first aid training and certification.

I have personally taken the Wilderness First Aid (WFA) class through Wilderness Medical Associates (WMA) hosted by Tall Man Outfitters and found it to be bar none the best training of its kind I have ever taken.

WMA’s Wilderness First Aid is so much more than your standard first aid class…trust me it is worth your time and your money to get this certification! Once complete, you are certified for three years and prepared to deal with anything you would encounter in a wilderness context (which does not necessarily mean in the middle of nowhere, but could be a difficult location that could take some time to get your patient out of).

If Steelhead Alley Outfitters were to mandate specific training for our guides, this would be the training we would require.”

For more information on the upcoming classes, page down or go directly to the Tall Man Outfitters web page and follow the links for Wilderness Medical Training.

Be safe out there!