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She’s here! Monday we drove to Wisconsin to pick up Juno, our 7 week old black labrador puppy. She’s now at home and already very much a part of our family. Training has begun, although just the basics right now. Things look very promising. Juno will be a working dog and our companion.

We would like to thank Richard and Mirella at Thunder Labradors for making the process so enjoyable and informative. They really love their dogs and is shows in everything they do.

Juno is asleep at my feet as I write this. She slept through the night (well until almost 5 at least) and already seems to understand the house training routine. I think we’ve got a good one. Time will tell and I’ll post updates here.

About six weeks ago we lost our black lab of eleven years.  It was the most difficult thing I’ve done to date.

We knew from the start that we would have another puppy.  In fact I’d already been passively looking for our next dog long before we learned that Abbey was sick.  Our first instinct was to get a dog from the same line as Abbey, she had been the perfect dog after all.

Our former vet in Athens owned a half-sister to Abbey and it was through him that we found Abbey those eleven years ago.  Sadly his dog had also recently died and he did not know of any relatives.  He did however give me a tip that eventually lead me to Thunder Labradors in Wisconsin.

I’ll skip all the details.  Today we took the plunge and will pick up our new puppy, already named as Juno, mid September. Left is Juno’s mother, Thunder’s Instant Karma, Karma to her friends.  The second picture is her litter at one day old last week.  If you look closely Juno is in there somewhere. She’s one of two black females and will be the next best dog in the world,  Just like Abbey.

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.

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 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.