Warm Water Fishing 4.27.2024

On 4.27.2024 I set out to fish the upper Cuyahoga River. I would be swinging flies and not leaving the house until like 1430 after getting my tires for my Soob.

I could have wet waded today but was not really feeling like it. So, getting dressed at home I then loaded the Soob and headed west.

I got to the river and parked at a local softball field. Then I noticed all these young men and woman getting their photos taken. Some kind of high school celebration Ws going on locally and they where along the river like a pageant. Then here comes my ruff-looking bearded self-down to the river on the opposite side.  They stared at me I waved and said in my best West Virginia tone “howdy you going to stare I’m going to say howdy”. Many of them laughed and I said I will move out of your field of view if you want. They were all appreciative of the wader wearing freak of a bearded old man moving out of there line of sight.

I grabbed my custom Rainshadow IF1086-4 – 10’8” 4pc (6wt) rated for 275-375 grain weight window.  I slapped on a 375-grain max short 20’8” head Skagit along with it a “don’t laugh” 10’ salmon steelhead sinking leader 2”/sec. This is the same exact setup I used in Montana.  I used 3 feet of 8-pound test floro for tippet (the three feet was added so I am less likely to blow my anchor).

With in three swings there was the same rainbow I hooked and landed last time. I am calling this one Bart because the name Bert is already taken.  I brought my net this time in preparation for better handling of any fish I may have the luck of landing.

I looked down stream and saw a mother and young sone fishing.  They were walking up the bank as I was leaving. She asked if I had any luck and I said some. I look at the young man he was not having fun. I noticed they where fishing bobbers and worms by looking at the rigs they had. 

I asked them if they had caught anything? They said no and the mom looked sadder than her son. I said stay here I will hook you up to better the odds. I had in my car not far away some of my bobber’s steelhead gear for whatever reason.  I rigged them up with some lead and a lighter leader section with ha barrel swivel.  I also had some smaller hooks, size 10’s.

After I re did their rigs, I said I will be right back one more thing.  The park had some rocks around a planter in which I was praying had some red worms underneath them.

I rolled three over and found my quarry, I went back to them and said put these on the hooks. I gave them some instructions on how to read this pool. The rainbows were all held in the slick between the two currents about 30 feet from the bank.  I told them you want to dance the bobber right down the middle and hold onto the rod.

The mother was greatly appreciative and tried to give me money and I told her no please just enjoy the time with your son.

I was almost back at the Subaru, and I could hear happy screaming coming from the bank. Lol

I would look up at the sky and it was starting to get grey to that deep what I call it electric blue color.  Well, a storm is coming, and I need to fish one more short section.

I got to the riverbank after I walked around a swampy section of the river. I noticed that there were a lot of plants blooming and it looks so beautiful as mother nature intended it to be.

I would hook a small but feisty smally that was preggo!  Yea she may have been bedding because I hooked her off a sand and gravel bar.

Then the next fish well her/she broke my heart. I did a half-a$$ cast near a sunken tree.  I was swinging right in front of it hoping to lure anything lurking in its shadows.

The second cast was better, and I gave it a downstream mend to send the fly screaming across the current.  When I did this it sent a pike hauling after my fly. He would hook himself with the fly being a tube fly on the swing. I went to put side pressure on the large hammer handle in the current and when I did it my rod rotated through the reel seat.

At that moment I thought what the hell and then he rolled and snapped my leader buy cutting it.  I was more upset at the fly rod and the moment and less at the fish.

The skies started to pour rain and it was time to head home.

 

 

 

Conditioning for vacation

The local weather patterns are starting to stabilize.  Today I did some hill road work. The hills where steep and different lengths.  The route was only 7 miles on some nice country roads.  

My goal today was only to work on my breathing and elevate my heart rate.  

My 2024 Return To Maine

I will be returning to Maine in 159 days for two weeks.  During this time, I will be seeing places I have never seen before. I will be taking a lot of photos like I did the last time I was there. I will also be doing a lot of fishing, one with the bug rod and the other with the eggbeater.  I wanted to show you folks where I will be taking some photos based upon your recommendations and if you have other suggestions, please let me know.  I will be up in Maine from Sept 21^st until October 5^th. 

This will be the latest trip in Maine I have ever done. I am limited to where I can take my vehicle because of the vertical clearance she has. Not to say I won’t chance it while practicing some common sense lol.  She is going to be replaced next year with another Soob that has higher vertical clearance. 

Because of extreme sensitivity and respect for the fishery and my friends I will not be talking about where I am fishing or accessing the areas I will be at.  For those who know you don’t need a map lol.

So, my first screen shot here is of the Height of Land area. I have found three vistas via Goggle Earth Pro and Google Maps.

Here are the coordinates for one of the vistas:  44°51'9.51"N  70°42'12.60"W. The second vista is here 44°49'22.77"N,  70°42'20.62"W and the third vista is here  44°50'18.75"N  70°42'37.02"W.

Here is one of the places I will be headed too Quill Hill located here: 45° 2'40.76"N  70°31'17.70"W

I will be also going to the site of the B-52 crash to pay my respects located here 45°31'40.40"N  69°26'5.10"W.

I won’t give details about where I will be in the following area, but for discussion we can call it Baxter State Park.  I will be up here in this area for three days. I will be float tubing a pond and fishing one other bodies of water up there that will remain nameless by me due to respect for all. I have rented a cabin that will be amazing to call home for the time I am up there.

I will be returning to base camp after this which is down coast and while I hope to fish with a few old friends and possibly new ones after a few days of that I will return to Acadia.

I will be rock crawling and scrambling for three days.  I will be taking a lot of photos of the seascape and going up to Cadillac Mountain. I will be using an eggbeater here because the majority of the shoreline will not allow you to overhead cast. The Pollock will be my main quarry here and trying for something larger with the larger rod rigged for deeper water around sunken structure.

The information I am only looking for is places to take photos and I do not want any fishy access information.  As you know enough about me by now, it’s all about adventure.

Needless to say, I am all tied up for Maine saltwater flies and freshwater flies are all done. I am leaving my bobbers at home. This will be a swinging trip and a still water tactics trip.

Wow I almost forgot so while headed up north and around the Rangeley area are there any good places to get a meal?  I do not require anything fancy but what I do want to experience is anywhere you would get that feeling of home. I am looking for any and all recommendations.

 Thank you,

Sonder

Solar Eclipse was a bust for me!

  lol I am glad I don’t make a living from taking photos! The cloud cover with my dark lense made it tough to get a good composition for any photo. The high cirrus clouds diffused the sunlight so well I should have had a 12 s stop for the shoot. If this had been a completely clear sky, then maybe it would have been better, but I will never know lol.  So, the totality shot was blown because I did not use my grey polarizer for the totality shot.  I am glad I did not wait my whole lifetime for this moment lol.

2024 Solar Eclipse Photo Training

 

Eclipse filter test

 

This photo was taken at noon! So on saturday I will take a few close up shots and see what I got stay tuned!

Well, where to begin hmm let’s see let’s start with it’s all about the adventure!

I have fished the Fuego River for several years and she has never ceased to amaze me, but today she raised the bar.

I grabbed my custom Rainshadow IF1086-4 – 10’8” 4pc (6wt) rated for 275-375 grain weight window.  I slapped on a 375-grain max short 20’8” head Skagit along with it a “don’t laugh” 10’ salmon steelhead sinking leader 2”/sec. This is the same exact setup I used in Montana.  I used 3 feet of 8-pound test floro for tippet (the three feet was added so I am less likely to blow my anchor).

I did not hit the water until about 1400. The overnight low was just above freezing and so for me there was no point showing up any earlier.

I drove west like Fieval to get to the Fuego River.   I arrived to the urban jungle and got ready. People looked at me like they often do like I have a screw loose! Chuckling, I headed to the river.

I found her to be very low for this time of year and with most of the reel steelheaders up on the tribs I was assured to have this all to myself.

I got there and saw ppl enjoying the sun and the nice weather. Our winter this year has been mellow. We will pay the price in the summer while the west is on fire we will join them with our drought.

A former friend of mine Marc Crapo made me a nice fly wallet that I decided to bring with me today. It’s been a while since I have used my fly wallet.

I start covering the traditional holding waters for any warm water fish species.

I did not care if I hooked any fish today. It’s been a minute since I have cast one of my two handers.  I cack handed “look up that definition lol” step casted downstream for about 100 yards and with no love I went elsewhere.

So, at this point I had been casting for maybe 40 minutes. Then I made a move down stream by maybe 10 miles.

Well, what I did not know until just now they stock rainbows in this section of the Fuego River.  So, although it was on the swing I thought it was really rare, but apparently knot!

The pattern was pretty basic tied on a number 1 2220 Daiichi streamer hook.  The body is white schlapen “wide palmered to be sparse”. Then tye in a sparse collar of flashabou and then a heavy palmered collar of mallard flank.

This is as simple as it gets, I think for a swinging minnow pattern and lol if this one head gets any bigger it’s going to need two zip codes! So, funny thing this is also my gar fly pattern! The streamer hook is other than being a huge hook size for trout, it is 4X long!!!

I got to my second spot and waded out a third of the way out to the river. Onlookers are like what in the world is he doing?   This perch was looking over downstream a slick in the river. A slick is a piece of water that is relatively flat in the middle because it’s between two tailouts!

So, at this point its been over an hour since I started to drown flies. In reading the water I put down stream mend in my cast to sed the fly screaming across the river.  From what my friend has told me who fishes out west in Oregon for saltrun steelhead this will trigger fish if they are present!

Holy snickers it happened!  My line went stiff mid current! I put side pressure on the fish and he/she did not like that! The fish leapt out of the river and I bowed to it like my Pap taught me.

This would be the moment I realized it was a trout I hooked! A trout how in the sam hell was this a trout and how in the hell did it get here?

The fish fell back into the river and snuggled with the gravel digging in. I rotated the rod to be perpendicular to the riverbank and the trout did not like that at all.

The fish tried to dislodge the hook, but that number one streamer was buried deep in the jaw!

I brought the fish to hand and treated it with all due respect and turned him/her loose to fight another day. I would hook two more and broke them off because I was genuinely worried others would see me hook these fish. Later I learned that these fish were stocked lol!

I will be back again someday for another challenge!

Be well,

Sonder

Headed out to the river in the heat of day 3.24.2024

 ...Stay tuned!

She does not want me to fish this weeked

 Look at the Gusts mph!

Hiking, Hocking Hills State Park and a ole friend!

 It was a great day and here are some videos and other interesting items from our day!

Pre-Spring Swing

 

Hello folks,

Well winter has been strange to say the least and on February 10 I am going to swing flies in northeast Ohio in 50-degree weather.  Meanwhile there are states in the Pacific Northwest that have only 50% of the snowpack for the season.

Today’s outing of swinging flies was more for exercise than anything else. I headed way up stream on the Grand River. I found the river to be running a little low for swinging at 340 cf/s and she had a solid 24” of visibility today.

I brought my Scott switch rod (2H1157/4) and I have it strung up with a SA 440 grain skagit. My tip of choice today was a 1.5”/sec sink rate leader.  I also chose a more subtle and natural colored fly.

Its spring and the majority of the fish have either spawned or are actively on gravel. I have no desire to fish for bedding fish.

I made my way up the riverbanks that are budding with life already. The wild rose bushes were turning back to green after being dormant over winter. They should still be in their dormant state, but these temps over the several weeks have changed that.

A lot of these areas up here on the river are low lying areas and prone to flooding.  I did notice some type of swamp plant that was also coming out of its dormant stasis.

I found my first perch and covered the water to the best of my ability. I worked the casts long and short to cover the holding lies well enough in the hopes of making a fish rise.

After over an hour I began my mile plus hike back to the car. I could hear turkeys going off in the distance. I heard deer snort at me I yelled out “whatever”.

I got back to the car a little less for wear and headed to the “jawbone River”.

Here I would settle in once I made the over mile trek to the river and make a pot of boiling water for my coffee press.

The river here was nothing like her easterly cousin.  Here is river was green and had exceptional flow for February. I keep coming back here to see her to hopefully one day she will grant me the experience of hooking a steelhead in her river. I made my coffee and continued to traverse the river. I swung every part of that river that I thought could hold a fish. I tried to redefine the definition of insanity but I failed to do so and called it a day. Battered and beaten, but with a smile on my face I turned the car to the east and drove home.

Swinging Flies

Well, it’s February and in the past I didn’t like fishing until the spawning fish are out of the rivers. I need to get some exercise and get my casting arms a workout. I will be headed to the Grand River and the “Jawbone River”.

I will start up high on the Grand and then traversing down to a middle section. The overnight low is supposed to be 50 degrees with a south westerly wind with speeds up to 8 to 11 miles per hour. There is no reel reason to get here before first light. I will be in the gorge area and it will take some time for any sunshine to warm up the river valley.

There should be less fish and idealistically less people up in this stretch of water too. I long for the old days of seeing less people and I know it’s the popularity of Mr. and Mrs. Instagram to take their hero shots. We are all guilty of it at one time or another in our journey of life.

With the weather forecasts being this who would not want to go out and swing some flies to relax.

Weather Forecast

USGS Flow Data

I will then turn to fish the “Jawbone” River. Here I will fish down low in the hopes of connecting with a drop back fish. Hell, who I am kidding I want more than anything to just hook a fish!

Stay tuned, I will have some new videos and photos to share.

Be well and get outside 

Sonder

Saturday Fitness

Hello folks, well our winter is not over but this has been again for us here it has been lack-luster for the most part.

I am starting to get my rear in gear for getting back into shape for the upcoming fishy season!  I am ready last year I missed spring fishing all together because of the move.

This is not going to happen this year and I have started to hike. Its just getting motivated and getting out is the hardest part. I know I always develop a bit of depression when the winter months come, but it’s natural being single and having an extremely tiny circle of friends.

I went out for a little hike, and it was 3.2 miles there and back. There were plenty of deviations in elevations.

I wanted to take some photos and videos in the gorge.  So that I could enter the creek I put on my waders and filled my backpack with gear.  When I was walking from my car the looks, I got were priceless.

I started out at an elevation of 926 and ascended into the creek gorge and ended up at elevation 730.9.

The water was at summer-esc flow and was very navigable. There are new multi-tiered falls that have been created by the recent high-water moments.

I am sure for the folks that saw me down at the bottom of the gorge thought I was some kind of crazy person down there.

I made AeroPress coffee while I was down there also. I was nice to sit with my thoughts and listen to mother nature’s symphony.  I hiked up the same way I came and 14% - 16% grade up hill was not to terrible on my legs as I thought it would be.

I can’t stress enough how much I enjoy my Garmin 64sx handheld device. I has been one of the reasons I have been able to enjoy my adventures and mis adventures so much. I also enjoy it greatly because when the cell phone does not work this works like a hammer!

I hope you enjoy the photos and videos.

Be well,

Sonder

Making field coffee on the trail or creek side

 

I have always had a love for coffee.  I also have a need for a good cup of coffee. Well, I thought in all these years of life I was doing it right. Then along came my friend Jim.

He told me to try this and try that.  I of course have not done either for years. Then my friend gets me an Aeropress This gift has opened my eyes and my brain.  This simple coffee press has elevated my coffee experience.  Jim also beat me over the head about using bottled water.  I of course stupidly discounted again his words of wisdom. I thought to myself how much better could it really be?

Well needless to say I am a bottle or purified water believer.  The coffee I am making now has ruined me in a good way.

So, Jim once again attempts to tell me I need to grind my own beans!

I once again tell myself just how much better this coffee could get.  Well, I purchased a conical grinder per Jims’s instructions, and I am now a ruined man. There is not a place on Earth that serves a better cup of coffee than in my kitchen! Lol

In the field I use a small camping stove and a Seatosummit XPOT

This works well and has a pouring spout and this makes my hikes and creek crawling so much better.

You can see the field set up in the attached videos

Creek Walking on a Saturday - Brandywine Creek & Falls

 

Red over White Deerhair

 

Mickey Finn

 

I just found a new fly shop

 So, in life it's the little things.  I'm preparing for my Maine trip this fall.  In doing so their is flies to be tide, tides to be looked at, and reservations to be made.  

I also enjoy giving my business to the local shops when I can. 

I ordered some fly patterns so I can copy them for the local fishing holes.  The shop I ordered them from is called Rangeley Fly Shop and it's a cute little shop in the Rangeley region.  They also sent the cutest little gift with it a Swedish fish.  

You just made a new customer out of me. 

 

Letchworth, New York State Park Winter Wonderland

 

Here is a link for the 

state park

Letchworth SP, New York - Winter Wonderland

 

Here is a link for the 

state park

Letchworth State Park NY

 I'm headed there now and barring from a major snow event this should make for some beautiful photos.   

Stay tuned,

Sonder

Goals and Vacation plans

 Today was the start of my savings for my 60^th birthday gift to myself. I am saving to go to fishing British Columbia for over 1 week at https://www.nicholasdean.com/.

To just say it will be a trip of a lifetime is an understatement.

I also started financial planning for my 2024 two week vacation in Maine. Here I will be going to the Baxter area, Rock hopping in the salt, and hiking in with my float tube to a remote brook trout pond.  I will be ordering the first round of tying materials this weekend.

Stay tuned for fly tying photos.

Sonder