2025 Turkey Day Spey Day 2

 

Here it is day two of Turkey Day Spey and it’s the last day. The drought has not been kind to the USA and not to the Great Lakes Region. I spent part of the day in Cuyahoga Valley National Park “CVNP”.

I chose to fish the Cuyahoga River “Hoga” today and she was in amazing shape for being low.  The river has always had good flow even in the dead of summer lots of different gradients.

The river was gin clear in two feet or less, but two feet or deeper she was green.  I saw several shad pooled up in the shallows I would imagine because of the cooler temperatures.

I would fish my sinking leader with 12-pound test tippet at the end along with a simple shiner fly pattern. The Skagit line is a 440 grain short head Freightliner by Scientific Angler. The leader set up was an Airflo steelhead sinking leader 1.5”/second.

I finally saw other anglers today. Two of the anglers were locals and one pinner was up by the bridge and did not come down.

The Hoga has a lot of silt, sand, and muck issues. Her banks are in bad shape from all the erosion. The Hogs River basin is rich and fertile for agriculture here in the CVNP.

I got to the river at 1030 am and with the highs today being 37 there was no reason to get there early IMHO.

I was ok with the slow day after all I always have zero expectations of hooking a fish.

It’s nice to be on a section of a river and not see trash and other footprints except for all the wildlife.

I could have fished another river, but I did not want to fish around other people.

Take care folks and be well!

2025 Turkey Day Spey Day 1

Well, the first day of Turkey Day Spey is in the books. Mother nature has worked her magic of freezing temps and lots of wind and that’s never a good mixture. I still tried, and I could not fish New York because of the weather and road conditions.

I am headed out this morning after I eat breakfast. There are only three rivers that are fishable right now, and I am choosing one that will have less fish and most likely less people.

Fishing the Jawbone river in the CVNP

The days for me fishing with others around are rare unless you’re a friend. Even fishing with friends is close to rare as well. With that said I often fish in waters that have very few catchable numbers of fish on purpose.

On this day I choose to fish the Cuyahoga River. They did stock it with steelhead last year and we will see how the return is in three years. They will be stocking this river yearly with steelhead.

The access is plenty, but she has silt issues and has a lot of sand.  She has plenty of gravel sections and deep holes. In a lot of respects, she reminds me of a smaller Manistee River in Michigan.

I just pray that the areas that I have found over the decades will remain the same, but only time will tell.

So, today I headed out to the river. I found her with good flow and with 30” of solid visibility.

I needed a break from the restoration of my antique drafting table project.

I got to the river in one of my favorite spots. This time I saw boot prints on the trail, and this would be the first time I have seen another person’s footprints.

I would be swinging a sinking leader that would sink at a rate of 1.5”/second.  I used a number 6 streamer tied with a white body with an olive hackle collar.

I used 12-pound tippet and tried to redefine the definition of insanity. I walked about 7 miles between the two stretches of water.

I had a solid grab in a throat where two current seams converged. It was nice out today with the overcast skies and a gentle breeze.  I did a lot of bush-wacking to get into one spot lol I won’t be back there again. The wild razzberry bushes nearly ate me alive! Lol

I hope you enjoy the artwork.

Sonder

Messing with the residents on this hot July day (7.12.2025)!

Dog Days of Summer

Its that time of year when our rivers and creeks are showing signs of summer. These rivers and creeks are showing us their secrets. They tell us a story about where fishing holes are. Where the fish would hold in higher water levels.

Its during these times before the falls rains come when a fisherman can learn about the river.  Is it tough work well yes because the sun is high in the sky and you can get dehydrated fast.

Today I went to wade fish as low as you could on Conneaut Creek.  I had heard the lower has lost a lot of her ability to hold fish and after today’s walk, I see why. She has accumulated so much small cobbles and sand from the storms over the years. For me it would not be worth the wade to get down there. Mind you this is summer pool level, and the water was in places up to my high thigh. This would be impossible to wade safely with another couple of feet of water in her water course.

I took my trusty TiCr TFO 6wt out for a walk. The rod was lined with a GPX 6wt and an Airflo sinking leader it as a sink rate of 1.5”/sec.

I used my generic white streamer with a brown hackle collar.

I did connect with a few resident fish today. I saw several Ospreys and one Bald Eagle. Its nice to see them flourishing.

I managed to see one fawn today while on the Grand River.

I hope you enjoy the artwork, and I am off to hike up into Brandywine Creek Gorge.

Ohio Tail Water Fishing

 Today I found an extremely sexy little tail water. Well, the fish are safe, no fish were harmed today.  As you can see, the flows are extremely fishable. I did see fish rise near the shoreline. The water was up about a foot from normal. I had zero clues where the fish could be holding.

 

I brought the eggbeater also and had the same results as the fly rod. I was using 2” flies and 3” curly tail grubs. The strikes I was getting were only by the tail and they never got the hook.

I hope you enjoy the artwork!

Sonder

Spring 2025 Panfish Fest

 I am headed out to a panfish lake here this morning. Stay tuned and be well folks.

Before

After

All the Crappies are safe lol had a nice day to get outside.