Thanks as always for reading our reports friends. As the weather gets more conducive we should be reporting more regularly….but we need your HELP!
Send any and all reports to admin@madriveroutfitters and we’ll do our best to get them up.
Customer Feedback
Forecast:
Seasonal:
Fall fishing in Ohio means change. Being flexible will keep you on fish. We have many streams that have great Smallmouth fishing. This time of the year the fish are starting to school up and push around baitfish. Your summer 5wt or even soft 6wt gets up away and out comes the better bass rod sizes of 7-8wts. Sink-tip lines like the new Rio Big Nasty and SA Titan are your best bet. If you fish the big rivers then a SA Sonar sinking line with a longer head is a better choice especially out of a boat. Most of these fish are targeting dense schools of Shad. Flies like Whitlock’s Deep Shad, Clousers, Half & Halfs, Bottoms-Up, Dungeons, Peanut Envy and Double Barrel Baitfish poppers are great choices for a floating line. While fishing the more productive sink-tips lines we focus on flies like Bang Tails, Modern Deceivers, Murdich Minnow, Gummy Minnows, Zoo Cougars, Wooly Sculpin, Todd’s Wiggle Minnow, Stacked Blondes, and EP Minnows.
Smallmouth Bass will feed heavily for the next couple months but you will need to target different water than where you find them in summer. Look for the deeper water with good flow around large hard structure. Bridge pilings, rip rap banks, large boulder fields, or other rock structure.
Pond and Lake fishing also continues to be fantastic as long as the water temps stay in the 50s. Largemouth will also start to school and cruse feeding on baitfish. Sinking lines like a SA Clear Tip or Rio Big Nasty are great options for these fish. Flies like the Barely Legal, Bang Tail, Todd’s Wiggle minnow, Dungeon, and Boogie Man work great for fishing fast. If fish are not chasing then slow down with the same lines, but change flies to Super Worms, Reapers, Bottoms-Up, and Gulley Worms get the job done. Do not overlook the Bluegill and Crappie bite also. Fish bobbers/indicators with nymphs or Crappie Specials under them and keep them close to drop offs with structure.
Pike and Musky fishing continues to be great from now into winter. Slowly stripping big flies on heavy sink tips is the game. Josh and Pat’s schedules are usually locked in right now, but both do have some open dates. Make sure to call the shop for details.
Mad River
***PSA: This time of the year the ODNR stocks small Brown Trout at various bridges along the River. These fish are the future of our fishery and need extreme care when handling. They are easy to catch, but take a beating from the pressure. We advise if you do find yourself catching a couple dull colored fish in the 8-10” range change locations to another stretch of river far away from the bridges.***
Trout fishing continues to be great with the higher water. Nymphing and streamer fishing has been the most productive. There are fish well distributed and most are having good success. Hot flies right now are attractor patterns like Flashabou Caddis, Cranefly Larva, Prince, Soft Hackle Jig Fly, Shop dip in red, Psycho Prince to name a few. Fishing these flies tight to the bottom and close to structure. Euro nymphing also is a great option for quantity of fish.
Streamers right now in the clear water will be Mini Dungeons, Mini Bangtails, Near Nuff Sculpin, Big Eyed Buggers, Skulpin Bunnies, Dirty Hippies and Legals. Make sure to fish a few bigger streamers also. Dungeons, Peanuts, Modern Deceivers, Nancy P, and D and Ds are shop favorites.
***PSA: This time of the year the ODNR stocks small Brown Trout at various locations along the upper river and Rainbow Trout below Pleasant Hill dam in the lower river. These fish are the future of our fishery and need extreme care when handling. They are easy to catch, but take a beating from the pressure. We advise if you do find yourself catching a couple small dull colored Brown Trout in the 8-10” range change locations to another stretch of river far away from the bridges. The same goes for the lower river Rainbows. If you find yourself catching a couple fish change locations as to spread out your impact on these fish. It is legal to keep the Rainbows, but if we would like to catch fish through late Spring then putting them back is the best bet.***
Water Levels continue to be good. Those that are fishing the upper river have been catching fish. Most of these fish are the stocked fish, but there are a few larger fish in the public water. Nymphing bright attractors like Flashabou Caddis, Cranefly Larva, Prince, Soft Hackle Jig Fly, Shop dip in red, Psycho Prince are all a great place to start. Matching the hatch right now will consist of small Pheasant Tails, Midges and small baitfish patterns.
The lower river is in great shape and should fish very well. There has been a lot of people taking fish so success has been hot and cold for some people. Nymphing bigger nymphs like the Rubber legs, Double Stone, Cranefly Larva, or even the TB Jig Bugger in conjunction with an egg pattern will keep you busy. Fishing flashy streamers will also get the fishes attention. For streamer fishing you will want some Skiddish Smolts, Crystal Buggers, Precious Metal, Egg Sucking Leaches, and Glass Bugger. Swinging a light switch rod or using a sing-hand-spey setup can also be a great choice. Here you can use the above streamers or a Micro Intruder.
Forecast:
Look for the low air temps to cause some issues with icy guides through the weekend. If you can deal with the cold then the fishing should continue to be great. Make sure to limit the amount of line you strip in as this is what causes ice issues. Focus on shorter drifts and slowly work through a section of river. Tenkara is also a great option in cold conditions. Small nymphs or Euro type presentations will produce results. Rainbows are a great battle on Tenkara also. Drift egg patterns or attractor patterns either tight lined or under a very small New Zealand indicator. As the week progresses ice will not be as much of an issue, but we do have more rain heading in late in the week.
Seasonal:
In the lower river Rainbows are easily caught by small streamers, bright egg patterns and nymphs. Once the fishing pressure picks up or we get a few rain events these fish will spread out and get selective. If you are targeting Brown Trout then nymphing is a great choice, but streamer fishing should not be over looked. Euro nymphing is big talk around the shop and industry. There is a little learning curve, but we can get you into the game with the basics. We have the rods, nymphs, leaders, and lines to get you started. Typically jig style nymphs are the flies of choice but fall nymphing is not just a bug game though. Nymphing Sculpin colored streamers like the Peacock Bugger, Strawberry Blonde, Autumn Splendor, Trick or Treat, Orange Blossom Special, T.B. Jig Bugger, Teds Swimming Hex, and Conehead Muddlers are great choices. Drop a Soft Hackle, Nitro Caddis, or Swing Nymph off the streamer and you are set.
As for streamer fishing both in the upper and lower river these tactics will work. 6-8wt rods with Sink tip lines line the SA Sonar Titan Sink Tip or the AirFlo Streamer Max Short are a great choice. Select flies in the 4-6+ range and make sure to have various colors and designs to figure out what will get the attention of the fish. Most of us carry a large array of colors of the same pattern also. We take Kelly Galloup’s approach of switching colors until we find out what they want. A good place to start would be Bottoms Up, Dungeons, Peanuts, Drunk and Disorderly, Bang Tails, Modern Deceivers, Fat Heads, and other Modern Streamers.
Fishing has been good when the water levels are stable. The gauge seems to be a little off, but fishing for the next week should be great. This weekend will provide some issues with icy guides, but that should keep the pressure down. The rangers continue to talk about heavy pressure and a lot of fish being taken home. There are still fish around though. Individuals covering water streamer fishing or nymphing have still caught fish. Most fish are being caught on flashy streamers and bright attractor nymphs or egg patterns.
Forecast:
Rainbows are easily caught by small streamers, bright egg patterns and nymphs. Once the fishing pressure picks up or we get a few rain events these fish will spread out and get selective. With these past rains we are seeing fish well distributed. Nymphing is the main tactic for numbers. There are a couple methods that we like to use. Euro nymphing is big talk around the shop and industry. There is a little learning curve, but we can get you into the game with the basics. We have the rods, nymphs, leaders, and lines to get you started. Typically jig style nymphs are the flies of choice, but fall nymphing is not just a bug game though. Nymphing Sculpin colored streamers like the Peacock Bugger, Strawberry Blonde, Autumn Splendor, Trick or Treat, Orange Blossom Special, T.B. Jig Bugger, Teds Swimming Hex, and Conehead Muddlers are great choices. If you prefer to indicator/bobber/float (just calling it what actually is here) fish then you can use the same technique, but just with your usual nymph rig. We like to rig our droppers off our heavy fly (small streamer or big nymph) though. Drop a Soft Hackle, Nitro Caddis, or Swing Nymph off the streamer/nymph and you are set. If you do decide to try a small streamer then you should focus on small white or natural colored flies with a little weight. No need to pack the sink tip and 8wt here. A 4-5wt rod matched with a size 6-12 streamer is all you need for this small creek.
Mad River Outfitters/Mad River Travel/Midwest Fly Fishing Schools