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.
Upcoming Trips
Mad River Travel kicks-back into high gear here next week! Should be getting reports as we go so be sure to follow along on Social Media and such
July 13th- July 20th- Three Rivers Lodge in Labrador– Brian Flechsig is hosting 9 lucky anglers for trophy brook trout and pike. We already have reservations to do this trip again in July of 2020.
July 21st- 28th- Katmai Trophy Lodge- Naknek River in Alaska. “Alaska Sampler” trip. 14 guests along with hosts Ryan Ratliff and Jerry Darkes. Always a great trip at a great lodge!
July 29th- August 4th- Slide Inn- Montana. A Summer Tradition! We always love visiting our old friend Kelly Galloup and the gang at the Slide Inn on the banks of the Madison River. This has always been “Brian’s” trip but due to the fact that he’ll be just getting back from Labrador, Pat Kelly got the nod this year. 7 folks along with Pat on this one and is sure to be a ton of fun…..as it always is.
Late Summer/Fall Classes
The pop-up thunderstorms over the past few weeks have made the windows small, but rewarding. We are in full Bass fishing mode and the amount of poppers heading out the door tells the story well. Ponds, lakes, rivers and streams have all been producing. Like mentioned before the rain has put the damper on some locations. Ponds have been the most consistent producing good bass and panfish. Streamers close to weed cover never lets down, but the topwater bite has been the most popular. Over the past few days though the heat has pushed the bass deep and limited the popper bite to low light periods.
Smallmouth fishing continues to be great when conditions allow. Streamers, crawfish patterns, and poppers have been our go to flies. Having a good knowledge of the local streams will provide you with a backup plan if a pop up thunderstorm forms as there is usually something that runs off quickly.
Pike fishing continues to be fantastic and our guys have been putting clients on some great fish. As long as we continue to have some rain every few days fishing will continue to be good.
Forecast:
Look for the heat and pop ups to continue to be a problem. Looking at the rest of the week the Scioto and smaller streams will fish well as long as we do not get too much more rain. Fish poppers under over hanging branches with decent flow and cover. The heads of pools are also great places to target on top or with streamers. Look for large rock or log jams with current as prime locations. Grad some Booglebugs or Double barrel poppers, Clousers, or articulated streamers and cover lots of water. If you plan on hitting a local lake or pond Clousers, Bottoms Up, Reapers, and Super Worms are great choices. If you are fishing out of a boat grab a lake line from Rio or SA Sonar Warmwater and a few unweighted flies like Fathead Minnow, Zoo Cougars, or Swimmy Jimmy and target the deep weed edges and points.
Pike fishing should be on fire during the month of July. Josh and Pat have been lighting things up here the past week or two and they expect this action to continue. Give us a call at the shop if interested.
Guide Donnie Knight also claims that the Stillwater and Great Miami are coming into great shape and he’s looking to get folks into smallmouth. If you are interested in fishing over near Dayton, let us know! Donnie is a hoot to fish with and can put you on the fish.
Carp fishing should only get better here the next few weeks as the streams begin to clear. Sight fishing should be excellent and the carp have been on the feed. Typical nymphs like the Wabbit Worms, Barry’s Carp Bitters, Carp Charlies and Back Stabbers are all worth having in your box. Have some crayfish along as well.
The Mad has been fishing ok, but definitely slowing down with the heat. Best fishing right now is very early or very late in the day. May want to have a thermometer along as the temps during the day have been creeping up to where it might be better to think warmwater fishing.
We have had some decent streamer fishing the past few weeks with the water coming up and getting cloudy with the storms. Brian had a really great day on the water last week throwing streamers with a client. They had some storms roll through and the water dirtied up enough to make it a “streamer day” and they moved some really nice fish. Right now though, as the water drops here, it will primarily be a nymph game. Your best bet is to focus on caddis. Caddis larva along with soft hackles will be the way to go.
The Upper river has actually been fishing pretty well, but the heat the past few days is taking a toll. The lower is of course too warm to consider trout fishing but has been producing well when it comes to warmwater species.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A THERMOMETER WITH YOU. Although there are plenty of locations that provide good cover, oxygen, and spring influenced water temps pressuring/stressing trout at water temps over 68 or so can be lethal. Even if water temps are in a good zone our air temps are way too high for these fish to recover. If you do make it out bring the net and heavy tippet. The net will provide you a way to keep the fish in the water to take the hook out and help revive the fish. Heavy tippet allows you to bring the fish in quickly limiting fatigue.
Those that understand all of the above have been rewarded with some good fishing. Most of the mayfly hatches are done, but there are plenty of the usual Summer bugs to match. Caddis have been the main insect the fish have been feeding on. Look for an early morning and evening hatch. We usually either skate a dry or swing Soft Hackles to match these bugs. Also look for fish to be targeting Ants and beetles midday.
We have not seen any Tricos as of yet, but with the heat it should be any day now. This is usually later in the summer, but how this year has been going the “usual” is just a guideline.
Forecast:
Water temps will continue to be a concern so keep an eye on the thermometer. Your dry fly box should consist of many different caddis patterns that provide varied surface silhouettes. Elk Hair, Stimulators, Henryville Special, Goober Caddis, and Butch Caddis are all great. As for wets any of the Soft Hackles, Drowned Caddis, Core Caddis, and Shop Dips are a good start. Also make sure to have a good selection of beetles and ants. Make sure as with all dries that you have patterns that ride differently in the surface film. Shoot us a call or email if you need help figuring any of this out.
Although we had a surprisingly productive June on the creek, things are slowing down here for sure. Water temps will be a concern until we get a break. Probably best to think about fishing warmwater species and leave these guys alone for now. Move on down to the Hocking and chase some smallmouth around. Decent carp fishing to be had there as well.
We’ll update as we know more and as always, feel free to call the shop if you have any questions.
