Thanks to everyone that came to the Striper Party last night

What a fun night at D&H this past Thursday.  Thanks for everyone that came out to help us kick off the upcoming fishing season.  Hopefully you had a chance to pick up some knowledge from the D&H guys.  If it was too crowded to have any meaningful one-on-one time with one of the D&H staff, stop in the shop some time and we would be more than happy to have a talk with you.  If you did not receive an e-mail about this event, please send us your name and e-mail address for the next time.

Louis was busy at the vice all night showing how he ties the flies that catch the big ones!

Hybrid Party Tonight

 Have a beer on us.....

Hybird Party Tonight

6-8 P.M. at the the store

Break the cabin Fever with a few beers, local fishing information, and of course, a few lies. 

      We look forward to seeing you tonight

The Bahamas: day five on the flats

Today was our last day on the flats.  The day started with no wind and a hotter sun than the last four days.  This makes for a smooth ride getting to where you are going, but you could feel the sun when you are standing on the bow of the skiff.  This is where the proper clothing is key.
Our day started off slow and we did not see any movement on the flats.  You like to see bait fish, sharks, barracuda, sting rays and other swimming life because that just shows an active flat and that is when you normally see bonefish.  A slight breeze came up and then we started seeing sea life and then we found bones.  Every bone I caught was of nice size and they all liked the fly that Chip tied (see "day four on the flats" post).  I had some really good runs and gave my Abel a nice workout.

When we got back to the Club and relaxed with Kalik and shrimp, I was listening to my group talk about their day and there was definitely a transformation from when we first arrived to this day as far as understanding the importance of the many small aspects of standing on a flats skiff and handling fly line, the strip and many other small details that make or break a day.  The confidence level was on the way up.  If only there was another day.

 

Hybrid Report

A few of us got out this morning. Water is still a bit high due to East Fork tailwater running a bit high. Make sure and check gauges for the Little Miami as well as East fork tailwater.  Enjoy.

The Bahamas: day four on the flats

this is from last night
I tell you no lie, these three dogs are the last of their kind and they hunt bonefish
they are called "potcakes"
National Geographic came to Andros and did a story about them; I have not jumped on-line to check out the story, but will once I get better internet connection

My guide, Rambo, and I headed over to the west side today.  The cloud cover this morning was very light which meant good sighting was in front of us.

Rambo starts they day of with "Boney!  Show ya face, in dis place"

"Dem bones like dat fly all day long"

Mad River Fishing Report 3/21/14

          After having my plans of heading up to Cleveland getting cancelled for steelhead, due to weather and river conditions, I decided to head up to the Mad to do some trout fishing. Water was a little bit low and clear (gauge registered 129 cfs and dropping) but still good, but the weather was perfect! The high for the day came in around 63 degrees. The only thing that could have made the day any better was to catch some fish, and that we did. Between my dad and I, we picked up four fish and lost what felt like a decent one when it ran into a log jam and broke off. 

One aggressive little brown

The Bahamas: day three on the flats

The Bahamas: day two on the flats

We woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise as we walked over to the main building for our breakfast.

Bruce and I hit the flats today with our guide Danny.  We had a good day with many fish to chase.  I had one bone tap my fly, but not take it and I knew there had to be something wrong and sure enough, I pull in the fly and it had a piece of grass on it.  Dem bones don't like grass on their shrimp.

It reminds me of fishing a trout stream, if you do not like the way your fly is floating down the stream take a second to look at it because there probably is a problem.

Bruce has a bone on the reel, it's rounding third and heading for home!

The Bahamas: day one on the flats

As we were eating our breakfast looking out over the ocean, the clouds were rolling in and giving the sun a hard time to try and make an appearance.  Everyone got their gear down to the dock and we were off.

I went with Nick to the west side.  Once we hit the flats the sun came out and the clouds parted so that we could get some good sight fishing.  My casting was fine, not great.  My stripping was fine, not great.  I caught eight bones before lunch (should have been many more).  The sun was out in the afternoon and really heated up the water and the bones left the flats for deeper water.  We looked and looked for dem bones, but not around.
The colors of the water always entertain me and just when you think you have seen the best shade of a color you turn a bend and THERE, that is the most amazing version of the color you have seen.  Once today I say a color that looked so fake it must be computer generated.  I am sure this photo will not do it justice, but take a look...

we saw this guy as we were moving to another flat

The Bahamas: Andros Island

I arrived on Andros yesterday and it was great to be in the islands after the long Cincinnati winter.  The flights to Miami and then Nassau were smooth sailing.  The Nassau airport has many new buildings and it does not have the old "charm".  You check in at a new counter with electronic screens and then wait to the side until everyone is gathered and then the agent walks the group to the plane.  The walk is forever and all you do is walk out of the bright new building over to the old building where the plane is parked.  The plane to get to Andros is a nine seater and it is not of new vintage.  It is a quick 15 minute jump and you are glad it is not any longer in that aircraft.

Last Upland Hunt of the Season

Caught by surprise

        I had a really good set of guys for the last Upland hunt of the season. We haven't been doing much bird hunting the last few months due to the weather so it was great to see Billy Gerwin and all his dogs at Shags Run. I hope Ryan and Ray enjoyed the day as much as I did. I have been quite fortunate to hunt with some really good people over the years, these two were about as good as they get.

having tea with Barbour

The Hybrids are finally here!

 This is what we have all been waiting for!

Brookville Fishing Report 3/9/14

          Spring is upon us!  The weather has been very nice the past few days and continues to look good into the week.  This is my favorite time of year to fish.  Trout are on the prowl after a long cold winter, tons of steelhead are in the rivers to the north, and warm water fishing is just about to get good.  Brookville this past weekend proved no exception.  The water was at a perfect level of 3.3ft, air temperatures were awesome, but most importantly the fish were feeding.  Water temperatures will still take some time to warm up though.

Hybrid Striper Party: March 27th 6-8pm

This year we decided to throw a little party for the kick-off spring fishing on March 27th. As a lot of you know, we have been targeting the Hybrid stripers in the Little Miami River a lot during the spring, summer and fall.  We have learned a lot about these fish and would love to share a bit of information with you, along with FREE BEER, fly tying demonstration, 10% off fly tying materials and tools, good company to talk fishing and shake a little bit of the cabin fever off! 

Building My First Rod

I decided a little while back that I hadn't bought a new rod in a while, and decided to change things up and try building one myself.  If there is anyone who is extremely picky about gear it's me, now I can only blame myself.  I built a 9' 7 wt. Sage Xi3 and was very happy with how it turned out.

I picked a 7 wt. because I think it's a great all around rod weight.  I can throw big flies for small mouth, largemouth, carp and it'll be really fun for hybrid stripers.  I'm excited to have a unique rod that no one else on the water will have.