Weekend Trip to the South Holston River

     

           This past weekend I headed down to the South Holston River Lodge in Tennessee for a weekend fishing trip with my good friend Liam and our mothers'.  We arrived Friday night and settled into the riverside lodge and were quite impressed with the accommodations of the Mayfly cabin.  We spent Friday night getting our gear in order and were excited for our 6:30am wake up call.

Local Smallmouth Update

Local Smallmouth fishing continues to impress!  Stop by the shop to talk strategies for catching big smallmouth!

-Ted

Delamere & Hopkins
Hyde Park Square
2708 Erie Avenue
Cincinnati, OH  45208
513-871-FISH

Mon-Thurs  10-8
Fri-Sat  10-6
Sun  11-5

Thomas & Thomas is Back...

  

     You may have noticed in the last few blog posts the new T&T rods we've been trying out. Well, we liked what we saw and decided to bring a few of these rods into the shop. These are truly a new generation of Thomas & Thomas rods.

let's see what is swimming in the small creeks around Cincinnati

these were caught Monday morning

Delamere & Hopkins
Hyde Park Square
2708 Erie Avenue
Cincinnati, OH  45208
513-871-FISH

Mon-Thurs  10-8
Fri-Sat  10-6
Sun  11-5

Local Smallmouth

               Smallmouth fishing has been on fire recently. We have been getting out a ton and fishing lots of different water and rivers/creeks. We have yet to find anywhere that isn't productive! Stripping large bucktail flies and murdich minnows on 6-7wt. rods with intermediate lines has been my, and other guys in the shop, preferred method. Stop on by and talk about spring and load up on flies!

-Alex

Great Day for Smallies and T&T Rod Review

   I've been hearing some good Smallie fishing reports so I played hookie today and went fishing. I decided to hit up a small stream up in Warren county that I hadn't fished since I started at D&H 11 years ago. Back then I had a worn out messenger bag for my random flies, was borrowing wading boots, fishing some 1996-era Redington rod, and had virtually no idea what I was doing.  Things have changed a bit since then.

   Turned out to one of the best local Smallmouth fishing days I've ever had.

White River, Arkansas

         The White was fresh on my mind for an early spring trip after see a picture of a 37" (yes 37 inches) brown pulled out earlier this year on a double deceiver. On short notice, I called up Dally Ozark Fly fishers and they were able to hook me up; my Dad and I headed down for a 4 day trip. We fished 2 days with Steve Dally and a day out of the Stealth Craft. Ripping flies that are bigger than average Brookville browns is right up my alley. We broke out the 8 & 9 wts and 250-350 grain sinking lines and tossed 7-9 inch flies around for a few days.



Although I didn't catch a 37" brown, I nailed some good fish and learned a lot from a seasoned guide who lives and breaths fishing with huge streamers.

Click Read more for more pics and stories >>

early season smallmouthin'

here are some of the smallies the D&H Crew has caught this early fishin' season around the Cincinnati area.




Delamere & Hopkins
Hyde Park Square
2708 Erie Avenue
Cincinnati, OH  45208
513-871-FISH

Mon-Thurs  10-8
Fri-Sat  10-6
Sun  11-5

Michigan Strip Trip

          I recently got back from spending a couple days up in Grayling, Michigan.  Grayling sits right on the Au Sable River, which is my favorite place in the whole world.  It's streamer time up there... rising water temps, stained flow and elevated water levels bring some of the biggest, baddest, browns in the midwest out to feed.  Combine this with some overcast days and you have the recipe for some awesome streamer fishing.

James fishing in Massachusetts

One of the D&H Crew goes to school in Massachusetts, right on the Vermont and New York border.  It is nice that James has a trout stream within walking distance of campus: The Hoosic River   I wonder what my grades would have looked like had I had a trout stream within a short stroll?

Delamere & Hopkins
Hyde Park Square
2708 Erie Avenue
Cincinnati, OH  45208
513-871-FISH

Mon-Thurs  10-8
Fri-Sat  10-6
Sun  11-5

Great Gear for the Money

     Technology is a wonderful thing.  It has made our phones, computers, and cars better albeit more expensive. Fly fishing is no exception.  Technology has made the best fly gear much better. The sealed drag reels, fast action rods, and braided core lines are ideas our predecessors could only dream of. We've come a long way from fiberglass "Wonder rods" and "Fin-Nor Wedding Cake" reels! Of course this all comes at a price.
    The good news is all of this technology, R&D, and design has helped create some wonderful, price conscious gear. Here are a few of our favorites, just in time for our local fishing season to begin:

Rods

    St. Croix has always been our pick for mid-price rods.  They do a great job producing U.S. manufactured rods for a variety of uses.  We teach our schools using the St. Croix Imperial ($250 for a 9' #6).  This is a medium action rod with plenty of finesse in the lower weights for trout fishing and enough backbone in 6 weights and up for any kind of warm-water fishing.  As you can tell from the picture below, this rod comes about anyway you want it.

 Click "see more" for a few more great items.

new fly lines for chucking big flies

If you have an all-encompassing need to throw big flies for big fish, then look no further. This fly line is made for you.

• Loads quickly and delivers the biggest flies to the furthest targets
• Excellent turnover due to short, powerful head and short front taper
• Ideal line for boat or wade fishing
• For temperate climates
• Braided multifilament core

Fly Reel Materials: why it matters!

When anglers come in the shop to look for a new fly reel, we spend time discussing many features of a fly reel.  One of the most important topics is what material is used in the construction of the reel.  I point out that if you are going to fish a farm pond or a stream in a meadow, the material does not matter that much since if you drop the reel it will probably hit grass or dirt and not get damaged.
Once you start thinking about crawling around mountain streams, such as in the Smoky Mountains, then you have a much greater chance of your fly reel coming into contact with rocks and boulders.  For most seasoned anglers, the value of a bar stock aluminum reel will be realized many times in their career.

While working the shop floor today I had the opportunity to see the most damaged fly reel I have ever witnessed in my life!

Our customer was getting his gear together for a saltwater trip that he is setting out on tomorrow and his wife drove over his fly reel with the family car.  The cast aluminum reel did not have a chance!

Click on "MORE" to see all of the gory details!

Local Trout Update

This fish ate a mini D&D as the sun was coming up

'Twas a Chrome Christmas

          We got up to Glen Arbor in Northern Michigan (just north of Traverse City) for the holidays with my family. There are many small creeks and tribs off of Lake Michigan in this area, and you know what that means in late December.... STEEL! I've been fishing this area ever since I can remember and even started fly fishing on one of these streams. I've heard all of the rumors and even seen some pictures of steelhead coming into these off-the-grid creeks, but have never been there this time of year. So we chased some steel amongst the vacation activities.