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Dfishinfool's Guide Service
River Reports Page
No B.S.
"Steelhead Alley" river reports and stream conditions.
Compliments of Don Mathews and the staff of guides at
Dfishinfool's Guide Service.
2-28-08 Report
It was 2* on my thermometer this morning. I didn't go
fishing but I'm sure it was a slush fest. In the short
term it ain't looking good but if the weatherman is
right things should start to shape up next week. There
has been some fishing going on in Ohio but most mornings
have been slushy. Quite a few fish around if you
can get at them. Surprising numbers of guys out fishing.
High water or snow has stopped me from floating the
Grand but there are lots of fish there. I'll go out on a
limb and say the afternoons should be OK he next few
days. As long as the snow doesn't melt to fast the
stream levels should remain OK on most of the streams.
Mix it up to find out what they want. nymphs, streamers,
eggs. Keep them on the bottom.
We still have
lots of open dates available for this spring.
2-16-08 Report It warmed up more than
expected today. The big question is will the
streams fish this weekend. Most Ohio streams are at a
fishable level but here is some side ice to deal with.
There also may be some slush in the morning but hey its
February and were still catching them. So yes Ohio will
fish this weekend BUT be prepared for winter fishing..!!
It looks like most of Pa is still locked up with the
exception of 16 mile creek. I personally didn't
get out this week but Greg Lum has been hitting the Ohio
streams all week with good success. Greg is a true
steelhead addict buddy of mine. You may remember his
popular Steelheading 101 website. He usually calls
several times a week with fishing reports. This
guy fishes A lot. I mean a whole lot. He probably
fishes more than I do. He fishes those nasty days when
nobody else ventures outdoors. Greg grew up in
Canada and he is a master with the center-pinn.
Greg knows the streams well. Yesterday I persuaded Greg
to help me out guiding this spring. He has very few free
days to guide but if your interested in really learning
the in's and out's of the center-pinn. I would
highly recommend spending day with Greg. He
has all of the equipment and the know how to get you
into the pinning game. Give me a call if you want to
spend a day pinnng with Greg Lum. Good Fishin..!!
Don
Greg
Lum our new center pinn guide
Check
out Gregs Blog at
Rotten
spawn sacs, tattered flies, and leaky waders
2-13-08 REPORT A major winter blast hit us last night. We
have about six to ten inches of fresh snow on the
ground. Secondary roads are in very poor shape.
Third day in a row with day time highs in the teens.
All this snow along with the cold temps has taken a hard
tool on the creeks. Most everything is frozen or
very slushy right now. I doubt much will fish this
weekend. Sorry but it looks like the groundhog was
right.. Good Fishin..!! Don
Joe
Jackman wrote a excellent article on our Garden River
adventure last fall
CLICK HERE to read it
2-04-08 Dick Keagy with one of many
2-05-08
Steelhead Alley update. Last night we received very
heavy rains. All of the Ohio streams are at flood stage
now. Looks like everything will be a wash for
today and more rain is on the way. It may be a few days
before anything at all is fishable. Streams should all be free
of all remaining side ice once the water comes down.
Watch those flow gauges. If you time it right you will
be in for some great action as the water levels drop.
Fishing has been amazing the last three days in Ohio.
You wouldn't believe me If I told you how many we
landed.. More like catching than fishing. We walked
about two miles yesterday and saw only two other
anglers. The streams have a mixture of older
Pennsylvania strays and fresh run Ohio Manistee strain
fish. This years Manistee crop are very fat and healthy.
They seem to be running a little larger than usual so
far. Some of the remaining Pa mutts have moved to gravel
but the majority of fish are still in holdover mode in
the deeper holes. We have seen quite a few fish on
the move the last couple of days. Hungry holdovers and
fresh run Manistee's mean lots of action. We have hit
fish on practically every fly we try, as long as its
small. For now forget swinging the larger streamers,
spey's and magazine flies. High stick nymph with a
indicator and think small, #14 black wiggle stones on
light tippets have produced best for us. Seems like they
want anything that is black. I noticed quite a bug hatch
yesterday afternoon. The Nymphs that littered the banks
appeared to be miniature black stones but they seemed
shorter and fatter than usual. In all honesty I'm not
really sure what they were. Admittedly I am no bug
expert. See the picture below.
Whatever the black bugs are, the fish are gorging on
them. We tried some fresh eggs and live bait and the
fish had a preference for flies. Keep your eye on the
weather and enjoy this rare open water in February. Be
careful and Good Fishin..!! Don
2-04-08 Colorful Oho buck
2-04-08
Have to keep it short. Fishing was great today in
Ohio. Didn't have a trip today so I hooked up with Dick
Keagy. Black bugs were coming from the stream.
Looked like fat stones ?? It is no surprise that black nymphs were hot. Plenty
of fresh fish. Everything depends on the rain.
Feeders were still running hard. I'll let the pictures
from today tell the story. Scroll below...Good
Fishin..!! Don
2-04-08 Black Stonefly ????
2-04-08 February steelheading
2-04-08 Guide Dick Keagy is all smiles over this one.
2-04-08 Still all smiles..!!
2-04-08 Fat Ohio Manistee Hen
2-03-08 Don with a Winter Steelie on the fly
2-03-08 What a
day. Went catching with my brother Lance this
morning. It was catching not fishing. A
great day on the stream well over 30 fish on the line.
Fished a Ohio stream and it was still a little high.
Mixture of fresh and old fish, some chromers.
Quite a few guys out. The river was wide open except for
lower section near lake. Hot fly was egg patterns and
golden nugget nymphs. All week will be great fishing in
Ohio. I have a open schedule so if you want to go
catching give me a call. Good Fishin..!! Don
2-02-08
Happy ground hog day. I went over to Punxatawny to
see Phil this morning and I'm sorry to report that were
in for six more weeks of winter. On a positive
note the guys spanked them in Ohio today. I got
reports of good numbers of fish and lots of open water.
With some unseasonably warm weather coming our way it
looks like were in for some good fishing the next week
or so. I'll be on the water the next few days and
I have guides available all week. I'll keep you
posted.Good Fishin..!! Don
1-29-08
It stayed above freezing yesterday and last night. Its
already forty degrees outside this morning. This
has caused the snow to melt and now the streams are a
mess now. Most are flooded. That may be a
good thing. When water gets over the top of the
ice it melts it quick. The streams will remain
high for awhile but I think it will get rid of some of
the ice. From the weather forecast I have seen I believe
there may be a window to fish later this week. Its
a real tough call what the streams will do. I'm going
out Thursday and I'll post a report in the evening. No
fishing for me this weekend I'm off to see Punaxatawany
Phil. I sure hope he doesn't see his shadow. Good
Fishin..!! Don
1-24-08
Not much to report on. Most everything is froze out.
Very few pockets left. Calling for a warming trend next
week but I don't think it will be enough. Help..!!
I'm planning a Marlin trip to Cozumel for this spring.
Anybody have any recommendations on a good Charter or
advise on the area. I'm considering Albatros or
Cozumel offshore?????
1-20-08
Just as I was starting to think we might stay open all
winter. Mother nature decides its winter time in Ohio. I
cancelled my trips over the weekend because of the cold
temps. I sat in the house and looked out at what
appeared to be beautiful days. Every once in awhile I
ventured over to the window and peeked out at the
thermometer. Boy I was glad I was inside.. In case
you haven't figured it out, things aren't looking real
good right now. It has been four days in a row since we
have been above freezing. Even the larger streams
are starting to get side ice now. The smaller
Pennsylvania streams are mostly ice covered and
basically un-fishable now. There are holes here
and there in both states to fish but were loosing them
fast. With no relief in sight from the weatherman
it may be time to tie some flies.. If you do go out Be
Careful .. Good Fishin..!! Don
1-15-08 We still have
open water here in Ohio but most everything is still too
high to fish. Grand River is at 1900 CFM. She has
only fished two days out of the last 40. When she
comes down it should be hot. Chagrin is at 340CFM.
G.L. fished over there Sunday ad managed a few from the
high water. He said Rocky was high also. The -V-
is 330 cfm so she's still too high also. Ohio
skinny water has been hot. I didn't get out but I
got a good report of lots of fresh fish pouring into a
un-stocked ditch feeding the lake. So for the next
couple of days your options are fairly limited to the
Pennsylvania streams or Ohio ditches. Stream levels
should shape up well by Friday in Ohio but how cold is
it going to get? It is snowing now. Side ice and slush
will start to become a problem as the streams drop if it
stays cold. I think we will still be OK for awhile
if you can brave the temps.
Hot fly has been #14
bead head stone fly nymphs. Believe it or not
there were fish on gravel in Pa on Sunday. Fish have
been taking fresh eggs, shinners and waxies. Mix
it up. When the hole goes dead its time to switch
the menu on them. I would like to congratulate my nephew
Dillon for whooping his dad with the fly rod on
Sunday..!! Atta boy Dillon..!! Good Fishin..!!
Don
1-10-08 Thursday
(Weekend outlook) Who can complain when we have
open water in January. Dick, Jeff, Jason and
myself spent last weekend in Indianapolis at the Indy on
the fly show. The show had a big turnout and it
was a nice talking to all of the people there. Our
calendar is starting to fill up fast now. If your
interested in a spring trip or our spring steelhead
school this is the time to call. Our school will
be held on
March 14th, 15th, and 16th this year. We still
have plenty of openings. With three days of instruction
and a 9 hour tour of the streams. It is a great value at
$350. It also includes your hotel room, breakfast, and a
study guide to take home with you.
I didn't have a
chance to get on the water this week. The streams
blew out big time with the snow melt last weekend.
Most of the Ohio streams are at flood stage still and
they are calling for 3/4 of an inch of rain tonight.
This is going to make it impossible to fish the Ohio
streams this weekend. The rain is supposed to quit
Friday afternoon. Saturday the Pennsylvania mile streams
should fish and Elk and Walnut are a possibility for
Sunday. In the buckeye only the smallest of
ditches may fish this weekend. With the warming rains I
would bet the Manistee's are pouring into the streams.
Before the flood we were doing great on Conneaut and the
Chagrin. I hit the -V- a couple of times recently with
limited success. Just seems like there isn't a
whole lot of fish over there yet. Hopefully after this
rain there will be more fish on the -V-. Last
weekend was the first time the Grand has fished in over
a month. A couple of friends reported lots of fish
before she blew out on Sunday afternoon. I can't wait to
get the drift boat out and float her but it may be
awhile. Our schedule is wide open so if your interested
in a short term trip give me a call. Good
Fishin..!! Don
1-1-08 Happy
New Year. We would like to wish you and yours a
blessed New Year. I hope everybody had a nice
Christmas. By now you have surely noticed the new
look to our web site. HDS was a big help in getting
everything moved to our new server. Good riddance
to the old server and its management. You can't
imagine the trouble I had with them. Everything is still
here. You just might have to look a little. It was
funny for me to read those 8 yr old report pages. Man I
can't spell.. Glad I finally figured out spell check.
Some of my real old pages are still on the FishErie
server. Everything from here on out will be on this new
server and will have this new look. Check back here for
the latest Steelhead reports and pictures. Look for my
Thursday evening Weekend outlook. You will notice
many changes in the coming months. We have found a few
reliable African fly tying companies. They do a
fantastic job at tying our patterns. We are going to
once again start to sell flies. I'm going to keep it real
basic. My twelve deadliest patterns. I'll sell by the
whole dozen only and the prices are fantastic. I would
like to thank you for helping me make Dfishinfool's
Guide Service what it is today. Business so good that
I'm actively searching out qualified guides to help
us keep up. Thanks for your continued support..!!
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