Another Slow Ohio Summer

Fly fishing Northeastern Ohio tributaries in the summer is like the way Jim Thome runs, its pretty slow. The prime season for our lake erie run Smallmouth Bass is around mid spring to early june, and of course I got back from school in mid june. Smallmouth are the perfect fish for the fly rod. They are not afraid of anything and will hit almost any fly thrown at them. Adding to their willingness to take the fly, I'm sure that if they were boxers they would have the highest pound for pound rating of all time. The other game fish in Ohio tribs. are the elusive carp. I have read numerous articles on how to catch carp, watched youtube videos, and I have even bought a dvd on these fish, but these carp are not like your local carp. They only feed at the crack of dawn and after sunset. If they see you, hear you or feel your vibrations, the whole group will completely shut off. I know that people say that carp are good training for bonefish, but for me these ohio carp are more difficult to hook up with than bonefish. In 2 summers of fishing for carp I have hooked 5 and I've caught 3 fish. Out of the 3 times I've been out for bonefish, I've had 2 chances, and I caught 1. The other thing to consider is that these carp litter these rivers, maybe 50+ fish in a single pool. 20 pound carp straight up chilling in the river teasing every angler that sees it.







P.S. those are two different smallies that I caught on the same day