A few fish from the past week when we could get on the water. With the extreme swings in weather finding time to get on the water has been tough but when you can get out it's been decent. Forecast for the weekend looks very nice but cold temps the past few days will have shelf ice built up on certain areas of the rivers but there will be some fishable water if you have the itch to get out. If your not fishing and have cabin fever stop on down the shop and check out some new tying materials and some of the great deals we have on gear right now. Tight Lines.

Justin and i got out on the Conneaut last week and swung up a few fish.

Sliding one to the beach.

Fishing was hit or miss for us this day. We swung two good runs and found fish present and willing in one run but not the other.

Winter hen from the upper Chagrin.

Another hen that took a swung fly very aggressively for cold water conditions.

...because no one knows how long this weather and fishing will last. Maybe another week or so if we are lucky. I know the boys were out in force today and having a pretty good time of it.

...inquiring anglers want to know. Well lets just see.

A very nice start indeed, a fly that has been deadly all Fall proves itself again today.

Similar fly but more of a bait fish color. The fresh ones like the bait fish color. This one came after changing flies and working the run again.

And they all like these colors, there may be a theme here.

Hit a run with some fish in it just before dark on Friday and found em hungry.

Had a few hookups and a few more grabs we missed.

My little brother takes a break from law school to try a switch rod for the first time and swung up a nice fish.

Don't know if we had been fishing over no fish most of the day or they just turned on before dark. We fished hard all day for just a couple fish then bam, bam, bam.

Justin brings a very pretty steelhead to hand.

Tight to another one.

Have you picked up on the theme yet?

Darker fish from the lower river, kind of surprising this time of year.

To answer the question we do have chrome. Some of us have been hitting it harder than others and forget to take a break. Pete has been burning it at both ends and is just plain tuckered out. Being hit with a serious cramp in his calf hindered him incapacitated for a few minutes which allowed me to take some photos. Don't worry he's ok now.

from the fish that is. For the end of December and Early January no complaints are being heard around steelhead alley. Actually that's not true, there are some anglers complaining of sore arms and others took advantage of the good fishing a little more than they should have over the holidays making time in the dog house a common theme around here lately. As for me i know this weather will not last forever and its easy to forget that this time last year we had been frozen over for a month so any reason you can make to go fishing is a good reason. Happy New Years everybody.

For tomorrow and the weekend the Chagrin and Rocky have been great all year so you can't go wrong there. Elk over in PA has more ice than water right now so call before going over there. Conneaut is still up a bit and the grand tribs should be at a good flow but may be iced over. Be careful as Fridays warm temp will get a good thaw going and may mess things up for Saturday.

Come to papa....

This little buck banged a swung streamer tonight on the Chagrin making my day complete.

Upper Chagrin tonight was gorgeous with the snow on the ground and the sun shining, oh yeah and plenty of elbow room.

This is an odd pic and i could not remember why i had taken it. then it hit me, the air temp was 25 degrees and Jim from Texas didn't want to get his hand to wet and cold from picking up the fish. We both decided to wait until later for the grip and grin but took this picture anyway. I Don't think you will be seeing this kind of shot on any covers.

This behemoth was harpooned the day before new years. As always with big fish we caught a break landing this one when it unwrapped itself from some branches coming off the bank. After the release it charged us several times and took a bite out of my wading boot, but after we got well out of the water he swam away.

Like i said we are working on the photography and its harder with gloves on, but i got the fish, sorry buddy.

Yeah, its been a good season so far.