Chartreuse and Black...always a good choice on a cloudy day

Swinging Pete doing his thing on the river today...

This buck hammered a swung silver hackle flash streamer...

Nice fish Pete...

Fresh hen that somehow made her way upriver under and around all the ice...

Had the river to ourselves again today and had very good conditions until 3:30 when the color started to go and the levels started to rise. The Chagrin is on her way to being blown out with the rain and snowmelt which should help free up alot of the upper river over the next few days. My guess is this is happening on other rivers as well and hopefully means that more open water and better fishing is in sight. My guess at the moment is most of the rivers will be opened up and fishing will be in full swing by the week of March 7th, which is pretty much when we started last year though not many people caught on. As always we will keep you very up to date on the river conditions. If you don't have your gear together and your flies tied you better get it in gear because it will not be long now.

Seminars this Saturday from Jeff Liskay and Jerry Darkes. Jeff will be doing a fantastic seminar on swinging streamers for steelhead and helping us all make a little more sense of two handed rods drawing from his many years of experience fishing our rivers, Jeff will be getting started at 11am. Jerry will back him up from 1-3:30 with a tube fly tying seminar that concentrates on spring steelhead and smallmouth patterns. See you on Saturday...Dan and Pete

Hanging out at the Sportsman's show in Euclid this past week tying flies...We did some casting seminars and talked with a bunch of anxious steelheaders who are itching to do some fishing...thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth and we will see you in the shop and on the rivers.

"Swinging Flies, Spey Casting and Can't Miss Tube Flies"
February 27th @ Chagrin River Outfitters
Jeff's seminar will be from 11-12 and Jerry will be tying from 1-3:30

Local veteran steelheader Jeff Liskay will share his experience and knowledge on this unique method of fishing that is taking the great lakes by storm...also Jerry Darkes will be on hand tying killer steelhead and smallmouth tube fly patterns that you will want to have in your arsenal this spring...Don't miss the chance to come down to the shop and learn from Jeff and Jerry's many years of experience on our rivers...

Jeff's program is highlighted below

Nice fresh fish from the Grand on Wed...

Another one from the Grand this week...

The Chagrin has a few fish as well....

Tailing fish in February makes for cold hands...

We have been having decent luck on the Grand and Chagrin and the fishing should continue to be OK thru today but cold temps are moving in again for the weekend and will make for very tough conditions over the weekend...

Don't forget we have the tube fly class starting this coming Thursday the 11th thru Thursday march 4th from 7-9 pm...Four weeks of instruction on tying streamers, minnows, sculpins, and leeches....cost is $40.00 and you will need a tube fly vise or adapter...for more details stop in or call the shop at 440 247 7110...

Dam at Gates Mills....Upstream from River Road to Dam...

Another of the Upper Chagrin....

Downstream from Rogers Road Bridge...

Chagrin River: Plenty of open water on the upper Chagrin and slush has not been an issue the last couple of days due to warmer overnight temps...look for this trend to continue thru Friday until more cold shows up for the weekend...Nobody is setting the world on fire but fish are being caught...pink and orange egg patterns, black stoneflies, and white zonkers seem to be the ticket...
Clarity is very good on the Chagrin and remember to get some drifts along and under the shelf ice as it provides great cover for steelhead...

Grand River: Some shelf ice starting to form now that the river has dropped and still a little slushy form last nights snow but that is clearing and should be pretty fishable the next couple of days until the very cold temps return Sat....a couple of our guides were wetting a line on the Grand today and found a nice mix of fresh and older fish on the middle sections...the lower is pretty locked up as are the tribs...

Rocky: According to our west side sources a few fish being caught on the rock and there is water if you are willing to look...vis is good and a smallish (sz12) pink egg, black stone, or red copper john followed by a minnow pattern in olive or white seems to be the ticket...

We are heading out tomorrow so will have some more pics and updated conditions as well...

Tube Flies Tying Class
Chagrin River Outfitters: 7-9 pm Thursdays Feb 11th, 18th, 25th and Thursday March 4th....Cost $40.00...You will need Tube vise or adapter, hooks, tubbing, and some materials...Call shop for more details if interested....440 247 7110...class will concentrate on minnow, sculpin, and leech patterns for dead drifting and swinging....