Perk Perkins discovers Ohio steelhead action with Chagrin River Outfitters...good angler that Perk

Justin Guided Doug to his best fish of the year, a 12.5# buck that went ballistic...Oh yeah Justins back...

Day glo green jackets are for clients that tend to wander away, we have lost to many over the years to take chances, if seen please return to Chagrin River Outfittters

Who doesn't like a double header?

The stars have aligned and all rivers will fish this weekend here in Northern Ohio's piece of Steelhead Alley. Look for fish in there usual fall haunts you would normally find them this time of year as they are beginning to distribute fairly well throughout the systems. With water temps around 48 degrees fish will be wherever they feel safe and secure, cover water, anything with a dark bottom, moving water, and enough depth to hold fish should warrant a few casts. Fish mornings and evenings(low Light conditions) for best results.

Chagrin: One of our favorites received a small dose of rain last night but will remain a little low and clear but has been fishing fairly well...

Grand River: The big river should fish well this weekend, good flow and good vis means happy fish.

Conneaut: This Eastern Ohio Trib started off hot then cooled and is now picking up steam again, will have good color and flow for the next couple of days and has received some fresh fish...

Elk Creek: what is there to report, a million fish and a fisherman for every fish, getting low and clear.

As always good luck be safe and don't forget to stop in the shop for all your steelhead needs...Dan, Justin, and Peter

Scott had a very good day yesterday with his CRO guide, Many fish brought to the net including 3 over 10#lbs with this one being the biggest that tipped the scales @ 13.8 lbs, great job again Scott.

Nate sent us this pic and said giant lake run Browns love Chagrin River Outfitters streamer patterns...Nice fish Nate....

Rivers are in good shape or just coming into good shape all over northern Ohio right now and should provide very good fishing over the next week. The combination of wind and rain has gotten rid of most of the leaves that plagued fisherman earlier in the week and has also brought a fresh run of fish into our rivers. Look for those fresh fish to be pushing upstream over the next couple of days and target areas that will impede their upstream migration as likely holding areas. Cover water until you find an area holding fish as they will likely be scattered around a bit. Hot shop flies have been high water worms, flamingo and chart otter eggs, great lakes sparrows, purple buggers, steelhead princes, copper softies and lite brite princes.

Chagrin River: 141 cfs and dropping, plenty of visibility on the chagrin and the lower sections of river have been fishing fairly well.

Grand River: 565 dropping and clearing, the big river should fish by Thursday/Friday for fly guys, sooner for bait and have fish up to Vrooman road area.

Conneaut Creek: This river was hot early season but fish have scattered out and become more dispersed making them harder to find...should be prime by mid-day Thursday.

Elk Creek: Decent flows but becoming quite clear, look for best fishing to be from sun up to around 11am.

As many of you already know, tis' the season for steelhead.



Brian was in town visiting some family, and decided to give these steelhead a try. He's the type of guy that's fished all over the country - and now wanted to give these Ohio steelhead a run for their money. As day broke we were walking upstream looking at water which had good flow, but was a tad bit on the clear side.

Regardless, small pale eggs and nymphs brought in bunch of fish throughout the morning. Here are some that fell victim that morning...


Nice fish that ate early in the day.


Holy smokes - a brown trout on a steelhead trip!?!?!?

After a fantastic morning we decided to do something a little different - we packed up shop, and headed to another stream to try our luck there in the afternoon. Despite having very tea stained water, and high sun, Brian was able to pull out a few more fish to end the day.


We ended the day on a high note with this beauty.

Overall fishing has been good considering the conditions. Recent rains have brought the water up but have also washed a lot of tanic acid in to the streams. This significantly changes the PH of the water, and adversely affects steelhead migration and behavior. The last push of water brought most of the leaves down and has cleared a decent amount from the river - however, look for these to remain an issue over the next couple weeks or until we have a significant amount of rain to flush them from the streams.

Good luck and tight lines.

RICH CAME ALL THE WAY FROM FLORIDA FOR THIS TROPHY...

AND HE LET STEVE TAG ALONG TO CATCH THE LITTLE ONES....

BIG CREEK ON THE GRAND THIS MORNING....

THIS EAST SIDE TRIB FISHED UNTIL NOON WHEN IT BLEW OUT TODAY...

CONNEAUT WAS HIGH, LEAFY , AND MUDDY...JUST WHAT WE NEEDED...

The staff got out this morning to get a good look at our rivers and see what affect the rains had on our local tribs. It didn't take long to see that everything was on the rise due to the half-inch to inch of rain that fell early this morning. Look for this rain to bring in a significant push of fish - they have been held up in the lower rivers/lake, and now is their time to push upstream and really start the fall run.

The Rocky is at 675 and falling - look for it to fish early in the weekend.

The Chagrin is at 1200 and falling - look for this underrated fall gem to fish late Friday and thru the weekend.

Conneaut Creek: currently bank to bank and rising, maybe Saturday...

For anglers looking to fish tomorrow and Friday, consider fishing one of the smaller PA tributaries of steelhead alley - the miles tribs, Elk, and Walnut Creek will be fishing within the next 24 hours and should be loaded with fresh fish.

The Grand? Fogettaboutit for the time being - it's at 1300 and rising.

The Vermillion - call Eric Lindstrom for an up-to-date report.

With the high water, look for bigger flies that create a larger profile in the water to produce well - stop by the shop for a great selection of these types of patterns. Steelhead princes, superflash nymphs, brown and black stones, white, black, and purple buggers should all fish well over the next few days. Vary the colors and sizes of your egg patterns with the water clarity on the stream you are fishing. If leaves aren't present in the water consider fishing a streamer as these fresh fish often fall victim to a big fly.

As always, call the shop with any questions you might have. 440-247-7110. Tight lines and good fishin'.

I thought of Wednesday as the calm before the storm. I needed to get away; someplace I don't fish very often. But needing a dozen dozen flies that haven't been tied for clients, and patching waders, tying leaders, finding the materials to tie that dozen dozen, an oil change, new tires, family obligations, oh, and "when was I going to take the trash out?" The correct answer to these questions is RIGHT NOW! (especially the last one). Except mine had a "but" at the end. But I am going to Cattaraugus to swing flies before I am guiding for steelhead (almost) everyday between now and Christmas. Everything else has to wait. Except the trash. We used a friend's Chautauqua lake house Tuesday night as a forward base camp (thanks Nate!).

We were prepared. Ok, ok. We had too much.