Just in time for steelhead/salmon and fall saltwater blitzes the simms wader rebate program is back. If you have been wanting to get into the most comfortable, best performing wader on the water now is your chance. Bring in any old pair of breathable waders you no longer use to the shop and walk out with a new pair of GoreTex simms waders for $50.00 off. You'll be glad you did.

Since it's late August in Ohio and not much is happening i figured i would share some family pics from the last couple of weeks that i received. Here Justin is about to release one of my favorite catching and eating fish, the Atlantic bonito. These guys are speedsters and challenging quarry on the fly pole.

We tried for some Pike again yesterday on a new stretch of river to no avail.

But we had a nice boat ride.

Here my niece Abby kicks back on the Madison after some great early morning fishing.

Another of Abby with a Beauty from the Yellowstone river.

She even let her dad and uncle catch a few as well. Even though it looks like one of them may still be under the influence from the evening prior. Can you guess who it is.

Hopefully in the near future we will have some surf steelhead pics which should be just around the corner and the recent reports of fresh Salmon in the lower Pere Marquette seem to be legit for those chasing Kings. New gear and old standbys have been coming into the shop everyday and the fly selection is better than ever with more on the way so stop in, check out some new stuff and say hello.
Dan and Pete

Being our first time targeting pike we were not sure what to throw but figured big, noisy, and gaudy was a good start.

Intermediate lines, wire leaders and flies that are not fun to cast all day.

There's one.

Had some pretty sweet takes.

Brought three small guys to the boat, missed 4 or 5 others and moved a few bigger ones in about three hours. Not bad for first time prospecting

And had a great time in the process.

Oh yeah we saw John Wayne, one of my all time favorite bad asses.

And an alligator, which would not eat anything we threw at it.

Usually impromptu "Hey lets go Pike fishing" trips seem like a good idea at the time but end up with poor results in the fish catching department. Today we had some success and were very satisfied with our first time efforts. The fish we landed were all pretty small but we did move a few large ones that didn't eat and figured a few things out in the process that make fishing fun. For instance Chartreuse was a good color while red/yellow were just marginal and what kind of cover we were getting strikes around that the fish seemed to prefer. We are all ready talking about trying a different stretch of river this week, will let you know how that turns out.

"Invasive Species"
New in Fly tying Blog

Took an Ohio steelheader in search of wild PA browns for his first trout fishing experience

Saw some beautiful sights

Caught a bunch of wild PA brown trout

Had decent dry fly action with trico spinners

Not a bad way to spend a few days in August.

Spent some good quality family time with the girls and my little brother.

And we even took some time to do some personal fishing which is rare these days.

That's what we've been doing. Now it's time to start thinking about steelhead, do we ever stop. We have been getting the shop stocked up with a bunch of new fly tying materials and fly patterns and thinking about a cool wet September. Hope everyone is having a great summer and see you in the shop. Dan and Pete

Simms freestone vibram soled wading boot, on sale for $89.95 from $129.95. Get em while there hot

Redington fishing shirts and wet wading pants 30% off.

Stop by the shop Thursday July 29th thru Sunday August 1st for savings up to 50% off on hats, t-shirts, fly tying materials, fly lines, books, dvd's and more.

High sticking nymphs thru a productive run.

Hooked up to a rainbow that was sipping midges in slow foam...

A nice bow using the current...

Another rainbow that took a black stone off the bottom...

Bassin' was fast and furious in the am.

Respectable brown that took a fast moving streamer...

Sunset smallie...

The sun sets on a great day...

Topping the mountain....

Fished the Chagrin last night with a friend and didn't do so hot. Water was still a little murky from recent rains but overall the smallmouth fishing has been better than average with some very nice fish willing to take flies.

Tight lines, Dan and Pete.

Not many options for putting in and taking out on this river that runs through very steep Appalachian terrain.

Lets get these boats rigged and on the water.

Choose a fly but choose carefully, trout and smallmouth have a definite preference on this river and fly selection is critical.

We chose well, at least well enough, streamers were the ticket for chunky river smallies.

Others opted to pound the banks with a dry dropper combo and work for the rivers large rainbows.

Not one of the big boys but a 15 inch rainbow isn't a bad start.

If you aren't sure about picking smallmouth patterns any from Bob Clouser are hard to beat, this smallie pounded a Clouser floating minnow fished on an intermediate line.

Bringing another smallie to the boat.

and another, smallie fishing was good.

Trout ninja and rainbow that slurped a size 6 stonefly.

Color palate of a tailwater bow.

Pulling streamers thru a nice deep hole that yielded both rainbows and smallies.

This river doesn't give up its finned prizes very easily and each fish is earned. Sure there are days when the fish are stupid and if you fish it on one of these days be thankful. But in the end each trip down the Yough supplies some great memories.

Thanks to my brother Ernie at Laurel Highlands Guide service for another great float on the Yough. Dan and Pete