Went out with a BANG!

[Lance]

Well I headed out Saturday morning with all kind of hopes and expectations. First it was no doubt my last trip for steel this spring. I had a brand new 10'8" 8 wt. switch rod that I built and and I HAD to try it out yet this spring. It was my first build and I was really happy with the way it looked I just needed to see the important part. How it fished!

http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/515/switch_completed.jpg
http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/515/switch_rod.jpg

The next part, it was fantastic weather, was it going to be crowded? Based on the flows it looks like I could be hitting the Chagrin perfect, I'd better be prepared for the crowds. Reports from the Rocky were saying there were plenty of fish so this could be awesome!

Well I got to the river and it looked like it could end up being pretty bad with the crowds. I headed down stream to get away from the parking lot area and headed for a run I hadn't fished in wuite a while. When I got down there it was me and two other people. So far tolerable, this works! With my quest started I tied on a Black Diamond to start the day. It didn't take very long and I sealed the deal to land a fish on one!

http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/507/Black_Diamond_Successweb.jpg

From this point on it was really just an awesome day. Everyone left and I had the run to myself a good portion of the morning and shared it with a couple different single fisherman who were very polite and even helped me out with getting a couple of pics for me with fish!

I ended up hooking about a dozen fish on the Black Diamonds until I ran out of them. On the day I had somewhere in the vicinity of 20+ hook ups and landed 8 in just over 4 hours of fishing. This does not count the 2 foul hooked fish that I broke free of right away. It was a mix of very fresh fish with a few spawned out darker fish along the way. The reel whacked my fingers more than a few times with fish ripping the line off my reel. :bouncy:
The other patterns that worked well for me were #12 orange crystal met, #14 Mysis shrimp, and a fly of my own I call a "McStone" in #12. Its basically a stonefly nymph that's making off with an egg.


I'll just let the pics tell the rest of the story!

Super fresh hen.
http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/515/chrome_henWeb.jpg

A nice 28" spawned out hen
http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/515/medium/nice_henweb.jpg

This guy was 29"
http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/515/Fresh_buckweb.jpg

[coonskinner]

real nice fish...fantastic pics...looks like the rod worked great...congrats!!!

[GMbuck]

Awesome day, congratulations.

[riverdude]

Great Job Lance! Congats!!

I went down today and it was so low and clear, did not see even a fish. I did see some kids swimming in the real showel water! :mad:

[sjastrz]

nice fish, good job!

[Hoytmania]

Way to go Lance!!! those are some butes right there. I'm going to have to hook up with you so you can teach me how to do some Fly fishing. Never done it yet. I inherited a couple rods from my wifes grandfather a couple of years ago and haven't used them yet.

great Job that last one is a Monster.

Nice job on the rod to. It looks like a masterpiece if you ask me.

[Thunderflight]

Sweet!! How much do you charge to build a pole?

[Duffy]

Sounds like a perfect day, Lance. Congrats!

[deerhunt45]

Great story and pics Lance! Thanks for sharing :bouncy:

[FredT]

Nicely done.

[Lance]

It was really great, thanks all!

Hoyt,

Give me a shout sometime I'd be glad to help you get started.

TF,

To be honest I hadn't given it a lot of thought yet. This is only my first build and there are a lot of things I can't do yet. I can do decorative wraps on the eyes but I can't do any of the cross wrapped stuff at the base yet like you would get on other styles of rods.

[TheCream]

Awesome fish, Lance! It looks like my window to get up north for steelies is shutting for yet another spring.

[paw paw]

Great timing. along with alot of skill. and you will have a great fishing expierience. That is about the pinacle of fly fishing Lance kudos to you keep up the great reports, and keep fishing when you can. To build your own rod, tie your flys and hit the river at its peak, how can it get any better. thanks for the report. OLE PAW PAW

[RRmike]

Well Done, Lance. You really did go out w/ a bang. What a great way to end the season. I'm sure it gives you a lot of pride knowing you did it all on an outfit of your making. Great pics. Now it's your turn to post them over on the Ohio Steelheaders. :)