new to fly fishing in ohio

[Phillip K.]

hey guys, my name is phillip and i might be moving to hoio from the hot desert of phoenix az. so i decided to look up trout fishing in ohio and havent foundmuch. i fly fish alot in ohio, and have caught many trout with many different techniques. so if anybody could give me some info on what trout are here, what flies to use, and how to catch them. i dont need any hotspotting, but some general information. thanks alot.

[sycamoreredneck]

WOW, I have never been to AZ, but I am willing to bet you will be disapointed with the fly fishing options here in the Buckeye!!! I live in Central Ohio and there are zero "fly fishing only" areas. I go to West Virginia every chance I get to fish for stocked rainbow, and native brookies. There is a member on this site who will know alot more than me when it comes to flying in Ohio. His name is Lance, and he is the fly fishing MASTER!!!!

[mulf]

The Mad River between West Liberty and Dayton seems to be the Ohio hotspot. ODNR stocks it pretty regular. Check out http://www.tumadmen.org/ some good info and links on there.

[MUZZY MAN]

Welcome to the site Phillip. Fly fishin for trout aint much of a past time here, Mad River is where I go. Ever fly cast for Bass or Steel head? Good opertunities here for that acton.

[Lance]

Welcome to the site Phillip. And ZOWIE Sycamore that's quite a build up to try to live up to!!! no pressure on me now! ;)

What part of Ohio are you expecting to move to?? While the oppurtunities for stream trout are fairly limited here there are some places to go and depending where you move to you may have a LOT of options available within a reasonable drive. I live in Akron and can be on the water in PA in 1 hr 5 min. Ohio has two primary trout streams that are stocked and easily accessible. the Mad River which has already been mentioned and the Clearfork which is a trib of the Mohican river. I've never been to the Mad but the Clearfork is a pretty little stream with brown trout and alot of access. Depending on where you move to there is also alot of PA water that are easy to get to as well as weekend trips to MI are very easy to do. As Sycamore said he fishes West Virginia also so that's also an option.
The real boom fishing in Ohio for trout is our steelhead which normally are in the lake Erie tributaries from Oct through May. The state aggressivley stocks steelhead to the tune of 450,000 fish a year spread among 5 rivers. Average fish are right around 5 lbs and 10 lb plus fish are not uncommon and hitting the river on an ideal day can often lead to 20+ fish days once you get the hang of it! It's a lot of fun even though I'm more of a dry fly type guy :) !!
When you get more details I can get a lot more specific for you. Let me know!

[sycamoreredneck]

Bravo, Lance. Like I said you know ur stuff. Ever think of a job with ODNR???

[Lance]

Actually I wanted to be a fisheries biologist as a kid and planned all my high school classes around it then changed to computers at the last minute due to lack of jobs and lots of IT work. Now I'm working on opening a fly shop! :)

[sycamoreredneck]

I would shop at your shop!!!;) The next trip to the Horseshoe in WV would be alot more fun after a trip to "Lance's-on-stop-fly-shop!!!

[Phillip K.]

thanks for all the replies. ohio will be a home for me, but i have family now moving to tennessee, and in pennsylvania. west virgina seeems like a nice place, but its kind of far. thanks for all the info guys.

[MUZZY MAN]

See I didnt know about Clearfork, Ill have to check it out