Put a Fork in it...

This winter is dragging.  The tribs off of Lake Erie have been locked up with ice for weeks.  I need some relief.  Thank God for Clear Fork!

Greg and I have gotten restless a few times recently and the Fork has filled the bill.  The nice thing about Clear Fork is that it has good flow all winter long.  Even when the levels are down a little, the good runs remain jade green.  Considering we are in NE Ohio, it's a brown trout fisherman's dream.

We have had good success with all types of offerings on the Fork.  We have been swinging large streamers with great success.  Greg tied up his first large sculpin type streamer and landed a Clear Fork brownie with it the next morning.  We have had to resort to nymphing several times and that has worked well too.  The San Juan worm was the ticket this morning.

We had an interesting experience on the Fork a couple of weeks ago.  I was stripping a large sculpin through a perfect run.  I rolled a large brown trout 5 casts in a row, but he would not take.  Greg came over and swung a small streamer through and rolled the same fish, but no take.  We were both frustrated to say the least.  Greg does not eat fish, but after that experience, he had the best comment:  "When we do catch that fish...we're eating it."  Well, I caught a pretty nice buck in that very spot this morning, but I am happy to report we let him swim away.

Don't go stir crazy this winter.  Find some local water and get out there.  It's worth every moment!