# mad river 4/3/09 report / story of cool stuff that happened



## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Chalk up 3 more browns for me and my dad  got there at about 8:30 and in the water. Left at about 7:40 

We started at the rt 36 bridge and walked up a little ways on the river, fishing to promising looking water. Turned over a big brown on a copper john but he spit it RIGHT away  No more bites for a long time. Fished about 1/4 mile up, then switched to buggers to fish back downstream. The mad hates buggers, it really does. Zero buggerfish, agian.

After fishing back down we stopped at the truck and got some food and water, then hiked the path down to the railroad bridge. From there we went up to my favorite hole at ***location removed*** (  ) and my dad took his first Ohio brown on a hendrickson  Fished that hole for a while, no more takers so we went back down to the RR bridge. That thing is hard to fish >.<

Went down below RR bridge, fished random fishy looking water. My dad got another brown (i'm getting frustrated by now) on the same fly. I keep catching chubs. 

A spinner guy got in my hole that we'd left (I was letting it recharge). Thankfully he fished the hell out of it for NO FISH  Once he'd left we gave things about a half hour to calm back down, gave up on the downstream and started wading up the stream to go home. 

Hit the hole on the way up, and I hooked into a biggie for the Mad  14" (and yes, I carry a TAPE MEASURE, I don't eyeball anymore). It shot up out of the water like a rocket when I hooked him, then came right at me. Barbless fly stayed in though, and I got him to the net. Beauty 

We fished the rest of the way up with no more trout though, and my indicator rig turned into a humongous squirrel nest from hell  So that's the end of the story.

I'm getting better at the mad


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Speaking of my leader mess...


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Nice report, all it takes is persistance, the fish will come!

Salmonid


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## ckfowler (Jul 14, 2008)

Nice to get into them. I never seem to get many in that spot though I know they are there. I snuck over Sat evening after getting my chores done, fished from 5 pm-8 farther upstream. Broke my typical rule and just fished a dry with no nymph dropper. Started with a #16 dark hendrickson and switched to a #14 when that one got too wet as the fish really loved them. Nothing big, one maybe 13" but lost count after 15. Even caught one in the park before going home just to see if I could. Really didn't see any bugs other than midges but the fish were looking for them.


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Holy cow, you must have been a fair bit further upstream haha. Never saw you, and I definitely never saw that many takes. I haven't done much in the way of dry fishing on the mad, it's never gotten anywhere for me - sounds like I'm doing something wrong haha. I haven't been to any of the higher up access points on the Mad though, so I'll have to give it a shot 

So far it seems like nymphing selects for bigger fish, but dries apparently produce the numbers  haha. I'm looking to get into one of the 5 lb fish that supposedly lurk in there... Any ideas?


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## NorthSouthOhioFisherman (May 7, 2007)

Thanks for the report I plan to fish it this week


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

want those 5lbers, fish a small dry and catch a ton, and just play any small ones you hook near log jams along time
good reports, the mad should be at its best for the next few weeks


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Hahaha, I like your strategy! Seriously though, has anyone done any good on buggers in the mad? I've never even been touched on one in there  I want to catch my big fish!! haha


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## Wild One (Jul 3, 2008)

only decent fish I've pulled out of the mad have been on muddlers and buggers. Try a halloween bugger (black tail, orange/black body, black hackle)with minimal weight and fish it like a wet fly. My best hits have been while letting it "emerge" from the depths and just hanging in the film on the end of the swing. 

Favorite setup for me is a white muddler minnow as the point with a halloween or straight black bugger as the dropper. Fish them both on the swing and quick, short strips back upstream in _very few _obvious spots in the river.


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## Fishaholic69 (Apr 6, 2007)

Clayton said:


> Speaking of my leader mess...


if you don't got a leader mess you ain't fly fishing! thats my motto! lol  
I have yet to get into any browns. never been to a river with them in it to try tho so I suppose thats why i haven't gotten any. lol I can't wait tho! I dream of the day


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

the only things I have landed(key word) big browns in the mad on is small caddis nymphs and PT's, sight fishing with light tippets is a good way to go if you just want big ones. but I have caught lots of fish on olive buggers in the mad, I finally just said bag the traditional retrieves. work your way downstream with a heavy tippet, 8lb maxima is my usual, and throw a bugger tight to the deeper bank angled just downstream, one cast every 5ft cover tons of water. now for the secret, strip as fast as you can, and then faster on top of that, oh and never point the rod at the fly. if you want to move the really big ones throw a 5in articulated monster, they will chase it, but probably not eat it.


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Haha, figures on them chasing without eating it  Stupid fish!!

I wanna see one though, so I'll be going over to mad river outfitters soon and getting a new bugger / streamer box and little bit of brown candy


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## ckfowler (Jul 14, 2008)

Clayton said:


> Hahaha, I like your strategy! Seriously though, has anyone done any good on buggers in the mad? I've never even been touched on one in there  I want to catch my big fish!! haha



Fish down close to Springfield. Crystal bugger with conehead swung along log jams and hold on as it rises at the end of the slackline. Never been good at guessing weight but 19-23" of brown trout should pull hard enough. 

Did have one take a prince from the head of a pool, sight fishing as I had spooked him on the way down and he had returned by the time I was coming back up. Several passes on the fly as it went right beside him, took on the first pass along the other side. Turned out he was missing one eye!

I have never done as well on the Mad as I did on Sat, especially on a dry. Typically, I just use a dry as an indicator for the nymph under it and hope.


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## bigduck10 (Feb 15, 2009)

Funny you mention Springfield. I had a kid who worked for me was fishing just south of 70 maybe 5-7 years ago. Caught a 5.45lb Brown just south of the freeway.

Has it mounted on his wall. Only way I would have believed it! Caught it on Mepps Spinner fishing for Small mouth if I remember right.


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## ckfowler (Jul 14, 2008)

Here's a photo of that skinny one eyed caught just above Springfield proper.


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## rweis (Dec 20, 2005)

The early spring and fall are good times to throw large flies and streamers. Try a sculpin pattern, there are lots of them in the Mad. If you don't have room for a big cast and retrieve, try high sticking them like a nymph through deeper runs, especially if there is a large rock or log involved. I picked up a nice 15+" on a cold April day doing just that.


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Awesome  I will have to stop by MRO tomorrow and grab up a few sculpin patterns. Currently I've got nothing of the sort, just about 20 wooly buggers hahaha.

Time for that to change. I've heard good things about a strange brown and yellow streamer a la baby brownie that works well on the wild streams in west virginia, may have to find one of those. Or make my next trip down to wild WV


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