# mad river trout fishin 10/4



## Hummel (Apr 3, 2006)

took one of my newbie friends fishin on the mad today....

havent ever fished in ohio for trout, but figured id give it a try.

caught 9 rainbows and 1 brown
they wouldnt bite flies so i switched to roostertails....

was a great day

what sucked is these roostertail hooks were so dull....had to of missed 20 rainbows/browns

..oh yea we fished from about 5-8...right after it got dark my buddy says hes got to go find a pole he left...he took a flashlight and said he saw over 10 15" + trout.

was way too tired, but figure im gonna give night fishin for the big ones a try this week..

dang camera ran out of batteries


will have pics next time



p.s.- i know mad isnt central ohio, but i dont post on anything other then central ohio fishin on here


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## FINN (Sep 21, 2007)

hummel who you callin newbie. and one of yours was a chub. overall report minnows 0(1 chub), flyrod 0, roostertail 9 including a 12 inch + brownie with red spots who cleared four inches out of the water once hooked. great day and as i saw on the way out the boogie fish come out at night. other flyfisher didnt catch jack. roostertail is the way to go for trout on the mad.
pics coming soon....

finns


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## Hummel (Apr 3, 2006)

haha im playin finn...that brownie was sweet


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## Master Angler (May 26, 2004)

Those weren't rainbows they were freshly stocked immature brwon trout. Alot of people mistake parr marked browns for rainbows. since these fish are freshly stocked amd represent future years holdover fish it is best to leave them be if you stumble upon a school of them. Catching some of them is inevitable but it is important to hanlde them carefully.


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## FINN (Sep 21, 2007)

bro only one was a brown, but it gave the best fight. 8 of them were definitly rainbow trout.


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## Hummel (Apr 3, 2006)

Master Angler said:


> Alot of people mistake parr marked browns for rainbows. since these fish are freshly stocked amd represent future years holdover fish it is best to leave them be if you stumble upon a school of them. Catching some of them is inevitable but it is important to hanlde them carefully.


master angler ...who are you to say that what i caught was immature brown trout? without a picture i have no idea how you can just go "Those weren't rainbows they were freshly stocked immature brwon trout."

instead you could have said...sometimes people confuse .....

i know what a young and older rainbow trout looks like...and they were rainbow trout

thanks otherwise





http://www.mattbrown.co.uk/photos/fishing/thumbs/baby-brown-trout.jpg.... baby brown

http://www.thejump.net/id/young-rainbow-trout-picture.jpg ....baby rainbow


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## Hummel (Apr 3, 2006)

oh well it was a fun day


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## Utard (Dec 10, 2006)

9 bows and only one brown!?

Wow. That is certainly not typical. I've only ever even seen one bow on the mad. It was a large holdover from a very deep hole (and the rusty hook I was using broke before I could get a hand on it!) But the vast majority of the trout in the mad are browns and that maybe what was being referred to. Out of curiosity, where were you guys fishin? That sounds like a pretty decent day on the mad. What flies did you throw?


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## FINN (Sep 21, 2007)

cant give out exact spot but it was south of west liberty and north of urbana.


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## onthewater (May 20, 2005)

I'm quite certain they quit stocking Rainbows in the Mad several years ago. They only stock Browns now.


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## Wiper Swiper (May 24, 2005)

Yeah...typical defiance from the generation that knows too much to listen.

Boys...them weren't 'bows. They were exactly what master angler politely asked you to respect and avoid. Since the Mad brown trout population depends on state stockings, you would be wise to heed his sage advice.

IF there was a surplus rainbow stocking that I haven't heard about...I'll apologize. But, as onthewater stated, they ain't put a 'bow in the Mad in years.


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## FINN (Sep 21, 2007)

1984 was the last time they stalked the mad river with rainbow trout. but its not impossible to hit a school of rainbows is it? well next time ill be sure to have a camera WITH batteries in it. i respect everybodys post but i still think i know the difference between a brown trout, S. trutta morpha lacustris, and a rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. until then...

finns


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## Carpman (May 18, 2005)

Ohio trout can be weird sometimes. It's hit or miss whether they like rooster type rigs, or a fly set up! Looks like you had a good day then, cheers!


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## FINN (Sep 21, 2007)

carpman do you really eat carp? i thought that was a chinese thing


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## Utard (Dec 10, 2006)

FINN said:


> cant give out exact spot but it was south of west liberty and north of urbana.


Interesting. That was exactly where I hooked into the holdover rainbow I mentioned earlier.

You're right it isn't impossible to run into rainbows on the Mad, but Browns being the terrotorial carnivores that they are tend to wipe out the other trout species in their water pretty quickly. If you ran into a whole "school" of bows, then it may be possible, however, EXTREMELY unlikely, that some of the old holdover bows have spawned. While, I have to assume that the fish you caught were browns, simply due to stats, I'd love to see you go back and catch more and get some pictures.


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## xmatthewx (Jul 29, 2007)

either way, whether they were rainbows or browns... good job on your catch. the fact is you caught some fish, and probably had a good time doing it, and you were just trying to share that with us. so, thank you for the story.


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## Brian.Smith (May 18, 2006)

Sounds like you had a good day on the river, this is one of my browns from the Mad, sorry it's a little one.


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## Utard (Dec 10, 2006)

Brian.Smith said:


> Sounds like you had a good day on the river, this is one of my browns from the Mad, sorry it's a little one.


Little?

Ha, I'd say thats just about the norm. Not the greatest of trout fisheries and I've seen few fish much bigger than that one. Ha, I've seen few fish period, but you take what you can get right?


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

For the record, there are a handful of rainbows in the Mad, all escapee from private waters on the headwaters. I take a dozen every year, most are "stocker" sized but a few push 15". It is weird because we tend to catch them in the same places year after year, something about those places always holds 1 here and 1 there. I might 2 in a day from the same riffle but I never heard of more then that being taken at the same place but it is posssible since bows are a schooling fish vs the browns which are very territorial.

PS I have even taken 4 brookies from the Mad and its tribs over the last 15 years and had 2 different clients take brookies as well. Again all escapees from ZR&GC.

Salmonid


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## Wiper Swiper (May 24, 2005)

Dam...forgot about the club up North and the possibility of mavericks. I've even got a friend that belongs who has given me a couple 20's from there for the grill. I knew the resident authority would weigh in eventually...thank you, Salmonid.

I stand corrected. There is still the chance of getting a rainbow in the Mad...8 of them in one trip seems pretty remote...maybe high water pushed a flock down.

Salmonid, two questions if you've got time. Is there any natural reproduction from browns (or 'bows for that matter) in the Mad? And, did the Mac O Chee restoration project happen? Haven't made it up that way to check it out yet.


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## Phillyfish (Aug 23, 2006)

I've never done any fly fishing, but want to learn someday, but until then what else can you use to catch trout. I'm not too experienced in fishing rivers, but I've got some new waders I'm looking to use this fall. Any tips on what to use? The few times I've fished in the rivers I've lost more lures than fish I've caught.


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## Hummel (Apr 3, 2006)

right on...nice pic brian.

were headed out there tomorrow so we'll take pics.


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## Hummel (Apr 3, 2006)

Phillyfish said:


> I've never done any fly fishing, but want to learn someday, but until then what else can you use to catch trout. I'm not too experienced in fishing rivers, but I've got some new waders I'm looking to use this fall. Any tips on what to use? The few times I've fished in the rivers I've lost more lures than fish I've caught.


roostertails...im not big into fly fishing in freshwater....all spinning and baitcasting.

now a snook or tarpon on a fly...ill take that anyday


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

I have to agree exactly with what Salmonoid said. About 1 in 10 trout I catch is a rainbow and none of the bows have been over 12". I've caught 3 brookies all around 8" or 9", 1 from the Mad and others from connecting creeks. Most of the browns have been between 10" and 14" with a few 16" to 18". There was one occasion about 8 years ago South of SR 36 that I caught 6 bows in a row out of one hole.

Maybe I should also add that I only fish this river from December through March.


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## 14shadow (Apr 1, 2006)

I don't fish the mad all that much but I do live within a quarter of a mile of it and do hear stories from time to time. Occaisionally I do hear of rainbows caught on the mad but they are fairly rare. We used to catch a lot of them back in the day but as previously stated, they have not been stocked in years.

The local paper ran an article a couple of years back that said that trout do not reproduce on the mad. I do not necessarily beleive this considering that I have caught four trout over 20" on the mad....three browns and a rainbow caught in December 2003. That fish was right at 20" and givin its size no way that it could have been stocked in the 80's. 

There are still a few rainbows in the mad, my guess is that they either do reproduce or get in there by some other means, being transplanted by fisherman who catch them in Clark Lake during the annual stocking there, maybe. I also wonder if maybe a few of them are accidently stocked with the Browns in the mad. Two years ago I was fishing in Clark Lake after they stocked the rainbows there and my friend caught a brown that had been apparently stocked with the rainbows.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Just based on size, you can never tell if a fish is hatchery or wild stock because, unlike rainbows, which grow in hatcheries at a consistant cookie cutter rate, browns vary all over the place, young of the year browns can be from 3-9" after 1 year. A 20" fish if super fed in a hatchery, could be 3 years old but once in the river at 1 year old would be 20" in there either 4th or 5th year. Best brood stock for browns is 16-19" and typically these are 2 or 3 year old fish at the London Fish hatchery.Once they are biger then that, they end up at Antrim or Clear fork since they are past their prime.

Rainbows if fed enough food in a hatchery typically are 9-11" ( sometimes referred to as a SNIT in many other states where they have heavy stocking programs, Standard Nine Inch Trout) I might add that if enough food is around, you can get a 1 year old rainbow up to 1.75 Lbs and 15" under ideal conditions. 

As far as Natural reproduction in the Mad, we believe it happens every 3-4 years when we get no floods from Oct 15th through Jan 1st, but that doesnt happen very often, when it floods the eggs get silted over and suffocate and the redds get burried from all the heavy sediment transport. This leaves 3-4 of the quality tribs that have steady flows year round, and while a few fish are probably spawning in them, the ditch like features and lack of spawning habitat riffles makes it difficult for very many fish or the likelyhood of survival very prominant. 

Bottom line is what little spawning "may" be happening would never be able to support the heavy fishing pressure so its not much of a priority to prove 
that they are or are not spawning. 

I hope this makes sense

Salmonid


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## boonecreek (Dec 28, 2006)

just learned a lot about trout. our trout are raised and released by our great state of ohio. outr will live all year (i don,t think so this year, to hot and dry )with the help of spring feed water. all rainbows


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

The overflow of Clark Lake eventually dumps into Buck Creek and then into the Mad River shortly thereafter. Some of the Rainbows stocked into Clark Lake in the Spring may be making their way into the Mad.


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