# Smallmouth may 29/30



## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Lemme start out by saying, screw the grand river  thing like never clears. Good for my dad's first fly rod carp though:









Anyway! I had a great weekend fishing, and a truly insane weekend in terms of just how stuff went, but lets stick to the fishing here. Also, lets find out if facebook will host my pics as external content.

We fished conneaut creek on day 1 and ABSOLUTELY FRIED in the sun. But we got some fish. The water was extremely clear and low, and the flow was pretty pitiful. Micro zonkers were the ticket of the weekend. Pics:









my dad with a 17" fish. I got a 16"er, and we each caught a few 12-14". I hooked one that would have gone 18" but he didn't make it to hand. That's pretty much day 1 in a nutshell unless I show ya crazy sunburn pics haha.

Day 2 we fished the connie briefly, got zero bites. SO we went to the lake erie shore at conneaut, found some flats, and had some fun with the smallmouth. Insane hilarity ensued. I also got my truck stuck in the sand because SOME PEOPLE PARK RIGHT ON THE GOOD PACKED DOWN SAND grr. Nobody here, but the dude in the red Dodge? Blah. I need a locking rear diff. Anyway, pics!:










Clear water much?









Very much! Looks like bonefish flats to me haha. Golden bones, anyway.










MASTER ANGLERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

ok fine, JK, the fish is only 18". If there wasn't such a crowd there screwing it up with jet skis I'd have found my 20" smallie, but I'm almost living on the rocky river this summer soooo... Don't sweat it, I'll figure it out soon enough 

P.S: Cream: Like my new hat?


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## gd9704 (Apr 17, 2010)

Nice fish....I hear what you're saying about the Grand.....


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## crkwader (Nov 7, 2008)

during the summer the grand never clears, it will always have a stain on it. I have fished the grand twice, in the middle of the winter, and it was somewhat clear. But I love that river. Big flies=big fish there. even some toothy ones. the ones of 10,000 casts.


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## Coot (Jan 27, 2006)

SWEET smallie

I'll take a smallie over a walleye any day and with a fly rod is even better


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## CWG (May 12, 2010)

+1, smallies and river sunfish over heavy gear dragged behind a boat anyday.
great read on erie, this lake rocks if you know where to look


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## wabi (Jun 14, 2008)

You're making me think about actually visiting my in-laws! 
(I live in southern Ohio - they live close to Cleveland)


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Glad you guys like the bass, wait till you see me drag a 20+ inch fish outta there  I'm going to search every river mouth and harbor up there until I can find more spots like this place... And I have goals this summer:

1) 20+" smallie
2) One of those insane 50 lb carp
3) one of those 3' catfish I saw 
4) walleye on the fly (wallfly?)

That'll be that. All on fly rods


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Given the effectiveness of some flies and the utter need for said fly to be on the bottom, I've devised a new flats pattern:










Lets see what those 50 lb carp think of it. I'll have it on 0X tippet just to turn the dang thing over haha.


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## JTKessOH (Sep 19, 2009)

Nice catches. I cant believe how clear the water is.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Clayton said:


> *P.S: Cream: Like my new hat*?


Not particularly.  

Nice fish, man!


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## Liquid Assets (Jul 6, 2008)

Clayton, do you like those tevas? I have the same pair and love them. Great pics and nice report.


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Yep, the tevas rock! Though I wish they did a way better job of keeping sand and gravel out of... themselves? Away from my foot. They're cheap and durable though and keep my feet nice and cool 

I'm moving up to cleveland in 7 days.. you can bet I will scope out most of the erie shore looking for other places like these and add a map of flats to my growing stack fo erie maps


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## Alter (Apr 8, 2004)

Clayton,

Which Tevas are those? Are they the Sunkosi 2 model? I'm very near to ordering some shoes for wet wading but need to decide between those and a few others.

Steve


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## Clayton (Oct 7, 2008)

Mine are Teva Lava Falls, they're pretty old. If you want the best pair of tevas I've seen (never worn) for wet wading, I'd go with a pair of cherry bombs. The big high-ankle neoprene cuff will keep the sand and gravel out better than mine do. Trust me, it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's so freaking miserable having your shoes pack full of sand in the current and wear holes in your feet.


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## Alter (Apr 8, 2004)

Clayton said:


> Mine are Teva Lava Falls, they're pretty old. If you want the best pair of tevas I've seen (never worn) for wet wading, I'd go with a pair of cherry bombs. The big high-ankle neoprene cuff will keep the sand and gravel out better than mine do. Trust me, it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's so freaking miserable having your shoes pack full of sand in the current and wear holes in your feet.


Well that doesn't help me at all Now I have to add the cherry bombs to my short list. 

Steve


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