# Apple Creek



## rickerd

I fished AC last Friday afternoon. Water had a perfect flow, good clarity and 61 deg. F. I walked downstream as far as I could, then upstream from the parking lot. Didn't see a trout till I got to the trailer park hole. Saw 2 trout in there and caught one which was released unharmed.

Awesome to see the bead head hares ear drift through the head of the pool. chubs are following it and bumping it around, then the fly enters the big fishes zone. The rainbow moves around it to scare all the others away, then he turns downstream and takes it in. I love being able to see it happen. Not a twitch on my dry would have let me know a fish was on. Of course I tightened the line and the fish comes roaring out of the water right in front of me. Ended up being 19 inch healthy bow. I tried to find the other trout but couldn't locate him. After a few minutes went to the hole above the trees and didn't have any luck so I called it a day.

I was lucky to see and catch that fish. I wouldn't suggest going back there until it is stocked again. I'm looking to try the upper Clear Fork this week.

I desperately need some trout love since my early Summer trip to Au Sable was cancelled.
Tight Lines,
Rickerd


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## grant778

A guy on the Apple Creek fishing survey reported seeing 30 + large trout not too long ago, maybe two or three weeks ago in Apple Creek. Too bad if most of them were caught in that short a time span  If you go to the upper clear fork, could you take a temperature reading there if possible? I'm curious to see exactly what its temperature is this time of year.


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## langer

Are people doing better at AC than the Mad/Clear fork?
It seems to be the place to go for trout now. 
I haven't been up yet but wanted to give it a try before too long.


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## grant778

I prefer the upper Clear fork because the fish tend to remain in the river longer and are warier, since in the upper section a fair amount of the fish will hold over. Apple creek has larger trout since they are stocked larger. Unfortunately, clear fork TU's stocking of large fish is something I wish they would change. The ODNR stocks clear fork mostly with fingerlings, and in the upper section where they hold over, it takes them over two year to reach legal size. While the drawback is that they are smaller, the advantage is they are protected for a while, so there are always some fish in the river. Unfortunately, at apple creek almost all the fish they stock save maybe the ones from the trout in the classroom projects are legal size. As a result, though catch and release is encouraged, since it is not legally enforceable there, most of the fish end up being caught and kept as the year goes on. I think if they stocked a combo, maybe half fingerlings, and half larger fish, in Apple creek, then the fingerlings would be legally protected from being kept, and they could hold over and that way there would always be trout in Apple creek.


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## langer

Thanks for the info.
I do like the catch the big bows more but if they are all stocked that large, they are fairly dumb and it isn't exactly challenging.
I have heard the Amish go in at night and take a bunch out, is that true?
Also, I have heard Clearfork has had issues with holdovers more than the mad in the fact that it gets warmer in the summer and are losing a large number of fish from the water temp. IS that true? I know Clear creek is reallll bad and almost no fish survive after Aug


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## grant778

Well, it is important to differentiate between the upper clear fork and the lower (the tailwater below the dam). The upper actually stays much colder than the lower, and the upper is the portion that consistently holds over a portion of its trout. The issue with the warm water is the lower portion, and in the lower clear fork it is the case that few fish will survive the summer. I only fish the upper since for this reason the fish are larger, but the lower has much more access.


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## iajetpilot

The first rule of apple creek is we don't talk about apple creek


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## creekcrawler

iajetpilot said:


> The first rule of apple creek is we don't talk about apple creek


What he said.


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## anglerNpurgatory

It seems trout survival on the lower Clearfork may be better than we've previously thought, at least during mild summers:


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## ejsell

anglerNpurgatory said:


> It seems trout survival on the lower Clearfork may be better than we've previously thought, at least during mild summers:


3 cool summers in a row have helped but the two hot summers a few years before wiped everything out. Thanks for posting the video, great info.


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## JeremyDavis

My dad and I took a trip over to the Mad this afternoon. We fished Pimtown for a while and then moved down to 29. Neither of us caught any trout much less saw any. I managed 4 chubs. Water flow was surprisingly fast and the temp was very cool. I don't have a thermometer but it was definitely cool enough for the trout. Clarity was excellent. Had a great time with my dad even if we didn't catch any trout. And I've gotta say, the TU Mad Men have done nothing short of amazing work on the river there. It's hard to remember you are still in Ohio farm country while standing in the river there. 

As for the Clear Fork, I fished the upper 2 weekends ago upstream from Gatton Rock and saw quite a few risers. Not sure of size but they are definitely there. And if anyone needs a fishing buddy on either river, please shoot me a message. I'm always looking to hook up with fellow fly fishers. I'm an hour from the Upper Clear Fork and an hour and a half from the Mad so easily reachable for both.


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## FL-boy

Jeremy where are you located? I'm in Delaware about an hour from the Mad and Clear Fork and usually am solo because my buddies will say they want to go then end up too hungover to get up early...I'd be up for meeting up to fish either.


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## langer

I'm in Columbus and would met up with you guys as well if you wanna try and hot the trout streams.
The fishing can get a bit rough in August but it's better than sitting around.


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## JeremyDavis

FL, I'm in Newark. My wife is usually pretty good about working around my fishing as long as I let her know in advance. We've got 2 boys under 4 as well so as long as she is home to watch them I'm good. Unfortunately it looks like the rest of august for us is pretty much booked up on weekends. It generally is much easier for me to do the clear fork because my wife's family lives in mansfield so we usually make a day of it where I go fish and she takes the boys and goes to visit. PM me and we can talk about setting a trip up sometime soon.


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## JeremyDavis

Langer, same goes for you too. I'm of the mentality the more the merrier. Are either of you guys TU members?


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## FL-boy

JeremyDavis said:


> Langer, same goes for you too. I'm of the mentality the more the merrier. Are either of you guys TU members?


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## langer

At the last fishing expo I spoke with the TU madmen and they said to join the COFF since I live in Columbus and their meetings are in Urbana.


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## JeremyDavis

Weird they would turn away a member. At least they were honest. It's a great organization to get involved with. Wish we had a fly fishing club out here in Newark.


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## JeremyDavis

iajetpilot said:


> The first rule of apple creek is we don't talk about apple creek


Forgive my naevity but any particular reason why?


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## iajetpilot

Was just joking...when I first started fishing a few years ago nobody would call the place by name. It was some kind of big secret. There was one guy on here that talked about it and it seems like they ran him off or something. I was never really sure. Anyway, seems like you may have missed my fight club reference


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## langer

I'm probably gonna give Apple Creek a try tomorrow.
Any suggestions? Sounds like nymphs are the way to go. Any dry activity, will streamers work there?
Thanks for the help


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## Urizen

I've never seen dries work there, except on chubs. Nymphs and streamers have worked well. I've done well on scud patterns in the past. This time of year, and this long after stocking, you're going to want to look for the deepest pools you can find.


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## langer

thanks man.
I figured the deep pools would be best and fishing will be tough, but I want to give it a shot.
I know the big river browns like big streamers, but the big river rainbows seems to like smaller ones like the wollys and clousers.


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