Throwback Jamz

It's been a while, but I'm back,
Things have been a little chaotic recently. I've gone back to school at the one and only Denison University and 100% of my days are occupied by football activities and any "free time" is usually taken up by ice baths and naps. So, as you could've probably guessed, fishing has not really been accessible. With this post I will recount my most recent fishing trip, and one of my all time favorite fishing trips. Let's do this.
1. As school approached I wanted to get some good old family time in. Most families would go to a nice steakhouse for dinner, or have relatives in town for a final sendoff, but our household does things a bit different. We usually end up fishing. With my Dad working long hours at work, an early night often means strolling through the doors around 9:30. But since I was leaving he'd step up his game a bit and before you know it we were heading to the lovely Raccoon Creek for one final outing. With the trees lush with leaves and the narrow creek winding through the forest, a fly rod just wasn't gonna do it. I had my waders packed, along with my new spinning rod and a tackle box full of fresh rapalas for the fall season. Lookin basically like this. We hit one of our favorite holes and started castin. Starting off slow with crank baits of each and every color, the hot day just wasn't producing fish. After an hour of shitty ass fishing, we thought we should bring out the big guns. And that we did. A worm. A bobber. And a size 4 hook. Game on. Hitting a new hole just a bit down stream, the fish were feasting. But my writing, as you all have probably noticed is pisspoor, so lets just show some damn pictures huh. A night full of beautiful smallies, ending up with 8 or 9, along with a PB rock bass and some dinky ass bluegill, it was the perfect send off with Pops.

These fish aren't goliaths lets be real, but on a light rod they put up one hell of a fight. These smallies bend the rod a bit, and for some reason catching wild fish is 1000x better than a stocked pond. More work finding the holes, using the right bait or lure, and just the overall surroundings make this set up so freakin sweet. Like I said, not a super exciting fishing story post but hey it'll keep your eyes busy for a bit. And I have other football dudes who are down to fish so we could have some realllll "meaty" posts com in up. Stay tuned.

Oh shit, part 2?

2. Throwbackkkkkk. This story will not be nearly as cool as this throwback... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eSN8Cwit_s but I'll do my best...

Led my the one and only "Lou" from Mad River Outfitters, it was winter time and all local ponds had frozen over or were simply too cold to fish. Not rich enough to fly down to the Keys, or good enough to hit Steelhead on Lake Erie tribs, so I was shit out of luck. Until I get a call from Adam Donahue, who is a longtime friend of my brothers, and ridiculously talented fly fisher. He had set something up with Lou from Mad River which half of you have probably met. Super cool dude btw... Here he is with some massive ass fish...

....

Continuing on...

We hop in the car at like 5 in the morning, still dark out, and we go two and a half hours south to the ohio river. Still super cold...so what does he have in store. Check this out.... so we pull up to this parking lot and its by a big electric factory. And somehow, they use hot water in the factory that ends up getting pumped into the Ohio river in this back little cove. We're rocking winter coats, gloves, hats, everything, and I'm expecting this water to be ice cold, cuz 200 yards down from us we could see some ice in the damn river. We get in and the water is a warm 65. Like almost felt like a bath tub. There was steam com in off, and it was just insane. I'm getting pretty pumped recalling this story if you can't tell. So we start hitting this canal, wading out into basically quick sand and start tossing flies. Big clausers, and we also have spinners throwing big gummy minnows as far as we can. After being told we were going for stripers I had some skepticism, cuz it was January and I couldn't feel my face. A couple casts in with the fly rod and boom, fish on. I don't know what you're picturing but here ya go...

One of my personal favorite fly rod catches. 

The fun continued and people were bringing in fish left and right. Literally insane. They were just slammin these clausers like it was their job and fish after fish would put up insanely tough fights. Here are some more pics to recall this amazing trip.

My best fish of the day, this one on a spinning rod.

Adam Donahue with a huge striper he got off his fly rod

Dinky ass fish, but had to show off the steam and everything. This one hit a blue and white clauser.

If I don't do this trip again this summer I'll kill myself because it was hands down one of the sweetest trips a fisherman could go on. Any takers? 

Another post over with, and Drew if you're reading this I'm sorry but you're stringers of pike will be on the next post. Speaking of pike...

Just soak that in...Pike having another pike as a snack? Get Jeremey Wade on the phone... (Credit to Drew)

Hope that could kill some free times for all you goons out there. More to come soon. Tight lines.

-CL

On A Serious Note...

Let's take a pretty laid back blog full of cheap laughs and low quality pictures and spice it up a bit...
On A Serious Note...

Fishing has always been an escape for me, and as "emo" or sketchy as that may sound, I always know I can turn to my gilled friends to cheer up a brother in need. Whenever my mind is racing or I'm simply stressed after a day of your typical D3 activities, (typical to any other person just with a few extra bicep curls), I find nothing more enjoyable than walking through the thick brush until you reach an opening with nothing but a beautiful, clearwater creek just feet away.
Fishing has always been a past time. And the more I think about it the harder it is to define the act of fishing. Some people consider it a sport, but does that make Kevin Van Dam an athlete? F***, no. Other people say its a hobby, or something to do to kill time, but to be honest it's much more than that. It's a pastime, an everlasting memory. Growing up in a family who isn't big on skiing or hunting, but rather one who spent most vacations hitting up Hilton Head and rockin the frizz on the beach, something that was always accessible was fishing. With a Grandfather who use to live in Naples with his other retired friends, catching big Kingfish and Grouper was nothing out of the norm. I was lucky enough to take some of the skills I learned here in beautiful Ohio and take those talents down to South Beach (Suck It Lebron). But where did I get some of those self proclaimed talents? Well, I had plenty of time casting lines and getting skunked at the Scioto at an early age. I hit up ponds in Hilliard and Dublin. Hell I use to cast in my backyard and try to catch my dog...(RIP Sadie). Fishing has just always been a ridiculously huge part of my life. Fishing with my Dad and brother was always the thing I looked forward to most on the weekend, and even a thirty minute drive to some legendary pond was always worth the early wake ups. Not only for the huge bass and bitchy little bluegill, but for the whole experience in general. Talkin football on the way there, grabbin a sub on the way home. It was perfect. It could've been raining and cold, or blistering hot, but either way it was worth it. Helping load up the car and stopping at the nearby Speedway to grab a pack of red trout worms was the morning routine and I simply never got sick of it. Some of my fondest childhood memories came with my hand on the reel, unhooking 6 inch bluegill and watching my dad lose bobber after bobber in the weeds. I always give that dude grief. But I also have to thank him for all the money spent on gas and the countless hours of him untangling my line before I began to kick his ass on the water. Now our trips are full of trash talking, but with no less love than when I was 5 years old. As I continue my life at Denison University, every so often I find the time to meet up with the former LOTF legend D Rock over at Raccoon Creek and as we talk about how practice went and think about what we should order at good ole' Brew's Pub, a smile can't help but shine across my face.

(Hometurf: Raccoon Creek)

So what is fishing? A sport? Sure. A hobby? Why not. A Time Killer? Most definitely. But to me? It's just a damn good time with the people you care about.
Tight Lines,
-Cam

Odds I get shit from my brother about this somewhat corny post are pretty high, so Brad...

Touche....

Abercrombie and Fish

Another week of fishing, another week of awesomeness...
The week began with a trip to my favorite local pond at Marble Cliff. The weather was shaky all day and pop up storms were prohibiting my fishing from going from morning till dusk. Every time I loaded up the car, I'd have to take notes from Patches O'Hoolihan in hopes of avoiding the downfall of rain that stood between my Jeep Cherokee and my garage. Dodge, duck, dip dive, and...dodge. After an hour of disappointment, I literally said "F*** it", and threw on a raincoat and hopped in the car. With the possibility of more storms popping up I decided to stick close, and so I snuck into lovely Marble Cliff and threw out a line. Five minutes in of casting a white closer minnow and I landed my first picture worthy fish. Bluegills were off the charts with my small bead headed nymph so I decided to throw on a bigger fly and go for some of the hogs I knew lurked in this community pond. A couple casts in and got a hit. Missed it but knew the fish were beginning to pick up activity. Started stripping the fly again, letting it sink more than usual, and got a strike from a good sized bass. Line went tight and I was in for a fight. Off of a 4 wt a good sized bass really puts on a fight, and as raindrops began to drizzle down, I landed this good sized bass about thirty minutes in.

(I'll take it)

Off to a good start my morale was high and I continued to toss the streamer. I thought the luck would continue, but with the off and on rain and the high winds, both casting...and catching...became a little more difficult. I was able to land a few more gills, all around 7-8", but nothing huge. I decided to put away the fly rod and get out the spinning rod. With a rapala crank bait on the line, shit was about to hit the fan. First cast, boom! Reeled in about a pounder, and tossed the line back out. Ripping it right through the path of my first fish, I snagged the lure on something on the bottom of the pond. As I tried to maneuver the lure out of the possible log or branch, the log began to move. Wait...what the hell. It wasn't a log....it was some goliath of a fish. I was speechless. Rod was bent over and I had to let the fish run a little, and after one hell of a fight, I pulled him onto shore and got my thumb in his mouth. I was alone, and as embarrassing as it may sound, I legitimately jumped up and down when I had the beast on shore. Trying to take selfies on my phone, I propped up my "ifin" and took a video, and as I posed for the camera, my heartbeat was close to 200. A new personal best, which measured right at 22", and had to be near 5 lbs, I held the fish with more joy than a hockey player with the stanley cup. 

Fuckin' A dude...

As bad as I wanted to get it taxidermied and have it hanging above my bed, I gotta support catch and release so hopefully some other kid can catch this pig of a fish. Soak it in people, soak it in...

Now back to family and friends. First off, went fishing to a friends private pond in Dublin and was able to catch some good sized bass. Accompanied by my girlfriend's father, he was lucky enough to catch this big 13" crappie, a fish we were not expecting to catch. Using a rubber minnow, he was on fire, and the crappie were all over it. Such a fun fish to catch. 

Lastly, previous LOTF legend Garrett Powers' brother was lucky enough to head west and fish the Green River in Wyoming. With guide/friend Dan Kloos, Petey Powers was able to connect on some beautiful browns and bows. I got this picture and couldn't help but share it...

Another week in the books, and another week of excellent fishing. To conclude the post I have two things for you. 

1. Watch this video, has nothing to do with fishing but it's just a classic :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP1-oquwoL8

2. Thought I'd take the whole MW Fly/Suburban Fishing to the next level and customize possibly the first shirt of many. Definitely a test run but hope to make more. Any thoughts on color combos, logos, etc, just let me know. If anyone is interested in getting one just let me know! Text or FB, whatever works. Watch out Hollsiter, here comes Abercrombie and Fish.

Till next time...

Tight Lines,

-CL

MW FLY

Been a while since the last Life On The Fly post...
...and as much as I love the name LOTF, I googled it and saw about fifty other fly fishing websites and blogs, so I went a little more basic, lacking more creativity than a 2Chains rap verse, and thought MidWest Fly fit nicely. I'm drawing some BS logo as we speak, but I don't know, LOTF seemed more sought after than a case of budweiser at a West Virginia family reunion. So, MW FLY it is..for now...

Another week in South Carolina resulted in some more insane catches. For family and friends, it was a busy week on the water. Start out with a buddy of mine, and Georgetown football star Gary Powers who was able to snag this 18 pound lake trout up in Lake Erie...

The gleam shots continued as my father, Derrick Layer, better known as D-Rock, was able to snag a 6 lb, 24 inch Red off the shore of Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Located just 20 minutes outside of downtown Charleston, the areas canals and marshes are known for their redfish, and off a chunk of cut mullet, D-Rock was able to connect with this beauty:

(Stud^)

The catch of the week also belongs to the gimp monster known as my father (Torn Achilles and possible torn meniscus), who was able to reel in a 40 lb ray also off a chunk of cut mullet. As tempting as it was to get a lovely shot with the prehistoric monster, D rock bailed and cut the line, but we were able to catch a pic of this badass creature head-on...enjoy...

Three more crazy catches, none by the writer himself. So to redeem myself I'll throw in a picture from earlier this summer that was actually caught on a fly rod. Using a crayfish pattern and stripping it through the treacherous depths of Marble Cliff Crossing, (a wealthy closed off community located about a mile south of me, which I've been kicked out of many times for my homeless looking exterior), I was able to land a beautiful 4 lb LM. Although I've caught a handful of these this size in this area, one (or two) pics should redeem my embarrassing saltwater performance in which I only landed a couple 16 inch sand sharks and this lady fish:

(sweet bedhead, I know)

But now for the LMB I've bragged about:

If you like to fish, just go do it. There's no better way to just relax and enjoy all that nature has to offer than to just go out and toss a line. This week I'm planning on going to the Mad. With some serious rains this past weekend, my Sunday morning plans to hunt trout simply didn't work out, but with the rain should come plenty of opportunities to catch some fish. Terrestrials are hitting in the late afternoons, especially Japanese beetles and foam ants. Stock up on a couple of these and go snag a Brown...Till next cast...

MW FLY.

Tight Lines,

-Cam

Trifecta

Whaddup Ladies and Gents,
Hope everyone had a good fourth. Nothing represents America more than a couple beers, friends, and of course, fishing. I had the pleasure to bounce around this week, with a South Carolina vacation coming to an end, as well as plenty of time to bounce around Ohio searching for some great fishing opportunities. Let us begin with SC...
Remember those sharks we were catching off the beach? Well we took it to the next level and took out a private charter known as the Izzy A, and felt the need to slam some bigger fish out of Harbor Town in Hilton Head. Once again the target was sharks, and as we trolled shrimp boats who were basically chumming the water for free, Jaws was in sight. Dolphins splashed the surface, seagulls dove from above, and somewhere beneath the murky depths of the Atlantic, sat a predator trailing the bait eating more than Joey Chestnut on Independence Day. (Sorry for the bad pic there Joey). Like I said before, although I'm mainly a fly fisher, I gotta throw in all fishing experiences, so for this adventure we were using heavy spin caster rods and throwing live baitfish as our boat drifted with the current. Time passed then we heard it. The absolute best noise in the world (besides a perfect swish in basketball, or the sound of someone mixing mac and cheese), the spool was getting stripped. Line flew out and a fish was on. Blah blah blah, this is going to be a long post anyone so lets get to the good stuff. After several runs of the monster shark, I final brought the sucker in, and currently is the largest fish I've caught, coming in around 70 pounds. Don't judge:

 Fish #2:

After dropping sharks, I had to go back to my roots, which was fly fishing for LMB back in lovely Ohio. Boy did I miss it, swinging boogers by sunken trees, or stripping a popper on the edge of a lilly pad cluster. So I ended up at a pond located near the Big Darby Creek somewhat close to the Dublin area. Beautiful pond with algae, rocks, a spill well, just about everything. My fly of choice for bass is simply a brown wooly bugger. Never failed me, for quality or quantity. So I start throwing it and instantly get a hit, and bass #1 comes in. I quickly realize that this pond seems to be fished very little so I took full advantage, and within an hour I've got 20 bass to my name. Legitimately almost every cast resulted in a strike and 95% of the time, a landed fish. Not trying to be cocky but I almost got bored with it. Ha, who am I kidding, it was freaking insane. Here's one of my favorite catches as I tossed the brown wooly right next to where a trib entered the pond, and stripped it next to a patch of lilly pads, resulting in this bad boy:

Camo shorts anyone?

Last but not least I have to post about a buddy, Jared Sylvester who caught a beauty at Mad River the other day. Water levels were high and a bit murky so he went with a black wooly and was stripping it about two feet off the bank through some of the deeper holes. The Mad is always a tough place to fish, and with the recent rains and high water levels it has continued to stay tricky. I've never had incredible luck at the Mad, catching 5 fish there in my "career" or whatever the hell you wanna call it. But what I would do to land a fish like this....

                                              A beautiful Brown caught near the 36 bridge. 

Well, three awesome fish in three completely different locations. Three species, three fishing techniques. Let the fun continue. Trifecta.

-If you are in the Ohio area and are interested in the Mad, make sure to hit up the fishing report:

http://www.madriveroutfitters.com/t-fishing-reports.aspx

Tight Lines,

CL

Swimmin' With the Sharks

Whaddupppp,
I'm not entirely sure if you know what Ohio weather is like, but if you've been there for more than a week, you'll know that its about as predictable as Lindsay Lohan's next felony. After some muggy nights and some summer showers, the lovely roller coaster of Ohio weather is a lot to handle sometimes. Therefore, I've taken my talents to Hilton Head. Alongside my girlfriends Dad and her brother, we've been hittin Carolina surf to see what we can snag. The fly rod didn't fit into the suitcase, and as sick as it would be to strip some Clausers on a 10 wt rod hitting Red Drum and just about anything else, we went old school. Headed to the lovely Wal-Mart on the island and picked up a Shakespeare Tiger Spinning rod, with 20 lb test, attached to a swivel with a pyramid weight, 16 inches of steel leader, and a good size hook. We've thrown both squid and cut mullet on the hooks and we've been having some luck. With your typical retired 70 year old couple occasionally stopping and observing three legendary goons chucking fish heads as far as we could throw them, we had to put on a show. And that we did.

Now, I know its not Jaws, but that's pretty badass. A 24 inch, 5 lb shark on light test is the same as Michael Vick's idea of a perfect way to spend an afternoon, a dogfight.

Much different from my usual Fly-Fishing Experience, this was fun nonetheless. Out at the crack of dawn with a couple dudes just hangin out and fishing. That's a vacation. Gonna hit the water nice and early tomorrow to see if we can hit a Bluefish or something other than a prehistoric beast of a shark that kept the other kids on the beach scared shitless from entering the water. Next time we won't flaunt our catch so that all the lovely vacationers can go Swimmin' With the Sharks.
Boom

PS- If the Spurs win tonight, I'll let a shark bite my finger. Stay tuned.

-Till Next Cast,
CL

Get Fish, or Die Flyin'

Hit up the Mad River yesterday. An hour drive there and an hour back, all for about a half hour of fishing. If that's not worth it then I'm not exactly sure what is. Skies were clear in lovely Upper Arlington, and the radar seemed hopeful, with a 30% chance of showers not slowing me or my buddy down from going on another adventure to the crystal clear spring stream known as Mad River. 

As we headed toward Urbana, the weather continued to be on our side, and it appeared as though no rain had strolled through the Mechanicsburg area as we flew down back roads lined with corn on both sides. As we got closer to the 36 Bridge Exit, some darker storm clouds were appearing faster than pigeons spotting a hippie sporting a loaf of sourdough. We got out of the truck and after tying up a Daddy Long Leg's dry fly on my 4 piece Redington 5 Weight fly rod, I headed into the deep abyss, into a waterway known to have 12-16" Rainbows, Browns, and Brookies. Deep abyss my ass, if you haven't been to Mad River it's a very difficult stream, that is never more than waist deep, and is a beautifully scenic river as trees create a canopy over top of you. As much as I love the thick forestry for blocking the wind from inhibiting my roll casts and dry fly fishing, it also can create some real misfortunes as snags occur on the regular. My buddy started about 50 yards downstream from me and was hitting a dry dropper, more easily explained as a large dry fly with 12-16 inches of tippet trailing behind it with a small nymph sinking below. A very effective strategy as two different flies can attract the fish, and when executed properly, can produce some big numbers. 

As we waded upstream and hit some holes we were familiar with we struggled to get a hit. Like I had mentioned, Mad River is a difficult stream, and for a young fisher who hadn't gone more than a handful of times, it has given me some trouble. Still learning the stream, I had caught less than ten fish before this trip, but as my LM bass fishing became more productive in lakes and ponds, my confidence seemed to grow, and as I waded the crystal clear stream, with rounded rocks beneath my feet, this trip felt good. Then, all hell broke loose. Some fish were rising when we arrived around 530 PM, and although I tried to swing a dry in front of them, I had about as many hits as Nickelback has sellout crowds. I had zero hits in case you were wondering. And if you are reading this and are like, "dude's crazy, Nickelback is badass", well then I'm speechless, and actually kind of bummed that my blog attracted readers of your nature. Alright, back to fishing.

Fish were rising every now and then, and then rain started to trickle down. And within minutes, it appeared that literally forty thousand fish were rising all around me. It was either that, or an absolute downpour had sprung upon us. The thick brush did provide some cover but I headed to the bank where the overhanging trees acted like a raincoat, and I managed to stay pretty dry. Well damn, here I was an hour away from home, caught in a downpour in a trout stream, and I have no fish to make the trip worth it yet. So, I dangle out a few more casts and let the small dry drift down the rising river, the current a little too fast to make the fly noticeable or believable for any of the timid trout to strike. I headed back under the sheltered overhang on the bank and checked my phone. The storm wasn't stopping any time soon and thunder cracked in the back. The sky turned dark and it was time to call it a day. Saying I was frustrated is an understatement, pissed seems more appropriate. Two hours of driving for 40 minutes of fishing and a bad attitude. As much as I wanted to stay in the stream and slay the harsh conditions to slam a beautiful brook, the current had picked up and my makeshift waders, which consisted of some clearance boots from Cabela's and a pair of guide series water 'resistant' pants were taking a beating. As the water stirred up and the heavy rain made it tough to see the bottom, we ventured back to the truck. With both disappointment and water filling our boots, the journey back to Columbus was a quiet one. A new trip is being planned as we speak, and hopefully the results turn out better than this last trip. But the more I think about it, the more I seem to love it all. Out in nature, catching up with friends, wading in a beautiful stream with fish, birds, (and some big ass bugs), surrounding me, it was the perfect place to be. Although I hadn't been slaying Brookies and Bow's this time around, it was hands down better than sitting on my ass at home watching ESPN and hearing what cereal Lebron ate for breakfast or how many sheep Tim Tebow counted to before finally falling asleep and having nightmares of Rex Ryan and every single defensive back in the NFL. Life was good at that moment in the Mad. Escaping the suburbs and the summer football workouts was much needed, and Mother Nature sparked a friendly little rivalry that day. She won that battle, and to be one thousand percent honest, when it comes to the Mad she'll probably win the whole damn war. But I do know one thing, and that it's either I'm going to Get Fish, or Die Flyin'. 

-Till Next Cast, 

Cam

A Stretch of the Mad on a beautiful Day last August, much calmer than the disaster I encountered this week. I want revenge more than Lebron's hairline against the Mavericks.