TR - Mad River, OH

Today started with some anxiety on my part. I had talked to a friend the
night before and agreed to bail out of work to go fishing. What was there
to be anxious about?

I had too much work to get done.
The weather was calling for thunderstorms.
But damn it, the Hendrickson's were due to hatch soon.
I hadn't packed my gear up the night before because of too much wine.
I was starting the day with a hangover from too much wine.

I packed my truck before work hurriedly, still relatively undecided if I was
going to actually be able to get away. The radio had a local TV weatherman
on that was talking doom and gloom about the weather, and I was really
thinking about all the work I really had to get done. I was pretty sure I
was going to bail.

I get to work hitting the ground running. After deciding that it wasn't
likely that I could make it, I still felt that I might as well give it all I
had. I worked my tail off, basically getting nowhere. The people I needed
information from were giving me lines like, and this is nearly a direct
quote, of things like "well, yea, I suppose I could kinda get you those
numbers, I mean, I could make up something that might be kinda close". Not
gonna cut it and the deadline for that particular project is 11:00 a.m. and
it's about 10. I make the decision that there's no way I can make the
deadline and give the call to the VP that I've got half my **** done, and
there's no way I can get the rest done, uh, sorry, and I"m going to be out
of town for half the next week. He calls back in about 10 minutes. No
problem, he says. No problems, thinks I? Well, that's kick ass. And the
other project that's due next week? Shoot, maybe I can kinda squeeze some
time in on Sat. night (in case the hatch doesn't happen today), Sun. night
('cuz the weather is supposed to be best Sunday and maybe that's the day of
the hatch) while I'm in Detroit, and maybe Monday night while in
god-knows-where Marquette, MI. Tuesday night's definitely outta the
question, see, 'cuz since I have to drive back to Columbus, OH from
Marquette, MI, I might as well stop and fish the Manistee or the AuSable on
Wednesday, which leaves me driving all night Tuesday to find a place to
camp, and likely that means just in my truck by the side of the road.

So, I called my friend and make plans to meet him at the fly shop in about
30 minutes. **** happens, I'm held up, I have maybe 15 minutes. I decide
hauling ass on the highway is not only my normal modus operandi, but it's
imperative to kick it up a notch. I get pulled over by the local
government's special revenue collection agency. While the cop is writing
the ticket, I've grabbed my fly boxes out of my vest and arranging the
Hendrickson and Blue Quill patterns like I want them. Yea, the ticket is
gonna make me late and it's gonna be expensive, but it's a beautiful Spring
day, I ain't working but fishing today instead. Write on, Copper; just make
it quick, I got **** to do.

I get my license and some flies, load up my friend's car and we are off.
He's talking non-stop, going on about a whole lot of nothing (kinda like
what these last few paragraphs have done) and an hour later we are on the
water. I've only been on this river a couple times in the past, heck, I
haven't fly fished much in Ohio, but when I have, I've usually gone to
another river because of not-so-good learning experiences on the Mad. Today
was a different story. A beautiful section of river. The water, well, not
vodka clear, but close, and a helluva lot cleaner than any water I've ever
seen in Ohio. The rains came but more went -- mostly just a non-event.
There were some bugs hatching -- a few really light tan bugs (are those the
Hendrickson's? got me, but not quite the color of the fake ones I bought),
a few Blue Wing Olive lookin' guys, a couple odd almost March Brown looking
insects, and a decent number of midges. I certainly didn't see a large
number of fish rising. In fact, I saw exactly two, one of which I caught.
A nice little 10" brown on a Blue Quill. This fish was actually the second
of the day, the first going for a Prince Nymph ( I had forgot to pick up the
Hendrickson Nymphs while at the fly shop). I caught my third fish of the
day on a Caddis Pupa. My friend, who has fished the Mad for years, had
caught only one. But evidently it was the largest one he'd ever caught on
the Mad, it tallying approx. 18". (He had brought both a fly rod and a
spinning rod...we both had worked that section of the water with our flies,
but he caught the damn thing on a Mepp's lure....) He a few other strikes,
however, and two of them I actually saw. Jeff was using a streamer that I
had given him, the streamer I'm tying for Peter Charles' streamer swap, so I
was paying close attention to see how it worked out when on two separate
occasions (in the same stretch of water, however) a fish made a go at the
streamer. It didn't take it, who knows, maybe it was a tiny little bugger,
but I was happy to see something paying attention to the fly I tied.

A great day. Three fish, my pal catches a memorable one, I see some
feedback on a fly I tie, and I start to gain a little faith in OH trout
fishing. I'm going back tomorrow and Sunday as well; only until early
afternoon before I have to hit the road. And now, I also have to plan out
this MI adventure. I'm a pretty happy camper today...