Remember The Titan!

Scientific Anglers new Textured Titan Taper line has proved to be one of the biggest surprises of new gear for the coming year. The line has proved itself to be extremely versatile. I have been using it as a multi-tip streamer line with great results. The 6-wt. Titan weighs in at 210 gr. I have been adding either 12 ft. of T-10 to get deeper or a 120 gr. clear, slow sink Spey tip to fish just below the surface. At a little over 300 gr., this set up casts well on an 8- or 9-wt. rod. The line itself is great to turn over indicators and shot. The Textured finish makes the line usable in a very wide range of temeperatures. Maximum versatility is the advantage of this line.

Surf Side Silver

Between last weeks gale-force winds and the remnants of a nasty late-summer algae bloom, Lake Erie water condtions have been terrible. Yesterday's forecast was for calm and sunny, so Jeff Liskay and I set off to search for some decent water to pitch streamers in the surf. We hit a number of tributary mouths on the east of the lake with good results. Sun and good surf fishing rarely go hand in hand, but yesterday they did. Steelhead were cruising the edge of the dirty lake water and clear tributaries. We hooked a number of fish on flashy, multicolored streamer paterns fished on intermediate tip lines.

Salt to Fresh

Traverse City, MI, area guide & friend, Russ Maddin introduced me to one of his favorite patterns to target large, migratory predators along the Great Lakes shorelines. The Flash Deceiver is a creation of saltwater angler, Mark Sedotti. Russ adds his own twist moving the barbell eyes far forward on the hook eye to get a bit more motion out to of the fly. This pattern is a great addition to any fly box destined for Great Lakes use. Very simple recipe:

Hook: Short shank & strong

Tail: Use your favorite flash materials and keep long

Wing: Bucktail with peacock herl topping

Belly: Bucktail

Eyes: Barbell style

April in November!

It's going to be April in November..........along with a group of the top anglers and guides from Steelhead Alley. Just a reminder about the Fly the Alley expo being put on by the Ohio Wine Producers at the Geneva State Park Lodge on November 12. The event is to highlight the fly fishing and vinticulture of northeast Ohio's wine country.

April Vokey will be a featured guest along with local pro steelhead anglers Jeff Liskay, Greg Senyo, and Will Turek. There will be casting and tying programs along with displays of the latest in gear. There will also be wine and cooking programs and displays for non-angling friends. For complete info go to http://www.flythealley.com/.