03/20/24 Fishing report at bottom of page.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes that make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone
Species
Steelhead
Salmon
Size
Medium to large
Location
Northeastern Ohio
Nearest Town
Vermilion
Season
Fall to late Spring
Access:
Good
Special Regulations
Yes, Make sure you check the
current regulations.
Non-Resident License
State of Ohio
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Seasons:
The steelhead season is from October to May.
Spring:
Steelhead can be caught as late as the end of April depending on the weather.
Summer:
During the Summer, the water is too low and warm for salmon or steelhead.
Fall:
Steelhead begin entering the Vermillion River as early as middle of September. The fishing is good throughout the Fall.
Winter:
All but the coldest days of Winter can be good for steelhead. The extremely cold water of January and February can make the fish sluggish but otherwise, fishing remains good throughout the Winter.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
For Steelhead and Salmon
Fly Line:
7, 8 , 9 or 10 weight for appropriate typerod, sinking, sinking tip and floating
Leaders:
10#, 12# in 9 to 15 feet lengths
Tippets:
10# and 12#
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly 7, 8, 9 and 10 ft. single hand rods
Fly Reels:
For 7 to 10 weight lines
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
KISS Strike Indicators, Lanyards, etc.
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Fly Fishing The Vermilion River Ohio
The Vermilion River is one of Ohio’s better steelhead streams. It’s a sixty mile long tributary of Lake Erie. The river is located in northern Ohio. It has excellent runs of Manistee strain, steelhead. It’s also one of the state of Ohio’s Wild and Scenic Rivers. If you happen to be there at the right time, fly fishing the Vermilion River can be very rewarding. It can also be very challenging at times.
It’s name “Vermilion”, a color, is a good description of its reddish clay banks and much of its bottom. As with any red clay stream, the Vermilion will get muddy when it is subjected to heavy rains. The headwaters of the river lies mostly in farm country. Although the Vermilion River located in fairly remote country, it’s not just wide open farmland. Much of it is heavily wooded. In some cases hiking is required to reach the water you may want to
fish.
The river can be floated in a small pontoon type vessel but only when the water is fairly high in the winter or spring. The substrate consist mostly of shale. There’s also a lot of gravel on the bottom. The stream falls at a good decline with the typical riffles, pools stream configuration. There are plenty of deeper holes and plenty of places for the steelhead to hold in low water conditions. Although the river turns muddy easily and takes time to clear, when it does, it can be very clear and difficult to fool the steelhead into taking your fly.
The uppermost section of the Vermilion River has mostly a shale bottom with lots of gravel and some deeper holes. The middle section varies from pure shale bottom to gravel bottom and deep holes between. The lower section is generally deeper with shale and some gravel.
Fly anglers prefer swinging their flies in the traditional wet fly swing manner. Nymphs and eggs are used with and without strike indicators. Spey fishing is gradually catching on and it’s popularity is increasing.
Flies:
We have a complete line of flies for steelhead and salmon for the Vermilion river. We have selected them as the most popular flies from thousands of patterns that have been developed over the years. We have some of our own Perfect Fly steelhead and salmon patterns. They imitate the hexigenia mayfly nymph, certain caddisfly nymphs, stonefly nymphs and fish roe or eggs that are found in the stream throughout the year. We also have a full line of popular wet flies, egg flies, Spey flies that are very popular. We hope you will give our flies a try.
Vermilion River Fly fishing Report:
10/07/20 Steelhead are entering the river. We got a good report from a customer. Send us an email for a recommended fly list.
10/21/20 Steelhead are still being caught. We continue to get a few good reports from customers.
11/07/20 Good reports on steelhead continue to come in. They are being caught by our customers swinging and on nymphs and eggs.
11/20/20 More good reports on steelhead from
customers. Eggs are doing okay, swinging better and some are being caught on our nymph patterns.
12/06/20 The stream is still producing some good
catches of steelhead when the levels are okay. They are currently high but should fall down fast.. Send us an email for a recommended fly list.
sales@perfectflystore.com
12/21/20 Stream levels are high but falling down fast. We are getting good reports from customers catching
steelhead. Our steelhead nymphs and streamers are working good.
01/05/21 The stream is a little high but okay. It is cold water and the fish a little sluggish. Fish deep and slow using our steelhead nymphs.
01/24/21 The stream is near a normal level. The water is cold but steellhead can be caught our our SH nymphs.
02/03/21 The stream is flowing at a normal level and in good shape. Our steelhead nymphs are working best but swinging our streamers is also getting a few fish.
02/27/21 The stream levels are very high right now but the rain has warmed the water. Fish as soon as it drops some.
03/17/21 The river is low making it tough but a few steelhead are still being caught. Fish the deep pools using our steelhead nymphs.
05/01/21 The stream is in good shape but the steelhead fishing is done for the season. Check back with us for the Fall run.
08/21/21 The salmon start moving into the river the first part of September followed by the steelhead. Now is the time to get your flies and gear together. Give us a call 800 594 4726 or write us (sales@perfectflystore.com) for information you need to do that.
09/06/21 We didn’t receive any reports from anyone fishing this past week. Steelhead should start coming into the river anytime now.
09/17/21 Reports of salmon entering the river. Steelhead should soon follow them.
09/27/21 We didn’t receive any reports but salmon are in the river.
10/07/21 The stream is flowing at a high level right now and that is bringing more fish into the river. We received two good reports on salmon this past week.
10/18/21 The stream levels are still well above normal but this is bringing in more fish. We are still getting a few good reports from customers fishing for steelhead and salmon.
10/28/21 Stream levels are up very high but falling. We have been getting good reports from customers up until the water got high. It should be good again very soon.
11/04/21 Stream levels are still high but we did receive a couple of good reports on steelhead from customers.
12/16/21 Sorry for the missed reports. The river is high but falling down fast. We were getting good reports from customers fishing for steelhead prior to the high levels.
12/24/21 The stream is flowing at a normal level in good shape. We received one good report from a customer this past week.
02/26/22 We are starting to report again on the river. Currently, the stream levels are very high and the water highly stained. There are plenty steelhead in the river and you should be able to catch them when the levels drop.
09/12/22 Salmon and some steelhead have entered the river. You should be able to catch them. Let us hear from you.
09/19/22 We received one good steelhead report from a customer. Both steelhead and salmon are in the river and you should be able to catch both species.
10/09/22 The river is still turning out good numbers of salmon and steelhead. We received two good reports from customers this past week.
1/31/22 More good reports on steelhead have come in recently. Conditions are very good.
2/19/22 Good reports from customers catching steelhead continue to come in. Fishing the cold weather is a bigger problem for anglers than catching the fish.
08/27/23 We are getting good smallmouth bass reports. They are taking our crayfish and poppers. Now is the time to get ready for the up coming steelhead season. The will be coming in the middle of September. Send us an email for a gear and fly list.
09/18/23 Smallmouth bass fishing is red hot and it is time for steelhead to start entering the river.
10/20/23 Thanks to some higher water, steelhead are coming in in good numbers. Several of our steelhead nymphs and streamers are working well.
11/02/23 The water remains above normal and steelhead continue to come in in good numbers.
02/12/24 Sorry for the missed reports. We should be back on track now. The stream is flowing at a normal level and in good shape. Our steelhead nymphs are working good and swinging our steelhead streamers is also getting a few steelhead.
03/20/24 Sorry for the missed reports. The stream is flowing at a normal level and clear. Steelhead are being caught. Fish the deep pools using our steelhead nymphs.
Click Here to see our Steelhead Flies: Click Here to see our Salmon Flies:
Give us a call 800 594 4726 or write us (sales@perfectflystore.com) for recommended flies and gear.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh