Archive for December, 2009

With holiday shopping/obligations, ice-up on the streams, and rainfalls bringing creek levels up, this past week has seen little pressure on the tribs. The winter season is here well ahead of the calendar start date and the fishing is just fine in terms of numbers of fish and conditions. The daily changes from icing over to high and muddy are just part of the normal routine on the Erie tribs. There have been fresh fish coming in to some of the tribs, and we are starting to see deeper holes and runs get jammed up with fish. The cold will keep fish out of the faster water and stop any upstream movement. The perception is that it is tougher to draw strikes on cold winter days, but the reality is that fine tuning the presentation will get you just as many hookups as you had during the fall. What that means is pay extra attention to your drifts, and if you are working jigs or even Flatfish lures make sure your casting and how close you get your offering to the fish is dead on, without being so close you spook them. I often find that after a few hours on the streams this time of year my hand is cramped and locked up on the butt of the rod because I am so focused on the right presentation. My back is a little more tired from having a good bend in it. It’s not the laid back approach you can get away with in the fall. My eyes get blurred easily from closely watching every single detail of my technique. It’s a fun time of year, it’s a beautiful time to be on the streams, and every single fish is so worth it. Solitude is never difficult to find in winter Steelheading, and you generally find something else after a long day, cold day of winter fishing; yourself.

Dave and Lou came in from Westmoreland County. Lou had not landed a Steelhead prior to today. We stuck to a larger trib on the middle to upper sections and Lou quickly landed a slew of nice fish on jigs early on. He then landed more fish on a float rig with single eggs and nymphs. It seemed for a while whatever rig he had in his hands was getting fish. Dave, who is probably more comfortable with a fly rod in his hands had quite a few fish on but it seemed Lou had the “hot rod”. Later on we found more fish in another section but not quite as many as I had hoped. Many fish that came in with the last rain have shot up pretty high on streams that allow for a lot of movement. The smaller ones are seeing a few new fish, some better than others. Water again is low but we are supposed to see a good rain on Wednesday. Combined with a little snow on the ground and this should improve levels. Extremely high winds forecasted the next few days. Great day on the water with Lou and Dave, two incredibly nice guys and fine fishermen.

Jamey and his son Cameron came in from the Grove City area. With good flow in the morning Cameron was able to land 2 fish in the first 15 minutes of fishing, while missing a few others. Jamey, in typical Dad fashion, barely even fished the first few hours opting to watch his son get all the action. Once he did pick up a rod he had some frustrating losses and breakoffs, including a large hen that broke off a Flatfish lure when the line got wrapped around the reel. It seemed he was hooking fish every stretch on Flatfish but was unable to get these hard fighters to the bank. Much of the day Jamey and Cameron were drifting skein and working Flatfish lures in the current to fish. Jamey also hooked a few fish on jigs and was able to land a nice fish on another Flatfish lure. Cameron continued working lures and was able to put a huge buck in the net that slammed his Flatfish. This made for a nice cap on the day.

It is always a great day guiding father/son and father/daughter trips. Watching the Dad take pics and congratulate his son is almost as great as getting the son or daughters 1st steelhead in the net. I think Jamey has a lifelong steelhead fishing partner on his hands now.

The water is dropping and colder temps are forecast. We could use more rain and even some snow to keep levels up. A nice snow pack with warm temps in the afternoons creates a good meltoff and keeps flow and color to desirable levels.

One interesting thing today that was a first was that we were able to handline a steelhead in that broke off with 20 feet of line still attached. She was the fish who slammed a larger Flatfish lure. Seeing her swim around for a while trying to shake the lure out was frustrating to see and not good for the fish. When Jamey landed his fish it came in with the line attached to the other fish. Slowly I handlined her in and was shocked she did not break off. We got the lure back and got the fish back in the water in much better condition. This is another testament to good fishing line, and it was nice to save the fish further harm and a few bucks in the process.

A great late fall day on the streams, even though it felt much more like winter!

(UPDATE) Just got a nice email from Jamey about yesterday’s trip I thought I would share. I sure wish I had a chance when I was Cameron’s age to land fish like he did yesterday!

“Joe,
I just wanted to thank you again for the fishing trip today. We had a blast! We have spent the last 2 hours showing everyone we know the fish Cameron caught. I don’t think I have ever seen him so proud of himself! It’s too bad we have to fillet it, because I think he would like to sleep with it tonight. Thanks again, you really do a great job!

Jamey”