Archive for February, 2010

Keep looking for that warming trend.  Saw one in the forecast for late next week a few days ago but even that seems to have disappeared.  Looks to be some warmer temps this weekend but not enough to really do anything significant.  I’ve never ice fished for Steelhead in March.  Starting to think that is a possibility.  It is fun but let me be clear:  While having safe enough ice to do this on the streams is nice, it also means it takes a significant warm weather and rain event to clear it out.  At this rate we could be Steelheading into mid-April with good numbers of fish.  It happened a few years in the earlier part of the last decade and this year looks to be no different. 

For now we can’t change or control the weather, but we can keep on pluggin’ away and continue to fish however we can to get through this winter.  Before we know it we’ll all be catching fish somewhere in t-shirts and shorts and marinating ourselves in sunblock.  I’ll be out on the ice this week again and hoping that it’s the last week I do so…..but the auger will still be well within reach in my garage for some time to come. 

On a personal note I am 31 today.  Looking forward to spending the weekend with friends and family and celebrating properly.  For some reason I’ve had an odd tradition of going carp fishing on a local stream for about 10 years now on or around my birthday.  Have to see how that plays out this weekend and if my first fish after the turn is a carp or a Steelhead through the ice.  I have always regarded both fish as stunning and beautiful despite popular opinion on each fish’s worthiness and appearance. 

Every time I think I’m getting old I think of my Grandfather who lived until 83 and in his later years was still whooping the Salmon and Steelhead population of Oregon on the Columbia, Willamette, and Sandy Rivers by accounts relayed to me.  I can only hope to live as long but also to have the will and strength to go out and bring in fish like this.  Judging by this pic I have a long time to go before I can think that I’m old, and Grandpa didn’t look like he cared how old he was holding this King.  I’ve been using Flatfish for Steelhead in Erie more than anyone with high catch rates for 10 years.  Guess who’s tackle box was loaded with them?  This man’s.   Thanks for the posthumous fishing tip Gramps.  -JB

The only change in conditions lately is that the ice is thicker. That still shouldn’t stop anyone from fishing, even for Steelhead. I’ve never been one to think of winter as a time to “reflect on the past season” or spend day after day tinkering with my tackle, or tying loads of flies and jigs for the Spring. I spend the same amount of time doing all of that no matter what month it is. More than reflection is my desire to continue fishing no matter what the conditions are. I don’t have much time to reorganize and think about what I’ve caught lately as the only thing on my mind is when is the next trip, what for, and how am I going to catch it? 20 degrees or 90, some combination of rods and tackle are about to leave my garage and go into my truck at any second.

I think of life as very short overall when you factor in how our time is divided up. Because of this I need to fish hard and fish often every day I can get out. Being frustrated at the hard winter and no real prospects for open water any time soon is energy wasted that could be used to go out once again, drill a hole in some ice, trek through the snow, catch fish, and enjoy the sport we’re supposed to love 12 months a year instead of 9.

My focus of course now is ice fishing for Steelhead, as we don’t often get frozen streams this long to really develop better patterns and techniques. Usually it’s a couple days of fun and we get enough of a melt to make stream ice unstable. With this sustained period I’ve not only been able to experiment with baits and lures but also had plenty of time to use the underwater camera and focus in on fish behavior, movement, and favored holding locations of fish under the ice in deep holes and long stretches of water where they are more spread out. I’ve also had a ton of fun and I’ll be doing it until ice out. I love ice fishing for any fish, but 25-30″ Steelhead on a 27″ or 4.5 foot rod is too tempting to spend my time fishing for anything else. Also, I didn’t name my guide service and website “Erie Bluegill and Perch Experience.”

If you’re itching to get out and want to take a trip shoot me an email or give me a call. I have available days this week for trips and it’s a guarentee we will have safe ice.

Usually the drive to Erie goes from seeing an inch of snow to 2 feet. This time it was the exact opposite. The Pittsburgh area looked like Erie and Erie looked like the Pittsburgh area usually does, very little snow at all.

Jamey and Doug came up for an ice fishing trip for Steelhead and had great success. Doug had never caught a Steelhead at all so to have his first fish through the ice is something not many fisherman can say they did. The first half of the day saw the most action with Jamey and Doug getting into fish on jigs and quite a few on single eggs. Skein produced a few more fish to my surprise in the crystal clear water. Fish were landed up to 29″ and some at the 8 lb mark. Quite a few fish never made it to the hole. Having a fish be almost caught and right below the hole can be quite frustrating when you just can’t get the head in the right position to be pulled out!

The action slowed in the afternoon but seeing a fish charge at the jig or egg below the hole still provided chances to hookup. Most fish that hit did so within 3 seconds of a jig or bait being dropped. It was interesting to see fish inhale a ball of skein as soon as it was lowered in the water. With that and single eggs producing, Jamey and Doug proved that sometimes you don’t need “the perfect drift” to catch Steelhead. In fact they hit eggs that aren’t moving anywhere in the current just fine.

Great day on the water and I’ll know I’ll see these guys on the ice again soon. No warmup in sight, better sharpen those auger blades!