Archive for June, 2010

Well the vacation was great. The fishing? Not what I hoped for, but that’s ok. Bad fishing isn’t that bad when you are staring at water that is 6 different shades of blue. I did it on my own and I know next time to get a charter. The inshore opportunities are just tough to find around the islands. Caught some small fish and even had some assists from my wife and a friend who were watching fish inhald my jig and telling me when to set the hook. Had a large tarpon strike but no hook up was had. Would have been a long fight. Watched some 6 foot tarpon get fed by the charter captains in the nearby marina, but that was as close as I got to them!

Back to reality and back to fishing in closer locales. The rest of the summer until the Steelhad start sniffing shallower water I’ll be bass fishing in West Virginia, carp fishing some local streams with the noodle rod, Flathead catfishing the Ohio River, smallmouth and trout fishing near Ohiopyle State Park, and possibly taking a trip to Indiana for Summer Steelhead if my schedule allows.

Some posts I’ll put up in preparation for the Fall season will be ranging from jig tying to using Flatfish lures all season long. This is something I have done for 10 years on the tribs and probably more than anyone else. There is a method to using them and how you use them is equally as important as the size and color of the lure you are using in relation to all conditions, times, etc. It is my favorite way to get Steelhead just above jigging. If Steelhead fishing were just drift fishing I would have never gone more than a few times. Reaction strikes and fish chasing jigs or Flatfish are moments I will remember until my last days. It’s like waiting for a bull running at you at full speed and all you have in front of you is a red flag. Can you wait it out and pull the trigger at the right time? Gets my heart racing while I type this.

2 months until some of us will be making our first casts into the lake or even in a channel in the early hours of the morning hoping a few trickled in. I still have plenty of fishing to do until that happens, but it’s mostly just waiting. That first cast of the year that I know fish are there, and I have on exactly what I need to have on….it’s like a hunter sighting up a deer. Aim, breathe, exhale, and fire. Cast, take a breath, exhale, and reel…sometimes you know it’s a matter of seconds before the strike. It’s anticipating surprise. It’s all the chaos of a 4th of July fireworks finale on the end of a fishing line that’s thinner than a sewing needle. It’s handling that first 5 seconds of the fight that you can’t control, and bringing back to a level that you can with composure and experience. Sometimes you still lose, but what else can you think of that you could have gotten out of bed for and done that would have pumped your heart with adrenaline until it almost imploded like that? What else could you possibly lose that could make you smile even in the face of disappointment? And if you land the fish what else can make you remember so much about what was around you except the fish you caught? The biggest fish I’ve ever caught I remember more the cold or the wind, the bright sun or dark clouds, the way the water was flowing or whether the lake was flat or rough with waves. And the times I fished with good friends or family, or a client, I remember the handshake, the look in the eye, and the pat on the back either coming from me or at me. The most powerful congratulations that are ever offered and accepted are the ones said right after a fish was caught.

That is what I miss the most each summer about Steelhead fishing. I hope you can understand why I wouldn’t complain too much if I woke up tomorrow and it was August 29th instead of June 29th. A decade of chasing that high and like any drug it’s hard to duplicate the first time you do it. Fortunately I’ve never known any other kind of high than fishing, and the Steelhead always come back every year at the same time. They are the enablers, and like any enabler they never really know they are doing it.

-JB

3 months from now I’ll be casting to some of the first Steelhead to come in the tribs of Erie and starting another season fishing and guiding. Hard to believe, seems like yesterday I made my last trip for Spring Steelhead. Since early April and that last trip I’ve hit the West Virginia Largemouth population hard, the Ohiopyle area of the Youghiogheny River for trophy trout and smallmouth, and stalked carp on local streams, one of my favorite things to do. I’ve hit spots I haven’t been to in a while on Lake Arthur for hybrid stripers and the 3 rivers. I’ve visited some new waters and still have a list of ones I haven’t gotten to yet. Found a dam on the Ohio River between WV and Ohio that will suit my Flathead Catfish gear just fine in the coming months.

In a week I’ll be leaving for my second trip to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands to vacation and scare a few bonefish and tarpon while I’m at it. If I can’t catch anything I’ll be putting on the snorkeling gear and getting a close look at what I can, chase around some fish, and maybe get chased by something that doesn’t find me so friendly.

Once I get back I’ll start adding some new posts leading up to the start of the Fall run that will range from tying jigs to fishing techniques to recipes. In between Summer fishing trips I am always getting ready for Fall Steelhead and as I do I will let you in on what I am tying or stocking my vest with for the upcoming season. While I am not ready to wish the summer away just yet (there’s a few more big Flatheads that haven’t yet taken the live bluegills I’ve been casting) I look forward to the outstanding Steelhead fishing we will have in the Fall and most importantly guiding other fishermen to rewarding days on the Erie streams. As much as I can teach a client in a day I learn twice as much about guiding. I thank everyone that has taken a trip with me and look forward to seeing you again, and meeting some new faces in the 2010-2011 Steelhead season. -JB