Field Report: Steelhead are Runnin’
Posted by Bryan on January 1, 2008
BigK’s always been a great fly-fisherman, but these past few year’s he’s really developed into an expert. Fishing isn’t just fishing to BigK. He’s a true artist at the fly-tying table (catch a glimpse at one of his boxes below); he’s an entomologist when he studies the stream; a field biologist when he studies weather patterns and field conditions; and he brings it all together as an expert fisherman.
Northeast Ohio and Northwest PA offer world-class fishing during the winter and early spring months, as Steelhead make there runs to and from Lake Erie. Here are some pics that prove it’s prime fishing season in our neck of the woods. These are from the Elk Creek tributary that heads into Lake Erie on the PA coast.
If you’re into Steelhead fishing, be sure to check back for tips from BigK himself (at least those which he’s willing to share)!
**********************************************
UPDATE: Check the comments for the report directly from BigK himself! (Thanks Dad!)
Fishing, Lake Erie, Ohio, Pennsylvania, SteelheadIf you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Man, that sure gets me going. I love steelhead fishing. Usually we don’t make our trip until March or April. That is when they are really running in our neck of the woods. They come in off of Lake Michigan.
We can catch some right now (winter holdovers), but they wont start really running for awhile. I can’t wait and there sure is an art form to flyfishing. I love it!
January 1st, 2008 at 7:08 pm
[…] Field Report: Steelhead are Runnin’ […]
January 1st, 2008 at 7:30 pm
There seems to be many steelhead in the Lake Erie tribs. this year, and they are usually willing to take a well presented fly. I mainly try to fish during the week instead of weekends. Sometimes I only see 2 or 3 people all day while fishing my favorite streams. I really enjoy catching Yellowstone cutthroat trout and those Bighorn River wild rainbows and browns, but those Pennsylvania and Ohio steelhead seem to have a very, very bad attitude when hooked with a fly (as long as the water isn’t too cold). One particular steelhead I recently caught was a tad over 32 inches long. I would have liked to have a scale to weight him as this was one of the heaviest fish I caught this year. It took me every bit of 15 minutes to land this beauty. He, as well as all of the steelies I catch, was released for others to enjoy. I like to think that maybe I’ll catch him again next year.
January 1st, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I love steelhead. My Dad fishes for steelhead all the time so we have a lot of fish dinners when they are running.
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:27 am
Kristine, Thanks for your comment! Good to “see” ya. Hope your new year is off to a great start.
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Awesome! I’ve never fished for steelhead, but I’m sure I need to get up there and try it out. This Saturday our local TU chapter is helping with a stocking of rainbows and browns into the Guadalupe River here in south central Texas. I’ll be spending a few hours this winter down there doing a little nymphing with my new Sage 5 wt. Great pic of a great fish.
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Dash, that’s great that you’re spending some time helping out with TU. I hear that the trout fishing down your way is quite good. Best of luck with your new rod (sounds like Santa was good to you!)
January 3rd, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Made another trip to Elk and Walnut Creeks (PA Lake Erie Tribs.) this week. The water was just about perfect, the air temperature was in the 60’s, and the steelhead were able and willing! Had a great time catching and releasing numerous fish. The fish are in great shape and the fishing pressure is quite low during the week. The steelies were really active as a result of the warm weather. All in all, a great day to be on the stream.
I recently performed a test concerning fluorocarbon leader material, I’ve concluded that all is not equal. Certain brands just don’t hold up under the pressure of a steelhead frantically running. They get a “bad attitude” when hooked! My goal was to test various brands of fluorocarbon tippet material. I attach a piece of tippet material to an empty milk jug and slowly add water until the line broke. The jug of water was then weighed. Surprisingly, most of the tippet material broke at a weight less than what was advertised. I also found that each tippets’ breaking strength was different. The best results were obtained with the most expensive tippet material. Have you ever heard: “You only get what you pay for.”? Anyway, the best results were achieved with the following: 1. Orvis Mirage Fluorocarbon, 1. Seaguar Grand Max Fluorocarbon, 3. Frog Hair Fluorocarbon. As you can see, here was a tie for first place. The five brands that didn’t make the top three list will not be used on future trips for steelhead. They actually broke at less than advertised weight. This could be a result of inferior products, and / or age of the material. I’ve read that fluorocarbon tippet material doesn’t keep its strength from year to year. So anyway, those were the results. Was it scientific? Not really, but the information I obtained through this test is good enough for me to made an educated decision the next time I choose to purchase fluorocarbon tippet material.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Thanks for the info on the tippet. I don’t get to fish for steelies, but the info will be just as helpful for these trout and smallmouths. Your study sounds scientific enough for me.
January 10th, 2008 at 2:43 pm