Now that's a little more like March...

It’s hard to believe we went from 80+ degrees to 37 degrees as the high temp in just a couple of days, but we did.  I added a few layers and headed out.  It was a nice sunny day.  The water temp was in the low 50s so the fish should have been comfortable.  I fished the same spot I caught the last steelhead and landed two more and lost a third that was a good size.  The first fish was a nice sized hold over buck looked all beat up.  It had another angler's woolybugger stuck in its jaw when I landed it.  The second steelhead was a small pretty fresh buck, it had started forming a kype but was still pretty silver.  The water was pretty clear leaving only a couple of dark green holes for fish to hide in.  The good part about this is its easy to find the fish, the bad part is they are really easily spooked in the low clear water.  The river usually has a bit more of a stain to it at 300 cfs, but it had several days to clear after the last rain event despite the higher flow.  After fishing through the fishiest water, I moved downstream and had a popular section all to myself.  I had a few more fish on and off and caught a sucker before packing it in for the day.  Overall the fishing was OK, it should have been better.  I think the steelhead were kind of shocked from the big swing in water temperature that peaked out at 72 degrees an then dropped to 47 degrees in 4 days!  The low clear water and high bright sun didn't help thing either.  It was nice to be out and I caught a couple of steelhead so it was a good trip out anyway.

Finally...

Today was the day I killed the steelhead skunk!  I finally caught a steelhead this afternoon.  It’s been about a year since I've caught a steelhead in the spring of 2011.  The air temp was a nice cool 55 degrees; the water temp was a cozy 61 degrees for the trout.  It was overcast, the water had a good flow and there was about 18 inches if visibility.  I had like an hour and a half to fish.  I felt like I had a good shot at a steelhead today.  I talked to a couple of other angler and word was guys were catching fish mid river.  I drove to the stream and leaving me about an hour to fish.  I started swinging down through a nice long run.  Nothing.  I had about 15 minutes left before I had to head back to the car.  I rerigged the with an egg and steelhead prince.  I walked back up stream to the juicy part of the run and begin nymphing the prime water.  I got hung up on the bottom; I adjusted the indicator, and made the next drift.  I hung up again, another adjustment.  Cast, mend, and drift… the indicator stops… I set the hook out of instinct and I see the silvery and white shape of a steelhead rise from the bottom!  The fight was on, the fish made a run down stream.  I put pressure on the fish and it turning and ran straight at me; I put the rod tip high and picked up line as fast as I could to keep pressure on the fish.  A short while later and I landed my first steelhead of the year!  It’s about damn time.  This fish made my month.

Monster Smallmouth

It rained Friday night witch cooled things down a bit.  The air was about 60 when I went out and the water had cooled down from about 72 on Friday to about 65 on Saturday morning.  This was a much more comfortable temperature for trout.  I fished Saturday morning before the stream rose from the rain on Friday night.  It was somewhat high and already off color.  I decided that swinging a big black egg sucking leach was a good way to drum up a fish or two giving the stream’s conditions.  I only had about two hours to fish so I went to the park near my house.  I swung through the prime run first and got a nice grab, the fish was on and off before I got a glimpse of it.  It hammered the fly, I think it was a steelhead, but I have no way to know.  I worked down the rest of the run and into the next without another grab.  I walked up stream to a good run and fished through it, no one was home.  I made one swing through a large pocket and got hammered!  It felt like a steelhead, and it put a nice bend in the rod.  I worked the fish in and landed the largest small mouth bass I’ve caught in the stream.  It was big enough that in may have been a lake run fish or a huge resident.  I worked down through the next run and had one more grab.  I saw a flash of white before I lost the fish so I really think it was a steelhead, but again no way to know.  Again, another outing without a steelhead.  It's getting sooo frustrating!

Dinner Date

The wife was going to dinner with a friend so I made a date with the stream.  I fished from about 4:00 to 7:30ish.  I was hoping to catch my first steelhead of the year, but I didn’t expect the fishing to be very good because the water was really warm, over 70 degrees.  It was so warm I comfortably waded wet.  I went to a stretch of stream that usually fishes well during the stream and drifted a nymph rig through all the good runs.  When that failed to produce a fish, I decided to swing a big nasty streamer to see if I could tempt a steelhead’s predatory instinct enticing strike.  About midway through a nice run, I felt a grab!  It sent a jolt of adrenaline through my veins, but I didn’t connect.  I stepped down and made another cast.  Just before the end of the swing I felt a jolt… Fish on!!  This fish fought like a bulldog, it felt like a steelhead that was fatigued from the rigors of spawning or the warm water.  As I worked the fish in, I jumped revealing itself.  It was a nice resident smallmouth that hammed my streamer.  These warm temps might mean the end of the season.  The last two outings, I’ve seen steelhead lazily working their way down stream back towards the lake.  If things don’t cool down we probably won’t get another good run.  The 10 day forecast shows cooler temps and rain.  Let’s hope it’s enough to bring in another run!  I’ve got my fingers crossed…

Sucker!

The sucker spawn is in full swing.  I fished a small trib the other day in hopes of catching a steelhead that has eluded me for far too long.  There were hundreds of suckers in the creek.  This little creek was flowing gin clear with a little color in the deeper holes while the main river was still chocolate milk.  I found a few steelhead hiding in the riffles and in the deep holes.  It was 80 degrees and sunny, the water was warm, 66-68 degrees I would guess.  I was wading wet which is unheard of at this time of year.  I drifted buggers, nuke eggs, and small nymphs at these fish.  Every time I thought I hooked a steelhead, it turned out to be a sucker.  Some were pretty good sized and pulled hard.  I think the water was too warm for steelhead to actively feed.  I did hook one steelhead.  At first I thought I was snagged, then the snag moved!  I put some pressure on the fish and it leaped out of the water several times and started running down river.  The fish jumped one more time and I heard a loud SNAP!  My leader came flying back at me and it was all over.  I had this funny thought of what that steelhead would say if he could talk; it would have laughed at me and said SUCKER!

What the hell...

The river was at about 700 CFS yesterday, it dropped into the 630s this morning.  Normally, I would never go out and fish unless the river was below 600 and dropping fast.  To make matters worse, there was a thunder storm this morning.  I had a couple of hours this afternoon and it was sunny and about 80 degrees.  I figured, what the hell, I'll give it a shot.  I parked near a tributary that was high and looked like chocolate milk.  Not a good sign.  I jumped into my waders and headed for the confluence where this small trib enters the river.  I hooked into a good sized fish on the first or second cast.  I broke the steelhead skunk!  I was thrilled.  I had to back down the excitement and focus on landing the fish.  It would be heart breaking to lose another steelhead.  I followed the fish down river, its pulling hard, ripping line off the reel.  I turned the fish into slower water where I got my first glance at it.  An orange tail??? Damn!  It was no steelhead I had been fighting for the last ten minutes, it was a carp.  I was disappointed that it wasn't a steelhead, but it was a fine fish.  This carp was pushing 36 inches and was as fat as a regulation NFL football!  I couldn't get my hand all the way around its tail.  It was not a bad catch even if I got sprayed by the steelhead skunk.

The diameter on this reel on this rod is 4.125"

In search of fishable water...

In a recent post I vowed to kill the steelhead skunk.  I was intent on catching at least one steelhead while I was on spring break.  I got out once last Sunday for a few hours and had a steelhead on and off, but I still got skunked.  I thought for sure I'd get another chance to get out steelheading this week.  Man, I was wrong.  We've had rain every other day all week long.  The steelhead streams have been blown all week, just as they begin to drop into shape it rains again.  The weather has been gorgeous between the rains with temps between 60-75 and sunny.  I was totally itching to get out and fish, but none of the streams near my house have fished all week.  This weekend is wrecked by school work to prepare to go back to class.  It kills me that I've only had one chance to fish once over spring break.  I really wanted to get one more day on the water.  If it was going to happen, it had to happen today. 

Things were not looking good.  Yesterday and last night North East Ohio got pounded with waves of rain.  The steelhead streams shot up again and were at flood stage this morning.  Most of trout streams within a two hour drive were up and out of their banks too.  I checked all the flow gauges, stream reports and called the fly shops.  I found one stream that was spared.  The torrent of rain somehow missed Neshannock Creek.  The creek got a small bump in flow and some color, but it was fishing. 

I packed the car and hit the road for a day of trout fishing!  I made a quick stop at the fly shop to grab some flies and a stream map.  I wadered up and rigged the rod.  I was all ready to go, but I couldn't find my hat.  I searched the car to no avail.  I must have forgotten it.  Screw it.  I headed for the river.

With the water up and a bit off color, I tied on a black streamer and started pounding the far bank.  I saw a big yellow form following the fly, at first I thought it was litter in the stream and then I realized I had moved a huge palomino.  It had turned and chased the fly half way across the river and broke away at the last minute.   I threw a few more casts at the palomino, it kept following but wouldn't commit.  I decided to change it up and went with a smaller white streamer.  I worked down stream and ran into about half a dozen other anglers so I decided to walk a little further down river to find some solitude.  As I got out of the stream I noticed my shoe lace had blown out.  I threw a quick surgeons knot into the lace to reconnect the broken pieces and relaced the boot.  After the pit stop, I made my way downstream. 

I found some fishy looking water on the far side of an island.  I swung through most of this run when I felt a whack and saw a rainbow leap from the water!  It was good to shake off the skunk.  I found another really sexy run just down from where I caught the first fish; the water was the perfect speed with a little chop on the surface, the run was a beautiful green color, and the bottom was littered with boulders the size of garbage cans.  I knew there was a fish in there some where.  I worked this run and connected with another nice rainbow.  This fish went airborne several times and used the current to pull line from the reel.  It was about 18 inches, but it had broad shoulders.  It was a pretty good fish. 

It was getting to be that time to head back to the car so I could make it home in time for dinner.  That last fish was a great way to end the day so I reeled it in and hoofed it back to the parking lot.  While I didn't catch a steelhead over break, trout fishing yesterday on a beautiful 75 degree sunny day was a real treat.  I still need to get a steelhead fix before the fish move back into the big pond.             

Enough...

It’s time to wipe off this horrible stink, I’ve had enough of the steelhead skunk.  I need my fix of chrome!  It’s been too long since I’ve caught a steelhead.  School has made it hard to get out to fish and even harder to get out when conditions were prime.  Too many times I’ve gone out when conditions were at their worst or when I could only fish for an hour.  These efforts were doomed from the time I put my waders on, and I knew it.  But the slight glimmer of a chance to connect with an angry steelhead was enough for me to make the effort.  Not surprisingly, if you don’t get to put time in on the water your catch rate drops dramatically. 

It's time for things to change.  This week is my spring break.  My goal for the week is to catch a steelhead!  I plan to spend every chance I have on the local steelhead tribs.  I’m not going to be doing any inland trout fishing or bass fishing until steelhead season is over.  My focus is putting some chrome in the net.  Landing a chromer this week would make my break.

This is what I need on the end of my line; a fat, angry, fresh chromer!

  

Heading Out West

The trout fishing in Yellowstone country is supposed to be epic.  Blizzard like hatches and big terrestrials make for some amazing dry fly fishing to large and aggressive trout.  This is the stuff legends are made of.  This is a place that every fly angler should have on his bucket list.  Many of the rivers in this area are world famous blue ribbon trout streams.  Big name streams like the Henry’s Fork, the Yellowstone River, the Madison River, and the Snake River attract thousands of fly anglers every year.  I may fish some of the famous waters, but I intend to seek out some of the lessor known fisheries.  I’m looking to fish streams that are known as gems to the locals but don’t get all the tourists because they are overshadowed by the more famous waters in the region.  These rivers are more wild, get less fishing pressure, and offer the chance for some fantastic fly fishing.

I have a buddy who used to live in Eastern Idaho.  He’s been telling me stories about the fishing near Jackson, WY since he’s been back.  While it sounded amazing at first, I didn’t think much of it.  That’s a far off destination that costs a fortune to get to and requires at least a week to visit.  I didn’t expect to be able to go to a place like that for a long time because of school and other commitments.  I sort of tucked the idea of a trip out West in the back of my mind and focused on trout destinations within a few hours from home.  Slowly, over long days spent in the law library, the thought of Yellowstone country and aggressive cutthroat trout began to creep into my thoughts.  I started reading about the area’s streams and blog accounts of other fishing trips to the area.  My buddy went back to Wyoming and Idaho last summer for 10 days.  He returned with pictures and stories of huge trout caught on big dry flies.  The idea of fishing out West began to haunt my thoughts.  This led to the start of a fantasy about going to Yellowstone this summer.  I didn’t really think I’d get it together to go, but I thought about it anyway.  That fantasy slowly developed into a plan.  Plan has come together; I’m thrilled and excited to say that I’ve booked my trip to trout Mecca!

Yellowstone country includes a vast area that stretches from southern Montana into the Jackson Hole area of Wyoming and West into Eastern Idaho.  I’ll be fishing rivers in Idaho, and Wyoming for sure and I’m going to try to fish the Madison in Montana as well.  I will mainly be pursuing cutthroat trout, but there are also rainbows, browns, brook trout, bull trout, cutbows, and lake trout swimming in the waters there.  The trip will take me to Jackson Hole, Eastern Idaho, Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park.  The wildlife and scenery promise to be amazing.  With the Teton Range in the background, there is a good chance of seeing grizzly bears, moose, wolves, big horn sheep, and herds of bison and elk.  It’s a little concerning to know I have to buy bear spray and watch out for rattlesnakes, but to catch wild trout you have to go to wild places… and this is one of the wildest places left in the lower 48.