More Spring Steel

When early spring arrives so do the steelhead anglers. Pick any weekend, and if the waters are fishable, there will be hundreds of fishermen fighting for a good spot, often elbow to elbow in the prime locations. The Grand, Chagrin, Rocky, and "Connie" all see pressure during those weekends. As someone who was relatively new to steelhead fishing I found this slightly disconcerning. Now, I don’t expect to have the river all to myself but with crowds comes the possibility of turf wars, and after witnessing one, it took the enjoyment out of the day.

So, when I retired, my thought was to fish during the week which would “thin the herd”. For the most part that is true but I’m still surprised at how many fishermen show up. Of course, you have retirees like me, but also a fair number of younger fishermen who have either called in sick or are on vacation. It’s more noticeable when a river like the Grand is not fishable but the feeder creeks are.

On a recent Monday outing at Big Creek there had to be a dozen fishermen in a very short stretch of water. But it is steelhead season, and when the fish start to make their way into the feeder creeks to start spawning it is the ideal time to catch them in clear, skinny water. In a short period of time I have learned to like sight fishing. Being able to see your target and then figure out how best to approach it is what makes it interesting. It is one of the best ways to learn. There is no forgiveness. One little mistake and the fish is spooked.
During that outing I managed to hook into three chromers but did not land them. Poor hooksets allowed the first two to get off quickly. The third put up a good fight, making three runs into a downed tree before breaking off. Even though I didn’t land it I was happy just to experience the fight. To me, that is one of the things that make fishing fun. But, I still want to land one. I’d have that chance a couple days later.

Visiting the same stretch of water a few days later, I found the water lower which made fishing a little tougher. Armed with several different colors of egg patterns the fishing was indeed slower. Finally, after drifting an egg near the same downed tree that days earlier produced a good fighting chromer another steelhead sucked it in. The fight was on but it still got the best of me as the fish jumped right next to the tree and broke me off. It was a bright, fresh run fish. That one stung.

Moving downstream I spotted several fish cruising in and out of cover. They would move to the center of the 12’ wide stretch of water and then head back to the cover. I tried to get close but they spooked so I had to wait for about 20 minutes for them to calm down. Sitting at the side of the creek I was watching how close to the cover they got. I don’t think a piece of paper would fit between them and the submerged brush.

After the break I was able to approach the spot again and cast upstream hoping for a good drift. Being in only about 18” of water I was able to watch the egg drift past the staged fish. I noticed a flash and set the hook. Fish on! The chromer ran up and down the stretch of water but after a couple of minutes it was fish in hand. Mission accomplished.

Go out and fool a fish!

Steelhead Success

When I first got into fly fishing, the manager of the local Orvis shop, Jim Lampros, mentioned that Northeast Ohio is part of Steelhead Alley, which also includes Northwest Pennsylvania and New York. He went on to explain the rivers start to get a run of steelhead in the fall, and it continues until late spring. This will be the time the rivers are crowded with fishermen. He wasn’t wrong.

It took two years of learning and getting skunked before I started to have success. I fumbled through nymphing and streamer techniques, learning how to make a good drift and how to use weight to keep the fly on or near the bottom. I used the popular egg patterns and stonefly imitations but struggled to get a hookup. About that time Art, who quickly became my fishing mentor, said he would tie an egg pattern for me to use. In addition, a trip to the Orvis store allowed to me to find a wigglestone fly, developed by Greg Senyo. My luck and perseverance was about to pay off.

Art's Egg, Simple but very effective.

Fishing at Helen Hazen Wyman Park in April of 2013 I finally hooked into a chromer with the egg pattern Art tied. I had gotten over the “how to catch them” and was now thrown into “how to land them”. Unfortunately, I didn’t play the fish well and it broke off after a nice 2-3 minute fight. That day I would hook into three others but was not able to land any of them. Even though I didn’t get any to the net, it was a lot of fun.


It wasn’t until the following spring that I would land my first steelhead. Again fishing at Helen Hazen Wyman Park, I landed three within a matter of an hour, two on the egg pattern and one on the wigglestone. They fought well, but now I was ready for them. From fishing for rainbow and brown trout with Brian Trow from Mossy Creek Fly Fishing, I learned how to play a fish. I felt like I graduated from some mythical steelhead school.

One of the steelhead landed on that spring day. About 18"-19" in length.

One thing I did learn is that steelhead fishing is very humbling. Someone can go out and land five or six in a morning and then not have any luck for several weeks. Since there are many rivers and parks to choose from in Northeast Ohio, picking the wrong location on any given day makes for a skunking. For as much success as I’ve had at Helen Hazen Wyman I’ve also been there more times when I was blanked. Pick any location and you take a chance that the fish will be there. If not, it’s a long day. Talking with other fishermen on the river the one comment I hate hearing is “you should have been here yesterday”. The not so funny thing is, I’ve heard that more than once and each time had no luck.

Go out and fool a fish!