This is the time of the year when the sanity of steelheaders is questioned. Ice is forming on the river edges. Slush is flowing on the surface. Snow is piling up. Temperatures are dipping into the lower 20’s at night, with single digits a day or two away. But, what does a steelheader do….try to find some open water, all the while repeating the mantra “just give me one more day”. Well, based on the forecast for a polar vortex to hit anytime, that “one more day” for me was today. With four layers of clothing, plus a heavy coat, I felt like Ralphie in “A Christmas Story”.
I’m convinced the only way to stay warm on the water is to hook into a fish. It seems as though the mind forgets the cold when fighting chrome. All of sudden fingers thaw enough to land the fish, remove the fly, and take a quick picture. Release the fish, and immediately that inner voice we all have says “Wow, that water’s cold’. Catch five or more this time of the year and it’s like you’re in the middle of summer.
Today’s outing had a feeling of déjà vu. A little over a week ago I hit the South Chagrin River area and while swinging a shiner pattern managed to hook into a nice, thick hen. Today, fishing the exact same log jam, and using the same pattern, I managed to land another nice hen. It was so close in size that I thought it was the same fish. But, after looking at the pictures, they were different. Had they been the same I was ready to quote Yogi Berra, “déjà vu all over again”.
Beautiful hen in the net. Notice the sinking leader laying on her. Had to fish deep.
(Click on image for larger view.)
Get them while you can. If the polar vortex stays around it could lock up the rivers for quite a while.
Go out and fool a fish!
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