Smallies Have To Eat Too

It is mid-October and steelhead has become the target species for many fishermen in northeast Ohio. One big rain event in September brought some chrome up the rivers, and fishermen have had early success. But now the rivers are low, and we could use another big rain to freshen the run.

I’ve had a nice start to the season with two 25” chromers landed and one long distance release after a good fight. Sometimes I get tunnel vision and forget that smallmouth bass are on the move to their winter lies and need to eat as much as possible. So, it was a little surprise when a smallie hit my woolly bugger as it swung through a pool. It turned out to be a nice size resident. And it was my only fish of the day. Saved a skunking!

This smallie hit the olive woolly bugger as it swung through a deep pool. 

Trying to pack on some weight for the winter.

(Click on image for larger view.)

I never get tired of catching smallies, even in October.

Go out and fool a fish!

Mother Nature be Kind to Steelheaders

Low flows have prevented good numbers of steelhead from coming up the rivers

Mother Nature has not been kind to Steelhead Alley so far this fall. Since early September, when the first reports of chrome in the rivers started circulating, the Alley hasn’t received any significant rain. Every time a front would come through, with the promise of rain, it dries up before reaching northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania. All the rivers would get a minor bump in flow, but not enough to get the steelhead moving upriver in decent numbers. There are reports of some good numbers being caught at the mouths of the rivers from fishermen in kayaks, canoes, or boats. It just doesn’t seem like many of the fish have been able to make it past the mouth. A few steelhead have been found upriver, but by now there should be a lot more action than there is.

I tried to find my own action yesterday. The area had a little rain the night before and the flows bumped up a little, so I gave it a try. Living between the Chagrin and Grand Rivers, it is always a flip of a coin as to which river to hit. I thought the Grand would give me the best shot, so I made my way to one of the Lake Metroparks access points. Hitting the water at sunrise, even with the bump in flows, the water was about as low as I’ve ever seen it. After working the usual spots, where I had previous success, I began to think of a skunking. When chasing steelhead, a skunking is not anything to be ashamed of, but I decided to go down fighting. After all, in my last post I mentioned patience and covering water as keys to success. Practice what you preach.

If I was going to find chrome, I had to find deep water, even it was a small pool. There’s a section of the Grand at this access point that I never fished. It is about a half mile downstream. After making my way to this section, I noticed some darker water. Add to that, a couple downed trees and moving water, and my first thought was “there has to be a fish in that spot”.

Normally, when fishing a streamer, I’ll make a standard across and downstream cast, letting the fly swing through the pool. But with the downed trees, and limited space for a backcast, my only option was to make an upstream cast and dead drift the fly. On the second drift the fly line twitched, so I set the hook. For a split second I thought it was a snag, but a snag doesn’t move the line. The fish took off and the fight was on. It jumped, revealing itself to me. It wasn’t a big steelhead, but it was fresh and full of vinegar. The fish gave a good account of itself, and put up a nice fight, but finally found the bottom of the net. Skunk off.

This fresh jack put up a good fight.

So, covering water and patience does pay off. I not only found a spot that will be visited again for a shot at chrome, but it has to hold some smallmouth bass in the summer.

I wonder what’s around the next bend?

Go out and fool a fish!