Christmas Came Early

December in northeast Ohio can mean a lot of things. A lot of cold and snow is the general rule. But this year, December has been a sleeper. We’ve had some cold and snow but it could have been much worse. In fact, as I’m writing this, it is sunny and 53° F. It’s called a heat wave around here. I couldn’t pass up a day like so I hit the water and received an early Christmas gift.

My favorite steelhead river was fishable, and I’ve been eager to try a streamer pattern that I was introduced to during a trip to Virginia for trout. It was successful on a couple of rainbows and I thought it would be ideal chasing steelhead. After working a nice stretch of water for 1-1/2 hours I was beginning to think the streamer only liked southern hospitality, as I couldn’t get a bump. I was down to my last 20 yard stretch of fishable water when the tug finally arrived. I came tight and the fight was on. The fish surfaced a few times, splashed and rolled to break free, but to no avail. After a brief chase downstream I was able to guide it to the edge of the river. The Kreelex pattern did its job. Christmas a few days early.

Go out and fool a fish!

Steelhead with some nice color. Took a swung streamer fished deep and slow.

 The streamer hanging out of the mouth is a Kreelex. I fished it for trout in Virginia and thought it might be good for chrome. It was.

A Lesson In Patience

I caught a fish nymphing. This should not be a surprise as 90% of what a fish eats is subsurface. But, it is a surprise for me. Surprising because I rarely have the patience to nymph fish. Besides, I enjoy throwing streamers. Oh, I start with good intentions. I’ll spend time rigging up a leader with a fly, split shot and a strike indicator. Then, I’ll methodically work a stretch of water watching the indicator for a take. But, after a tangled mess due to poor casting technique or 30 minutes (whichever comes first) I give up, and tie on a streamer. This is probably the reason I don’t catch a lot of steelhead during the winter months, but have good success in the fall. Chrome sitting in cold water for weeks do not want to chase a streamer. If you don’t put the streamer right in front of them few will chase it. So, after going fishless for longer than I can remember, something different had to be done. And, if that meant having patience and sticking with a nymph rig, so be it. Glad I did.

I tried to stack the deck in my favor. Instead of fishing one of the big tributaries I hit a smaller creek. If I didn’t have to make long casts with the nymph rig I might stay away from tangles. And, I was going to fish a nymph until I caught a fish. Feast or famine. After the first half hour negative thoughts started creeping into what is left of my brain. And, I was getting itchy to tie on a streamer. But no, I soldiered on.

Then it happened. The strike indicator went under. I got a good hookset, and the fight was on. The steelhead made a couple of nice runs but in the small creek it had nowhere to go. A nice, rosy colored steelhead came to hand.

Nicely colored steelhead fooled by a nymph.

(Click on image for a larger view.)

So, what did I do to celebrate? Two casts later I snagged the rig, broke it off, and tied on a streamer. But, life is good. My 0 for a long time was over.

Go out and fool a fish!

The Long and Short Of It

It’s early December and almost all the leaves are down. The brilliant colors are now replaced with the winter grey on every tree and bush. As for the leaves, I think they are all in the rivers. It seems as though every bit of slack water is holding 3’ of leaves. The rivers needs a big flush. The rain we received last week pushed water levels up a little but we could use a major rain event. That would push the leaves out and bring more chrome in. Not that I’m complaining, as fishermen are catching steelhead in all northeast Ohio tribs, in both the lower and upper stretches. And, after several nights of cold sweats due to not wetting a line for 10 days, I can include myself in the catching part.

There’s a section of the Chagrin River near Chagrin Falls that I fish regularly in the summer for smallies. It has easy access, deep holes, and good structure. If smallies like it, I think steelhead would as well. As the steelhead migrate into the rivers some will travel as far upstream as they can. That’s what I was hoping for, as this spot is definitely the farthest from Lake Erie I’ve fished for steel.

My start to the day was uneventful and frustrating. On previous outings I have been swinging streamers waiting for that unmistakable tug. Today I made the decision to start drifting an egg pattern. For me, casting would be better if only the egg was attached to the line. But, add split shot and an indicator, and all of sudden I’m getting tangles from my poor casting technique. Throw into the mix having to adjust the indicator seemingly every other cast and you can see my frustration. So, after no success through a couple of holes I made the switch to a streamer, and then moved upstream. Glad I did.

The spot upstream is deep and loaded with wood structure. I’m thinking there’s got be some chrome is this stretch. I tied on an imitation of a minnow pattern, as the river was loaded with them, and starting swinging the streamer. There was a log jam on the other side of the river, so I made my cast several feet in front of it. The current moved it downstream. I was hoping to keep the streamer as close to the wood as possible, crossing my fingers that the drift wasn’t going to end with a snag. I made one strip and felt some weight. For a brief moment I thought snag, but that went away when the line started moving downstream. After a couple of nice runs I was able to bring a thick, 20” steelhead to the net. Life is good!

A nice steelhead caught far upstream from Lake Erie. Released to live another day.

(Click on image for larger view.)

As the title of this post states, there’s a long and short to the story. The steelhead is definitely the long. As for the short, I mentioned earlier that the river was loaded with minnows. As fishermen you know where this is going. That same streamer that hooked the steelhead also managed to hook into a minnow. Now, I don’t know if the minnow went to eat the streamer and missed, or by swinging the streamer through the pool I foul hooked it. If you look at the photo you will see the hook is neatly placed near the base of the tail. I guess it’s just one more species to add to my list.

An unexpected catch. Released to live another day. :)

Now that’s a short story.

Go out and fool a fish!