What Was I Thinking

Back in February, after a quick warm up, I wrote that spring came early. What was I thinking? Fast forward to mid-April and we are still waiting for spring to arrive. Snow and cold continue to harass much of the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. The only people happy about the weather are steelhead fishermen, as the season may extend into early May. River temperatures are only in the mid-40’s. Compare this to last year when the water was already hitting the mid-50’s. And, after a big rain event last weekend the rivers probably got the last big push of fresh chrome, almost assuring good catch rates for the next two weeks. I may take one more shot at some chrome, but I can’t wait to shed some layers and go after my favorite species….smallmouth bass.

 Eager to take a topwater popper and a hard fighter make smallies my favorite species to target.

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Last year at this time I was already getting into some smallies, and while there are random catches they really haven’t turned on yet. The lake run has begun to trickle in, but a nice bump in temperatures, along with a warm rain, would help get the smallies up the river. I can’t get the thought of wet wading and throwing poppers out of my head. I keep telling myself that those warm mornings are right around the corner. I just wish Mother Nature would hurry up!

Go out and fool a fish!

Catch One For Lefty

 

The fishing world lost a true legend this week with the passing of Lefty Kreh. He touched so many people with his sharp wit and charm. And, if you were fortunate to meet Lefty and he gave you a casting tip, do everything he told you. The man could lay out a tight loop with a telephone pole.


To honor Lefty the only way fishermen can, let’s catch one for Lefty. The next time you go out catch one for Lefty. Post it on social media, #catchoneforlefty and let the world know we appreciate what Lefty did for our sport.

Go out and fool a fish…for Lefty!

Spring Came Early

Even though spring is 28 days away there is a feeling that it’s already here, at least for steelhead fishermen. Steelhead Alley has had a tough couple of months. There’s been enough snow, brutal cold and iced up rivers to last three winters. But, it looks like a big break in the weather pattern has taken place, and it has steelheaders at the starting blocks, ready to hit the rivers.

A warming trend, lasting longer than just one day, has melted the ice and brought spring rains, filling the rivers with fresh chrome. But, steelheaders are an impatient lot. Get a melt that blows out the rivers and social media fishing groups light up with questions as to when will the rivers be fishable. Sick days and vacation time are taken. Nobody wants to be late to the party. With some luck this party should last for about two months.

Fishermen will be chasing steelhead up and down the rivers for the next two months.

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I’m going out on a short limb and forecast no more ice outs on the rivers this winter. March is right around the corner, and while it could be a cruel month weatherwise, I believe the trend is for slightly warmer temperatures. If we can string some dry days together, the rivers will be in prime shape.

Let’s get ready to hit the water.

Did someone say party?

Go out and fool a fish!

Surviving The Winter

As I write this, winter is in full beast mode. It has hit almost the entire eastern half of the United States like a 2 x 4 to the side of the head. Lakes, ponds, and rivers have iced over seemingly overnight. There may be some open water somewhere but most fishermen are using augers to make it. When Mother Nature gives you lemons, make lemonade. That’s what ice-fishermen do.

I’ll be upfront with everyone from the start. I am not an ice-fisherman, although I did try it once in college. Truth be told, I can’t just sit or stand for an hour or two looking at a small hole in the ice waiting for a bite. I have to be in the water, not on the water. But I give ice-fishermen a lot of credit. With the help of modern equipment and clothing they are able to get their fix, and spend countless hours on the water. In fact, the Cleveland Metroparks help them get their fix, as well as teach people new to the sport, ice-fishing techniques. Several lakes in the Metroparks are stocked early in winter specifically for ice-fishermen. And, as part of Winterrific, Mike Durkalec, Aquatic Biologist, and several volunteers put on an all-day ice-fishing seminar. This is an ideal opportunity to learn the art of ice-fishing.

For those of us who do not ice-fish, all we can do is prepare for the thaw by getting our gear ready. It’s a great time to clean equipment and stock tackle or fly boxes. I’m preparing by changing out my old fly line, and replacing worn out aluminum studs on the soles of my wading boots. I consider those studs to be the most important piece of gear I have. They have saved me from countless falls.

Winter is the ideal time to repair or replace rods, reels, and fly line. 

My oldest fly line is being replaced.

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Changing these aluminum studs is a must. They have saved me from falling countless times.

So, fear not, you non-ice-fishermen, warmer days, and open water are ahead.

Go out and fool a fish!

A Morning Person Gets A Wake-up Call

It must have something to do with my DNA but I’ve been a morning person my whole life. When I was a kid, sleeping in never happened. During my college years, I was the guy who loved 8:00AM classes. When I took up golf, I always wanted one of the first tee-times, at the crack of dawn. When I started to run, it was between 4:00AM and 6:00AM. So, when I got back into fishing seven years ago, being on the river early was a no-brainer. It worked out well, especially during the summer. You can’t beat fishing for smallies at 5:30AM, just when the sun is rising, and the air is the freshest. And I also thought fishing for steelhead should follow the same schedule, adjusted for the time of the year. But, whether it’s old age, or some moment of clarity, I’m beginning to think differently about fishing for steelhead. Let’s call it being flexible.

This time of the year fishing for steelhead is often affected by the weather. If it’s dry, the water levels are low and fresh chrome can’t make it up the rivers. Extreme cold like we had several years ago will ice up the rivers early. Too much precipitation, and the rivers are blown out. So far, this December has been mild. After a blow out rain storm late in November the water levels are low but fishable. There have been some frosty mornings, but slush hasn’t shown up yet. But that’s about to change. A major cold front is coming through. Snow, and an extended cold snap will make it feel like January came early. I wanted to get out before the cold front so yesterday was my target day. Unfortunately I had a family commitment in the morning. On the ride back home my wife said “why not fish this afternoon”? I started to tremble and didn’t know if it was a panic attack because I’d have to change my schedule or because it was a great idea. It ended up being a great idea.

Frosty mornings are a given this time of the year.

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After inhaling a sandwich I hit the road and almost immediately realized things were a little different. Morning drives to the river are easy and fast with very little traffic. Yesterday it was agonizing. There was a lot of traffic and everyone was moving at a snail’s pace. Hey people, don’t you know I’m in a hurry to get to the river. A 15 minute drive seemed to take an hour. But, once on the water, all that was forgotten.

It was surprising that the stretch of the Grand River I fished was so open. There were only two other fishermen, so fighting for a pool was not going to happen. I made my way to a spot where there’s always a fish or two to be had. But the catching started slow, just like the drive. Swinging a white woolly bugger didn’t interest anything. So I made my way to another spot and thankfully after a few casts I got hung up on a log and had to break it off. That forced me to change to a smaller, tan bugger. Two casts later and I felt that tug. All of sudden the slowness of the day stopped as the fish moved all over the pool. A couple minutes later and a nice, 22” hen was brought to net. After releasing the fish my only hope was the pool wasn’t toast from the fight. I continued to cast toward the downed tree on the other side of the pool and let the woolly bugger swing through the middle. Three casts later and another relatively fresh hen took the bugger and moved around the pool just like the first one. After landing this one I couldn’t believe how similar the two steelhead looked. Both hens were roughly the same size, and had some color in the gillplate, but also had that fresh “chrome” look.

On the way back to the car I ran into a fisherman who was fishing the Grand for the first time. He said he was not having any luck. I’ve been there more times than I care to admit so I told him to move around the bend and fish the pools with casts that have to be close to the downed trees. I hope it worked for him. It did for me.

This hen was a twin of another fish caught several minutes earlier. 

I had to look close to make sure it wasn't the same fish.

So, am I going to stop being a morning person? Nope. Will I fish later in the day? Maybe during steelhead season. Just don’t ask me about changing during the summer.

Go out and fool a fish!

Steelhead Fishing: A Drug With Side Effects

When someone has an illness, more than likely a drug is prescribed to cure it. As steelhead fishermen we crave steel and chrome. The only way to feed that craving is to stand in flowing water or cast from a pier in search of the drug. Catching one will help a little, but often we need multiple doses. This uncontrolled craving leads to all kinds of side effects. Let’s look at some of the more severe ones so everyone can recognize them and work on controlling them.

SIDE EFFECTS:

1. Insomnia from worrying if the trip planned will be aborted due to a blown out river.
2. Confusion will lead to poor decisions such as wading into a pool and cutting off someone’s drift.
3. Irritability caused by that guy that waded into the pool.
4. Lightheadedness caused by landing an 8lb. steelhead.
5. Tunnel vision as almost nothing matters but finding the drug from October to April.
6. Runny nose from standing in 35° water, rain, and snow for hours.
7. Drowsiness from fishing for hours and not even getting a bump.
8. Increased blood pressure due to the fisherman downstream hooking up every other drift.

It’s probably a good bet that we have all experienced these side effects. When you are on the water and any of these side effects occur you can lessen the impact by remembering……you could be at work.

I can’t end this post without writing about a recent outing. There’s a stretch of the Grand River that has about a 1/2 mile of good water. Steelhead have been caught in every riffle, run, and pool so there’s no one good spot. Including myself, there were six fishermen on the water, and for whatever reason five of them were working a 50 yard stretch. That left me with the rest of the water. After managing to catch a couple of chromers downstream I watched them fish for about twenty minutes. They weren’t moving, and they weren’t catching anything. It didn’t appear they all knew each other so there was no buddy system that would keep them together. I guess they were suffering from tunnel vision.

These fishermen couldn't get enough of this spot. That left me with the rest of the water.

This chromer gave away its lcoation by rolling on the surface next to a log.

Threw a small woolly bugger and it inhaled it on the fist cast.

Go out and fool a fish!

All We Can Do Is Wait

The first big rainstorm of the fall has yet to show up. In northeast Ohio we’ve had a few cold fronts come through that initially looked promising for a good rain. But unbelievably, what started out as a possible 1-1/2” rain ended up being ¼”. Not enough for a good bump in flows to get the steelhead moving upriver. There is some chrome in the rivers, but most are staging at the mouth of the Lake Eire tributaries waiting for the big push.

My unscientific view is that the Vanpoppen Bubble is protecting northeast Ohio from a major rainstorm. In my mind, the bubble is mass of very dry air that affects any front that moves through the area. This bubble of dry air forces the moisture north and south of northeast Ohio. What results is an area begging for a big rain.

Actually, this bubble has affected the rain totals since the beginning of summer. For the past three to four months the rivers flowing into Lake Erie have been extremely low. Sediment is building up. If anyone waded these rivers the past few months I’m sure they’ve kicked up sediment as they made their way up or downstream. Now, the leaves are starting to accumulate. We need a big push of water to set us up for another steelhead season.

So, for hundreds, if not thousands of fishermen, all we can do is wait until the bubble is popped and a big rain comes. Until then, hit the mouths of the rivers, and the shoreline of Lake Erie. Steelhead are there, and they are feeding. Or, if you're like me, dream about catching some chrome.

A guy can dream, can't he?

Go out and fool a fish!