Great Lake Tribs (OH, PA, NY) 2015-2016

[sandfly]

I run heads on my rods, make my own for different situations. I like distance casting a lot.

 

[CRB]

Heads up ,still no big run even after last weeks rain.
Wishing for the "good old days". I did hook up at fist light then nothing and lower elk cleared up revealing very few fish

 

[dano]

Chris, Mid to upper.
Not the pools.

 

[Acristickid]

Here is a steelhead article from Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/hunting-fishing/2015/11/15/Inland-angling-catching-on-in-area/stories/201511150127

 

[dano]

Artkid,
in reference to the article you posted, I never realized that the harvest rate was this high. Each year it seems (to me) that more and more people are c&r-ing their fish.
Today(Monday) was another good day on the erie tribs. As I passed the many anglers on the way back down to my vehicle, I saw very few roped fish and quite a bit of catching going on.
The good news is that winter run fish are in and It was nice hooking into hard fighting chrome. The 42 deg water moved many fish into the deeper holes and tailouts. Dead drifted nymphs off floats was effective. Most of the fish seemed a tad heavier than this past fall's spawners but still smaller than normal. These last two brutal winters have had an effect on the growth rate of this years crop of fish.

 

[Fuller24]

Back at it with a new (replaced) 1107-4 switch, headed north this weekend, hope the big girl is fishable

 

[Maurice]

dano wrote:
Artkid,
in reference to the article you posted, I never realized that the harvest rate was this high. Each year it seems (to me) that more and more people are c&r-ing their fish.
Today(Monday) was another good day on the erie tribs. As I passed the many anglers on the way back down to my vehicle, I saw very few roped fish and quite a bit of catching going on.
The good news is that winter run fish are in and It was nice hooking into hard fighting chrome. The 42 deg water moved many fish into the deeper holes and tailouts. Dead drifted nymphs off floats was effective. Most of the fish seemed a tad heavier than this past fall's spawners but still smaller than normal. These last two brutal winters have had an effect on the growth rate of this years crop of fish.

Dano,

The vast majority of harvest occurs near the lake. Its called the Gauntlet. The fish that make it through and spread out are typically left to the C&R crew to walk and search for scattered fish.

Find the next low water holding spot (the major holes) and the harvest crew picks up.

I'm not against harvesting these fish, I've taken a few in the past.


LOL, I just read the article. Looks like I read it before I typed. Here is some idiotic statistical analysis....

No surprise that Pennsylvania’s highest collective steelhead harvest rates occur near the Walnut Creek Access Area, built by Fish and Boat to give anglers optimum accessibility to the steelhead fishery. The creel survey shows that of 62,103 steelhead caught from the mouth to Manchester Road, 19,981 were kept at a harvest rate of 32 percent. Harvests were also high at the Manchester Pool area (59,317 caught, 11,990 harvested, 20 percent harvest rate) and under Rte. 5 (1,521 caught, 645 harvested,42 percent harvest rate).

Assuming the harvest numbers means that the fish are not available to be caught again, one could deduce that the ones considered released could have been released more than once, say twice at minimum. That means that the Harvest percents are likely double what are reported per available fish.

 

[dano]

Yes, this was a survey done 12 years ago and I' will agree with him that things have changed since then.

But, this quote by Mr Hayes is amusing:
" Let the meat-hungry hordes have the battlegrounds north of Rte. 5. Significant numbers of steelhead swim under the Rte. 20 bridges and beyond, and can be caught in peace in accessible waters.
Psst. Don’t tell the lunkheads".

He should have closed with "Don't tell the lunkheads who don't read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette".
Of course, insulting anglers who fish down low and keep fish isn't going to gain him any new found friends with that crowd, either.

 

[Fuller24]

That used to be true,that fish can be caught in peace above the rt 20 bridges... Not anymore, I don't remember a time where you could connect sterretania and Folly's end with people, any evening you can walk that stretch and not get any fishing in decent water. The number of anglers in Erie anymore is beyond ridiculous.

 

[RLeep2]

>>But, this quote by Mr Hayes is amusing:
" Let the meat-hungry hordes have the battlegrounds north of Rte. 5. Significant numbers of steelhead swim under the Rte. 20 bridges and beyond, and can be caught in peace in accessible waters.
Psst. Don’t tell the lunkheads".

He should have closed with "Don't tell the lunkheads who don't read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette".>>

He also probably should have said this in 1988, when it would have still been at least marginally accurate...

 

[CRB]

heads up:

Lake Effect Snow Watch
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
340 PM EST FRI NOV 20 2015

NYZ006>008-012-019-020-085-210445-
/O.NEW.KBUF.LE.A.0013.151122T0600Z-151123T1200Z/
OSWEGO-JEFFERSON-LEWIS-WYOMING-CHAUTAUQUA-CATTARAUGUS-
SOUTHERN ERIE-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...OSWEGO...WATERTOWN...LOWVILLE...
WARSAW...JAMESTOWN...OLEAN...ORCHARD PARK...SPRINGVILLE
340 PM EST FRI NOV 20 2015

...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE SATURDAY NIGHT
THROUGH MONDAY MORNING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO HAS ISSUED A LAKE EFFECT
SNOW WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH
MONDAY MORNING.

* LOCATIONS...EAST OF LAKES ERIE AND ONTARIO... MAINLY FROM THE
BOSTON HILLS SOUTH ACROSS THE SOUTHERN TIER OFF LAKE ERIE... AND
OVER THE TUG HILL OFF LAKE ONTARIO.

* TIMING...FROM LATE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH EARLY MONDAY MORNING.

* ACCUMULATIONS...6 TO 12 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN THE MOST
PERSISTENT LAKE SNOWS. THE HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE
TUG HILL AND ALONG THE CHAUTAUQUA RIDGE WHERE SNOWFALL COULD BE
LOCALLY ENHANCED.

* FORECASTER CONFIDENCE...MEDIUM FORECAST CONFIDENCE. WHILE LAKE
EFFECT SNOWS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP... THERE REMAINS
UNCERTAINTY IN THE EXACT LOCATION AND INTENSITY OF SNOWFALL.

* IMPACTS...LOCALIZED BANDS OF HEAVY SNOW ARE POSSIBLE AND COULD
PRODUCE SLICK AND DIFFICULT TRAVEL CONDITIONS. WITH THIS BEING
THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT SNOW THREAT OF THE SEASON FOR MANY... TAKE
TIME TO ENSURE YOUR VEHICLE IS PREPARED FOR WINTER TRAVEL.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A LAKE EFFECT SNOW WATCH MEANS THAT SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER IS
POSSIBLE IN LOCALIZED AREAS.

 

[CRB]

This one for Pennsylvania and Ohio:

Lake Effect Snow Watch
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
428 AM EST SAT NOV 21 2015

...LAKE EFFECT SNOW RETURNS TO THE AREA LATE TONIGHT...

.MUCH COLDER AIR WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE REGION BEGINNING LATE
TONIGHT BEHIND A COLD FRONT THAT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. LAKE
EFFECT SNOW WILL DEVELOP AND SPREAD ACROSS THE SNOWBELT COUNTIES
OF NORTHEAST OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA AS THE COLDER AIR
MOVES OVER THE WARMER WATERS OF LAKE ERIE.

OHZ014-089-PAZ001>003-211730-
/O.NEW.KCLE.LE.A.0002.151122T0600Z-151123T1400Z/
ASHTABULA INLAND-ASHTABULA LAKESHORE-NORTHERN ERIE-SOUTHERN ERIE-
CRAWFORD PA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...JEFFERSON...ASHTABULA...ERIE...
EDINBORO...MEADVILLE
428 AM EST SAT NOV 21 2015

...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH
MONDAY MORNING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A LAKE
EFFECT SNOW WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH
MONDAY MORNING.

* TIMING...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WILL DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT
AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY
MORNING.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE VARIABLE AND
WILL DEPEND ON WHERE LAKE EFFECT BANDS SET UP AS WELL AS DAYTIME
TEMPERATURES SUNDAY. ACCUMULATIONS IN NORTHEAST OHIO SHOULD
RANGE FROM 3 TO 6 INCHES AND GO UP TO 8 TO 10 INCHES IN THE
HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF EASTERN ERIE COUNTY IN NORTHWEST
PENNSYLVANIA.

* OTHER IMPACTS...LOCALIZED BANDS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW ARE
POSSIBLE AND COULD CAUSE WHITEOUTS AND RESULT IN DANGEROUS
TRAVEL CONDITIONS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A LAKE EFFECT SNOW WATCH MEANS THAT SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER IS
POSSIBLE IN LOCALIZED AREAS WITHIN THE NEXT 36 HOURS. STAY TUNED
TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES.

&&

$$

 

[Fuller24]

I fished in that lake effect warning you posted, great way to finally get some room to swing flies.

 

[Acristickid]

Fished Sterrettania area today, pretty slow- 4 hookups, zero landed. I wouldn't go until after next rain. Water clear and lower. Small pt type nymphs got the hookups. Vast majority of the fish are in the deepest holes. Scouted for fish in bath tub sized holes and runs as that's what I like to fish and found very few. Was sunny all day with temps into the fifties.

Good luck to all fly anglers.

 

[troutwilleatflies]

Fished yesterday in same area with same results,fish are few and far between and only in the holes,water very low and clear,this drizzle today will do nothing to improve it.

 

[dano]

Timing is everything.
The water temp may have barely reached 40 by days end. After a four hour search producing one fish to the bank, I was lucky enough to find aggressive fish in a tailout about 7 miles up from the lake.
The last four hours of the day was magical. All big guys except for one smallish 23" fish. Most gave explosive runs with one large male taking 100 ft of running line on 6 consecutive jumps. I started the day realistically hoping for a fish or two. I never expected to have my best day of the year. This is December, isn't it?

A few phone pics:

 

[Bobert540]

Awesome fish! Were you swinging most of the time?

 

[dano]

Yea, Skagit style & swinging with 12ft of T-11.
A few years ago, I decided that was the only way I was going to fish the Catt and Grand in OH no matter what the conditions gave me.
That big blue and black tube fly took a beating. The last fish finally broke it off. My fault as the leader was pretty scuffed up.

 

[Fuller24]

Awesome fish! I think I need a mentor for the Catt, beautiful tie also

 

[stal42]

Bumping this up from page 4. Spring steelhead season is here.