Ohio steelhead trip

[Wmass]

I get to Ohio a few times a year to visit family and it just so happens most of my trips coincide with some of the better steelhead months. I got out today from 730am-230pm and I got into some good fish. Conditions for this week have been lousy and it looked like today was going to be the best day to get out based on weather and flows. I hit the Chagrin River at the North Chagrin reservation but after two hours I only had a few hits. I drove closer to the lake and at fish all the easy access holes were filled with guys so I walked upstream about 3/4 mile and found a sweet hole with perfect off color water. I caught one right away on an orange Krystal meth and it was a healthy fresh fish. I missed four more on the same fly before I switched to a brown zonker streamer and I got a hit on the first cast, another fish to hand. After that the little section shut down so I walked upstream about 30 yards and got a few more hits. I ended up switching to a big black-pink streamer and it got nailed on the first drift. Biggest fish I have ever caught. It was a great day.

 

[Wmass]

Anyone know how to upload pics from an iPhone?

 

[Six-Gun]

Do you have a photobucket account? If not, download the app and create an account real fast. You can upload pics quickly and use the links from your uploads right off it.

I really would like to see the pics. I live in Ohio, but have never made the pilgrimage up that way yet. I get my waders back from repair on Wednesday, so I may make the drive once I'm back in business.

 

[Wmass]

http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r574/iwhitten78/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-04/50438BCB-5B75-4989-B8AF-373022034BF8_zpsjpz67ffn.jpg

 

[Wmass]

I am having issues uploading the rest. I will try later tonight or tomorrow.

SIX-GUN. I highly suggest making the trip. Just make sure you have a 7w atleast and a lot of patience. Some days it's hot and other days you would swear there wasn't a fish in the river.

 

[Wmass]

http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r574/iwhitten78/Mobile%20Uploads/562FC1A5-C379-45B4-898A-8A4CA41A64AA_zpsuojorfp6.jpg


http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r574/iwhitten78/Mobile%20Uploads/DCD2C731-415E-4A6D-8B91-477876907832_zpslbtf7jgk.jpg

 

[Six-Gun]

Wmass - beautiful fish and nice job scoring despite the crowds!

I will assuredly be patient when I get up there. Given that the only trout water near in this part of the state me is the Mad River, patience has been the only option. Ha!

I have no issue hiking upstream like you did to avoid the crowds and plan to do exactly that. I'll be bringing an Orvis Helios 2 in 8WT that has been used to tug out some pretty large rainbows out of mountain lakes when I was stationed in Nevada. I have never caught river-run steelies on it, however.

How is the public access outside of the Chagrin River park (particularly upstream)? I have never been up there and figure I'll have to get at least a good distance from there to have a prayer of ditching the masses.

Saturday is looking pretty windy with some snow, but Sunday is looking good despite being pretty cold. I'll let you know how I do. Again, thanks for posting the pics. You got me interested again in heading up there.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Nice fish. No word on Erie? I figured that the lousy weather would move fish in to the creeks? GG

 

[Fuller24]

Erie is a joke, only a matter of time.before everyone catches on and heads west or north... Yay. Not

 

[PatrickC]

Wmass: Great day! I like that streamer

GG: Erie is NOT a joke. This year there was so little rain during the time of the run, that few fish made it very far in the creeks. The fish that made it in were yanked out dang near before they ever reached the tubes on Elk. It was December before they were well distributed throughout the creeks. The water remained low much of the winter and the fish dropped very quickly because of this.

Normally there are plenty of dropbacks in the PA tribs through March into early April. This year the majority of the fish were either yanked out or dropped out by early March.

So, while it is true it was a tough season on the PA tribs, it was a result of the poor conditions to even get the fish into the creeks in the fall. If we get rain next fall in a more normal pattern, all will be fine.

On the upside, this has been the best spring we have had in Ohio in several years. Though our run is disappearing quickly do to the unusually warm temps in March.

 

[trike23]

PatrickC with all due respect im not trying to pretend that you likely forgot more about erie steelhead and steelhead fishing than I know BUT. When are we finally going to admit to ourselves that through ecological or weather or whatever reason the steelhead fisherie in lake Erie and really all the great lakes is in serious decline.

I am not pretending to be any kind of expert but I am a guy that spends just as much time fishing the lake as I do the tribs. I can tell you we catch half as many steelhead from the boat in the summer time as we did just 10 years ago. That combined with the dismal returns in the last three to fours years and that points towards a decline. Remember over ONE MILLION smolts are stock in PA ALONE! Thats a lot of fish. Take predation into consideration and the tribs still arent getting a quater of those fish back. So IMHO all you guys that wanna keep coming up with excuses thats fine but I think this fishery may be gone in 20 years or less. I could be wrong hell I hope I am but I am just not seeing any evidence to the contrary. I have witnessed a lot of sad faces up here in the last couple years when guys walk ten miles a day and might see or catch one fish in those ten miles. I feel awful for the guys that drive up here 10 hours away to realize theres very few fish. Something has to be done about this three fish limit also on a side note what a joke. Plus more law enforcement would be nice.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

I probably need to think New York next year? It's fishing and fish have few rule when it comes to spawning runs etc.
I never said Erie was a joke. Caught some 2 years ago. Still learning.
GG

 

[Fuller24]

I said Erie is a joke, I've fished it for the past 15 years or so, I spend my money on other states when chasing great lakes steelhead.

 

[streamerguy]

The biggest problem with the decreasing numbers of fish is the large amount of anglers that still fish for steelhead in PA. Personally, crowds and conditions/rain aside, I'm fine with the numbers of fish. Just have to put in more effort to find and catch them. Makes it more rewarding instead of pulling up to the creek and nailing a lot on every trip.......it just stinks when sometimes there literally seems to be more people than fish some days.

But good and great days can still be had. Timing the conditions, locations, and runs is everything, but that can be hard for those who have to work or go to school. There's that big blowout on a Tuesday, great fishing on Wednesday into Thursday........then the weekend rolls around and it's back to pond fishing in extremely low water with a million of your best friends....if you chose to fish the PA tribs. And it doesn't help when the fish that were already in the stream drop back in a hurry. Let's just hope next fall is a little wetter.

Why are fish returns decreasing?? Idk.......and I'm not sure the PFBC has a solid answer. Obviously we need high water events to bring fish in, but even during the glory days of PA steelhead fishing there were still a million fish even during the dry falls....from what I've been told. I'm still young and never had the chance to fish for steelhead in the 90s and early 2000s, but I've heard of consistent insanely high number days from the Ohio and NY tribs during that time frame as well. What changed??

And Ohio steelhead fishing is horrible right now. Don't know what y'all talkin bout ;-) Happy to hear about your great day Wmass!!

 

[Six-Gun]

I may shift gears and head up to the Vermillion River based on some reading around for this time of the season. Going in blind, but what they hey. I've head great first-time trips on rivers that were never matched again. What time should I be trying to get on the water for this nuttiness to make sure I at least have a prayer of securing my own little patch of water?

 

[streamerguy]

As early as you can would be ideal, mostly to maximize time on the water. You should find elbow room on the larger waters, and being able to walk far distances definitely helps. Just make sure you're not wandering into someone's backyard. I have never fished the Vermillion and know extremely little about it, but I don't think it gets as crowded as the other Ohio waters.

Some areas on the rivers do get busy though, and if I have a favorite run that I want first shot at before anyone else......yeah sometimes sleeping in is a bad idea. But there's plenty of water to fish.....and plenty of fish around if you're willing to be mobile.

 

[Six-Gun]

Thanks for that info, streamerguy. I almost want to leave with enough time on Saturday to scout a bit the night prior, but that's a tall order with my daughter's soccer game followed by a 3-hour+ drive. I really need nothing more than to know where there's a quality run or three so I have a few options I can navigate to and actually be able to wade. Nothing sucks worse than seeing good water that's too deep to work effectively.

For the record, I am going to fish the Chagrin. I got a good hotel right up that way and decided that if it sucks, it's nothing more than a backtrack toward where I live to go over the Vermillion for a bit.

This late in the season, I'm not expecting much, but I figure I need to at least check the "I tried" box before the Air Force takes me completely out of the area. Like I said, some of my best trips have been experimental runs on new water.

 

[Fuller24]

Might run into ya on the Chagrin this weekend, good luck to ya

 

[Six-Gun]

Rock on - good luck to you out there! I'll be in a silver Nissan Frontier. Is parking even possible in the areas around the parks?

 

[PatrickC]

Six Gun: Fish the parks on the V, Bacon Run etc. Plenty of water. The V has a turbidity gauge on the USGS site. Check that before you go. If it is not 20FNU or less, it will be pretty muddy.

As for the rest of the thread, I never said the steelhead population is not in decline. My point was that this year in particular, there was no rain in the fall. With no rain, there is no way for the steelhead to get into the PA tribs. This season was particularly bad for that reason alone. And while there are less fish, the numbers are not terrible.

Being able to walk on top of fish because there are so many is hardly fishing. Numbers during recent years have been appropriate to have to actually fish for steelhead. It remains to be seen whether the fishery will collapse, but yes, it has certainly declined. IMO, it has declined to a realistic level of what steelhead fishing should be.