Spring Steelhead

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jwalms90

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Has anyone been up Erie for tributary Steelhead? Are they still in the creeks with this odd weather they got this year? Trying to go up before they return to the lake, the multiple winter trips we had fishing from Girard down stream did not produce much action for the amount of fish in the water.

Watcha usin'?
 
Still there for sure, its just that most rivers and creeks are pretty darn high at the moment.
 
Yea i called Poor Richards this morning and got good news there too. Thinking Sunday should be perfect.
 
Today is perfect, Sunday might get low.
 
Brandy Run is 10.6 cfs right now. It is a tributary of Elk. Elk is in good shape when Brandy is between 5 & 15 so it is perfect right now. Walnut is 100 cfs now and as mentioned will likely be too low by Sunday. The fellows who live within an hour can call their shots and go for the day whenever conditions are ideal. Guys like me who have to drive 5 1/2 hours have to be ready to leave for Erie on falling high water and hope they get 2 - 3 days of good flows.
 
Just a quick report for those thinking of making the trip to LE or LO for steel.

My Dad and I just came back from a Sunday through Wednesday trip to both lakes. We fished LO tribs Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and fished the NY Erie tribs on Wednesday.

The fishing was fair to good for this time of year at both places. The NY Erie tribs seemed to have higher numbers of fish.(as is usually the case) The quality/size of the fish was definitely better in Lake Ontario.

We caught fish each day, with really only Sunday being difficult. Caught a bunch Tuesday on various LO streams, and got bunch again on Wednesday in the Erie NY streams. We caught them on the usual sucker spawns or just real eggs, plus a few on crawler halfs. Water was about perfect at both lakes, but will lower quick with no precip.

Also, did not fish Burt or Oak in LO, we never touch those streams LOL. Too much other great water, without the crowds.
 
Ohio tribs are generally considered better in the Spring, while PA are better in the fall. It has to do with the type of steelhead smolt stocked.

I drove over the Chagrin (rt 322) yesterday, and level and color were starting to look pretty good.

It did rain some yesterday, but I doubt it was enough to change much.

Have I fished it recently? Hell no. It's Ohio.;-)
 
Sorry I should have been clearer. When I'm saying LO I am referring to Lake Ontario tribs, not Ohio.

We fished Lake Ontario tribs and Erie tribs in NY State only.

Did very well at both.

Did not fish PA or OH tribs at all. Never really do anymore.
 
Brown71 wrote:
Sorry I should have been clearer. When I'm saying LO I am referring to Lake Ontario tribs, not Ohio.
Click to expand...

Yea, that was pretty obvious. But I was responding to the OP and it looked like he was talking about Erie PA.

He also mentioned Girard and if he meant Gerard PA, he was much closer to Ohio than NY.

I was just adding options.

There is steel in Girard Ohio, but not steelhead.;-)

Sorry for any confusion I may have caused.
 
Ended up doing surprisingly well Sunday 4/8.

Water was low and partially clear in some sections of the creek. We wasted most of the morning throwing flies aimlessly until the outside temperature started to heat up.

Once things started to heat up and the fish really started to bite. taking pretty much anything as a y2k, egg patterns, frenchie, goldbead hares, stoneflys.

Some good news from a few locals. There was a large school of silver salmon in the mouth of Elk creek about 12''-14'' pulling them out one after another on emeralds.
Would be nice to see Coho make a nice comeback to the PA side.


Ended up being a successful day, wouldn't bother wasting time in heading up at 6am in the spring again.



 
>>Would be nice to see Coho make a nice comeback to the PA side.>>

I'll make a polite dissent... Back in the 70's in the heyday of the Chinook/Coho fishery on the PA tribs, it was a pretty ugly place to fish. Bad angler etiquette and inconsiderate behavior abounded. For some reason, the salmon fishery seemed to draw a lot more nasty types than the steelhead fishery. And when the ascending fish began to die in numbers, the entire place smelled like it was just downwind of a cat food factory.

I think things are about where they should be now in terms of sustainability, given the small stream size, angling pressure and somewhat precarious access situation.


I was glad when the salmon disappeared before and wouldn't really want them back.

Just my 2.3 cents adjusted for inflation..
 
Just my 2.3 cents adjusted for inflation..>>

Do you think that it would return the same way?
I guess my thought would be, you are going to have assholes everywhere... lets call the spade in that sense.


I guess i'm just a little more apt to think that in 2018, compared to the 70's... that we are a little more strict on our environmental regulations and etiquette, in the way that i would hope it wouldn't turn into the time for "snaggin season".

I never had the "HAYDAYS" of the 70's that every old-timer outdoors-man likes to talk about.

Coming in as a younger outdoors-man and about 99% of the time a catch and release fisherman.

So from that i guess I'm just asking do you foresee the same problems of the 70's if they are to make a PA comeback?

Or is it more the idea that PA tributaries can not handle the the large spawn of salmon and steelies combined?

 
Those Erie tribs are way to small to allow a quality fishing experience and yes the Salmon would attract the slobs of the fishing world,if you want to experience it now go to the lake Ontario trbs to get the flavor of it....it's not pretty!
 
Why stock the fish so close then ? Politics ? Money ?
 
jwalms90 wrote:
Just my 2.3 cents adjusted for inflation..>>

Do you think that it would return the same way?
I guess my thought would be, you are going to have assholes everywhere... lets call the spade in that sense.
Click to expand...

I didn't fish for them back in the day when I think snagging was actually legal. So that part of the equation wouldn't return to the extent it was. But it would still return to some extent and WCOs would be inundated with calls.

As you said, and I often say, there are assholes everywhere, and there goes one.

And I'd imagine the smelly part would return with a vengeance. I'm pretty sure all Coho die after spawning.

You hear people whining about spotting the occasional dead steelhead as it is.
 
jwalms90 wrote:
Why stock the fish so close then ? Politics ? Money ?
Click to expand...

So close to what?

Do you mean why do they stock so many? Part of that is to feed the walleye in the lake. ;-)
 
HAHA that could be it, countless dollars going to a fish (that i'm sure isn't cheap to raise) used to fatten lake walleye. lol

Straight out of the rookie handbook for the F&B.

So if this is such a nuisence fish, why are they reintroducing them?
 
>>So if this is such a nuisence fish, why are they reintroducing them? >>

I don't know that they are. Do you?

I live in Erie County and haven't heard or read of any new coho or other salmon stocking initiatives in the big lake. Then again, I don't really pay that much attention to that fishery and may have missed it.

Let me ask you this: Based on what you said in the original post, are you sure the fish you're talking about weren't this year's steelhead "smolts"? 12-14" would be pretty big, but otherwise the description (easy to catch, lots of fish, time of year etc.) makes sense.

Just asking..:)
 
Just for giggles and a sense of perspective, here is a link that will get you part way to the "Straight Talk" column by PFC Executive Director Ralph Abele in the December 1979 issue of Pennsylvania Angler. The subject is the Lake Erie salmon program and the way it seems to have made a lot of otherwise reasonable anglers act like airplane glue addicts. I apologize that my technical skill are such that I do not know how to link directly to the article/issue (its a pdf). Also be aware that it may take a bit to download the issue. At least it did for me (3-4 minutes)

Nonetheless: http://www.fishandboat.com/Transact/AnglerBoater/LegacyIssues/1970s/Pages/default.aspx

This takes you to the 1970's portion of the Angler archives. Then you simply scroll down and click on December 1979.
 
jwalms90 wrote:
HAHA that could be it, countless dollars going to a fish (that i'm sure isn't cheap to raise) used to fatten lake walleye. lol

Straight out of the rookie handbook for the F&B.

So if this is such a nuisence fish, why are they reintroducing them?
Click to expand...

Actually, none of these are stocked as adult fish. Steelhead are lake run rainbow trout and are stocked as juvenile (smolt). They probably cost less to raise than the rainbow trout they stock in streams. Certainly no more.

And I don't think anyone is calling them a nuisance fish, at least not while keeping a straight face. Those that frown on steelhead and don't fish them, wouldn't fish those tribe even without.

And as RLP said, are you sure they weren't steelhead smolt? Many anglers can't tell the difference.

I wouldn't call the coho a nuisance fish either. And no telling where they might have come from if they were indeed coho, but it is highly likely it wasn't from PA. These fish do roam, and could have come from the upstream lakes. Every year it seems a few Kings are caught, and every other year pinks. I think this year will be a year for pinks. There is also likely a small amount of natural reproduction at least with the pinks.

 
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