Steelhead 2013-2014 Thread

And, the lake temps matter as well.

So, pay attention to this:

http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/glcfs.php?lake=e&ext=swt&type=N&hr=00

Right now the shoreline temps are still at 70F or above. There are some fish staging based on daylight etc, but they will really ramp up when you see these temps drop.
 
They usually start to run when the water temperature hits 60 or so. The problem? If they get up into the stream, and the water warms back up, they will go back down to the lake.
 
http://www.unclejohnselkcreekcamp.com/webcam/

Erie got some rain last night and brought the streams up. This is not yet time for the run, but I wouldn't doubt this rain will bring some fish in and then just like every year they'll get trapped in the low water when it drops soon.
 
Agreed.

Is it just me, or is the Uncle John's web cam broken alot?
 
Once everyone gets steelhead fever they all go to the site and blow the bandwidth up... then it shuts down temporarily.

I see a new familiar face on there... :-D
 
Few fish in walnut creek. Caught 4 jacks on Saturday. Definitely not worth a trip if you aren't local. Didn't see any fish in Elk.
 
Good to see a few reports of fish starting to run in the lower tribs, and more beginning to stage at the mouths in the lake. Some rain forecast up there during the weekend and into next week, wouldn't be suprised to see a small run. It's still early, but definately something to look forward to. And, I know some experts are calling for this to be one of the best steelhead seasons in years.
 
fishingood wrote:
And, I know some experts are calling for this to be one of the best steelhead seasons in years.
Click to expand...

When you say experts, do you mean baitshops, guides, motel managers....? :cool:
 
JackM wrote:
fishingood wrote:
And, I know some experts are calling for this to be one of the best steelhead seasons in years.
Click to expand...

When you say experts, do you mean baitshops, guides, motel managers....? :cool:
Click to expand...

Jack you forgot PFBC peddling those multi year licenses. I kid, I kid.

Saw some fish staging this morning. No runners. Elk is dry.
 
That rain storm projected on the 19th may look good...

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/erie-pa/16501/september-weather/330296


My prediction of the 17th may not be too far off. Hoping I'm right so my trip to Oak Orchard on the 21st will be perfect.
 
The storm on the 19th evaporated...
 
landed my first steelhead of the year, last Saturday. Did I mention it was in 71 feet of water? Still a tad early. Coming into elk creek at dark, the mouth was filled with shad and some steelhead mixed, but none at daylight. The temps have gotten extremely cold at night lately. Im sure there are some fish in the streams now.
 
Nice. A few weeks ago my uncle told me he caught one and I was super surprised/excited until he told me he was 10miles off of Cleveland lol.

I'm going to be in Erie today, and of course while I'm up there I'm gonna check out a spot or two to see if any fish came in.
 
Got a little fishing in today. Stopped at Elk, Walnut, Crooked, and Trout Run. Streams were very, very low and clear as expected. Saw one jack at the log jam hole on Elk, and other than that nothing though I only spent like 20min there. At Walnut there were maybe 15-20 fish if that from the lake to the waterfall, and just about all of them were just kinda chillin' in the slow pools. Managed to get one there in some of the faster water, but other than that one fish none of them wanted anything to do with our flies(as expected). Didn't see any at Crooked, though it was mainly just a scouting trip there. Took a water temp and it was 64 degrees at 4:30pm. Didn't see a single fish at Trout Run.

Felt really good to get that first one of the season, but we still got about a month....it's not worth the drive unless you live like 5min away.

IMG_0296_zpsce60b03f.jpg
 
Will this year be a better return than last year? I know some think there were good numbers last year but in contrast to 09-10 10-11 seasons something was off.
 
Every year people say the run is off or that the numbers aren't what they used to be. You'll hear all kinds of reasons for this. All I know for sure is that fishing pressure has gone through the roof and having good water/weather conditions is everything.
 
I agree that 08 was a really good year. I think the difference that year is almost every time I went up (and I was still a rookie) the water levels were very good. But there were also a lot of fish in sections of stream that there weren't any in the most recent years. We'll see how the run goes. I'm hoping the browns continue to improve. I wish they put the limit on browns to 1 a day, so they would really make a viable fishery for them. (potentially)
 
I started fishing in 2010 and Ive never seen fish like I saw that year, I remember seeing more people as weell though??
 
2007 and 2008 were both great years 2010 was bad. In 2011 I hit it just right and had a good trip, but last year was pretty bad too.
 
I'll make the same comment as last year....

The numbers of fish have fluctuated over the years. I do NOT think that is a bad thing. When there are less fish, folks actually have to learn to fish for them (that's a good thing). The pressure has been high at times, but as all of us know, a little walking goes a LONG way.

Regardless of the numbers of fish being down, I have caught no less fish (and that is by no means because I catch only a few ;-) ). At the end of the day, you can make excuses, or you can get better at catching them. There are more then plenty of fish to be caught each year. This year will be no different.

We need more rain, but over the next few weeks, things will start moving. The only downside to the PA tribs is that the fish need good rain events to get into the creeks. There are already fish meandering around in the lower parts of the Ohio and larger NY tribs. The upper parts of those large river are way too warm for any significant migration upstream at this point, but the forecasted nighttime temps are coming down.

Hang in there folks...it's coming.
 
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