Steelhead 2013-2014 Thread

If all goes according to plan I'm gonna check out Conneaut(and/or Elk) on Monday....
 
Speaking of dry flies and steelhead; This morning I swung up a couple of fatties in the middle of a trico spinner fall.
No steelhead came up for the spinners.
 
Sunday was full of midges and tricos, I mean a lot. I had a guy come behind me and ask if there was a hatch happening to his buddy lol.
 
Big numbers of fish are stacking up along the shoreline.
 
dano wrote:
Big numbers of fish are stacking up along the shoreline.
Click to expand...

Any luck with them? Casted to them some earlier this week and they were not having it. I was seeing them, but no takers.
 
Are you guys focusing on creek mouths, or just picking any random spot along the shoreline?
 
I couldn't wait to go to out- so i made the trek yesterday against my better judgment. Never having seen the creeks or having gone before, I myself feel like there was a decent amount of fish in the stream, all the way past the small waterfall on elk. Water was absolutely crystal clear. For my day of steelhead ever, I was pretty happy. I got there at day break. I managed two hook-ups early in the morning, both of which my eagerness of trying to land them caused them to break off in short order. I can't believe the speed in which those things will just change direction, and boom, they were gone. The third was i was able to play for a couple minutes before its third acrobatic leap out of the water and it spit the hook. I only saw one fish landed on elk, and i myself didn't see many hook-ups at all, and everyone i talked to pretty much said the same thing. I tried every pattern and color i had with as slow as it was- one take on a sucker spawn, one on a stone fly, and one on a brown WB.
never having seen walnut before, i took a ride over to check it out. I dont understand why anyone would want to fish that? no disrepect to any guys here that do, but it looked like a kiddie pool with 30 guys and 100 fish. every "hook-up" i saw there was a well timed jerk and a snag on a fishes back. Just didnt get it. I quickly went back to elk.
Cant wait to go back with better conditions and some more fish in the stream. hopefully ill actually land one next time, i had no idea how tough it would actually be.
 
Nice report. I'd say you did ok for it being your first time, especially this early in the season.

I can't believe the speed in which those things will just change direction, and boom, they were gone.
Click to expand...

Are you addicted yet?

never having seen walnut before, i took a ride over to check it out. I dont understand why anyone would want to fish that? no disrepect to any guys here that do, but it looked like a kiddie pool with 100 guys and 30 fish. every "hook-up" i saw there was a well timed jerk and a snag on a fishes back. Just didnt get it.
Click to expand...

fixed it for ya..

Honestly though, Walnut can be a decent option when the water's up and when it's not super crowded. Even weekdays can be bad, but sometimes you have some elbow room and most of the time you're surrounded by good guys, but there's still lots of 'nuts that fish it. Right now I'd avoid it like the plague.
 
Yep, completely addicted just wish it wasnt a 2 hour haul up there. It looked like it would be nice if the water is up, but with it being as low as it was and fish only holding in the pool past the bride and in manchester hole, it looked like a mad house. I'm glad i decided to take a look before gearing up, i just hopped right back in my car. I didn't expect to really even get a hook up, I just thought well I'll go and at least get familiar with the area, so, for me, i called it a victory. I hopped back and forth between tippet from 3x to 4x, my only takes were with the 4x, so that combined with lack of experience trying to control these things and i just couldnt. i cant tell you how many times i switch things up. hopefully i can get way with the 3x in some quicker water with some color too it?

Im also pleased to say that everyone i met and talked with up there was extremely nice, and also had plenty of tips when I would tell them it was my first time there, so far i havent run into any of these jerks i hear about.
 
PatrickC wrote:
dano wrote:
Big numbers of fish are stacking up along the shoreline.
Click to expand...

Any luck with them? Casted to them some earlier this week and they were not having it. I was seeing them, but no takers.
Click to expand...

Some days I do good and some days not. I do better when there isn't as many guys crowded around the stream mouth and I have room to follow the pods up and down the shoreline.
 
dano wrote:

Some days I do good and some days not. I do better when there isn't as many guys crowded around the stream mouth and I have room to follow the pods up and down the shoreline.
Click to expand...

Same here.

I saw a nice pod of fish Tuesday. Had a hit on the 2nd cast. Never found them again. And, as you like, no one else was around. I was sure that was gonna be a good day. Nothing better than a steelhead on the end of your line screaming towards Canada. Oh well, next time!
 
I stopped at 7mile and 12 mile on the way to New York on Friday night. Saw 1 fish at 7 mile and didn't walk very far on 12 mile to see nothing. I know this isn't news that the streams are low.

Looks like a really good storm coming through in about a week. That should help.
 
I just looked at the 10 day and there is nothing significant. Scattered thunderstorms this Saturday, but we all know how that goes.

It was supposed to also rain last night. If they can't get that right, how can I trust a "scattered Thunderstorms" a week out give us anything.

In fairness, we did drive through some light rain on the way to work this morning, but I have my doubts if it made it to PA.
 
http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/erie-pa/16501/october-weather/330296?monyr=10/1/2013&view=table
 
FarmerDave wrote:

It was supposed to also rain last night. If they can't get that right, how can I trust a "scattered Thunderstorms" a week out give us anything.
Click to expand...

Agreed. No real expectations of rain until it is on the local radar and then there better be lots of it. Until then, tie flies.
 
Yeah, we are switching patterns, but neither the old, nor the new, is good for rain in this area.

We had a large blocking system just sitting there to the north, bringing cold, dry air towards us, and taking any storms south of us before turning them north well too far offshore to do any good. The ground level parameters have actually been decent to get pop-up type storms each day, and you notice it does cloud up like somethings trying to happen. But they reach a certain height and get squashed by the stable cap in place, resulting in little more than a spit of rain here and there.

Now the jet stream moved on up to northern Canada and kicked that blocking system out of there. So we'll get warm, dry air, with storms staying to the north. Yay.

Models do show a sharp cold front dipping across the interior late in the week. But it should stall, and dissipate somewhere around the Ohio Valley next weekend, with any leftover moisture perhaps going north of us. How the precipitation holds together on the southern side will mean everything. Too early to tell for sure yet. But possible tropical moisture feeding in from the gulf would make it a lot wetter, possibly giving the southern end the juice to hold together and get to us, which would be nice. So if you like rain, you're cheering for that system in the tropics to develop, and this front to grab it and bring it inland.

The "super long term" after that doesn't look good for rain either, with yet another dry pattern setting in. This weekend looks like our chance during the switchover, and it's highly questionable.

We had a wet summer, but fall isn't looking good for the steelhead lovers.
 
until the temps get into the low 50's high 40's the Erie area will not see significant rain from the lake effect. a few drops did fall this afternoon just to wet down the pavement no run off at all.
I do not fallow accuweather as they do not seam correct ever here in Erie. NWS is far more reliable.
 
ryguy, where did you fish in NY?
 
i find weatherunderground to be the most accurate on a 2-4 day forecast. its what i watch for snow storms anyway...
 
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