Steelhead 2015-2016

[Wmass]

I haven't seen any threads on steelhead this year? Anyone get any? How has the fishing been? I am making my yearly trip to Ohio in April and hopefully there will be a good spring run this year.

 

[JackM]

Nope. Haven't been up. But if I went today, I would be at the tressel bridge.

 

[Char_Master]

I was up a few weekends back in October and one in December. Terrible fishing, I've never seen so little fish in the Tribs, even in the summer there's more smallies in there than there are steelhead now! Heck, I didn't see a SINGLE fish in 20-mile every time I was there and the few fish in walnut and elk were being snagged with jigs or streamers and put on yellow ropes. Out of all those weekends I went up combined, I only hooked two fish, both on glo bugs. Not worth the trip up there. I won't be heading up again until Lake Trout season in April and that's by boat. Might possibly hit the Tribs if this year's sucker run is any good but other than that I'll be out on the boat.

Save your time, money, and gas and just wait until next fall.

 

[streamerguy]

It's been a rough season overall, especially in PA. The biggest issue has been the lack of rain, and by the time we got good blowouts it was too late.

There has been some pretty darn good days this fall if you were able to time the conditions right. Other than that, it's been really tough.

Ohio was really starting to get good numbers before the first freeze up, and I've been hearing good things recently too when the rivers have been fishable. I'm definitely ready for spring.

 

[moon1284]

On the ny erie tribs I've done ok, not as good as last year. On the Ontario trib I fish the Lakers just get in the way of the steelhead.

 

[724flyfishing]

I've been up to both Ohio and PA a few times this fall. We did really good but it was with spin gear and single eggs with small hooks and light flourocarbon tippet. Between my friends and myself, we hit double digits every time. We ran into some Canadians on Elk and Walnut that were centerpinning and they were putting a absolute clinic on. I swear at least one of the 3 was fighting a fish the whole time we were around them, all legit hookups. So I wouldn't say there wasn't that many fish, at least not by the first week of November.

One thing I noticed was it was very crowded, more so than normal this year. We fished crooked, elk, walnut, 16, 20, and Conneaut and they were all packed every time. I'd be willing to bet the main reason people didn't do well in general was a combination of late runs, crazy amount of fishing pressure all at once, and the fact people are just getting plain good at catching them in general. It used to be you'd rarely see people jigging, which I don't care what anyone says is one of the most effective ways to catch them, and I saw people everywhere doing it this year. The secrets are all out lol.

I am going to get the fly rod up there this spring when the crowds die down some and I actually have room to fly fish. Hoping for a good March and April. I'd also like to try the early summer smallmouth runs. I've heard that can be a blast with streamers and hardly anyone on the creeks.

 

[Char_Master]

Lake Ontario or the province Ontario? And you mean there's literally lakers coming in to the Tribs? I've got to make time for a road trip if so, forget the steelhead!

 

[moon1284]

not really a lake Ontario trib, but there is a river between lake erie and lake Ontario that gets lake trout between November and may (sometimes to july 4), but the season doesn't open until jan 1.

There are tons of lake trout, and if you fish from shore there are unfortunately plenty of Canadian centerpinners too.

 

[PennKev]

JackM wrote:
Nope. Haven't been up. But if I went today, I would be at the tressel bridge.

Everyone else is already there waiting for you.

 

[trike23]

Worse year in ten years period! Very few fish to no fish. Either that or I am just the worse fisherman ever and cant spot them anymore I dont know?

 

[CRB]

Poor. The perch off the Channel has been very good :-D . So far 1 week of ice fishing and now the ice is all but gone. Worse crowds I have ever experienced on the open areas of Elk. Very few fish up stream the lake has been where it is. I would say if I was to fish tomorrow I would fish the lake.

 

[Sylvaneous]

I got one this year on 16 mile. Only fished 2 times. Hasn't been the same since early 2000's like 2003-2005. For me, the biggest negative factor has been that very few fish can get past the chute on lower Walnut, so they ones that come in get raped by the Russians. They never get upstream where more civil gents can have sport with them.

Syl

 

[turkey]

I fished early season off the beach and saw a decent amount off fish being caught but you had to be in the correct spot. It was like they were coming in single file. I had another day that I broke 3 or 4 off, and my most recent day I walked a lot and landed one. If I didn't have family up there I'm not so sure I'd make the drive. Not more than once a year anyway.

 

[dudemanspecial]

I fished it a week or 2 before Christmas.....it was real warm that weekend. Water was low and clear. We started fishing at 9AM and fished all day without seeing one fish. Finally around 4pm with alot of hiking we found a mother load of them. I hooked one but snapped off. Guys i was with caught a few but water was so low/clear they spooked very easily and were hard to catch.

 

[Wmass]

I am just hoping the spring run will be decent and it wont rain the entire time I am in Ohio. Last year I got out a few days and one day was a complete wash, river came up so fast I almost got caught on the opposite bank. Later in my trip I had a really nice day at the Rocky river. Didnt catch any but broke two off. Saw about a hundred fish or more just stacked up in pools. Praying for that this spring.

 

[Wallyfish]

Indeed it was a terrible year. It was a wet year until early July, then it stopped raining. Early October had really low and warm water.

I continue to see more and more people keeping fish. Years ago you didn't see that many people lugging fish on stringers on the tribs.
I believe the fish smoking trend continues to grow as more and more people are keeping fish.

With the amount of people fishing the tribs every day for months at a time, you can see how many fish can be removed from the streams. Combine the fish taken for the table, normal fish mortality with lower numbers returning to the streams and there are simply too few fish left.

Now having a fall with a wet October and November would really be nice. I would love to see what the run would look like in a wet fall.

People are legally taking fish for the table so if they like them that's great. I just hear people saying they got a smoked fish at a tackle shop and they eat just a bit and threw most of it out.

The glory days of the 1990's and early 2000's with 50 + fish per day may be a thing of the past. It is still a fabulous resource but the numbers are simply not there.

One last comment is the spring fishing after smolts are stocked. Far too many people fish single eggs or small baits/flies and end up catching too many smolts. People need to increase the size of the baits they are throwing to protect the young fish. Smolt mortality can be very high as people are attempting to release a 5" Smolt.

 

[Wmass]

Anyone have any fly suggestions for the Ohio rivers; especially for low and clear conditions. I have a ton of eggs and some sucker spawn sizes from 12-16. Anything else?

 

[streamerguy]

Have some smaller streamers as well. Buggers, zonkers, shiner imitations, etc. Nothin fancy. I use size 10s and 8s a lot but it's good to have some bigger sizes too. Also add some basic nymphs and you should be set. Same flies you would use in PA for the most part...

 

[eballat]

It's a real shame. You'll always have weather and climate affecting a fishery, but, the Erie tribs got ruined by rags like the PA Game News publishing maps and burning spots, and the beloved interwebs.