afishinado
Moderator
Staff member
from the PFBC site >
https://pautzke.com/erie-steelhead-run-settling-into-fall-pattern/
https://pautzke.com/erie-steelhead-run-settling-into-fall-pattern/
jifigz
Well-known member
Nice. I'm ready for my trip up Sunday-Tuesday. I've only been there once before and had excellent success fishing streamers. I'm hoping that me and my buddy do okay this time and we are actually looking to harvest a few and see how they are.
R
RLeep2
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2009
- Messages
- 1,465
A lot of folks smoke them.. I've eaten them this way but never actually had any smoked. I'm kinda lukewarm about smoked fish.
Whenever I kept any, either around here or in Wisconsin when we were out in the Midwest, I would filet and skin them and chunk them up into individual portions. Then, I'd brush them with a bit of olive oil with a little salt/pepper and garlic powder or dried dill or even dried orange or lemon peel. Then, I'd broil them at 425F in a conventional oven until they browned up and flaked with a fork.
They were OK, about a 3.7 on a 5 point scale. Not quite as good as farmed salmon, a lot better than bullheads but nowhere close to the same league as walleye/panfish.
Quite a few guys bake them, but being half baked myself already, I've never tried this..
One thing: you really don't have to worry about taking some out. It's a Fritos fishery anyway.
Current weekend weather forecast (as of this AM anyway..) is calling for 2-5" of snow between Friday night and Sunday morning, then off and on rain/snow mix on into the first part of next week. Should be good fishing..
Whenever I kept any, either around here or in Wisconsin when we were out in the Midwest, I would filet and skin them and chunk them up into individual portions. Then, I'd brush them with a bit of olive oil with a little salt/pepper and garlic powder or dried dill or even dried orange or lemon peel. Then, I'd broil them at 425F in a conventional oven until they browned up and flaked with a fork.
They were OK, about a 3.7 on a 5 point scale. Not quite as good as farmed salmon, a lot better than bullheads but nowhere close to the same league as walleye/panfish.
Quite a few guys bake them, but being half baked myself already, I've never tried this..
One thing: you really don't have to worry about taking some out. It's a Fritos fishery anyway.
Current weekend weather forecast (as of this AM anyway..) is calling for 2-5" of snow between Friday night and Sunday morning, then off and on rain/snow mix on into the first part of next week. Should be good fishing..
T
timbow
Member
- Joined
- May 7, 2014
- Messages
- 253
They are really good smoked. FYI- You can take your fresh fish to Poor Richard's Tackle and exchange it for a smoked of similar size. I believe the cost is about $12
FarmerDave
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2006
- Messages
- 14,186
The last one I kept, I canned it. The dog loved it.
jifigz
Well-known member
Depending how good the fishing is we all ready planned to exchange a few at Poor Richard's. Me and a buddy are staying at the Red Roof Inn and I'm taking my old Coleman gasoline stove, my small Smoky Joe Weber charcoal grill, etc and plan to basically cook all of our meals and lounge in the parking lot during meal times. I'll be taking a table, chairs, all cooking stuff, etc so I would like to bring a few back, fillet them, and grill them for dinner and see how they turn out.
FarmerDave
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2006
- Messages
- 14,186
If you filet and grill them, make sure you remove the lateral line or they won't be fit to eat.
C
CRB
Well-known member
Friday Night
Rain showers before 2am, then snow showers. Low around 30. Breezy, with a west wind 14 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Saturday
Snow showers. High near 36. Breezy, with a west wind 20 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
Rain showers before 2am, then snow showers. Low around 30. Breezy, with a west wind 14 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Saturday
Snow showers. High near 36. Breezy, with a west wind 20 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
R
rrt
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2006
- Messages
- 2,326
Well, at my age, I think I'll build a fire in the woodburner and veg out with a mediocre thriller novel or two -- perhaps for the next couple of weeks till we get a thaw.
Good luck with your fishing!
Good luck with your fishing!
GonnaFlyNow
Member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2015
- Messages
- 93
Thanks for the info everyone. I will definitely be watching the weather and the water levels and hopefully come up with the right plan. I will be there early Saturday morning.
GonnaFlyNow
Member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2015
- Messages
- 93
Wow was cold in Erie this weekend. How cold? So cold that I tried to grip a fly with a pair of forceps and couldn't feel the hook or forceps cut into my thumb. I am not sure what cut me as I saw a little blood on the thumb shorty after using my forceps. I couldn't feel it. Here is the news report I saw:
We had a high temperature for Erie of 42 on Friday and by Saturday morning, the low was 24. Erie International Airport recorded 13.2 inches of snow as of 5:22 p.m. on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
I have to admit that the snow was really cool to see. Particularly today as we were able to get around more. Twenty mile was beautiful today.
It made the trip to Teresa's Deli-Lakeshore even more special as we really worked up an appetite fishing, hiking and taking pictures all along twenty mile creek.
salvelinus
Well-known member
So how was the catching?
GonnaFlyNow
Member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2015
- Messages
- 93
Unfortunately I didn't get any action on the catching end and very little on the fishing end. I spent most of Saturday picking out leaves on Elk for my son. His first time using a fly rod and he had to do it in 25 degree whether with wind gusts that were ridiculous. So we went over to Walnut and checked out the waves crashing on the beach which was pretty cool. The fishing holes were packed at Walnut so we fished some and called it a day.
My best shot at landing a fish came on Sunday at twenty mile. We found a nice hole to ourselves. So I got my son started fishing. He knotted his line before I could get a dozen or so casts out. So I started fixing his line. Three peeps come up and start fishing about twenty feet upstream. I look up and a float comes right in front and then sure enough hooks a nice fish right in front of us.
Long story short, I simply don't have the skills yet to fish for steelheads in changing conditions or under heavy angling pressure. I am happy that my son enjoyed the trip and spent time using the fly rod. A guy we met earlier showed my son some casting tips and worked with him for a while.
Overall the trip was a good time. Great views, good company and and some yummy food. The fishing was not one of the highlights though.
Cheers,
My best shot at landing a fish came on Sunday at twenty mile. We found a nice hole to ourselves. So I got my son started fishing. He knotted his line before I could get a dozen or so casts out. So I started fixing his line. Three peeps come up and start fishing about twenty feet upstream. I look up and a float comes right in front and then sure enough hooks a nice fish right in front of us.
Long story short, I simply don't have the skills yet to fish for steelheads in changing conditions or under heavy angling pressure. I am happy that my son enjoyed the trip and spent time using the fly rod. A guy we met earlier showed my son some casting tips and worked with him for a while.
Overall the trip was a good time. Great views, good company and and some yummy food. The fishing was not one of the highlights though.
Cheers,
salvelinus
Well-known member
You had a good time with your son. That's all that matters.
wbranch
Well-known member
I didn't go up last week but a friend from NY and another from NJ met at Elk and absolutely crushed the chrome. Most of their fishing was from Folly's up to Rick Road. One day they fished at what I call Cascade below Uncle John's. The last time I was there no fishing was permitted under the Route 20 bridge in Girard due to bridge repair. Makes sense since big pieces of concrete might fall off the bridge.
Back to the fishing my one friend is a skilled nympher and over the course of four days he hooked between 100 and 120 steelhead. He lost count and he does not BS. He had good success on the emerald shiner streamer and a light colored Krystal Meth; white, cream, light pink. The entire emerald shiner is tied with various colors of Ice Dub. I have found the eye is crucial to the success of the fly. We have fished side by side with one fly having the 3D eye and the other guy with the identical fly but no eye and the catch rate was easily at least 3:1.
Back to the fishing my one friend is a skilled nympher and over the course of four days he hooked between 100 and 120 steelhead. He lost count and he does not BS. He had good success on the emerald shiner streamer and a light colored Krystal Meth; white, cream, light pink. The entire emerald shiner is tied with various colors of Ice Dub. I have found the eye is crucial to the success of the fly. We have fished side by side with one fly having the 3D eye and the other guy with the identical fly but no eye and the catch rate was easily at least 3:1.
Attachments
Acristickid
Well-known member
Tough conditions. Big drop in temps. Not to mention that wind.
Gonnafly- that was mostly likely a centerpin fisherman- gets huge dragfree drifts but highly annoying if someone fished that in front of where someone else is fishing.
Hope to make a trip up soon.
Gonnafly- that was mostly likely a centerpin fisherman- gets huge dragfree drifts but highly annoying if someone fished that in front of where someone else is fishing.
Hope to make a trip up soon.
wbranch
Well-known member
Centerpins are fine for big rivers like the Cattaraugus or the Salmon River but using them on Elk and similar sized creeks is inconsiderate. Besides if you know what you are doing you will catch at least as many steelhead with a fly rod.
jifigz
Well-known member
I was in Erie from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday at about noon and I didn't even have a bite. My buddy and myself did not land a single fish and nearly everyone we talked to, especially fly anglers, weren't catching anything really. On Tuesday I did see some guys fishing spinning rods with floats using skein that were catching the occasional fish, but overall it was a very bad and humbling fishing trip.
wbranch
Well-known member
jifigz wrote;
You had terrible conditions. Lots of early snow, cold air and water temperatures, high and dirty water add up to fish with lockjaw and a very challenging trip. Wait until the snow melts and look at the USGS site for Brandy Run, a small tributary of Elk Creek, when it is between 5 and 12 cfs Elk should have a good flow and not be dirty.
You had terrible conditions. Lots of early snow, cold air and water temperatures, high and dirty water add up to fish with lockjaw and a very challenging trip. Wait until the snow melts and look at the USGS site for Brandy Run, a small tributary of Elk Creek, when it is between 5 and 12 cfs Elk should have a good flow and not be dirty.
jifigz
Well-known member
Honestly the flows were good and I wish that the streams had more water. But yes, lockjaw the Steelies had for sure. It was tough going. I threw everything at them I had and fished hard for nothing. But, like I said, at least it wasn't just me. No one was hitting them. But yeah, the snowfall and then it all melting didn't help. Water was 36° on lower elk on Sunday. I'll make it up another time or two this year once the crowds thin a bit. I wasn't a fan of this November trip there as there were just too many people.
