Steelhead Season Continues – Smolts Planted for Next Fall’s
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:34 pmFrom April 4 – 11 with the exception of Easter Sunday, I fished Elk Creek. I did spend two evenings on Walnut Creek and caught a few, but the majority of time was on Elk Creek.
Elk Creek Map: http://www.fishusa.com/FishErie/Map4.asp
Walnut Creek Map: http://www.fishusa.com/FishErie/Map7.asp
Each day produced fish, but for me they were hard to come by! I fished about 6-hours per day and averaged 10 fish. My best day was 17 fish and the first day of the trip I only managed to catch 3. All were released.
Most were 20-22” jacks, but a few were really nice. The best fish of the trip was 28” and fresh – as you can see in the picture. In fact, nearly all of the fish were fresh.
White jigs/maggot was the preferred presentation for a while; however, when the snow and cold weather returned and the water temperature dropped I returned to my old favorite – pink eggs sacs! Slow bottom bumping coaxed the fish into striking. Any day that the air temperature increased, the fish seemed to turn on.
Several times during the trip, lake effect snow caused major problems on routes 90 & 79. Near the lake shore, it snowed hard, covered the ground and melted by late afternoon.
The cascade hole on Elk Creek has changed because of two, large trees that now lay across the stream on the upstream end of the hole. The character of the hole is totally different and you must modify your presentation. The good news is that fish are holding under both trees.
Cascade Hole
Smolt stockings took place over the last week too and I got a clip of a release at the Elk Creek boat launch. Special thanks go out to all the agencies and volunteers who collect and fertilize the steelhead eggs, rear the smolts and plant the fish each spring.
Smolt Stocking Video: http://storytrax.com/node/676
The smolts had an immediate survival problem – dozens of mergansers were waiting and started to dine on the new arrivals. Most of the anglers fishing nearby tried to “encourage” the birds to leave.
Merganser Information: http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i1290id.html
Talking with other anglers, it was obvious that plenty of fresh fish had entered the Elk Creek during recent high water events. They reported groups of fish scattered throughout the stream in all the standard type of holding water. Nearly everybody caught a few fish.
The current weather is cold and unsettled so that means that the steelhead should be there waiting if you are planning a trip – at least for the next several weeks!
The South Pier April 8 tells the weather story for Erie so far this spring:
For more great fishing blogs, images and videos go to http://storytrax.com/ and type “fishing” into the search field.
Elk Creek Map: http://www.fishusa.com/FishErie/Map4.asp
Walnut Creek Map: http://www.fishusa.com/FishErie/Map7.asp
Each day produced fish, but for me they were hard to come by! I fished about 6-hours per day and averaged 10 fish. My best day was 17 fish and the first day of the trip I only managed to catch 3. All were released.
Most were 20-22” jacks, but a few were really nice. The best fish of the trip was 28” and fresh – as you can see in the picture. In fact, nearly all of the fish were fresh.
White jigs/maggot was the preferred presentation for a while; however, when the snow and cold weather returned and the water temperature dropped I returned to my old favorite – pink eggs sacs! Slow bottom bumping coaxed the fish into striking. Any day that the air temperature increased, the fish seemed to turn on.
Several times during the trip, lake effect snow caused major problems on routes 90 & 79. Near the lake shore, it snowed hard, covered the ground and melted by late afternoon.
The cascade hole on Elk Creek has changed because of two, large trees that now lay across the stream on the upstream end of the hole. The character of the hole is totally different and you must modify your presentation. The good news is that fish are holding under both trees.
Cascade Hole
Smolt stockings took place over the last week too and I got a clip of a release at the Elk Creek boat launch. Special thanks go out to all the agencies and volunteers who collect and fertilize the steelhead eggs, rear the smolts and plant the fish each spring.
Smolt Stocking Video: http://storytrax.com/node/676
The smolts had an immediate survival problem – dozens of mergansers were waiting and started to dine on the new arrivals. Most of the anglers fishing nearby tried to “encourage” the birds to leave.
Merganser Information: http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i1290id.html
Talking with other anglers, it was obvious that plenty of fresh fish had entered the Elk Creek during recent high water events. They reported groups of fish scattered throughout the stream in all the standard type of holding water. Nearly everybody caught a few fish.
The current weather is cold and unsettled so that means that the steelhead should be there waiting if you are planning a trip – at least for the next several weeks!
The South Pier April 8 tells the weather story for Erie so far this spring:
For more great fishing blogs, images and videos go to http://storytrax.com/ and type “fishing” into the search field.