Steelhead Mayhem (4/22/17-4/23/17)

[JDTuna]

Chrisper and I decided to head way west to target some spring steelhead in the Lake Erie tributaries on the fly rod with a friend an NS. Goal #1 was to get Chrisper his first steelhead on the fly.

Saturday (4/22/17):

We headed out bright and early to fish some skinny water for steelhead. We got to the first pool, and Chrisper managed to hook and land his first steelhead within 5 minutes. Mission accomplished in record time!

The action continued for the rest of the day. The river was so small that at times we were sight fishing in water less than two feet deep. Hooking these freight trains in such skinny water was nothing short of spectacular, with the fish going airborne and charging all over the creek. We hooked and landed a number of nice fish, with my biggest being around 12lbs and Chrisper catching the big fish of the trip...a 15b tank. For as many as we landed, we also pulled the hooks on a number of fish. Hands down the best steelhead action I ever had.

Sunday (4/23/17):

Headed out to fish for a few hours before making the long drive home. We fished a bigger river, and the fish took a little while to wake up. I ended up swinging streamers on the spey rod for the first time. I had one hit that quickly spit the hook, then about 15 min later I got slammed. In the course of fighting the fish, I made the mistake of walking backwards and ended up tripping over a rock and falling on my back in about two feet of water. Nevertheless, I continued the fight and landed a bright chrome female steelhead. We continued to fish and had a few more bites and Chrisper landed a nice female steelhead before we called it a day and headed back to NJ.

All in all a great trip. Here are the pics:

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/JL1981/IMG_5443_zpsb8or8gcg.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/JL1981/20170424_100257_zpsvfijy3fm.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/JL1981/20170424_111323_zps2zis9hr9.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/JL1981/IMG_5516_zpse7pluzjz.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/JL1981/20170423_170618_zpsl6u4ctrz.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/JL1981/20170426_231602_zps6obgpvox.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/JL1981/IMG_5541_zpsbt2ihflh.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/JL1981/20170424_100202_zpswxckagnu.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k320/JL1981/20170424_111944_zps5ginxyea.jpg

[acabtp]

Wow!! Those are some nice fish! Good stuff http://www.njfishing.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gifhttp://www.njfishing.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Chrisper4694]

And I only whipped myself in the balls with the fly once!!

[NJSquatch]

Holy awesomeness guys!

[thmyorke1]

Daaamn :eek:

Now that's trout fishing. What tackle was used? Is imagine each fish was a blast of a fight.

[EddieG]

Wow! Great catch beautiful fish.. great job

[Esox Luciano]

And I only whipped myself in the balls with the fly once!!

Lmao! Well worth it from the looks of it!! Some great looking catches guys!!!

[Jigman13]

And I only whipped myself in the balls with the fly once!!

That's hilarious.

Nice job guys. Way to churn, burn and turn. Some good midnight oil right there! Big ass steelhead...

[kcritch]

Very Nice indeed boys. Congrats on the steel cherry too.

[Skunk City]

Killer pics guys, very nice!

[Rich196]

WOW... Killer day guy's..... Thanks for the pics. they were great

[NorthJerzyG]

Looks like a successful trip!!! Congrats on the first and the new PB !! Beautiful fish all around!!

[bigboy5522]

Awesome, 15 lber is huge especially for Erie

[OMC]

Yeah that's great my all time favorite fish . We use to fish th e Erie Tribs right back into NY hitting the Lake O tribs on the way back. Some of my best memories I think its time for a road trip.
Chris what do think about those rockets. One thing I will say is the Lake O fish are different and fight harder , I don't know why but they do.
Congrats guys

[JDTuna]

Yeah that's great my all time favorite fish . We use to fish th e Erie Tribs right back into NY hitting the Lake O tribs on the way back. Some of my best memories I think its time for a road trip.
Chris what do think about those rockets. One thing I will say is the Lake O fish are different and fight harder , I don't know why but they do.
Congrats guys

Thanks man! I must respectfully disagree, though. I've caught both Lake Ontario and Erie steelhead and I think they fight the same. A steelie is a steelie.

[AndyS]

:eek: WOW !! :eek:

[dakota560]

Another great trip guys, congratulations! Beautiful fish! Amazing part is these fish have been in a river system for about the last 4-6 months feeding primarily on insects and they still have the energy to take you to your backing in a few seconds. It's a world class fishery. Awesome trip!

[Mikey topaz]

Those fish out that way have awesome colors for sure! Lot of little smaller fish out that way too but better action id say, nice work. Boyz!

[icebadger]

outstanding post those fish are awesome.sounds like that trip was a blast.well done and congrats to you both,thanks for posting :cool:

[JimmyL]

Daamn. Killer trip.