ejsell
Well-known member
Our 4th year going to PA for our annual steelhead trip. 2nd year taking my father-in-law and got him his first steelhead.
Prior to PA the annual fall trip was to Michigan. I did that 2 years and we only got into a few fish over the week each year. The 1st year, for me, I landed a nice 10 pound male. Prior to that my largest fish on the fly was probably a 12 inch bass. I was really hooked after that steelhead. The 2nd year in MI I didn't have a single steelhead bite but did manage to hook into a couple late king salmon. Our group leader had been steelheading there since the 70s and only landed 2 in the week. Our 3rd regular had been going for about 6 years but that was the only fishing he did all year. He had landed a walleye, a resident brown trout and a king but had never gotten a steelhead.
This year was great for him in PA. He had a lot of fish on and landed 3 nice steelhead in about 3 days of fishing before he left early. Conditions were tough this year with a massive storm coming through on our second day and we spent about a half hour in the cabin basement due to a tornado. Rivers were blown out a good chunk of the time we were there so we spent a lot of time on the small creeks. We all had a ton of fish on though and met a lot of great people including a few from Michigan, Cleveland and some very interesting Russians who gave us their spot and told us right where the fish where hitting.
Overall the steelhead seemed larger on average than the previous years we'd been going. We got into a lot of fish in the 27"-30" range and I saw a massive 35" fish caught that could have swallowed most of my fish. In previous years most of our fish were in the 21"-25" range. The fish fought hard this year with lots of acrobatics and I had a pretty tough time landing the majority of my fish in tight conditions. I popped the hook more times than I care to admit, had a fish jump over a low hanging limb to break me off, another one jump straight into a steep bank, had 2 different fish turn back on me and ram my legs, lost several in downed trees and lost my furled leader when the connector to my fly line broke on a large fish. My leader and indicator were eventually retrieved when it swam by one of my buddies about an hour later. Each fish hooked into was exhausting and I didnt get any usable pics in the water but did take some scenery pics and video of a nursery water. My phone also died several times so now I'm considering going back to a small water proof camera. We did have a great time, can't wait to get back and it was great that 2 of our group got their first steelhead.
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Prior to PA the annual fall trip was to Michigan. I did that 2 years and we only got into a few fish over the week each year. The 1st year, for me, I landed a nice 10 pound male. Prior to that my largest fish on the fly was probably a 12 inch bass. I was really hooked after that steelhead. The 2nd year in MI I didn't have a single steelhead bite but did manage to hook into a couple late king salmon. Our group leader had been steelheading there since the 70s and only landed 2 in the week. Our 3rd regular had been going for about 6 years but that was the only fishing he did all year. He had landed a walleye, a resident brown trout and a king but had never gotten a steelhead.
This year was great for him in PA. He had a lot of fish on and landed 3 nice steelhead in about 3 days of fishing before he left early. Conditions were tough this year with a massive storm coming through on our second day and we spent about a half hour in the cabin basement due to a tornado. Rivers were blown out a good chunk of the time we were there so we spent a lot of time on the small creeks. We all had a ton of fish on though and met a lot of great people including a few from Michigan, Cleveland and some very interesting Russians who gave us their spot and told us right where the fish where hitting.
Overall the steelhead seemed larger on average than the previous years we'd been going. We got into a lot of fish in the 27"-30" range and I saw a massive 35" fish caught that could have swallowed most of my fish. In previous years most of our fish were in the 21"-25" range. The fish fought hard this year with lots of acrobatics and I had a pretty tough time landing the majority of my fish in tight conditions. I popped the hook more times than I care to admit, had a fish jump over a low hanging limb to break me off, another one jump straight into a steep bank, had 2 different fish turn back on me and ram my legs, lost several in downed trees and lost my furled leader when the connector to my fly line broke on a large fish. My leader and indicator were eventually retrieved when it swam by one of my buddies about an hour later. Each fish hooked into was exhausting and I didnt get any usable pics in the water but did take some scenery pics and video of a nursery water. My phone also died several times so now I'm considering going back to a small water proof camera. We did have a great time, can't wait to get back and it was great that 2 of our group got their first steelhead.
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
