Ever since I started fly fishing for steelhead, my cousin has wanted me to come out and fly fish for them out in Ohio. Well, I finally broke down and decided to head out to Ohio and spend a few days fly fishing for steehead and visiting my relatives. I’m a Pennsylvania steelheader and all I ever heard about Ohio steelhead were that they stocked very few fish and had very little good steelhead water. The only thing I ever heard that Ohio steelhead had over Pennsylvania’s steelhead was that the Ohio steelhead were bigger than ours. Then, the week I was planning to go steelheading in Ohio; we had temperatures in the 60’s which melted all the snow and made most of the steelhead creeks unfishale. So, as I drove the three hours from my home in PA all I thought was that this trip was going to be a big waste of gas. Luckily, I’ve never been so wrong in my life. I was able to find a feeder creek off of a bigger river and it was loaded with steelhead. The first day the water was really high and muddy, but I was still able to land 14 fish, which really surprised me. These Ohio steelhead were a lot bigger and stronger than what I thought they would be. But the real surprise came the next day. The water conditions were perfect and the hole I found the previous day had a couple of hundred fish lying in it. I ended up with 53 steelhead landed and over 100 hook-ups. I’ve never landed so many steelhead in one day in my life. I also landed the largest steelhead of the year so far and a really long 11 pound male. But, all good things must come to an end and that night when I was driving back to my aunts we got pounded with rain and the creeks were blown out the next day. I’ll tell you one thing for big steelhead and lots of them Ohio is your best bet and I can’t wait to go back.
what a beautiful fish. That red cheeck plate is amazing. I think it is so cool how every steelhead is somehow different. maybe it’s just a small unique way that the jaw is shaped, or the patterns of the dots, or the specific coloring or its level of brightness. I never get tired of looking at pictures of steelhead because they are such beautiful fish and all unique in their own little ways. Also, loved how you were down on Ohio and what you thought was going to be the worse trip ever turned into one of the best. That happens to me alot and I am always amazed by it. Meaning, whether I am fly fishing freshwater or saltwater the “big name spots” or the “high point of the trip” often turns out to be a dud .. and the spots or rivers or flats that I thought were going to be unproductive or not worthwhile often end up saving the trip and produce amazing opportunities and experiences. Sounds like you had an incredible experience with 53 steelhead landed and 100+ hooked! That’s outrageous! My buddy boz is from Ohio and keeps telling me, “dude, the steelhead in good.” and I say, “Yah, but not that good.” From the looks of it .. I guess I am wrong. Let’s go boz! Great fishtale erg5026! Beautiful steelhead!
Sounds like one hell of a day! love how you were so down on it and turned out to be your best steel day ever. It’s good to know OH tribs are doing well and the size and # of fish is off the wall. Love that red cheek plate. Congrats to a phenomenal day. Boz WTF? Holding out on us….I see how it is :}
Nice fish brotha…looks like the Ohio creeks treated you well!
It is rare in OH that you get ideal conditions, especially the furthur west you go…but you never know until you go. Those feeder streams can save the day out in there as the bigger waters often run stained like chocolate milk.
Way to see the mission through and dial into a new honey hole…
Congrats on a banner day!
P.S. Nothing worth fishing in Ohio…
😉
Well like i said im from PA and we stock so many steelhead most people that i talked to said that it wasn’t worth driving out there. Thats why it took me so long to get out their. Now i hope to be a repeat customer. I’m hoping to go back in Feb, but it all depends on my work and school schedual and water conditions. Thanks for the comment!
Sweet. that is crazy that many steelhead in one day your arm must have been smoked. Can you sight fish to these in Ohio? Great looking fish.
nice fish, good to hear you had a unreal days numbers wise. Those of us who fish Ohio don’t really appreciate the spot burn though…..
chromefinder – point very well taken, i deleted the reference to “exact” location .. it just slipped through the cracks .. let us know if it reads better now .. thanks.
Very cool, thanks for editing! Loose lips sinks ships, I learned this lesson the hard way too many times.
Great to hear! looks like boz has been really holding out on us……i never knew ohio could produce those numbers of fish, and of that quality!
I bet it felt nice to leave the PA mutts behind for some purebreds…
And great fish…that thing is a beast
No, thank you! … It is very important to me that fliesandfins.com retain a certain level of dedication to NOT “spot burning” … There is a big difference between saying “I was fly fishing in Maine” .. and saying “I was fly fishing on the Kennebec River in Maine” and saying “I was fishing at XYZ SPOT on the kennebec river in Maine.” …. Point being that it is my belief that the internet is a GREAT thing for the fishing industry and a source of much enjoyment for me and many others .. at the same time, the internet often irritates me in the sense of why fisherman divuldge very specific information. I think that most times, fisherman mean no harm and they just don’t realize the negative effect that “getting too specific” can have on any water system and their own enjoyment. For example .. everyone knows about the “salmon river in ny” that is not a secret. but, to divuldge specific sections and holes and drifts does not make much sense to me. and, to divuldge specific creeks in the area and when they are fishing good and not doesn’t make much sense to me. so, it becomes a matter of common sense. and, at the end of the day … i like the fact that even after all of these years of posting fishtales and enjoying fliesandfins.com when i go fly fishing i still find “my waters” relatively uncrowded .. and i am very protective of my own knowledge that i have acquired through years of fishing whether it be in maine, rhode island, florida, vermont, out west etc…. so, i recognize the fact that when i drive to one of “my” spots or sections of river or take my boat to a certain albie spot or whatever i am definately thinking, “man, i hope NOBODY is here” .. personally, i have never shown up to one of “my” spots and been happy about the fact that anyone else is there … i am just being honest. so, regardless of whether its online, on the phone or in conversation … i am very protective of the information i know .. for the sake of myself, my friends who have introduced me to their waters and for the sake of retaining one of the best facets of fly fishing, MYSTERY! … one of the fundamental principles of any thing that involves fishing is MYSTERY .. so to exclude the mystery of any spot or destination takes away from the total experience and nobody, including me, should be able to show up to an EXACT “spot” on a river or flat or offshore location because they read about it online the night before … certainly there is good information to be had by doing research online and even i do that and use other websites for that type of information .. but everyone knows that the TRUE factors of success are dependent on the SMALL details .. and to devuldge the SMALL and REFINED information is simply not fair to anyone … by that i mean .. simply knowing that i was fishing “in maine” .. doesn’t do anyone much good .. they would have to know what river and exactly where on the river and exactly what time of year and exactly what flies and exactly what drift and exactly where i parked and exactly what water level is best and exactly where to stand etc… it’s that type of REFINED information that I am personally very protective of .. and respectful of for other fisherman … so, in the instance of this fishtale .. the mentioning was small and erg definately meant no harm … and the tiny instance that was in question was simply removed … and now, everyone is left thinking, “wow! that was beautiful steelhead, a cool story and maybe i would like to go to ohio” … but, ohio is a big state and erg’s “spot” is protected the fine details as to exactly where and all those things remain a MYSTERY, as they should.
I never ment to burn your spot, but i didn’t tell what feeder i was fishing, besides, on the river i was fishing there are 20 or more feeder creeks off of hte river, and maps that lead u the exact spot i was fishing, htats how i found it anyway, but next time i be more careful. Thanks for reading my story.
P.S. the day i landed 53 i saw 6 people so i think your spot is safe.
you can sight fish for these fish, but you might be better off just fishing in places that look like holding areas. The place that you can see fish easy seem to have a lot more pressure. and yes my arm did hurt i couldn’t lift my arm the hole ride home, but it was a good kind of pain.
erg, no harm was done, you did not burn “my” spot as I share the water like the rest of us. My post was simply meant to suggest a little discretion about “getting too specific” for obvious reasons. The web is a very powerful means of communication and we should use it wisely.
23, that is something, 33, wow ! 43, amazing,53-call Guiness Book of World Records, or send me a keg of guiness
23, that is something, 33, wow ! 43, amazing,53-call Guiness Book of World Records, or send me a keg of guiness for the record and I will tell you one