I’ve been doing pretty good in the Erie tribs, even with the low/clear water conditions. Landed 4 on Monday including a huge hen, and landed 11 on Tuesday. There’s nothing like a 10lb Steelhead in current. They will test your equipment for sure.
This was out of 18-mile creek.
Wow, what little hands you have! :lol:
It’s a big fish dummy!
Nice, are you using sacks?
No, all artificial. The section I was fishing in is catch and release only, artificial lures only. I prefer areas like that, because I hate fishing in crowds like at Burt Dam, etc.
Map #2 , I park at the “P”
You using spin tackle or a fly? I’m going out this weekend to hopefully catch the big browns as they make their run from the lakes. No steelhead in CO, but some of the trout out here are insane.
I use a medium spinning outfit with 8lb test. Sometimes I’ll use my centerpin, but I prefer my spinning reel. Much more versatile. I don’t fly fish, and don’t ever plan to. We get big browns out of Lake Ontario, I see them caught at Burt Dam all the time. Not uncommon to see some 15-20lbers.
I got 4 steelhead at the Catt on Sunday. Going to try it again this weekend. Hopefully the rain will bring some more in this week.
Are you at Scoby dam or on Reservation land? Lots of guys there?
Scoby dam there were some guys out there but it was not to bad. The water is really low, I think most guys look at the water flows and don’t even bother going out.
Kinda what I figured, I took up fly fishing when I moved out west and haven’t touched my spin gear since. It’s different but a lot of fun, if you get the chance (and haven’t) you should give it a shot. I never did any steelhead fishing before leaving NY, it’s on the bucket list with a bunch of other fish lol
I see guys fly fishing all the time. It looks more like an art form than a useful way to catch fish. Today a guy had 2 steelhead on with a fly, and they spit it after 3-4 seconds. No thanks. Using a hook that is 1/8" and trying to sink it into the jaw of a 10lb fish seems futile. On Tuesday when I landed 11 I only lost 1 fish. I had an action lure on and was burning it through some pools, near rocks and stumps where they lay. They hit it super aggressively, and usually take all three trebles in their mouth. One of them bent the treble pretty bad. The big hen I caught jumped 5 times and was thrashing real good the whole time. No doubt it would have spit a tiny fly fishing hook.
Eh, the art form thing is a big misconception. The analogy that comes to mind is maybe hunting with a bow vs a gun although I’ve never done either of those. Both are really effective when done properly, both can catch fish in areas where the other one might not work so well. I don’t think it changed my catch/loss rate as much as you’d think, it just changed the way I went about fishing. I only use real tiny stuff in the Winter, or when it’s really warm with low flows, and we throw some giant streamers for pike, bass and lake trout.
I’m going to hit up 18 mile this Saturday AM, haven’t been steelhead fishing in years. Gonna head to pick up some new tackle today, any suggestions?
What kind of reel do you use?
I broke out my centerpin and headed to Burt today. I landed my first fish on it (I’ve had several hooked but never landed). It was a smallish 8lb Chinook Salmon. I also hooked a really nice one but he spit the hook. Had another one on as well. Saw a bunch of guys snagging and keeping everything they could. The place makes me sick.
Spinning reel on a med action rod, simple.
I would just use some simple spinners. Be careful about what section you are in though. Treble hooks are not allowed in certain sections of 18-mile creek except on a floating lure. I cut the trebles off and put on simple single hooks. You can do this with wire cutters and pliers. Only takes a minute to do. I have good luck with Mepps #1 and #2 blade, either gold blade or silver blade. Then I attach a Berkley “Gulp” emerald shiner onto the hook.
I try to buy the spinners when they are on sale. Captain Bob’s on Main street in Clarence, or Colville outfitters are great places to go, to get deals. Dicks is good too, Cabela’s and Gander are a joke. Captain Bob’s had the spinners for “buy one get one for a penny” a while ago. Buy them in big quantities. Go change your line while you are at it. Line that sits for years is no good. Just some simple 8lb test monofilament. It will cast real nice and be strong enough to take a beating when you snag bottom or hook a big fish.
Some people just don’t get it, are their catch limits on steel head in NY?
Typically it’s 3 trout a day, any combo, any size. There are some different regulations for certain streams for stockers and stuff. I’m not really up on that though because I release everything.
Thanks for the advice, I’ll get some new line on today.
I went through some boxes last night, I have probably 10 unopened spinners, that I must have bought years ago. My buddy lives right on 18 mile, so I’ll start out of his back yard and see how things go from there.
