I’m ready for a change myself. There is a contest called “The Tight Lines Challenge” that is pretty tough. I’m going to try to conquer it this year. Basically you have to catch 12 different species of particular fish in one calendar year. You have to have a photo of yourself and the fish in each photo. last year I only caught 6 of the species. One of the “fishing nerds” got 10. It’s much tougher than you think. Some of the species are super easy to get (panfish), while others require special gear and special planning (musky). there is a pond near me with monster carp in it, and also crappie and largemouth bass. Hopefully I’ll knock out 3 species in one day, that would be nice!
Got out yesterday and landed a nice one. About 27".
On Easter we headed to my girls’ Dad’s house. We set up the steelhead pinata. It was 70.75" long and weighed about 60-70lbs (full of candy and goodies). We put swedish fish, tootsie rolls, tootsie pops, and then Mr Twisters, Kwikfish, bobbers, and some small necklaces with fish pendants inside. It took an honest 500 hours to make, and took the kids 10 minutes to destroy it, lol. It lasted about 30 kids before spilling its guts out.
That is awesome! I would have been crying when they were all beating on it. Lol. Last weekend I got a good sized bass. And my father got a steelhead. That was it. I’m pretty sure this weekend will be my last time going out for steelhead. The fishing is getting worse and the crowds are getting bigger.
I went out to Oak Orchard today. I wore my life vest as per the postings. I saw about 30 other guys but only 1 of them had a vest on. I doubt we will be allowed to fish there in the future. I saw 1 steelhead caught and a bunch of suckers. So I left and headed to Keg. Saw quite a few fish and landed 1 little colored up guy about 23-24".
Joelster Guide!
Im about ready for another outing.
You know I am down for that! Not many people can keep my pace though. I like to hike and explore.
I went out today and had an amazing day. We got a ton of rain Sunday night into Monday morning. It blew out every Erie trib. I figured that this morning would be ok to fish even though it was supposed to rain most of the day. I was right! I landed 5 of 6, and had a bunch of other fish chasing too. Probably saw close to 25 steelhead. I lost a nice chromer and landed 2 small chromers. The first fish I landed was beat to hell. He was bleeding from his tail on both sides, and missing parts of his tail. Might have had an encounter with a raccoon or something. I walked as far as I could until I saw “posted” signs. On the way back the water was already 4-6" higher and getting cloudy. I fished at just the right time! I shot a small video:
This is fish #4
First fish with the mangled tail:
Fresh chrome:
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I shot this video 10 minutes prior to the other video:
This is the fish i got out of it:
Nice! You’re certainly not helping my “this is my last weekend fishing for steelhead” posts. Lol. Maybe I’ll give it another few weeks. 
Last May my girl and I went to Buffalo Creek to get some smallmouth. There is a really nice rocky section where they hang out. It was 78 degrees out and the water was in the 60’s. We caught some smallies and worked our way up to the first dam. As we were heading up to the dam we pass through a shallow gravel section. Lo and behold there were about 10-12 steelhead spawning in there. I always have some gear with me! My friend just went to the lower and did fairly well today.
The lower will probably hold out for a few more weeks yet. Erie is still ~40 degrees which means the lower is probably mid 40s. I think the spawns is just getting started down there.
I went to the lower the 1st week of may last year and caught small mouth, walleye and a steelie in the same day
I want to get down there this weekend But after today’s wind it is going to be chocolate milk for a few days
I’ll probably hit Keg Creek tomorrow. It’s usually unaffected by rain unless we got a massive downpour.
Got out today and did ok. I went 2 for 3 on steelhead. Landed one on a kwikfish and the 2nd I got on a custom tied pink jig from ASB Tackle Shop. Then I proceeded to snag it on the bottom and lose it 3 casts later, lol. I didn’t see many steelhead at all. Saw a bunch of suckers too.
Nice Fish! I put away my setup couple weeks ago Might have to bring it out with this weather. Thinking about going to Burt Dam, as The Rock is dead right now.
There’s a guy on my fb page that goes to the lower Niagara a lot. He is still getting steelhead every time he heads out. I’m headed out to 18-mile tomorrow. It looked amazing when I drove over it.
I went this past Sunday. One nice brown caught. All the rest were Bass. I did pull in a pig of a bass though-lol. I finally thought I had a steelhead on, and it was a carp-lol Nice size though. Those usually don’t appear until the end of April.
Where did you go that you caught 3 species in 1 day?
- The steelhead are definitely outnumbered by bass and suckers now though. I was hoping for at least one.
That’s where I’m headed tomorrow. I will find steelhead!
All three species hit on pink and white. 
Good luck tomorrow!
Ok, just got back. I parked at the Versaille road spot, just past the Route 20 bridge. I got there at about 10 am and there was a lot of slush floating.I figured it wouldn’t last too long since the sun was out. I walked over to the I90 bridge and hit the big hole just upstream of it. I hooked into a decent chromer but he came off. Was about 25-26". So I kept walking and walking. Ended up talking to a fly fisherman for a bit at a nice hole. He said he lost 1 as well. As soon as he turns to leave I hook into a big sucker. Landed him and literally the next cast hooked into a beauty of a steelhead. Around 28" and about 8-9lbs.
Then I turned around and headed back. Went to the same spot where I lost the first one, and hooked into a small one:
There were a ton of suckers at the bridge where I parked.
Nice! You were right, you found some!