If you want to find good spots you have to be willing to hike far and get away from the crowds. I found this sweet spot and landed 3 fish in 25 minutes. Was roughly 2.75 miles from where I parked, not too difficult of a walk. This fish was the last one I caught:
Just another reason why you should always walk upstream to fish for salmon, trout, etc, etc.
Is that 18? I fished the Catt last weekend. I was drifting along with everyone else, and got nothing. Everyone around me did well. Haven’t got skunked in a while. 
Are you still casting lures?
I fished the catt on wednesday lat week. Got 1 and lost 1 and also lost 3 lures. I hate that place simply because of how dangerous wading can be. My lure will get stuck 20 feet from shore right in a channel that is 6 feet deep, and you can’t tell because the water always has that funky stain to it. I hardly bother to retrieve anything.
Over the weekend my girl and I went to the Salmon River and then on Sunday we tried a smaller trib and did very good. I got 2 Coho’s and lost 1 and she got a Steelhead. Nobody else got a thing.
so when do you think it will be a good time to switch from lures to drift/float fishing ? Do you fish lures into the winter?
I will fish lures for a few more weeks. Once it’s Jan/Feb and the waters are barely above freezing I’ll switch to my pin and float fish. You can still catch fish with lures when it’s real cold out but you have to put the lure right onto their nose and retrieve it slow. Their metabolism slows down a lot and they have no desire to chase anything. Float fishing is very effective, but it’s boring to me. I like the hard strike of the initial hit from aggressive fish, and you don’t get any of that from a float and a 12’ rod.
I totally agree with that! I was looking into getting a centerpin. I definitely have some reading to do. Never fished with one before. Do you just use normal 8lb test on those? Or do you use fly line?
You use regular line. There are dedicated companies that make line for pin reels that a lot of guys swear by. I don’t know their reasoning but I’m not going to question it, lol. If a very successful pin-fisher says to use P-Line CXX then that’s what I use. I have mid-level pin-fishing gear. My reel was $250ish and the rod was $150ish. The reels can get crazy expensive. Most of the serious guys use $500-$600 reels like Islander. I have a Raven Matrix Ported, and a Temple Fork Outfitter 13’ 6" rod. Casting with one is a bitch and takes some time to get the hang of it. The advantage of a pin rod is that you can do very long drifts with one, and the bait will look very natural. As your float travels downstream the reel is slowly unwinding. The line never touches the water because of the length of the rod, and you hold it up high. As soon as the float goes down you flick your wrist and the hook is set. The fight is unique because there is no drag with the reel. It’s you versus the fish. You palm the reel with your free hand to stop the reel from unwinding as the fish is pulling. It’s a very rewarding fight when you do land one. Okuma makes an entry level reel called the RAW II, which is around $185-$200, and you can find a cheap noodle rod that’s 12’ or so to get you started, but you’ll still be looking at a $250 initial investment. Some guys swear by them and never go back to any other type of fishing. Some guys detest “pinners” and can’t stand the way they fish with their long drifts.
This is a good video showing the basics:
This is a tough battle for a float reel. Watch him use his pinky on his right hand to adjust the tension and let the fish run when it wants to.
Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated. I think I’ll have a centerpin by next fall. I’m going to try 18 this weekend. Hopefully the water won’t be low and clear.
Does any one know how 18 mile-erie looks today (12/2/15) ? i know we got some rain and i dont want it to be blown out like last Saturday fallowing a relativity light rain the day before. I am going out tomorrow and deciding where to go.
Check this website for stream conditions:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ny/nwis/current/?type=flow&group_key=basin_cd
They don’t have a listing for 18-mile creek, but they list Cazenovia creek, which follows similar patters.
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ny/nwis/uv/?site_no=04215500&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060
I would bet that 18-mile is in good shape right now.
I did real good today. Went to my first place and it was chock full of weeds on the shore so I left and hit spot #2 . Went 4 for 6 including an absolute RIVER MONSTER of a Steelhead. Just a gorgeous fish. 31" and probably 11-12lbs. Landed another Steelhead around 23", a Coho around 23" and a small aggressive Brown about 12". One of the fish I lost hit super hard and pulled an honest 100 feet of line out before shaking the hook. Everyone stopped to watch me battle it for a minute. Oh well.
This will win me an award for sure:
Damn! That’s nice. I take it you caught that in an Ontario trib?
Yep! Although the majority of the steelhead that I’ve been catching have been in Erie tribs. I’m at roughly 85-90 for the season. I doubt I’ll ever beat that number. Breaking my arm is a blessing I guess, lol.
Went out on my friend Kyle’s boat today. We landed 28 fish, mainly lakers, but we got a few steelhead and a brown.
Not a bad weekend. Got 5.
Very nice! I took my friend Kyle out stream fishing at the Catt. I landed 2 out of 3, he landed zero (he was using his pin). Then on Friday we hit Burt Dam, and I landed 1 out of 3 (a Brown trout), and we went to Cayuga creek and I got my first Steelhead out of there. Then we hit Buffalo creek and got nothing. I lost a nice Steelhead at Burt by making a stupid mistake. Roughly 20 minutes prior I had snagged up on the bottom. Tried to free it up by walking downstream, with no luck. So, last resort you crank the drag tight and then pull straight back. Poof, it popped free, and I was happy that I didn’t lose a lure. Well, the mistake I made was that I never loosened the drag back up. When I hooked the Steelhead he ran downstream hard, and when I pulled back on the rod it had quite the bend. I fully expected for the drag to start slipping but it never did because I had it way up. One big tug, and snap! I was so pissed. My girl and I headed to the Genessee River on Saturday. It was such a cool place to fish right at the lower falls area. We got skunked. Only saw 2 fish caught the entire time we were there. But I highly recommend it for the Buffalo guys. On your way back home hit up the Field and Stream store 15 minutes away, it’s just like Cabela’s.
Here’s a few pics of the lower falls at Genessee:
Opened up the latest Salmon-Trout-Steelheader Magazine and there I am on page 77, my girlfriend Mary Ellen is in the center of the page!
I am thinking of going down to the lower falls tomorrow do you have any suggestions on the best way to access the falls? Looks like there is a service road, but then you would have to cross. I don’t know if that is possible.
We parked on the west side of the creek at some big parking lot, some park or something. There is a paved path with railings that will wind down a little bit. Then we hiked way down on an angle. You’ll see a path of sorts. The cliff is nasty.
Park at the yellow circle.
Went out with Choda and his co-worker Mark today. We hit the lower by Artpark. I landed 2 lakers and Choda lost my hot lure.
