Steelhead Alley covers a wide area across Lake Erie and for many steelheaders, Pennsylvania is considered the crown jewel of this unique fishery. When I first started fishing for steelhead, I heard tales of these creeks and streams. One of them was the outlandish numbers of fish that can be caught in a outing. Intrigued, I had to check it out for myself and of course I picked one of the worst times. I ventured over to Elk Creek, one of the largest of the Pennsylvania steelhead streams on a Saturday and it was low and clear. I was stunned at the number of people and I didn't even hook into anything because of the sheer number of people and the lack of fishable water. I used it more of scouting expedition and I knew I had to come out during the weekday and when the water was higher.
So why is Pennsylvania considered the crown jewel? The main reason is they get the lion share of stocking allocated by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Pennsylvania on average stocks over a million smolts compared to Ohio's 460,000 smolts. I don't know why Pennsylvania gets to stock so many fish, but I know the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission collects fish at several nursery waters like Trout Run. Then those fish are taken to hatcheries where they are milked of eggs and sperm. There are so many different strains of steelhead collected, that many anglers often call Pennsylvania steelhead "mutts". But, nearly all of their steelhead often run in the fall. Ohio on the other hand, selects one strain and they're reared at one hatchery. But, a lot of Lake Erie's steelhead will run up any stream and there's been plenty of Pennsylvania steelhead caught in Ohio.
All I had to do was wait for the right conditions. That finally came during my vacation the week after Thanksgiving. Sunday we had enough rain to blow out all of the rivers. I looked at the flow data and I saw that the Elk had spiked and I knew that by morning, it should fish, even though it would be off color. The window for prime conditions in Pennsylvania is very brief. In most cases, some streams can go from mud to clear in under 36 hours. I spend Sunday night tying up a ton of sacs and crammed them in two old Parmensan cheese containers.
Monday morning I head out and there's some lingering showers. I sense I'll have a great day because most anglers from Pennsylvania don't like fishing dirty water and it was officially the first day of deer hunting season. My plan was fish the mid section of the Elk starting at Folly's End and heading downstream. I arrive at Folly's just at first light and my delight I was the first person there. I took my time getting dressed and walked down to the fly shop. The creek was running off color, but the visible was decent around 12". I crossed over and headed downstream and started at the bend.
This section of the creek was very narrow as it runs along a low shale cliff. I knew there was a pocket along the ledge. I placed a pink sac on the hook and tossed it out right along the seam. It took all but 10 seconds to hook into the first fish of the morning, a small bright silver hen and it was a quick fight. I put on another sac and tossed out the float at same spot. I watched it drift and then it got dunked hard and I've got another one on. I've heard from a couple seasoned vets that when conditions are perfect, a couple guys can catch a 100 fish. It's possible if you cover a lot of water, because holding water is few and far between. I end up catching five more fish and move downstream.
The next spot was a little larger and deeper and I sensed that fish were probably stacked in this hole. I would be correct as I started banging fish left and right. Several times I bursted out laughing because it was so ridiculous. I could have called out when the float would go under. None of the fish were huge, just your typical cookie cutter Lake Erie steelhead about 23" and 4 pounds. In this spot, I caught 15 fish and there was plenty of water ahead and it was only 9:00am and I'm already over 20 fish landed.
The next spot was along section of high cliffs and creek flows fast and there was plenty of pocket water to hold fish. Just like the past spots, the first drift doesn't even go more than 10' and it gets sucked under. This particular fish feels a little larger. It stubbornly holds in the current and eventually I get the upper hand. It's a beefy male that's almost 30" and this one is worthy of a picture. I take a couple quick pictures and release it. I work my way down the cliff and I'm picking off fish. A friend calls me asking me how's the fishing and I tell him I'm slaughtering them. There's a brief silence and then he tells me he should have called off. He knows me well enough that I'm not bullshitting, because he fishes in Pennsylvania a lot. I'm pretty sure he's feeling regret, because days like this are few and far between. I'll take full advantage of this outing as it could a long time when I have another day like this. As for the tally? I don't know, because I lost count. All I know it's a boatload of fish.
I've down to 1 jar of sacs and there's still more water to cover before I hit the posted property at the bend. The last spot is wide and flat and there's a nice hole under a sycamore that hangs over the creek. I'm popping off fish, but not as many as I'm fishing small pockets. The last spot turns out to be the motherload of fish. If people were hanging out on the banks, I would have been putting on a clinic as I start a series of consecutive hook ups. I'm like a kid in a candy shop grinning and giggling. Eventually I clean out of the hole and start working the pool until I see the posted sign across the creek.
But all good things must come to an end when I ran out of sacs. I looked at the time it was close to 3:00pm and I had a long walk back. What were the final numbers? A lot of bright fresh fish and I estimated that I was close to 80 fish landed. I've never had a day like this and there were a lot of things that had to go my way. First was the high water and it brought in a lot of fish as previously high water events were rare this fall because of the weather. But that's the weird thing sometimes very little fish come in and other times there's a huge push. I got lucky today that the Elk just got a monster push. The huge factor was I also didn't see one person which is very rare for the Elk even during the weekday. Then I covered a lot of water as I'm the type that doesn't camp at a pool.
As I walk back, I noticed the water is starting get clearer. By tomorrow morning the deeper pools and holes will take on that emerald green hue that Steelhead Alley's streams are famous for. By the weekend, all of them will be low and clear and full of anglers. Even though I had a succussful day, I would still rather fish in Ohio, because our rivers are much larger and more a challenge to fish. What happened today here, would never happen in Ohio for obvoius reasons. Pennsylvania has and always will be a backup plan for me.
It's a unique fishery that every steelheader should get to experience, but you might be as lucky as me.