Elk Creek Steehead

 

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. 

Creek Critters

Earlier in the week we received enough rain to get the rivers high. Some of the eastern rivers started to come down when another dose of rain fell and they went back up. For the upcoming weekend, I wanted to fish east, but with gas at $3.10 per gallon, my options were slim. The Grand was still too high, Conneaut was too far and the Chagrin was questionable. Both the Rocky and Vermilion were low and clear. Also, the Rock would be a zoo this weekend.

Friday evening the Chagrin was coming down to the point that I knew it was fishable and I needed to tie goober sized sacs. I woke early and found the flow gauge was at 650cfs. That meant the river was a little high and dirty. When I arrived the river looked decent, but not great. I knew I was in for a tough day. I plugged away at several pools and worked the tailouts. For my efforts, I caught a couple of hens and that was it. For the entire time out, I didn’t see one person. On the way home it started to rain and through out the evening it rained off and on. I was concerned that the rain could blow the river out. I tied some sacs and if the Chagrin got blown out, I would have to the fish the (gulp) Rocky.

I woke early Sunday morning and checked the flow gauge. The graph showed a slight hiccup and the Chagrin dropped to 550cfs. I geared up and started to walk through the woods. As I walked to the river in the dark, I could hear some rustling. I turned to see what it was and there was beaver feeding on a large tree. He froze when I shone the light on him. I wanted to get a picture but it was too dark. The beaver made a break for the water as I fumbled with the camera. I was surprised how fast he took off.

This section of the river runs through one of the many Cleveland’s Metro parks found in Cuyahoga County. It also runs through one of the wealthiest communities in Ohio. Many people don’t know how much urban wildlife there is. The Chagrin acts as a natural highway and many animals use it to get around. In this park, there are deer, turkey, beaver, coyotes and raccoons. There are also some animals that people hear, but don’t often see. One of them is the Great Horned owl. I was fortunate enough to hear one this morning. It was somewhat eerie hearing that owl call. By now it was first light and I tried to see where the bird was perched. I scanned along the treetops and I finally caught a glimpse of the owl. It was sitting at the top of a large sycamore calling out as I heard another owl in the distance. This is the time of year when horned owls start looking for a mate. I continued walking and startled another beaver feeding along the bank. He bolted for the water in a hurry. What is unusual with these beavers is they don’t construct lodges, instead they live in the river’s banks.

Today, the river was in better condition. I fished the same spots and the results were better. All of the fish caught came from the tail end of pool and along the edges of the main current. It was a mix bag of fresh and older fish. As I was fishing, I noticed a large buck and doe emerge from the woods. As with the owls, deer are mating and this large buck was courting the doe. In this area, deer tend to be more use to people and they stood there watching me. I got the camera and used the zoom to get a shot. During that morning, I saw about 10 deer.

The bite shut off around 11:00A.M and I decided to hit another spot farther downstream. The fishing was slow and I talked to a couple of anglers that caught a couple here and there. I agreed with them the fishing on the Chagrin was average. It was like that last fall as the fish really didn’t come in until spring. I managed to catch a couple more and my back started to ache. It was about 12:30P.M and I decided to head home to watch the Browns and Ravens.

Once again the Browns made the game interesting and I thought they lost the game when Phil Dawson missed the tying field goal to force overtime. The ball clanged off the bar and hit the crossbar, then bounced back onto the field. I was disgusted with the poor effort from the team and changed the channel. During commercial I switched back to CBS and noticed the game was still on. I was puzzled and found out that the officials reversed the call as the ball hit the crossbar extension. By doing that, the ball broke the plane, therefore it was good. The Browns won the toss and marched down field to set up the winning field goal. Dawson’s kick was good and I wished I could see the look on Art Modell’s face. These Browns make the Kardiac Kids look flat line.

I'll be taking Turkey day off for some much needed sleep. Next week, I'll be cashing in my vacation time. That week is also deer hunting season. A lot of guys will be hunting instead of fishing. Memo to self - find orange toque.