Top This Bitches

Took grasshopper for another adventure and the master didn't disappoint this time out. The day before I scouted the same river looking for players and I found some, but they were spread out. But wearing hippers can make fishing tough, even when the water is low. So I settled on one spot were she could fish off the bank without plunging into some dark hole.

The weather during the weekend was calling for sunny skies and temps in the upper 60s, perfect weather for newbies and fairweather steelheaders. I made the right call by fishing upstream, as most people were still under the impression that all of the fish were still low. We arrived at first light and pretty well had the section to ourselves. With a jar full of juicy uncured King eggs, I felt confident that we would spank some fish pretty good. I instructed my student on how to float fish, mend the line and set the hook. Joann's past fishing experience was using those Zebco closed faced reels that today belong in a museum.

I hooked into several fish earlier in the morning and I decided to move from the "kiddie pool" down into bigger darker water. Fishing at first wasn't that eventful, as I continued to be the chub master hooking into several trophy sized ones. I felt the temptation to see how far I could punt them across the river into the cliff, but grasshopper scolded me. I scoffed that chubs rank somewhere between hemorrhoids and the Cleveland Browns.

Once I rid the pool of chubs, I was showing Joann on how to read water and where to cast. I watched her cast out right along the seam. At first I thought she casted too far out, but I didn't say anything. I was instructing her on how to mend the line, when the float shot under. She set the hook and the rod throbbed hard, a sign of a big fish. I had the drag set pretty loose and told her to keep the fish in the current high so to wear him out. She kept cranking away, being mindful to keep the rod high and tight. I gradually tighten the drag and got a glimpse of the fish - a large beefy male. Even though it was very large fish, it didn't really fight all that hard. I had her guide the fish into slack water and I muttered "hoooooly fuck, that's a tank" As I guided the fish towards the shore the line snapped and I quickly grabbed the fish. I struggled to control it and basically trapped it in my legs and sticking my finger in the gills. My legs were shaking and she was stunned at the size of it. I hauled it out of the water and this fish was over 30" and probably weighted more than 12lbs - an impressive specimen by Steelhead Alley standards. I took some money shots and I was truly impressed as she handled it like a pro. Not once did she panic, screamed for help or tried to hand me the rod.

Grasshopper pretty well had the hang of it as I didn't even need to watch her anymore. Then all of the sudden I hear her yell out that she hooked into a fish. I watched to see a huge fish leap out of the water and this time it tested her. By now we had worn the path along the bank into a trough of mud. She guided it into the slack water it was a fat hen. The master himself was not to be out done, as I hooked into several fat pigs.

In all of my years fishing Steelhead Alley, I've never had a day where I hooked into so many large fish. Most of the time, it's those "cookie cutter" steelhead - 25" and 4lbs and sometimes a 10 pounder gets thrown in. I thanked the fishing gods for taking care of my girl and giving the both us great day.

The Fish Are Spooky

Happy Halloween from Steelhead Shangri-La and it was a shitty day in paradise. I guess there is always a first when it comes to fishing and I got skunked on three rivers. Add another to the long list of excuses - tannic conditions, front moving through, shitload of leaves and one dumb hillbilly. It began to rain in the wee hours this morning and I left with the wind blowing and light rain pelting my face. I'm so hardcore, I left a warm bed with my girlfriend in it to go catch some fish.

The wind was slamming the Jeep as I nursed a cup of coffee in one hand and gripping the wheel with the other. It pissed all the way to my first destination, but I wasn't concerned as I plenty of time to get some fishing in before it blew out. I arrived at first light to see nobody and the river looked great. Upon closer inspection the water had the color of swamp water, that black tannic look and my heart sunk. Tannic conditions often throw steelhead into a loop as the water becomes more acidic. From reports I got earlier in the week that fishing sucked ass and we needed a major blowout to flush all of the crap out into the lake.

The leaves didn't help either as the wind blew most of them into the river. The good side is that leaves won't be an issue in a couple of weeks. Since the river was mostly devoid of anglers I fished some spots that I typically avoid like the plague. The result was nothing, except foul hooking a decent size male. It stopped raining around 8:30A.M and I was quickly getting bored. I dicked around for a couple of hours and left for another river. It was the same scenario, tannic conditions and the water was even lower. I plugged away for an hour and couldn't even sniff a chub.

Back in the Jeep and I head towards home and stopped at another river. The water was more stained and slightly higher. The week before I spanked some fish out of one run but the leaves were brutal. It was the same result as several other diehards couldn't get a bite. It was almost noon and it was a trifecta of misery, so I pulled the plug on today's adventures. On the way home I drove over a couple of other rivers and both were getting high and becoming unfishable.

Looking forward to Daylight Savings night as it's an extra hour of sleep and no more stumbling in dark at 7:00A.M. I might to have to cash in a sick day this week to make up for this debacle.

No fish porn as I'm without a camera and I can't draw worth a shit..........

Before The Crack Of Dawn........Ha

Low and clear, low and clear, fuck I'm tried of fishing in an aquarium full of chubs and the odd steelhead thrown in as another batch of rain came and teased us. The ground basically sucked up the water and none of the rivers went up and we were once again forced to fish in low conditions. Sunday was no different as I headed out east in search of fish. I'll be glad when Daylight Savings goes into effect this upcoming weekend as fishing in the dark at 7:00A.M is too much for this early riser.

Today, I wanted to get away from the crowds so I fished farther upstream. It was a gamble as I had no idea if any fish had made it that far up. Even if they did, the numbers would be very low and I could be posting a shut out just like the Browns would be probably doing this afternoon. I was reminded why I prefer to fish in the winter as walking through the woods with major undergrowth was a tough going. I finally reached a couple of favorite spots and my catch for the morning was 3 chubs.

Even though the water had that tannic color, the visibility was great. The other added bonus was nobody was fishing as I knew most if not all of the people were fishing the lower sections. I banged away at several spots and finally hit a nice hen on pink sac. It was one fish in three hours of fishing, I knew I had to head downstream in order to get into better numbers. The only downside would be crowds, but I figured by the time I got there it would be almost noon. With the Clowns playing so bad, a lot of people weren't racing home to watch the game. The Browns are so bad that our company had a draw for tickets for the Packers game and only three people signed up. I basically said I would rather get skunked then having to watch 4 quarters of a team that could be beaten by the Pop Warner All-Stars.

I drove along the river and I could see about 10 cars here and there. I rolled the dice and headed to one spot that I knew I might get into some fish. Driving over the bridge, I could see a couple of people fishing one spot that I usually do well. Usually this spot is pounded to death during the season and I rarely fish as it's a magnet for hillbillies and boneheads. But since it was Sunday most if not all scrambled home to watch the NASCAR race - gomers. A short walk down, I knew where to drift and it didn't long for the first fish to hit. It was a nice bag of fresh skippers, fat hens and feisty males. In reality I could copped some more zzzzzz's instead of fumbling about in the dark, but that would cut into my fishing time.......

I'm Free

The day I've been waiting for, October 15th finally arrived - my divorce hearing. It was suppose to been done last month, but my ex had to work out of state and filed a motion of continuance, so the agony continued. Since it was an uncontested divorce, I wasn't going to expect any fireworks or fisticuffs. Since we didn't have any kids, property and debt, it would be cut and dry. We agreed to couple of things and I had my attorney draft it up prior to the hearing. It took no more than 10 minutes of questions and bada boom bada bing, congratulations you're divorced. As we walked out, an army of lawyers walked in and I'm sure the next case would be full of fireworks and fisticuffs. There was no high fives or racing to the bar for a round of drinks. For me it was closure on a 10 year marriage and the last 3 years were utter hell. I felt a sense of relief and sadness, but now I could finally move on.

Like life, death and taxes, every fall the streams along Steelhead Alley are low and clear. This weekend was no different as I took my girlfriend to the Grand. Saturday morning it was raining lightly and I check the radar to see that the end of the rain was going through Cleveland. I figured by the time we got there the rain would have stopped. Since she didn't have a rain coat, I felt confident that the rain would be done......d'oh. We arrived at first light and it was still raining, but not hard. The river was in prefect condition as the deeper pools and holes had a nice tea color. I knew of several spots, that in past seasons we spanked them pretty good. It turned out to be a frustrating morning as I couldn't get whiff of fish, even the chubs wouldn't come out and play. We fished one popular section and by 9:00AM, we left and there was nobody.

The culprit was lake effect rain made the morning miserable. I was concerned that her pullover would become soaked as it was still raining and it didn't look like it was going stop. I decided to hit one more spot and if we got nothing I would call it a day. It was another of my honey holes and I had a jar of uncured King eggs. It was the same result as we banged away and nothing was biting. Every fall, there are times when you're left puzzled on why the fish won't bite even though the conditions are perfect. Persistence finally paid off as the float shot under and it was fish on. She did a good job fighting the fish as it was a beefy male, he didn't fight really hard and it made landing him that easier. I grabbed the glove for her and she held it for the money shot. One of his eyes was damaged probably from a hook in the eye and the fish had that cartoonish belted over the head expression. I released it and figured the day should end on a good note. By now she was soaked and I took her to the Burgers and Beer restaurant in Willoughby for lunch - a great joint by the Chagrin River.

Sunday was a case of same shit, different day. The river barely came up and the clarity was the same. If the Grand was clear, the other rivers probably had the clarity of a fish tank. I started off at the same spot and started working the run. In the dark I was using my lite stick on the float and near the log jam the float shot under. It was a small skipper that took a pink sac. The morning started off bad when I turned on my camera for some early morning shots of the shale cliffs. The LCD screen on my Nikon camera was cracked and half of the screen was only visible. Earlier it fell out of the back of Jeep, but it was inside the case. The fall wasn't that hard, but it's another in a long line of cameras I wrecked either from a bad case of butterfingers or days when I waded with two left feet.

The fish were incredibly fussy today as I managed four fish in total and I considered myself lucky as many others posted goose eggs.