Having to wear gloves should be the first sign that this is some nasty stuff

Before I ’saw the light’, and fished a flyrod 95% of the time, I used these eggs with pretty good success for steelhead and salmon. I would never argue the effectiveness of cured eggs, but the results of these studies are a bit concerning. Not only are they an absolute mess to cure, but they can do a number on your hands and eyes if you are not careful. This should have been a dead giveaway that this stuff isn’t good for fish to ingest. Being the ravenous little buggers that they are, salmon and steelhead smolt and parr will eat anything…including borax flavored eggs discarded from fishermen. Having spent a lot of time fishing the Lake Michigan tributaries in Indiana, I became very familiar with these home cured eggs and also the store bough variety. It seemed more people used these eggs than just about anything else. The eggs, and their containers, littered the banks at all of the popular acces sites. In the spring, after the parr are stocked, it is not unusual to catch, or have a hit from, 10 or 20 of these little guys while looking for their older brothers.  You have to wonder how many of those fish are going out into the lake to die?

Don’t salmon and steelhead have enough obstacles standing in their way?

That can't be healthy

Tomorrow is supposed to be a touch warmer, with less wind than earlier in the week. I’m feeling good about my chances.

The night before Thanksgiving is always an interesting one….probably one of the best, albeit weirdest nights of the year in terms of going out to the local bars. On one hand, I’ll see tons of old friends, girlfriends and acquaintances and catch up on what has been happening in their lives since I last saw them-exactly one year ago. On the other hand, I’ll see tons of old friends, girlfriends and acquaintances and have forced, awkward conversations for what seem like an eternity. Regardless, tonight will be a lot of fun, tomorrow morning not so much.

Clearly the beer of choice

On to other news-We have recently redone our website. While there are still a few little bugs and typos were working out, it should be functional. Customers can now order individual flies and hooks. Also, keep your eye out for a couple news promotions that should be ready to go for Black Friday.

Speaking of Black Friday, I am excited and terrified by it. One of my buddies just bought a house and I will be moving in with him next week. Recently, a 50 inch plasma has caught my eye. Do I need it? No. Is it excessive? Probably. Am I going to be an idiot and blow a huge chunk of change on it? Most likely. While the bargains will be awesome, the crowds will make the PA tribs during the peak of the steelhead run look uncrowded:

Also, if you have signed up for the Fishy Kid Adult Coloring Contest, make sure to do so ASAP. Some pretty awesome prizes theyre giving away, including some from Moffitt Angling (Sorry for the shameless plug). In all seriousness though, its a great cause and some kick ass prizes. Also, check out the Fiberglass Manifesto blog….pretty cool.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

On Tuesday we managed to lock in to them a little better, although the river still did not fish as well as it usually does. Anthony and I fished together while my Dad and Matthew went upstream in search of fresh water–passing up some great runs where Anthony and I got into a number of fish. Between the 4 of us, we probably hooked 35 steelhead–fantastic for 4 anglers just about anywhere except on the Erie tribs. The lowlight (or highlight, depending on how you look at it), was Matthew busting his rod while landing a steelhead. It sucked as we had hiked about 25-30 minutes from the car, but was sweet as Matthew was able to put the fish on the bank (or at least he claims he was–there is no photographic evidence of this capture).

Wow--Awesome fish by Anthony. My Dad and Matthew are probably regretting passing up this hole!

simply stunning-who would think that this was in Western NY

The highlight for me was fooling around with Matthew when we challenged each other to catch a fish while sitting down on the bank–a somewhat difficult feat with a fly rod. At this point we were all a little beat from all the walking and were pondering our next move before it got dark. I wasn’t expecting to get a hit in this run and while my line was hanging in the current downstream, a steelhead absolutely crushed my egg pattern. Unsure of the rules for this game, I asked Matthew if I was allowed to stand up to fight the fish. I was not. This did not top me however, as I was able to hook, land and release the fish all from the comfort of my stream-side rock. This was certainly a first for me, and having done it once, I see no reason to ever do it again.

Wednesday was a travel day for everyone–Matthew flew out of Buffalo, my Dad went back to NJ and I headed back to my old college stomping grounds in South Bend, IN. Anthony, my Father and I fished the morning and I was able to stick 5 or 6 fish in one hole, but hookups were few and far between despite perfect water conditions.

I stayed in South Bend on Wednesday night and fished a local tributary to the St Joes river with Jay Anglin. Water conditions were very good, but for some reason there was no bite on egg or nymph patterns. Jay has been having success lately swinging streamers, so I figured I would make good on my promise to myself and commit a day to swinging flies. After many fly changes, and nothing to show for it, I was beginning to second guess myself. After changing to an ugly chartreuse conehead streamer, I landed a nice brown, and got me focused and fishing with confidence.

I ended up losing this fly in a snag and decided to give purple a shot. While swinging the streamer downstream in the current, a steelie absolutely freaking crushed it! It was by far the hardest I have ever had a steelhead hit a fly. Within a second line was screaming off my reel and the fish jumped about 3 feet out of the water trying to cartwheel her way to freedom. It gave me 5 or 6 incredible jumps and was simply awesome. This fish has definitely inspired me to commit more to swinging flies in the future.

Not all that big but it had a nasty attitude!

So after having fished the Lake Erie, Lake Michigan and Lake Ontario tribs in the past two weeks, which fish fights the best? Stay tuned for an analysis….

I have spent the past couple of days fishing the Lake Erie and Lake Michigan tribs…trying to get caught up on work, but will have a report up shortly!