The steelhead season is upon us!!!

So, it is finally here.... after a summer that included about a ton of rain, plenty of cold temps, and great water levels, the bets were in on an early run. Then late August and September hit... Weeks of no rain... Hot temps.... Creek mouths completely sealed off... (I am looking at you 20 mile) Now we can leave it all behind us...

So, here is my buddy Mike with a nice little brook trout.
Mike goes fishing with me when we are on camping trips, and always does pretty good. I have not, however, converted him over to steelhead yet. So we got all this rain, and I had to go and check things out. I called Mike up to see if he wanted to go. He had some time, so I swung over and picked him up on my way to the creek. We were fishing the east side PA tribs, and there were tons of cars and people, but we found a nice little section and got in with the masses. I proceeded to hook up and lose fish like a pro (yup, going 0 for 3.... pre season bassmaster style hooksetting is always cool, after all, if you don't almost fall on your back when setting the hook, you are doing it wrong... please note heavy sarcasm), and Mike got one on and lost it.

At this stage, we decided to go and check out the pocket water. We checked a nice little hydraulic out with no success and moved down to the next one. It was there that Mike hooked into a nice fish! He kept the pressure on, and it really tried to go back at the lake. We went after it (not too far, but far enough to keep it exciting) and it came to hand after about a 5 minute fight. Here are the results:

So I really have to apologize.... after his experience... I think there is going to be one more steelheader on the water.... Again, my sincerest apologies! Tight lines and see you on the water. I am about to go have a beer to cheers the official start to the season, at least in my book!!!
-Steve B

Random Spring Fun

So, this has been a full spring already.... so far we have gone after just about everything in Pa...
Above, Pete Howard being attacked by a smallie in lower Elk Creek

The trout season is starting out good, and we have plenty of water around, so both fish and fisherman are happy.....Above, Matt on Oil Creek after sticking a nice trout.

The smallies are starting out good, and things are just getting ready to heat up! Above, Matt G holding a beauty!! This one came out deep while fishing with Steve. We were running an intermediate shooting head and a big clouser in about 12 feet of water. Was an awesome hit! This fish was a fighter!

I have begun my sons training for the coast guard. Here he is demonstrating his docking abilities, and petting his first fish.... I know, he is already 13 months, and we are starting his teaching late, but better late than never.....

We have been unable or unwilling to stay away from the State College area, but that for better or worse. Some trips have been kind, others less so, but always a good time. The last trip held good topwater action for caddis on Fishing Creek in the narrows and good nymphing on Penns.

Spring steelhead ended up being insane! It was the best spring I have ever seen. Tons of fish, good flows and great weather. I wish it was that good every year! All in all, this is one of the best all around springs I have ever seen. Time to get out and fish! We have been mixing up our camping and fishing trips. It is a great way to stay near the water, cheap, and have a great time! Nothing like sitting around a campfire at night with your fishing buddies and sharing lies, I mean, reports, about the days fishing! Good luck, tight lines, and I hope you are having a banner spring too!

-Steve B

Fresh fish fun!

Some fresh fishin' video for all to enjoy!!
This one features upper Elk & my buddy Paul harassing the steelies!

Snowy Day Fishin'

Went fishing after the blizzard here with Bob Schoeller, the biggest fish junkie I have ever known. The water was up, but with a little persistence, and the right flies, he was able to get it done. His technique involves poly leaders and tube flies, or fishing shrimp patterns upstream and back. It is deadly, even in high and off color water. I put together a little video footage while we were out. Hope you like it.

Fly Fishing Bristol Bay

Above: A decent Artic Char

Fly Fishing Bristol Bay
August-September 2008

Above: Artic grayling

Above: Fish on!! Silver at the Togiak

Above: Mike Schoeller with an Alaskan Rainbow on the 'Pak

This year, I had the pleasure to fish Bristol Bay with Bob and Mike Schoeller. It was absolutely amazing. The sheer numbers of fish were unbelievable. I have never encountered anything like it in anywhere I have fished. I wanted to share some of the photos from this trip. Picking out which ones was hard, as anyone can take great pictures in Alaska. In particular, I would like to thank everyone at Mission Lodge for making our trip something truly special.

Above: A fresh Silver Salmon

Above: Look at all the eggs in this Chars mouth!!

Above: Evening Ride Coming In
Above: One of the locals...

Above: Bob Schoeller with a pig Rainbow

An average Dolly Varden

The operation was a fly out, meaning that we would take float planes out every morning for our days fishing. It took a little getting used to, but after day two, I came to look forward to the morning fly out. Our days usual started out eating breakfast around 6:00, getting ready, and then flying out every morning around 7:00-7:30. We fished a wide variety of water, from small streams to big water like the Togiak.

Me with a colored up Silver

Above: Our Daily Transportation

We fished a lot of beads and indicators for the rainbows and char, and swung monster streamers for the silvers. We used mostly 8 weight rods with floating lines, although next trip I am going to bring my switch rod! I caught plenty of fish, drank too much beer, ate too much and generally had a wonderful time! Over the course of the week we caught silvers, artic char, dolly varden, artic grayling & pig rainbows. It was like fishing heaven! I am going to start saving my pennies for the next trip out.

Below: the sockeye on the move!!

Bass, Brook Trout and Browns

We have been working all over this month! After a bit of a break because of the arrival of my new boy, Lucas, I decided it was time to harass some fish again. Last week we went to the Penn State area to fish Big Fishing Creek and Spring Creek. Big Fishing is a personal favorite of mine, and it lived up to my memories of it! During our trip down their, we had temps in the 90's and bright skies. Not the best trout fishing weather, but we made the best of it. We would spend the day messing around, and then, around 8:30 at night, get ready for the dry fly action. It would come fast, and give very little time until we couldn't see well enough to fish, but it was completely worth it! We ended up with a mixed bag of brooks and browns, with the best one topping out around 15 inches (brown, not brook... that would be a monster if it was a brookie!!!). Next up, it was time to go after some smallmouth. We have had a tough season with high winds, cold temps going right into a heat wave and storms. Last night looked to be perfect, so me and my buddy Paul met at the boat after work and decided to give it a shot. We checked several spots, but all our action came in one 400 yard stretch. The fish were all hanging near drop offs. I suspect this is because of the rapid water temp change. When we got over fish, we could get them to eat, and within two hours of fishing we had several nice fish come to hand. It is a great time to hit the bay right now, and if the warm trend continues, we probably only have a couple more weeks of good shallow water smallmouth fishing. Flies that worked were bunny strip flies, DNA clouser minnow and standard clousers. Good luck, happy fishing and tight lines!
-Steve B

Ice, flies and bass?

Pups on the loose on the shores of Lake Erie

So far this has been a pretty crazy winter. We have seen the creeks ice up, melt, be open for a couple of days only to freeze right back up. Right now we have a winter storm warning, and when all is said and done this weekend, we will probably have well over a foot on the ground. This week we also had a pretty good ice storm. Those of you from out of town probably saw stuff about it on the news. It really does look cool when the ice is covering everything. In the meantime I am anxiously awaiting the real springs arrival. I don't know how long winter is going to last, but the ten day forecast doesn't really show an end in sight. It is surprising to some, but the thing that really gets me going this time of year is thinking about fishing smallmouth. Damn I love those fish. Either wading the flats, or hitting them from the boat, they are the most fun you can have in the summer. Pound for pound, those red eyed devils fight harder than any fish that swims! With the clear water of Presque Isle Bay you can sight fish for them. They are mean, aggressive fish, eagerly attacking any fly that dare intrude upon their domain.
The standard fly to get them is a clouser minnow, but it is certainly not the only choice. Me, I love rabbit flies. Rabbit strip tail, palmer rabbit fur around the hook, give it a hackle collar, lead eyes and bingo! You now have a 60 second bass fly that is sure to get the job done! On a side note, the fly cannot be too heavy for early season. Before the weeds come in, if you can get your fly to the bottom quicker than you can twist off the cap of a bottle of Labbats, then you have weight just about right. Damn, time to stop typing and go tie up some flies....after all, May isn't that far away...

My homeboy Paul sticking early season in spring '07