Steelheading: Week 11 (Christmas Edition)

Well the week started off great with many solid reports showing that fish had begun to move west along Ohio’s rivers…All was well until Friday hit with freezing rain, changing over to rain. That knocked any of the OH tribs off the radar for the weekend, which meant PA had to be the only game in town. Saturday was a “birdy day” with Finn, so we laid low, preparing for Sunday. After a quick check of the radar, and trip to the shop, we realized Sunday was going to be an event in the making…High of 24 with gusts up to 45 mph…

Hmm, stay in bed with dog or freeze my dumb ass…

Schmidt hit the door and it was game on at that point…

We headed off earlier then needed, not knowing what the crowds would look like. It turned out we were #3 & #4 on the water…

The next question was slush…and while it was present, the water remained fishable. We dealt with 27 degree temps and a few snow squalls to start, and while the slush burned off, the fish weren’t showing any signs of wanting to play…

After a few hours, and some brief hook ups, we decided a move was in order…as well as a warm car ride. We headed further inland to a recommended spot…things were looking up…

After we ran into a pool full of fish…and people…we decided to hoof it down to the next available water…and after an hour or so of searching, we finally found some fish…as well as the colder temps and wind gusts forecasted…

Stones and Sucker Spawn were the treats of the day, yielding us a few fish…but not the numbers we were hoping for. For Mike and I, the trip was more a chance to test his new underwater housing for the camera…as always, here’s some of the goodies we found…

TMT eyeing the first run...

Schmidt making the drift...

Schmidt on the Hook Set...

"Would you like some ice with that?"

It was great having some water to ourselves...

Trib to main "Creek"...Waterfall in background...

Schmidt in "Search Mode"

Ice Shelves...

And now the players...

First player of the day...

Housing Unit Trial 1...

Housing Unit Trial 2...

We ended up calling the day at 16 degrees. We hopped in the car, made the trek home, and as we were pulling in the drive, the in car thermometer hi 9 degrees…

It’s now 4 outside with gusts over 35 mph, and a wind chill at -16…

All in all a great day, considering it’s probably my last day in steelhead water for the 08’ year…

Seems fitting that the week of Christmas Ends in a snowy, steelhead ally outing…