Steelheading Recommendations

[William Hea]

Hi, all! Thank you in advance for your help!

My girlfriend and I have been doing a lot of trips in Western MD and Central PA for wild trout and having a blast. We'd like to start targeting some bigger fish and would love to give steelhead a try.

Any recommendations for where/when to go to get started on steelhead for a road trip? I'd prefer to drive rather than fly. If there are any  guides you recommend we'd be all ears.

-Will

[GSFeder]

NVATU’s June 3 meeting has a speaker about Erie Steelheading. You should check it out. 

Cheers, 

-- Greg

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On May 28, 2021, at 12:38 PM, William Hea <willia...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Michael Lyons]

Try Steelhead Alley Outfitters in Erie, PA. Great guides and they have access to some semi-private water. I am fishing with them again in November. The trip is about 6 hours from DC and fairly inexpensive compared to other fishing travel. There are some cheaper hotels or lodges to stay at near the tributaries. You can fish with them Fall through Spring. As long as you don't hit any extremely high water events, you will most likely catch fish. It can be cold there so the shoulder seasons are best if you care about that. Bring good quality waders and rain/wind gear and you will be just fine. Otherwise, they fish through much of the winter into Spring. 

-Mike

[Daniel Lazenby]

Will,

You may want to check out NVATU's June General Membership Meeting. SAO is presenting at our June meeting.

Below is the announcement

To participate in the meeting you must register by clicking here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing your meeting invitation.     

Justin Schillaci, owner of Steelhead Alley Outfitters,(www.steelheadalleyoutfitters.com), and Dustin White, one of SAO’s top guides, will talk everything about steelhead fishing at the June 3 chapter meeting.

If you’ve never ventured north in the fall to fish for LakeErie steelhead as they migrate up the Pennsylvania streams – or if it’s been too long – don’t miss this meeting. These experts will talk about gear, flies, lodging, where to go, and just as important, where not to go. It can get ugly crowded on some creek entrances with spin anglers standing and sitting cheek to jowl.

Bookings for the fall/winter runs can fill up quickly, so if you want to get a head start, reach SAO at 1-888-453-5899.

Hope to see you there.

Daniel

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[Rob]

My buddy Mike Deyo lives in Altmar on the Salmon River. He has a drift boat if you want to get away from others. 

Look up ‘Dirty Bills Guide Service’. 

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On May 29, 2021, at 12:09 PM, Daniel Lazenby <dlaz...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Carl Z.]

Great Lakes steelheading is primarily a fall activity (There are some spring opportunities, but fall is more dependable).  There are great runs in Michigan, but from DC, your best bets are Erie or Ontario runs.   The Erie season seems to be about mid-October til the streams freeze over.  I've gone fishing in December and been breaking through ice when wading and was still able to catch some fish out of the faster/deeper holes.

The TU presentation should be great and Steelhead Alley has some great guides.  I don't know of anyone who has been disappointed by them.

Fishing for Erie steelhead is great.  The streams are small, maybe 30 ft across in places.  It is primarily nymphing in these smaller streams, but you can swing streamers.  

The only thing I would warn you about is that the run is highly weather dependent.  Too little rain and the fish stay in the lake or just hunker down in a few holes.  Too much and the wader becomes unfishable.  But the shale bottom streams clear up fast.  One the streams were up and high my first day, and on the second day, they reached good flow at about 2pm, after the water steadily dropped all day.  Once the water dropped to the right level, the fish started to turn on.  

Carl

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Carl Zmola

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[William Hea]

Thanks, all! All signed up for the Zoom meeting. Erie looks like the best place to get started.

-Will

[Yambag Nelson]

If you want to fish the erie tribs in ny, look up cattaraugus creek outfitters.  They have private water on the premier erie trib as well as cabins right on the river that you can rent.  I believe Nick Pionessa is guiding for them.  Great guy and no one more knowledgeable about swinging flies for great lakes steelhead.  

If you decide to diy i would highly recommend going mid week if at all possible.  Even with covid keeping the canadians out, the streams were still very crowded this year in the fall.  Fall is the most crowded season but is when the fish are the hottest and is obviously a nice time of year to fish.  

[Richard Farino]

Vince sold the property with the cabins but still has rights to fish, plus a few other places with private access.   Him and Nick are stellar guides and we booked them last year for a shop trip.  Definitely worth your time checking them out.

 

 

Regards,

 

 

R

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