Time melt.......................

Bear with me people. I am suffering from a little mental fog due to too much fresh air. I may not be that coherent today. I started my day of at first light and the water had a good current flow. The north- north west winds of the other day had pushed the ice pack up to the shoreline and the mouth of the creek which made it a little chilly to start off the morning.

The story of the day is that I got into them today. I wasn't the MVP today but I wasn't a bench warmer either. I had good steady action. The morning was a hot bite for many with sacks of various types fitting the bill. the fish appears to be packed in one area and they were not spread out as much as the previous few days.

I guess the process of watching your float for the next take can be a little hypnotizing. I was so focused on waiting for the the take, releasing fish or watching others release their fish that the day literally melted away. After the morning bite there was a noon bite for a while with good activity. then later in the Afternoon I move4d a round a little and got into a jig bite until I got a call from the Commander. the Commander was on his way from work. Wait a second......I started my walk on the creek at 6:15am and didn't look at my watch until 4:30pm? Where did the time go? By that time the wind changed and the creek got low and I packed it in at 5:40pm.

I got into a decent number of steelhead and a few smallmouth to boot. I felt sorry for poor Dave from Renegade Customs Rods. He belly deep fishing across from me and realized that his non- waterproof camera had been taking a bath for a half hour. Hope he is able to save it.

That's it folks. My incoherent ramblings. I'm a little too dim witted to go on today.

Tidal surge and the Commander Tom show........

The Commander picked me up this morning and headed down to the mouth. On our drive we notice a bolt of lightning in the distance and hoped it would not affect our morning.

We left the access point and started our hike. The weather was mild with a warm breeze and I hoped the water would hold off so Tom could get into fish.

I surveyed our final destination and the water was a nicer green than the day before. There were a few fish jumping around so we got down to business.

Well shall I say the Commander got down to business. He got into a few skipper chromers today on his magic pink worm. His action was steady enough to keep him happy. I on the other hand just stood there and wacked it. I tried various colors of sacks ,eggs , and pinkies to no avail. But I had fun watching Tom smile with his hook ups. There were some other fish caught on jigs by others including a few bass but it was not a gangbuster day at all.

The weather was definately something to watch today . As I stated previously, we started out with warm breezes. The warm breezes then turned to light rain. The light then turned to a heavy cold rain and we both got a good soaking.

There are times when your on the water when you are gifted to see mother nature do her thing and today was one of those. Everyone had left with the cold rain and it was just Tom and I.

We heard what sounded like a freight train coming from the west. The sound was the cold wind howling her way down the lake. The winds started ripping from the West- Northwest direction.

The current started acting wacky as we heard the wind in the distance. The flow reversed and righted herself about 3 different times and at times a whirlpool happended.

As the front raged on top of us, the lake level rose and water surged in from the lake bringing with her logs and debris. The clarity turned from green to brown and rose about 2 feet in depth.

The temperatures dropped so we decided to walk back to the access point as the cold wind numbed our hands. We were greeted at the access point bridge by to fisherman. They asked if we were all right. we said yes and asked why. They said they were fishing under the bridge when out of no where a large wave came upstream raising the depth by 2 1/2 feet. The wave almost swamped thier hip waders and started washing thier roe containers , nets and tackle away.

They were able to recover thier items luckily.

The one gentleman said he caught a nice male under the bridge on of all things and ice fishing jig under a float. Here is a picture of the guy and his buck destined for the smoker. Too bad it was a really nice fish.

Skunked on a stump.................

Today was a skunker of a day for Big Ed and I. I got to the access point at about 6:15am to find about 8 to 10 cars there already. Big Ed called at 6:30 am to tell me he was going to be late and to start with out him.

The big guy is getting his butt kicked by bronchittis and should have not been out. He has been cooped up and needed to get out and atleast give it a shot. He was struggling to breathe and was tiring fast.

We were fishing the estruary today and the temperrature variance from the access point to the lake felt like a 15 to 20 degree difference. No doubt due to the shitty East-North East wind blowing in over the the ice pack. The wind was blowing upstream against the slow current. We had to deal with arching bows in our slack line to this fact and it wasnt fun. I had a few light hits but couldnt connect. There were a few pinners sitting on as call it the spot on the spot and they got into some skippers but the other 6 or 7 guys in the vicinity were shut out. And Im talking the regulars who are out and about every day with me.

The only highlight was a pissed off beaver marking his teritory slapping his tail in a 30 yard radius around and between the floats. Of course everyone did thier best to stay away from Bucky as he slapped his tail with ferocity.

After 3 hours we thought it in are best interest to call quits and fished our way back to the access with no luck. There were a few humps under the access bridge that had fish on a stringer. No doubt to put in thier freezers with the other 55 steelhead they have caught over the season. Billy Bob loves the smoker you see and probably would smoke the beaver if he could.

We kicked around going up to Chautauqua county in the smaller streams but neither of us like fishing to fish on thier redds or fish sitting in 6 inches of water in tail outs.

Tomorrow's forecast is as follows:

South East winds 10 to 20 miles an hour with a 100% chance of rain and a slight chance of thunderstorms. I am supposed to be out tomorrow with Commander Tom but we will have to monitor the conditions so we are not playing in a mud fest.

Now onto the dream interpretation and junior psychology. All week I have been having the same dream. I am sleeping on my back and breathing heavily through my mouth. As I breath in and out a long piece of florocarbon is lowered toward my mouth with a bare size 12 gold egg hook on it. I take a deep breath and suck it in. The hook gets lodged in the roof of my mouth and I start choking... Then I wake up. I dont know what that means but that is F'd.

In addition last night I have a dream. I fall asleep on the couch which I did and in my half sleep I open my eyes to see a large hawk sitting on the top of the couch watching over me. I thought it was so real I jump up and adreniline shot through my body. Maybe too much time on the water Eh?

A possbile spirit creature as the Native North Americans say?

This what I found:

A Hawk In Native American mythology, the hawk is the messenger. Therefore, if the hawk seems to be friendly, an important and probably positive message will come your way. Other symbols in the dream can reveal what that message concerns. Hawk can also indicate an important opportunity coming your way. If the hawk seems forbidding, however, this is a warning to take care of your emotional baggage before seizing whatever new opportunity comes your way.

I will let you know how it tomorrow turns out.......

Slower Day but there was a pay off........

Well hell, we got a little rain last night but it did not raise the levels again.

At best it kept the status quo going. That being near clear water in the shallow faster areas and a light green in the pools.

I am happy to announce that my casting skills came back this morning as there was no wind blowing in my face. I made more than a few bomb casts that even suprised me.

In addition I double bagged my feet with plastic bags to prevent damp foot from my drying waders and to facilitate entrance and exit from the them. I had a flash back to when I was in grade school and mom sent me off to school with my feet in platic bags inside my Sorel pack boots so I wouldnt get wet foot from the high snow.

The action was slower than the day before for me but Idid manage a few fish on white jigs and chartreuse sacks. The day once again was filled with a number of light biters. Literally I was visuallizing the steelhead bumping the offering with thier nose like a pig rutting around in the dirt. Just enough to momentarily drop the float. This happend more than a few times. There were a few a few instances where I clear pulled the float and offering out of the water over my head and onto the shore. Frustrating indeed but the action keeps you busy.

I bumped into the local King Pin reel rep, Bill Shearer, and shared the bank with him for most of the morning. We had an enjoyable time taking turns laughing at ourselves with our inability to miss the light takers. As soon as the sun got high in the sky, the slow day got slower and everything died out. I ended the day about 11 am. But I did have my moment of crowning glory when my float dove deep below the surface. I lifted my rod with authority and there was something heavy on the other end. The fish bull dogged around for awhile a rolled up in the line temporarily. I got the fish to shore and to my excitement there a fresh, silver male on the other end. I would estistimate that he was in the 10lb area. Beautiful thick backed fish with a noticeable pronounced kype. I asked one of the fisherman next to me to take a picture with my Blackberry for the blog. That was fun!!!! The lucky Leafs hat strikes again.........

We still need rain to bring in a solid run and we are supposed to get it Saturday night and into Sunday.

We shall see.......................

Balls deep and soggy feet..................

Started off this morning at first light. The light rain from the night before did not raise the flow but the deeper pools appeared to have a slightly darker green in thier color. I took a walk and found a pod of fresh fish. I missed more than I caught. The float would go down and I would lift . The result would either be a few head shakes and spit out or just a light bite quick tug.

all fish were taken on pink and chartrueses sacks and one came on a white jig.

I decided to move down the stream and hip high into the water as God did not bless me with distance casting skills with a centerpin. I really need to work on my casting skills and finesse as I tend to lose them from time to time during the season. Either from being too anxious or casting into a wind etc. I have days where I look like like a green newbie. Oh well it's about getting the float in the water. right?

After a few fish I realized I was getting a little cold and my socks were wet. The neoprenes had finally failed and I discovered two pin hole leaks in each knee.

Did I stop fishing?

Nope

I figured even if I get chilled, I am a hop ,skip and a job from the creek.

By the time I took off the waders I was damp from toe to thigh but all and all a good day.

I will have to tough it out with the waders until the end of the season and pick up a new pair before next fall. Time to throw some clothes in the dryer.

It is raining as I speak so there is hope of an increased flow to draw more fish in.

until next time........................

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...............................

Today I slept in and took a day off from the water. There is nothing worse to me then fishing skinny clear or near clear water in the high sun for steelhead.

There are those who get thier rocks off sight fishing. I am not one of those people.

I prefer dark green water so I do not see the fish and they do not see me. The joy of the sport to me is continually increasing your knowledge and ability to read the water in all conditions.

In addition for a Tuesday there were a ton of people out on the water. I was shocked but then again there are probably alot of people unemployed or temporarily laid off mixed in with the retired guys and kids on spring break. I guess it just adds to the challenge.

Well I am off to do some things with hopes of some desperately needed rain to green up the water and bring in some fish.

A day with Joe W.........................

Well one of my muskie fishing friends Joe W. joined me on the stream today.

I met him at the parking lot at 7am and it was about 19 degrees out. I told him to pack it in for an hour or so and we would go back out later.

We waited for the temp to hit 25 degrees and we decided to walk to the estruary to check it out. When we arrived to our dismay, the entire mouth was frozen over with a thin transparent layer of ice.

We said WTF and decided to sit on a few stumps and enjoy the scenery. We noticed a beat up drop back male steelhead cruising the shoreline under the ice. That was pretty cool to see.

At this point we drove upstream to hit the areas where some fish were spread out in faster water earlier in the week.

We tried our best and hoofed it for quite a while with no luck.

The water was getting very clear and the current was very light.

This trib needs water soon!

Joe W. was happy none the less. He was in nature and he loves walking through the gorge and up to the lake. He was just happy to be out with his busy schedule.

On the other had as he knows his good friend and author of this blog has been on the verge of insanity with his unemployment situation so he brought me gifts and bought me lunch.

Joe out of the goodness of his heart provided me with a breakfast sandwhich along with two other things. The two other items were a copy of the http://www.amazon.com/Reflections-Art-Living-Campbell-Companion/dp/0060926171 and an empty note book. He like my future brother in law, Mike, are big believers in the teachings of Joseph Campbell and the philosophy of following one's bliss.

He instructed me to read the book and write down my goals , likes, and dislikes in detail when ever and where ever it strikes me. Hopefully this will help me through the existential angst I find myself in at this time.

WTF am I doing on this planet?

Yes slap me.

I am here to fish for Steelhead.

Correct?

Isn't that what this blog is about?

Exploring my minute to minute feelings both good and bad as I walk the streams like Jesus searching for my redemption and answers to my highly valued and sometimes completely worthless existence on this planet.

Someday I will find the answers to those questions and more.

But for now, I am whole when I am knee deep in emerald green with chrome on the business end of my line.

Thank you Joe W.!

You have a heart of gold and you are one of the few people I know who lives blissfully in the moment, Happy on the Niagara fishing or hanging out with your pack of Labrador retrievers.

Joe W. below:

****no fish were caught or harmed while filming this movie*******

Me and my shadow................

With cold temps this morning, I didn't get out until 9 am this morning. Evidently that was still a little to early as there was a lot of slush in the creek along with frozen rope above the float.
After an hour of dealing with that frustration, I packed it in and went to Timmy Ho's for a coffee.
I returned to the creek at noon for about a three hour tour. The water was getting low, clear to a very light green in coloration. I opted for long leaders, size 12 hooks and amber plastic single eggs and went 1 for 5. the fish ranged from silver to dark and were again spread out in fast pocket water and bubble areas do to the high bright sunshine.
I will be out tomorrow with Joe W. of Claudette's Catering.

Peace.............

Scattered and spread out.............

The temperature this morning was 17 degrees this morning so I decided to wait a few hours before hitting the creek. At my arrival, I noticed all parking lots were almost at capacity up and down the creek. Everyone is ready for spring and out to enjoy it.

I checked out the lower sections and the action was spotty at best. I saw a few fish caught but nothing exciting.

I headed upstream to my C water as my A and B spots were populated by the masses. This can be a good thing at times and a learning tool as it forces you to think outside the box and try areas you would not normally fish.

Luckily I kept on the move and found some relative solitude and got into a few fish. The water was a perfect green but fish were sprinkled in here and there as you sent out your presentation into every pool, pocket, riffle and run. I noticed in my travels that fish were pairing up in the shallows in two's and four's. The highlight of the day was another small birds nest. As I untangled the mess and looked up to located my float,I could not find it. I started to reel in line to find a small male attached to the other end. HA HA!!! I wonder what Brian would call a birds nest with a fish on the business end.

That is all for today..... Tomorrow may be a break from the water to celebrate Dad's birthday and stay away from the people on the stream for a bit.

She is still settling down

The 18 is still in the process of settling after the previous rainfall.
I walked around threw the float around not catching fish and not expecting to catch fish.
I wondered why I was getting iced guides and cold hand this morning to find out later it was only a high of 30 by noon.
The creek should be fishable this weekend.

Gee what a boring post.....................

Mocha and Mist.......................

I started off this morning before sun up with intent on hitting the 18. I pulled into the the parking area and strolled to the bridge. I shined my headlamp on the water to notice that the rain from yesterday turned the creek to chocolate. She was moving higher and faster than normal and I decided to end the expedition right there.

Back into the vehicle I went and decided to purchase a coffee at Timmy Ho's as consolation for my terminated plans. I decided to take the coffee to another nearby trib to at least go for walk down by the beach and lake. As I pulled into the parking lot at this smaller trib, I noticed the water was also brown but she was moving at a moderate current flow. I threw on the gear and told myself just give it a shot and at the least enjoy nature and the suroundings.

I made my way across a foot bridge and past a large sand dune as I made my way to the mouth of the lake. The light was still dim as the foggy mist choked out the rising sun.

In the back ground I heard the marine birds cackling like a bunch of woman at bingo and the jackhammer sound of woodpeckers picking away the bark of the trees.

As the sun slowly burnt away the fog a rainbow shined through at the beach and I could see in the distance the ice flows clogging the beach area. Though I did not have any success, the experience of the wonderful combination of beach, ice, and trees bathed in the sunlight was payment enough for the effort I put in this morning.

No fish but as Big Ed said last night, as we get older it does not have to be just about the fish. Sometimes the fishing and the friends is good enough........

I will check out the 18 tomorrow but it will probably fish better Saturday and Sunday more than Friday.

DO NOT F*CK WITH MY CANADIAN BROTHERS

I get an email from Rob aka ChromeHunter today. He tells me he is a little leary to come down to fish the Erie tribs on the American side because friends of his have been experiencing difficulties in parking lots. Theses difficulties consisted of finding thier vehicles with flat tires. Some inconsiderate jackoff has been letting air out of the tires of our Ontario friends and that does not make Joe happy.

Listen people we have all encountered real or imagined poor manners by other fisherman on the streams. This poor behavior is not the sole domain of Canadians.

The rubes and hacks we all encoutner on the streams come in all shapes and sizes and all national origins.

If some one is crowding you and you feel uncomfortable tell them so or move on to better and less populated spots. But... But .... But.... do not mess with peoples vehicles. That is just bush league. Just because there is an Ontario plate on the car does not automatically mean you will encounter an inconsiderate fisherman. Some of the biggest sh*t dog fish lifting , hole crowding pieces of crap I have ever encountered were people from my own part of town not Canadians.

Hell I met Rob walking the bank this season and showed him and his friend a few spots . And guess what??? They were good people and very considerate.

Please play nice everyone. And if you see someone vandalizing a vehicle, call the police with your cell phone so the evil doers get pinched.

In summation, let it be known that our actions on this earth are cyclical. We reap what we sow and karma can be a mutha f*cker!!! Leave people's cars alone or sure enough expect bad things to come back to haunt you.

A cold front morning......................

I started off this morning at first light in the lower section of the creek. As I was marching down the bank with headlamp on I heard a thunderous slap on the water about four feet away from me. I shined the light upon the water and saw a beaver swimming around. No doubt he was finishing up his nocturnal engineering missions.

I continued my walk on the side of the bank and I noticed in about 8 inches of water a larger fresh female with a giant lamprey wound just behind her gill plate. she slowly swam away with the vibration of my waders in the skinny water and I wondered if she was going to heal up. I hate those snakie bastards. they creep me out.

I reached my fishing hole at first light and noticed there was no one else there. The wind was blowing pretty good but the air was warm over night and into the first part of morning. With glee I waded in to the green water and with a little too much enthusiasm started my pull cast.

The result was a bird nest. After swearing in Italian a few times and giving up on untangling the mess; I decided to re-rig everything. I patiently and yet efficiently started the project as I could hear fishing boiling and jumping around. Frustrating !!!!!!

Well I took care of that mess and started to fish. The fishing in my estimation was off today.

I don't know what it was but is was. The warm air turned cold and I could hear thunder in the distance . The thunder got closer and closer and there were a few flashes of lightning. I decided to put the 13 foot rod down for while until the weather passed. I did not want to get zapped as result of tempting the gods.

The lightning stopped and then we were graced with rain and hail briefly and the winds settled for a while.

The fishing picked up marginally for about an hour and I witnessed three steelhead caught and one small mouth bass. I caught the above fish on a charteuse egg sack. She was skinny and long for her size but she gave me a great fight. She made 2 nice spirited runs before she made it to the bank. She was silver, fresh and flawless and that ended my success for the day.

I tried one other spot with no luck and decided to call it a morning. I hope to give another shot tomorrow hopefully with a little more luck than today.

Steelhead Therapy...........

In these uncertain times all a man needs to even out his keel and set his head right is a nice day on the water and his lucky Toronto Maple Leafs hat.

I fished for a while this morning in the lower sections of the creek with a little action and a lot of beautiful weather. The air felt cold at first this morning with the frozen lake nearby. The water was a slightly stained an emerald green with a slow current flowing through the pool.

The fish were silver, fresh, and feisty though none were too big.

We have all been on the streams and noticed some of the biggest fighters and most acrobatic fish are the smaller fish caught and this was the rule today. The fish were active though not in the same numbers as a few days ago. All fish were taken on pink eggs and others were catching them on hardware despite the cold water. I can't wait to see what a little rain will do as far as pulling more numbers into the tributary. While the numbers today were not mind boggling it was enough to make me happy and kick back on a rock like a fat lizard enjoying the warm afternoon sun after a mornings worth of enjoyable fishing. I hate to put it this way but between the fish and the sunshine I walked back to my vehichle with a big smile on my face as if.....well.... I got some action... ha ha ha LOL!!!!!

After the ass kicking winter gave us all; the onset of spring is just the ticket to make things right in this indifferent and often trying world of ours. Peace brothers and get your butts out there and enjoy the weather.

Spring Time Quickie.........

Well people I fished a little yesterday and today. The weather has been nice and the water is a beautiful green color. The 18 has a run of mostly small males scattered between the lower and middle sections of the stream. I spent part of yesterday fishing with Big Ed and his magic tackle bag filled with beverages.

He had a real nice one on yesterday that he lost in a root filled under cut bank. I caught a few yesterday and today. All were small males both days for me. The pink worm was out performing the roe. Fear the pink worm.....

I dont understand that???????????

I also caught a fat 6lb sucker from the lake. As my friend Eric says .."Hold the mighty sucker up to the Gods with pride and let all other fisherman know your sucker fishing greatness!"

Yeah what ever........

Hope to be out a few more times this week. Hopefully without the East wind. The east wind is not good for fishing around here. At least not for me!!!!

18 Conditions

The water conditions to day are no goood. After receiving additional heavy rain last night the creek is up, high, and a muddy brown. she is pushing silt at a heavy flow. so it will be at least two days unless you you look to the the smaller trips in the area.

The melt....

I have been out a little the last two days with nothing special to report.

But my blog is to document my personal triumphs and failures equally not just to trumpet double digit fish days.

The 18 had been locked up from the trestle to the lake leaving only the middle portion of the creek to fish and in those areas the fish were far and few between. all the good holding pools have frozen over.

Finally last night the lower portions broke up and the creek is open to the lake with a brown stain to the water. we are expecting rain this afternoon which will no doubt add to the stain of the creek.

I decided to take a day off until the creek cleans up and to give my mini slump a break. Iwill have to break out the lucky Leafs hat for this one. Tomorrow maybe a ride up to Chautauqua County or one of the smaller Erie tribs but today is a day to reload and get my head on straight.

Good luck out there gentleman............