FAIRPORT HARBOR — It was two days before Christmas, and all through Ohio the weather was nice. The packages were wrapped and the stockings were hung — so let’s go fishing!
With temperatures across Northeast Ohio hitting an unseasonably 50 degrees on Dec. 23, it only made sense to get my last fishing trip of the year in — in a boat that is. Once Ohio’s ponds, lakes and reservoirs freeze, I’ll be out there ice fishing, but this past Thursday I traveled to the shores of Lake Erie in hopes of catching some steelhead trout on the Grand River before the coldest winds of the year were to roll in.
While I’ve never had a banner day on the Grand, someone in the boat usually catches a steelie, and that held true on earlier trips this fall. However, I was a little concerned my good luck streak would not continue as last week’s melted snow and then rain earlier in the week raised the water level some, and more importantly, lowered the visibility.
But, with the USGS stream flow data still in the 1,000 CFM range and water temperatures hovering around 36 degrees, I knew the Grand was fishable, and that it would probably be my final chance to get the boat on the water this winter, so I went for it. After all, fishing is generally good prior to a cold front.
Unfortunately, my brother. Don. and I didn’t catch a fish. We saw steelies rolling and jumping early in the day, but we just couldn’t entice a bite. While that’s disappointing, I take solace knowing many-a deer hunter spent the evening in a tree stand without seeing a thing, and the turkey hunter who headed to the woods time after time before calling in a tom.
When it comes to hunting and fishing, it’s never a guarantee, and on my latest trip, I wasn’t alone in the fact that the fish didn’t cooperate.
We talked to 11 other fishermen on the Grand on Thursday, and out of the lot, just one caught a fish. While we were throwing everything from a Perfect 10 (go big, or go home), Hot ‘N Tots, swim baits, inline spinners, spoons and crankbaits of all sizes, the only report of a caught steelhead came from a guy fishing off the bank with a 1/16th-ounce black hair jig tipped with a maggot under a bobber.
And that’s the great thing about steelhead — or maybe the most frustrating thing — is that you can catch them any number of ways.
On rivers big enough to put a boat on, the most popular method for catching steelhead is trolling, or throwing, spoons and crankbaits. Many a Lake Erie walleye fisherman has hooked an occasional steelie trolling spoons deep on downriggers, especially in the fall.
Bank fishermen will float everything from jigs and maggots, jigs and minnows, spawn sacks or beads under a strike indicator with some split shot tied on to keep the bait down.
A lot of fishermen who wade more traditional steelhead streams like the Rocky River will go small, using hair jigs and tied flies.
But, just a soon as you hit the water with your fancy waders, fly rod, sinking line, tippet and hand-made fly, the guy next to you will hook into a 30-incher on a Zebco spinning rod and 6-year-old line.
He’ll be using a lead-head jig tied on with 10 overhand knots and crappie tube for bait. Or better yet, a piece of nightcrawler. You just never know.
And the great thing about it, it doesn’t matter how you do it. It doesn’t matter if you fish from shore, fish from a boat, wade in the water, or what kind of gear you use. What matters is you were out there and tried. You put your time in and paid your dues. Each time, you learn a little more.
By trial and error, you refine your skills, learn how to read the water, figure out the best places, best times and best conditions. … At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
I’m not going to give up, and I will probably be back on the Grand before it freezes — most likely in my kayak. Or, I may head to the mouth of the river and fish off the pier.
I may not get another 50-degree day this winter, but I’m sure there will be another trip in pursuit of silver bullets.
Stay tuned.
Outdoor correspondent Art Holden can be reached at letsplabal@yahoo.com.
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