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3. A end to steelheading

Im always sad this time of year when the steelhead leave the great lake tribs. and go back to the lake. It seems like just yesterday when I hooked my first steely of the year and my adrenalin was rushing so hard I did not even notice what was going on around me. Today fishing in my local trib I caught suckers, golden shiners, sunfish, creek chub, carp, and fore steely's all on the same fly a #14 BH gold ribbed hairs ear. Not all the time do I get to experience catching fish of such different size and appearance all at the same place on the same fly. It is a weird feeling setting the hook and not knowing if the fish on the end of your line is going to be three inches long or thirty inches long. Here are some highlights of my lake run trout season. All of these fish were released.

Your awesome my man! Great job, just love seeing a younger fellow so interested is steel and releasing them too. Wish there were more young guys enjoying it as much as you do. Where did you catch these Erie, Ontario, or one of the other lakes with tributaries?

Thanks so much im glad you appreciated it. I walk a mile every day after school to a Lake Ontario trib behind my house. As far as i am concerned im the luckiest kid in the world.

Awesome post. I used to do the same thing, once upon a time. You are blessed indeed. And it's really nice to see a young guy operating with ethics in place.

In the late 70s my introduction to steelheading involved snagging, then after all the bragging, throwing the majority of the fish into a dumpster. I snagged one on my first trip, as instructed, and then went back to the car for my spinning gear and actually CAUGHT two more on a small white marabou jig. The other guys could not believe it, and although my fish were the smallest of the lot, the guys could only stare at them, and wonder. I was pretty proud of those fish, and the older guys expressions spoke volumes.

The first day I appeared onstream with a fly rod (one filled with actual fly line) a man came at me angrily and started poking me in the chest saying repeatedly, "You're dreamin' kid! I say you're dreamin!" His anger was telling: Snaggers/lifters would rather be anglers, they just didn't know how. I also well remember the first day I looked upstream and down and saw only real anglers. We gathered together and just sorta basked in it -short-lived as the moment was.

Yes you are blessed and appear to have the ethics and skills to REALLY enjoy the game. Good luck to you, and thanks for sharing.

Hey, you might not be done yet... If the trib is long enough (many on the Lake O front are not though) you can catch some drop-back fish as late as June! I would make a circuit of the biggest pools, often below bridges, swinging and hanging large streamers. Those late drop-backs, being in the warmer water, were the hottest fish of the season.

Congrats man! Those are some great photos and kudos for catch and release. I remember walking or taking my pedal bike everywhere. Thanks for posting =)

Haha i love the stringer caught fish that you released, well done my man great fishing!

Yeah I can relate to the snagging too PaulRoberts. Before I fished for trout I would come down and snag salmon with a few friends but after talking to some of the older guys fishing they actually got me into fly rods and steelhead fishing. Trust me I have never snagged a trout and never will but the few friends that do fish will snag them and I always tell them I wish they wouldn't then they beg me for my fish and I always say no this ones going back in the stream. But as you say if they new How to catch them the right way they probably would not snag them but it must be kind of frustrating when I catch twice as many fish as they do legally then they snag hehe:)

When I was around 11 and 12 my family would go down to visit come friends that live by the Anchor River on the Kenai peninsula. When my friend and I would have horrible luck (it was normal) fishing for Coho we go for more excitement and snag bred out, half dead and rotten "pinks". Eventually I realized that we were actually breaking the law. Even if they were rotten.

There was a reason the two of us were nicknamed "double trouble".

I still enjoy going out with him whenever we can meet up, but now I follow the regs as closely as I can. Any way who needs to snag fish if you are fly fishing!

Snagging became a bona-fide method complete with "technique" that, in its distant past, was more akin to hunting. It actually became a class issue as well with "Neanderthal hunters" at one end and "Namby-Pamby" C&R fly-fishers at the other. Eeeesh! Since I fall into both camps I could "feel" both extremes.

However, the HUGE difference and the way I explained it to die-hard snaggers (or more accurately the more technique refined "Lifters") was that a dozen anglers could share a stream section and everyone could potentially catch fish -like what happens every day on trout waters all over the country. But put one snagger in there and his relatively crude methods which don't rely on unspooked fish, will ruin it for everyone. Take those techniques down to the Beaverkill, Ausable, or any other normal trout stream in the world and you'll be found strung up from a tree by nightfall. "Why is that OK here???" I'd ask.

The real game is played when the fish have a say in the matter. Enough said as I can feel my blood beginning to boil. Congrats Msmith14. You represent how I like to envision those fisheries back east I once plied and still love.

Young fellow, you ROCK!!! Those are fabulous fish. Keep up the good work! You're going to show up some of us "old codgers" on here...

Jonathon

Awesome fish, really well done! Must be great to have this kind of river in your backyard, do you have to buy a fishing licence every single time or do you(or your family) own this part of the river?

MSmith14. Good for you. You are very mature for your age. You remind me of one of my nephews. Great fish and keep posting photos. As was said previously, you rock.
Bruce

Orn,

In the United States most people need to buy a fishing license for the state they live in when they turn 16 years of age. That license is good for any where in the entire state that is generally open to public fishing.

If a person, for exampe, lives in New York and wants to fish in another state, he/she will have to buy what is called a "non-resident fishing license". These licenses (non-resident) are often available for 3, 7, and 15 days as well as an entire season.

If someone had private water on their property they might not need a license but they couldn't fish anywhere else and unless they owned at least a mile of river it would get boring to keep fishing the same water over and over again.

Matt Smith, here's to you and many more years of great fishing. Tight lines young man!

Thanks for the information. But doesn't that mean the possibility of many people fishing the same place at the same time? Or is there some limit on the number of rods for each day? The reason I'm asking is because of this video which I find incredible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQyAxUjUb68

I'm sorry if I'm going off topic and taking attention away from Matt's fantastic fish! Keep up the good work Matt :)

The private water you have is a wonderful gift; Something very few people have. Here, one can pay access fees for "private water". But there is a lot of public water too. Let's put it this way: There is more water within an hours drive of my home than I can do justice. Back in New York, in the central region in which I lived, there were 1600miles of designated public trout water.

Things can get busy in some places, the Russian River and some others being famous for the crowds at certain times. But there are many waters where a little walking will get you some privacy. Big trout however do have a tendency to draw crowds.

Thanks, I kinda figured that this video was an extreme case. I'm just not familiar with the concept of public water and was curious. Over here almost every single lake and river is owned by farmers/persons and you buy a licence for specific dates in advance(unless you know the right people), and in return you can have the river by yourself.

It's still a big country here. But...it's getting smaller, with further restrictions in store; The "tragedy of the commons" in play.

There is a certain commitment to the "public good" within government, philosophically based but paid for by cold hard cash via public fishing licenses and taxes. Managers I've known are knowledgeable and aware of the need for resource quality and health, and do work toward that end if the public works for it. There is not always agreement, as the snagging issue above speaks to.

I say, let there always be quality fisheries for youngsters like Matt to delve into, so that this thread title doesn't take on another possible meaning.