Had an amazing day on the chagrin river yesterday(for my standards). I have been looking into steelhead fishing for a couple years and have made a few trips up over the past couple years with little to no success. I cant thank the members of this forum enough for all the good information i have read and put to use. Learning to understand the water flows and the methods people use.
The trip started with a 3 hour drive to get to the river. At the first spot my friend got 2 nice steelhead that where just under 5 pounds each. We then tried another location which odnr maps have marked. We tried one hole there and had no bites and quickly moved to diffrent hole on that stretch. There right off the bat my friend got another steelhead that was smaller. I finally got one that was also smaller. We fished that spot the rest of the day and i ended up catching 6 with the best being just under 7 pounds. My friend had 4 total for the day. We both lost some fish and had failed hook sets. It is a day i will remember forever and has me dieing to make another trip. Again i can not thank all the members of the ogf forum enough.
Ive been thinking that chicken livers might work. Now i know they eat anything so it should work good. Big bloody scent trail should make finding the hook for steel easy in muddy water
Probably would work! To make em last even longer for drifts tie em up in some chartreuse netting! That’s the beautiful thing about steelhead. A fish that are so frustrating to learn how to fish for turn out to be so easy once you understand them and how to present baits to them. You can catch them on sooooo many things. Presentation is the key to it all. You present that chicken liver correctly probably would work. Give it a shot and let us know!
I opened the fridge today and was looking for something to eat. Then i thought everthing in there is bait. So i guess i have a lot in common with my new favorite fish. As long as my fridge doesnt end up in the river i wont have to fight off steelhead for food lmao
Catfish my buddy Brian used to catch Steelhead on balls of cheese rolled up in circles. I’ve seen him do it. Used to use cheese while I used eggs and jigs back in the day.
Have you guys found if one bait works best and will get all the fish in a hole to bite or if each fish might want to dite something diffrent. Like eggs might get a few then jigs get a few and so on. Or what ever bait gets the most bites is what you would throw the rest of the day
Sometimes one bait gets all of them. Sometimes it doesn’t matter. Steelhead change their minds frequently. I have a go to bait I always use. The other day I was fishing from my kayak in no current so I used two rods. They slammed my purple jig non stop but wouldn’t touch anything else including my go to. Usually once the bite stops in a hole change baits or colours and you will pick up a couple more. Sometimes like the last few days it can be nonstop action for an hour and then completely shut off for hours.
Thank you.do you put in and take out your kayak at one spot? Would love to take my kayak but dont have a shuttle vehicle. Im coming up tomorrow. Hope the bite is hot. Hitting the chagrin since its on the way to the grand. Hope they like something i take.
Had good time on the rivers yesterday. Landed 5 out of 7. Friends that came with me all hooked up but only 2 got landed out of the 5 hook ups they had. Funniest part was each time they left a spot i went to it and hooked up in a few drifts.
Never seen so many shiners before. I was fishing behind the hospital, in Bula, and the ducks were pinning them against the shore and ambushing them. Pretty cool to watch. Fishing was so so. Caught a couple skippers, a real nice male, and a spawned out hen, all on spoons, nothing on jig and maggots.
Rivers are all starting to blow out. Figures i have tomorrow free. Might go to the mad river for browns but now they are minnows compared to steelhead.
Eyes are always hiting. Its just where at. You arent fishing the walleye run now are you? Ive gone for the walleye run on maumee once and it was people shoulder to shoulder waist deep and i had no waiters at the time. Maybe thats the next thing i need to work on.
Nope I have a rotation and routine. Skeeter now couple weeks pyma then skeeter and erie the pyma then erie for the remainder. Btw haven't had the boat out yet and we are catching. Since you said it steel always hitting too lol.
Sounds like you have it all figured out. Im trying to expand the fish i go after. I use to fish for nothing but channel catfish just a few years back and wouldnt fish all winter. Now i think of all the fishing i missed out on.
Had an unforgettable day. first double digit day. Landed 18 and had action all day long. If i wasnt truly addicted before then i am now. I almost cant believe steelhead alley is in ohio. Steelhead may have bumped catfish off as my favorite fish now. Also had a good laugh watching a guy go for swim when he slipped(he was safe) and saw deer everywhere.
C.j. i actualy have never used shrimp for catfish. I use nothing but shad that i catch. I think i enjoy netting shad as much as catching catfish. On a good day i can fill a 5 gallon bucket in 2 throws of my cast net. The steelhead where biting everything i put on the hook with no best bait. Shrimp got maybe half of them then i had the container get nocked over by a flopping fish and used spawn sacs i had frozen from a few trips ago. Salmon and steelhead eggs. Cured uncured and even rotten stinky eggs.
Congrats man! Like I said they are eating machines. You could probably throw a gun wrapper on a hook on those days and it would probably catch steel. I know a guy that catches them on marabou jigs with no bait.
It makes me wonder if times i didnt get bites if there wasnt fish there. It seems like if they see what you throw out then they bite or they just wont bite anything at times. Also i talked to a guy fishing and he mentioned he jasnt gotten any big fish in the past few years. Do you guys think the big 10+ pound fish are less common now? Ive heard a 10 pound fish is pretty much trophy size
There are more numbers now but smaller fish. From Nov to the end of season if conditions are right and I fish from dawn until about 11, if I don’t get 10 it’s a bad day. I am going places in my kayak most can’t get to though.
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