Steelhead Strike Out

Indiana - December 23, 2010

Al Bernicky and I got an early start towards Indiana this morning. We were hoping for a great day of Steelhead fishing. As we got there I couldn't help but notice how much more snow they have had in that area due to the Lake Michigan effect. There was a lot of it.

I raced off into the woods and followed the snow packed trail to find my spot partially frozen over, but there was enough room to fish. Long story short....I went 0 for three. I struck out. The first fish hit within the first few minutes after I started fishing. As soon as I pulled back on him, the hook came out. The next fish broke me off and I pulled the hook again on the third one. But when you're fishing in a setting such as the photo below, how can you complain?

Al fishes a scenic spot along the creek

A little while later Al showed up and said he had not even had a bite. I thought he would have landed a couple but he had nothing. He fished my spot a for a bit without a bite so we started fishing our way back. I shot some video of the walk along the creek and may or may not post it at some point. I didn't even fish until I got all the back to where the trail meets the creek as you walk in. I caught a couple smolts but that was it. Al showed up after a short time and settled into a scenic spot where I was able to get a nice photo of him. It didn't take long before I heard him say "FISH!". He landed a nice Steelhead and at that point we called it a day and headed for home.

Al shows off the only fish of the day before releasing it

One thing I noticed was the lack of moving wildlife. Usually the place is loaded with birds and squirrels, and one you almost always see other creatures, but not today. I saw a few birds and not one squirrel. I guess the fish were taking it easy today too.

Jumping Steelhead

Indiana - November 24, 2010


 An early morning visitor

I got an early start and arrived at my destination well before the sun began peeking over the horizon. After parking my car and getting my gear ready, I began walking into the darkness of the woods. The ground was very muddy which only added to the hazards that make the trip along the creek a treacherous one even during the daylight. The path was littered with sticker bushes and downed tree limbs, not to mention the washed out spots that can send you tumbling down the embankment into the cold water if you're not careful.

Stopping to say hello



As I got to the first spot I wanted to fish, a deer appeared in a small clearing just across the creek. He stopped to watch me for a minute and quickly decided I was not a threat to him. A few seconds later, a second deer joined him. They watched me for a little bit before they went on their way. For me, it's always a neat thing when I come across a creature in the wild and they decide I'm not a threat to them and they go about their business. Sometimes they run away when I pick up the camera, but these deer watched me as I set up my two Steelhead rods. They seemed curious about me.

My first Steelhead of the Fall

I began floating wax worms down the creek. I felt a bite right away but knew instantly that my bait was being harassed by the smolts - which are small 4 to 8 inch Steelhead that have yet to make their way out to Lake Michigan. I reeled the bait in and made an adjustment with the hope that I'd have fewer smolts attacking it. Sure enough the bobber went under and stayed there and I knew I had a good bite.

 Trying to get a grip

The fish made one powerful run as the line screamed off my reel. At the end of its run it made several high jumps out of the water. I moved down the creek towards the fish as I reeled in more line. I found a good spot to land the fish and as I knelt down in preparation to bring the fish in, it jumped again and hit me square in the chest. I thought for sure the line would break but it held and the fish landed in the water right in front of me. A few seconds later I was able to scoop it out of the water.

Still not cooperating

I made a couple of attempts to get pictures using the self timer but the fish still had a lot of fight left in him. He kept squirming and I wasn't able to get a decent shot after two attempts. I figured that he had been out of the water long enough so I turned around and lowered him close to the water so he wouldn't have far to fall when he broke my grip.

Resting before heading back into the current

The fish swam off but turned around stopped about 5 feet down from where I released him. He stayed there for a minute or two before swimming off into the deeper water and out into the current. I made a few more drifts in that area before throwing a spinner that I had made. With no luck on the spinner I moved off to another spot.

 Low water level

The mud made finding a safe spot to fish very difficult. There would have been more options for me if I would not have minded standing in the slop, but I decided to stay out of the slop and on drier ground for this trip. I tried two more spots with no luck before I wound up at my last spot.

Steep embankment behind the trees

At my last spot I wound up catching several smolts very quickly. I had to re-tie a few times after snagging in the brush that is all over the bottom of that creek. Eventually I felt some resistance when pulling back on the line and I had another good fish on. This fish was a couple pounds smaller than the first one and much darker. I managed to get it out of the water but I still had about 4 or 5 feet of mud to either walk through or drag the fish through. I got the fish about halfway and the hook pulled free. Since the fish was still just out of my reach, I turned the rod around and gently rolled him back into the water. He swam off with a burst and I decided to call it a day. There was freezing rain on the way and I did not want to be stuck in the holiday get-a-way traffic in an ice storm.

Ice Fishing the Soft Water

Indiana - February 12, 2010

More Photos:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/02122010.htm

Frozen Solid

There was a glimmer of light in the eastern sky as I began driving east on I-80 toward Indiana. The outside temperature was 13 but the forecast high was for 26. They later revised that about 5 degrees higher after the forecast clouds failed to materialize.

No Room to Fish

By the time I parked the car at my destination, the thermometer was showing 8 degrees outside. I knew I was going to be in for a rough time with the rod guides freezing up. The creek was frozen all the way across in a couple of spots, but where there was a little more current there was open water.

Frozen Bobber and Line

The first couple of spots I wanted to fish were not fishable due to the thin ice going out so far. Where I was able to fish I still had to contend with chunks of ice constantly floating by.

Fishing in the Floating Ice

All I could do was toss the bait out into the ice and hope for the best. The ice was moving faster than my bait was drifting so I had to constantly pop the bobber loose from the ice that would over take it.

First Steelhead of the Day Comes Out of the Water

Luckily on my second drift, the bobber failed to pop back up. I clicked the bail shut and began reeling up the slack and sure enough I had my first fish on. The fish swam under the ice that had frozen out from the opposite bank. I lowered the rod to my side and was able to get him out of there. Next he swam under the ice that had frozen out from the bank on either side of the spot I was standing in. At that point I let him go where he wanted but when he went back out in the current I was able to horse him to my feet without the line breaking due to the ice that kept hitting it.

"The water isn't much warmer."

I picked up the fish, set him in the snow and unhooked him before taking a few photos. He was released no worse for the wear.

Lots of Ice Behind Me

After several more drifts I gave up on that spot and moved down stream. It took a little longer, but another Steelhead took the bobber down.

More Ice Floats By

This fish felt bigger as it pulled drag out. Then for some unknown reason it turned and swam upstream right towards me. I reeled as fast as I could until the fish stopped and started fighting in circles right in front of me.

Circling for Another Run

I was going to have to somehow get the fish up onto the thin ice that was frozen a foot or more out over the water in front of me. I chose that spot because the ice was out even further on both sides up stream and down.

Diving Under the Ice

The fish swam under the ice in front of me and broke a big chunk off. As it floated out I realized he had done me a favor because I now had more room to land him.

Steelhead Swims Toward the Bank Under the Skim Ice

At this point I got a real good look at one of the biggest Steelhead I had ever had on the end of my line. It took off again for open water and wanted to fight a little more. When I got it close again it swam under the thin ice just above where I was standing. I don't know what it was thinking because it hit the sand under the ice and kept trying to swim right up onto the bank. I got a hand under it and lifted it up and quickly set it down in a huge snow bank that had drifted out from the creek embankment.

Just enough room to get him out of the water

The fish was still hooked so I quickly got the line untangled from the ice just in case the fish decided it was going to flop around and try to get back to the water. Sure enough, it did. I stopped it once as I snapped a few pictures. The fish nearly took my rod with it into the water as it tried to get away again. This time I picked up the rod and let the fish wiggle his way out onto the ice which quickly broke under his weight. He made a few powerful splashes as he took off for deeper water.

Big Steelhead in the Snow

I drifted that spot for a while longer without any other bites. The sun was getting higher in the sky and there was less and less ice drifting by. I could still hear the ice out over the creek moan and groan as the sun warmed it. I decided to move but as I approached the spot I wanted to fish, I noticed the area was frozen to the point where there was no place I'd be able to fish so I headed back.

Through the Skim Ice to Freedom

I stopped at the spot where a nice fish had broken my rod during the previous trip. By this time I didn't need gloves anymore and there was no more ice floating by. The ice around the shoreline was minimal in this spot due to the current but all I was able to do was snag twice.

A Scenic Spot

An older gentleman I hadn't seen before stopped to ask how and I did and then went to a spot about 50 or 60 yards down. A short time later he landed a nice fish and released it. I threw the spinner a couple times then decided to hit the road.

A Nice Steelhead about to be Landed

It turned into a really nice day. It warmed into the mid 30s by the time I got home and Bear was happy to have some play time in the snow.

Bear is Happy to Play Ball in the Snow

Bear Goes Fishing

By William D. Anderson

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Fishing in the Snow

Indiana - December 22, 2009

Snow falling on the creek

Al Bernicky and I made yet another trip to Indiana for Steelhead. We were met there by Rich Delaney. This time it was snowing when we left and it kept snowing all day long. The snow made the creek very scenic. Before I ran off to my spot, I stopped to take a few photos of the snow settling on the trees and brush.

A Holiday Traveler

I got to my spot and began to set up both steelhead rods. I heard a faint noise in the water behind me and turned around to see an Otter coming out of the water and scampering up the bank into some downed trees. I couldn't get the camera out of the bag quick enough before he was deep in his hiding place. He played peek-a-boo a couple times before he was gone for good. Later on, Rich found me and told me he had seen it a little upstream from where I was still fishing.

There's an Otter in there somewhere

Fishing was painfully slow. If it wasn't for the snow enhancing the beauty of the creek, I would have given up a lot earlier. It took a few hours before I hooked my first fish on a spinner. It came up just enough for me to see it a was a good one and then broke off.

Al gets a fish close before it breaks off

Al showed up later on and hooked a massive fish. I was a little down stream so I grabbed the camera and raced over to him just in time for the fish to swim under a log and break off.

A difficult and dense trail

I stuck it out in that spot a while longer as did Rich. I saw his bobber go down as he was drifting bait, but he missed the fish. I briefly hooked another one later on before losing it almost immediately.

Rich waits for a fish to hit

After that I gave up. I found Al fishing near the entrance point and sure enough he tied into another good fish. This was his second hook-up of the day.

Al fights a big Steelhead

I got the camera out of the bag again and started shooting. I was able to get a few shots of the fish as it came up before it broke off.

Als fish comes up one last time before it breaks off

That was all it took for Al to call it quits too. Fishing was terrible, but we got to see the creek at it best thanks to the snow.

The one that got away

Steelhead Fishing - December 8, 2009

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/12082009.htm

Al and I headed for Indiana again.When we left it was dark, snowing, and a winter storm watch had been posted for the area. The snow made the creek very scenic, but the air warmed enough to melt most of it quickly and the precipitation changed to rain - but not before I caught a fish on my third cast.

Me with a Steelhead

Click to see very scenic photos of the creek during a Lake Effect Snow from 2004!
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It wasn't a real big fish but it made me happy considering I had struck out the last two trips. For a few minutes I forgot about the snow and how cold my hands were starting to get.

A powerful run towards freedom

I placed the fish back in the water after a couple photos and it did a good job of splashing me as it took off for deeper water. I was already soaked from the snow that was quickly changing over to light rain.

A small bird follows me a long the creek

As I continued to fish, I kept hearing things in the brush all around me. At first I thought it was the wind, but that really hadn't started yet. I finally caught a glimpse of a small bird just a couple feet from me. He and his buddies seemed to be playing a game where they'd see how close they could get to me before I noticed them. Every time I'd turn, they'd take off only to return a moment later. Eventually they decided I was safe and followed me as I made my way through the brush along the creek.

More timber in the water

There were a lot more birds today than I've seen in a while. Several Cardinals were looking for and finding food, and even more Bluejays were yelling from the trees. Belted Kingfishers flew by often enough to tell there were a few of them and not just the same one making the rounds like they do at other places I fish.

A Cardinal finds a meal on a branch overhanging the creek.

The creek we were fishing is loaded with brush and snags. Just trying to find a spot to cast is also dangerous because of steep embankments, mud, and sticker bushes that make up the shoreline. One wrong step and you could be sliding down a 12 foot vertical drop into 10 or more feet of frigid water. You can kind of see in the picture at the top that I'm pretty high above the water, and if you look at the other side you can see the drop there too. The sticker bushes will grab any exposed skin so quality rain gear is a must to keep your clothes from getting ripped to shreds.

Downed trees in a narrow and shallow part of the creek

Al finally worked his way back to where I was. He had only caught one fish so far but mentioned he saw a huge King Salmon that failed to get the memo about swimming back out to the lake. He said it was very dark and had quite a hooked jaw. He couldn't get it to bite though. We knew the spot I was working was holding a few more fish so we continued to work it thoroughly. I finally hooked a big fish on a spinner. Al was fishing about 50 yards down and hurried over to help me land it. It finally came up just enough so we could see just how big it was and the spinner popped loose and came flying back right towards Al's face. He ducked and it lodged in the tree directly behind him.

The Steelhead won this battle

After a while, Al hooked a good fish and it broke him off. I had a few bumps from fish but didn't hook up with anything other than the two smolts I landed.

Al lands another one

A few minutes later, Al had another one on and was able to land it very quickly. It was about the same size as the one I had caught much earlier. After releasing it we continued hammering the spot.

Al lands the best fish of the day

Al hooked up again and landed the best fish of the day which put him at 3 for 4. At that point we decided we'd hit the road to try to beat the storm that was heading for us. By the time we got back it was raining pretty good, and as I write this it looks like a full force blizzard outside. Time to get the snow blower out of the shed.

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