Lake Erie Steelhead Fishing Primer (Part 4)

In this installment of the steelhead fishing primer I'll discuss some of the specifics of how to catch fish.  First we'll look at where to fish (that is, where on the section of stream you're fishing...where to fish in general is covered in part 3) and then move on to presentation methods and the best terminal tackle to use in these presentations. In case you haven't been reading the updates as they were posted, you can find all previous installments at the following links: Lake Erie Steelhead Fishing Primer (Part 1) Lake Erie Steelhead Fishing Primer (Part 2) Lake Erie Steelhead Fishing Primer (Part 3) Lake Erie Steelhead Fishing Primer...

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Lake Erie Steelhead Fishing Primer (Part 3)

Okay.  You've got your rod, your reel, your line, (that you chose based on the second part of this series) grabbed up a bunch of flies (which flies exactly?  we'll discuss that in the next installment), and you drove up to Erie.  79 drops you onto route 5 and you decided to go east because...well...you felt like it.  Actually you headed east because you missed the exit to go west and now you're going east and that's that.  It's still nice and early (dawn if you timed it right), and you're cruising up through town looking for the giant sign that says: STEELHEAD PARKING AHEAD.  You drive and drive (and drive) and the next thing you know, you're out of the other side of Erie and cruising out over the countryside wondering where the hell these streams are.  Sure,...

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Lake Erie Steelhead Fishing Primer (Part 2)

Now that you know you want to go to Erie to do some steelhead fishing, you're wondering where to begin. Hopefully, you've already perused the first part of this beginners' guide. If not, you should definitely check it out. While each of the parts of this guide should be able to stand alone, a beginner will be able to learn something from each of them. These next two parts of the steelhead primer will focus on the nuts and bolts of the experience: the 'where' and 'with what' of the steelhead fishing. First, the gear, then the locations. For gear, I'll try to help the newbie understand how to choose the proper tools for the task, from the basic most entry-level setup to some of the higher end gear...but stopping well short of the extravagance some guys bring to the tribs (and look thoroughly...

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Lake Erie Steelhead Fishing Primer (Part 1)

So you’ve heard a lot of talk about the steelhead fishing in Erie, PA and you’ve deicded that this fall you want to try it. Perhaps you’re a bass fisherman who likes the idea of big, aggressive fish biting all winter. Maybe you’re a trout angler enticed by the thought of an average fish being 6-9 pounds. For whatever reason, you plan to make the drive north this fall to see just what it’s all about. With this piece (and the two that I plan to follow up with), I hope to give you a much better idea of what to expect for your first trip to Erie. I do want to preface all of this by saying that I’m by no means any sort of steelhead expert, and that if you have any doubts about anything I say that you should definitely do your own homework. My aim with these articles are simply to give prospective...

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