February Erie Steelhead???

[TroutBuster]

Anyone having any luck fishing for steelhead in the last week or two? Are the creeks up around Erie still froze over??

 

[FarmerDave]

My guess is they are flooded and with ice jams. Call it an educated guess. The Ohio tribs are in real bad shape right now, so it is a safe bet that the PA tribs are just as bad. It is supposed to be about 60 today and tomorrow with rain. Hopefully that will blow out the ice, but right now there is flooding and fear of even worse flooding. anyway, if all the ice gets blown out, then all you have to wait for is for the streams to go down. It shouldn't take too long based on the extended forcast.

 

[TroutBuster]

Yeah, thats about what I figured. Is the fishing up there any good this time of year once the water level comes down?? I've only been up there fishing in the fall.

 

[pcray1231]

Yeah, it can be good in the spring. March was always one of my favorite months, under the right conditions I'm sure February is just as good. It's still crowded of course, but the worst of the crowds are gone. They do get a spring run of adult steelhead, some jacks are mixed in too ("small" 18 inch immature steelhead). You get a sucker run too. Just have to watch out for the pesky smolts, they're literally everywhere and in some places you simply can't fish for the steelhead because a smolt takes the fly almost instantly basically every cast. Be careful with them, they are our future....

 

[reds]

I have fished before in February and it is hit or miss. Much harder to plan a trip, you basically go when things look like they are shaping up to be good. Of course that is how i try to do most of my erie trips, if it looks good tomorrow i go for it, as opposed to setting a date weeks ahead of time, that is where a flexible work schedule comes in handy.

 

[OhioOutdoorsman]

If the ice jams blow out, the ohio tribs could be fishable fora few days before they slush up again. I wouldn't expect decent fishing. I don't plan on anything until march.

 

[sandfly]

to much ice on the lakes to let the ice out. ice jams and high water now.