woodsman2230 Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Hey everyone. I live about 30 minutes south of Erie. I have been fishing for steelhead up there a couple of time but I still dont know when they run up the streams. Would there be any in the creeks right now? Also, are there rainbow and brown trout living in like Elk creek or Walnut creek? Any advice would be greatly apprecited. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Pretty sure the steelies start running back up in October, they are all out in the lake now I'd say, or most of them anyway. Muggs is your guy to ask here, or our long lost buddy Aaron, they'll know better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pendog Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 I lived in Erie for several years, my experience is start talking ot people in September that live up there and see if they are starting. Alot of times we were catching them in September in shorts, the only problem is there is not much water up there during that time and the "run" can be limited. Whenever you hear of good rains there after Sept. it will be a good bet that they will be runnin the rappids. It is alot of fun up there, i have fished for Steel in several places and i have had the most fun in Erie. Just sheer numbers of Steel and their availability, i used to hamer them on my fly rod with a white streamer design that i made. There are trout in alot of those streams but again water is an issue in the summer. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggs Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Here's the deal. There's two species of steelies in Erie, PA stocks the one strain, Ohio the other. PA's fish are fall spawners, so they'll come into the streams in PA in mid to late September. Ohio's fish are a little later than that entering them in October. You'll be able to catch them througout the winter and into April. Once the water gets too warm they had back to the Lake to hit the deeper areas and get the oxygen they crave. Like pendog said, the size of the runs are very dependent on how the rivers flowing. The fish will drop back to the Lake if the rivers get too low, with some getting sort of landlocked so to speak. Plus, if the rivers get a lot of rain they'll blow out and be unfishable (too high and muddy, too dangerous to wade). Between Michigain, Ohio, New York, and PA you're talking about some of the best steelhead fishing in the world, with only the natives on the northwest coast being better. Even when the water is low on the smaller streams you can still have decent flows on larger ones so follow the flow charts and if you're willing to make the drive there's usually a place that's fishing prime. You can find summer steelhead fishing in Indiana, just about the only place I know that gets a summer run, but I've heard negative things and you can kill the fish very easliy when oxygen levels are this low in the water. I wouldn't do it- but that's just me. PA has tons of trout streams with stocked browns, and even some native brookies- but Summer time isn't a good time to be fishing streams, Spring is the best. Smallmouth fishing is good in PA too. The best advice I can give you, is learn your ethics. It's getting crowded on steelhead streams, and a lot of ethics come into play. I hate to preach, but: Don't jump into a guy's hole while he's fighting a fish. Don't play a snagged fish Don't catch fish spawning on gravel-they don't bite anyway Don't litter. Let me know what else you want to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggs Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 btw- I just realized you were asking spefically about Elk and Walnut. They have browns in them, and get some salmon in the fall too, but if you're wanting to fish for browns or brookies there are better streams around you for that. Check out Charles Meck's books. They're specific to PA and he knows it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shockwave Posted July 9, 2008 Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 Hey everyone. I live about 30 minutes south of Erie. I have been fishing for steelhead up there a couple of time but I still dont know when they run up the streams. Would there be any in the creeks right now? Also, are there rainbow and brown trout living in like Elk creek or Walnut creek? Any advice would be greatly apprecited. Thanks. We always fished for Steelhead in the spring.. You might want to try either sucker spawn, or a sucker spawn fly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.