Fishing the Lee Side

Fishing the Lee Side

4/03/19

  Waves crashed against the mounds of ice stacked up along the shoreline spraying water in every direction. Gusts of winds blew in from the lake and distorted any casts at the time. The tall leafless trees that survived the winter, lining the creek, were now going to have to survive the fierce winds. Even the strongest tree limbs bowed and swayed with the gusts as smaller branches clanked together sounding like an old working corn conveyor feeding a silo.

 

 Nearer the creek mouth ducks swam and played upon the wrinkled water away from the calamity of Lake Erie.

 

 

  We spent a few hours with the boys casting into the darker deeper water that flowed along the bank. With sized boulders, overhanging branches and submerged limbs one would think steelhead would be holding waiting for food to pass by. It was if we were trying to hand out samples of brussels sprouts next to a green bean stand at a local farm market. We couldn’t get any fish to commit to take any of our offerings of the assorted colors we picked out of our fly boxes. 

 After the boys had left with Jack, John and I stuck around. We knew there had to be fish here so we decided to keep at it.

  John had swear he had a strike or two at times but wasn’t able to say for sure as nothing actually bent his fly rod. It wasn’t till I reared back, on a possible take, that a sure thing took off, spun the spool, arced the rod and pulled line through the eyes that shot some excitement through our veins. I stood with the butt end in my gut to steady the rod as I held the cork grip with both hands letting the steelhead fight both the reel drag and rod pressure. It shot up creek, surfaced with angry head shaking, splashing water about, and submerged in a matter of seconds. It then U-turned and raced down creek as yellow fly line cut through the water like a swift samurai sword through a cantaloupe.

  As I felt the energy of the steelhead subside I started backing up towards the bank while putting more tension on the line. The steelhead gradually came in my direction with more tugging and yanking of the line. When the fish got into the stony shallows it shifted on its side and finned away like a stingray not wanting to touch bottom. The rod bowed a little more but flexed back with the turning steel in tow. At the bank I dislodged the chartreuse sparkle spawn from the inside of its mouth.

 

  The second hook up was a bit down creek from the first. It took the dropper spawn and wreaked havoc like a confined rooster let loose in a circle of young hens. I could tell it wasn’t as big as the first but was a lot more frisky. It shot up and downstream and quickly came towards me during the skirmish. I raised the rod high and reeled in as quick as possible to keep a tight line. Near me it swerved to keep from hitting my legs and turned out toward the deep. Line shot out of the guides as the fish headed toward the mangled limb debris against the far bank. I lifted the rod, with my left hand holding line, preventing him from going any further. My knots held up and the fish quickly turned and unwillingly came my way. I landed him and released him unharmed.

 Well, after that catch I took out an Alec Bradley Sun Grown and made the steelhead fishing experience a little more enjoyable.

 

 There appeared to be a long lull in the action. John couldn’t buy a hit and I was trying to figure out just what the fish may want. I knew there were suckers coming in the creeks from the pictures I’ve seen on PA. Fishing sights. I decided a cream sucker spawn might just get more fish interested than the last colors we showed them. From then on you would have though I was passing out fresh sweet pea pods to the remaining food fair goers.

Within a few cast it was a sudden stop of the indicator that drew my attention. I yanked back and the slack line on the surface quickly came off the water and tight lined towards the indicator. I gave a holler to John that I caught another. This fish was just as frisky as the last. Tugging, running and surface splashing trying to get free. When I finally got him to the bank I seen that the cream spawn was hooked right at the tip of his lower lip.

 

 I had caught a few more after that one before we called it quits. One looked to be an older drop back which was a lot more darker. I didn’t get to land any of the last 3 though. My line broke from the top spawn after one fight and the others were just able to unhook themselves during the battle.

Back at the truck we got out of our waders and couldn’t wait to get out of the windy conditions and into the warm truck. We headed over to the hotel to meet up with Jack and the two teenage boys he brought along from Kentucky. We enjoyed a meal with them before heading homeward.

~doubletaper