It's been a few weeks since my last post. The trip to Erie County & a cold I caught while there, plus getting back to business back here at home have kept me from getting the blog fired up again. This post & the next few will be my reflections on my "Erie Experience" of mid-October. I will include some other reports, as well.
Steelheading, I've come to learn, is not just fishing for steelies, but kind of an event, a mindset, even. Like many things, there is certainly a knack to it. Speaking strictly about technique, approach, etc., you need to get the knack down & understand the whole dynamic of presentation, water levels & temps, steelhead behavior, etc. Also, fishing in mid-October means you will definitely have company. Tons of anglers come from all over PA, & neighboring states to hit the tribs. While I did meet people from Reading, PA , York, PA & from Easton, PA & right over the Delaware in Philipsburg, NJ, & a few locals were out, too, overwhelmingly, the Pittsburgh & southwestern, PA Steelheaders were up in full force. I have to say, while crowds of other anglers aren't usually my favorite sight, these guys (& gals) were very friendly, helpful, encouraging, & overall, just good people. One guy, who had been fishing next to me, volunteered to walk the dark trail back through the woods on Elk Creek to the parking lot, when I told him I forgot my flashlight. He walked ahead of me with his headlamp, pointing out rocks, roots, fallen logs & other obstacles, as we talked steelhead & fishing in general. Other guys were encouraging when I told them my luck was pretty non-existent, telling me that it took them a long time to get the gist of this thing we call Steelheading. There were husband & wife teams, long time friends who were making what most likely was an annual event. There were whole families, and there were generations of grandfathers, fathers, & sons who found a way to enjoy their time by coming up for the steelie run. There were all sorts & classes of fishing being done: live bait, power-bait, lures, fly-fishing. Some people had more than one type of fishing outfit to up their chances. There were people who were staying in hotels or motels, like me, others who slept in their cars, & others who I swear slept in their lawn chairs on the wall at Elk Creek, with their radios & lights shining like small beacons in the misty evening. The steelies were there, sometimes taunting & tantalizing by jumping out of the stream with a violent splash. It's as if this whole deal was a game for them, trying to get the angler to cast to them, only to set a trap for the angler, as fly, lure, or baited hook would tangle on a submerged log or rock. Like the salmon run up in Pulaski, NY, or tailgating before a ballgame, steelheading is a whole different way of fishing, some would say, a way of life, although to me that might be a bit extreme! It is not for everybody. It's probably not even the best time to go. November is supposedly better. But, mid-October Steelheading is definitely an Erie thing, an "Erie State of Mind."
