Have I been Good? I've been GREAT!

Things around ReALitY Tour Headquarters have been out of whack for a bit. Fortunately I've been lucky enough to get a fair bit of time on the water in the last couple weeks. My pal Sean made a run to DC from way down in Richmond and we cruised up to the Big Gunpowder (suprise) un time for the biggest water release I can remember this year. The flow comming out of the dam was over 350cfs. We drove up to the dam to check it out and it was indeed BLASTING out of the base. Standing at the top the ground shook and a hike to the bottom of the steps revealed an eerie rumble that shook your inner-ears. It was pretty cool.


Down on the water we strugled with spin casters tossing "Crick-hoppers" and kyackers. I managed to land 2 fish and my pal Sean sure looked like he knew what he was doing. ...he's going to get me for that one. I know it.

You'll see that, in the picture above, he's on the NORTH Side of the river. The trail is on the south side. I've fished from the north side and I know that it has it's advantages but it's not easy. It even harder when the water is 2 feet up from where it should be. That makes some of the holes over 5 feet deep - maybe more. Sean got shredded int he brambles while making his way back to the truck. I wont lie, it was funny as hell.

The view from the SOUTH Bank, along the trail:

Here's the second fish I nabbed on a white Wolly Bugger. I was tossing 2 to 3 splitshot above a heavy cone-head bugger and the fish I caught were in slow eddys.

Sean - in a happy pre-cheese grater moment. Just look at that back-cast!

If you're bored, try to find Sean. He's in there. I had a hard time finding him. Those shrubs are thick! While looking for him I knew where he was and that he was still alive because the leaves would shake around like there was a bear crawling through the underbrush. There was no bear. There was only Sean.

SO, in other fishing I've done, I went Steehlead fishing! I really went bass fishing but the weather was BAD up in Erie, PA last week. The wint was blowing 40 at Presque Isle Park and casting to the weeds was pointelss (I tried!). So I went out and explored the Steelhead streams as I'd been reading about how the run was just starting.

Well, I had no idea what I was getting into. I expected big fish, like 5 lbs. I didn't expect striper sized fish closer to 15lbs. In trout fishing, you hook a fish, it thinks "Holy CRap! What's happening to me?" and you reel it in and take a picture and let it go. When you hook a steelhead it gets pissed and fightes HARD. I thought I was winning but even when dragged into shallow water (myabe not hte best technique) the fish decided he was nowhere near being tired. Behold the thrashing and giant plumes of mud.

SO, everyone else is sporting a giant net or a gaff or a rifle or handgun or serious B.O. or 9 kids and a cooler of beer and a lawn chair, OR 4 or 5 friends who may actually be fish and part of the same gene pool as a carp.... I had nothing of the sort. Here's where my story of catching a giant steelhead goes sour. I had the leader in my left hand, and when I grabbed the fish's tail with my right hand, he went CRAZY again and my tipped gave in. I snapped a pick as I ran after him/her and that was all I got.

Here's me holding up my fish:

Lesson learned here: Bring 12lb test, forget the 4X tippet.

I had a great time in Erie and got a few days to drive around and explore. Over at the park the waves were wild and the fishing stunk. It looked like the Jersey Shore.

I swung by a shop called "Lake Erie Ultimate Angler" and a great fellow named JT pointed me to a bunch of spots for the scoping out. Below is Walnut Creek. The waves rolling in made me think of Manasquan Inlet in NJ.

At the fisrt ledge ont he creek were a handfull of guys with noodle-rods fishing shoulder to shoulder.

I swung down to Trout Creek to see where the state harvests their brood-stock. It was much smaller than I pictured. There's a lot of talk about rain and water levels but not many people talk about WHY that's so important to steelhead fishing. It's because the creeks don't meet the lake! When the flows are low the water jsut gets absorbed into the gravel and sand. The need for rain and snowmelt is so the fish can clear the beaches. See the picture below:

Crazy! I had no idea. I can't wait to go see the future in-laws at the hollidays. I hope they'll let me sneak out and fish!

Back home in DC I had a mayfly on my basil plants out in front of the RTHQ. It's not a great shot, I know, but it's proof!

Tie some flies and get ready for more caddis action before winter sets in. It's a cold saturday and there's more comming. Get out while you can still fish without a wool cap and gloves. Spread Love and wear your helmet.

Micah