For the first time...I return with FISH!

Went up to Erie this weekend and fished from the Legion parking lot, upstream.  Made my first tour up and back with the flyrod (didnt get as far as last time because last time I wasnt exactly sure where donny and his beaverettes laid claim), trying black, white, and olive wooly buggers, a purple zonker, three different colors of glowbugs, and my glowwy-crittery fly from the One Fly.  Nothing.  Not one fish even batted an eye at anything I threw at it.  The closest thing to interest I got was once with the purple zonker when two fish came from across the creek straight for it...but it just turned out to be a male chasing a female.  Hopefully he had better luck than me.

So I fished my way back down to the car and switched to the noodle rod.  Tried single eggs, salted minnows, and waxies with a few interested fish, but nothing even close to a take.  Made my way back up to the farthest upstream where anyone could fish, and decided to make my stand there until dark.  I was getting more of the same, but up there, people around me were actually catching, which made it frustrating and encouraging at the same time.  Finally I asked a guy what he was using, and the answer was skein.

Well, I had no skein so I matched it as close as I could: orange powerbait.  Fairly poor match, I know, but the fish didnt seem to mind.  5 minutes later, I landed a nice male, and 15 after that a nice female.  The male went on the string, my first ever kept fish, and the female went back.  Also had several other near-hookups, and I watched one take it, turn, and spit it out before I could set the hook on him.  It really seemed to be something they liked! 

I also got to talk to a few guys while fishing beside them, and everyone I spoke to was VERY nice, and many even tried to help me catch more fish (thanks goes out to Ed for giving me his leftover skein!).

So this morning I wake up (in my snow covered car!), grab some Sheetz serious dark roast, and head back over.  It was really cool being one of like a dozen guys on that whole section, as well as trudging up Elk in the dusting of snow and the pre-dawn gloom.  Headed back up to the same spot, and had the pleasure of being the first guy there.  On my way I passed several fly fishermen who seemed to be hooking up pretty regularly, though I didnt ask them what they were using.

At the riffle where I'd caught two fish the night before, I was getting nothing except frostbite and tangles, and soon, the rest of the fishermen were up around me, catching fish.  Again, I asked what people were using, again skein.  So I tied on a treble, and used some of Ed's skein.  It took a long time and a few more tangles, but I finally got another fish, this time, another hen.  I decided to keep her because I'd traded the first one in for a smoked fish, and I wanted to bring some fresh fish home to see how it compares to salmon.  It'll probably get baked with butter, lemon, and a dill rub.  As an added bonus, I have plenty of skein to use next week (and shre with some friends who I'll be meeting up there!).

For what its worth, these are the first non-panfish I've caught using bait in years.  Also, I found that I have trouble switching from fly to spin.  I lost count of how many times I tried to flip my line back upstream like a flyline, to no avail.

Good job  Maybe next time you will be here when they are turned on and have one of those 30 fish days  

Glad to hear you finally got some steel on.  Still think this will be your only season?

Nice post AND nice fish. You did alot of the right things. You walked, you changed baits, you changed rigs, you asked.....those r well earned fish. Good for you and...

Welcome to Thunderdome!

Good fish and like Slickfish said well earned. I caught my first trout on a flyrod last Thursday and it happened to be a brown trout, it felt great and I will never forget. After noodle rod fishing for 6 or 7 years and catching fish. It makes you think when you switch to a fly rod but its really not that different. Now that I see the little differences lets hope I can catch as many fish as I did with a noodle rod. Being 14 and spin fishing your whole life its a change to switch to a fly rod. Of course though I knew of the different types of reels and  different ways to fish and what they offer. But now I'll only spin fish when I have to. I fly fished for bass and now trout. It was harder to catch fish this week with this low and clear water.They will be a bit spooky. But once you find a pod of fish untouched or are into what your using you will catch fish. When I wasn't catching fish on my fly rod I felt like it was something wrong but it really wasn't it was the low and clear water. Also they were spooked , running when my junk hit the water. I wasn't using anything big because I knew they would get spooked. But I finally found a fish that was not getting nervous and finally hit.

You da man cold!

Congrats dude!

Awesome pics Cold, go get em!

great job . way to stick with it. don't ever rule out any bait or technique. last saturday it was low and clear, some fish were very spooky. my friend was spooking with a small fly, decided to go to a big, bright,and ugly , fly. it worked , 13# male hammered it. the norm for the conditions just was not working on that spot. keep fishing.

Oh please, I've had cheaper reels than that one for years and years, and they've all stood up to what little water and snow they see without any problem.  I take pretty good care of all my reels, but I do expect them to be able to handle the outdoors.  If it cant handle being set down on wet ground or snow for 15 seconds while I take a picture, then I want to know right away so I never take it out again.

Actually, not to be nitpicky, but I've had far more issues with fly reels getting screwed up from the rigors of fishing than spinning.  Granted, my first reel was a very cheap one, but still, just a tiny bit of mud and it gave me a world of problems.  Now that I've replaced it with a much nicer reel, I've had no such problems.

I DO know not to dunk my reel for fun, but like I said, if it can't handle some brief exposure to that sort of thing, it's more of a liability than an aid to my fishing.

yea i put my reel through hell but everyonce in a while take it part and lube it up a little bit..

congrats cold. cant wait to hit the streams myself. will be up on the 19-20 this month. cant wait. again congrats to ya.

Cold,
    I knew from the look on your face that you would become addicted.   About bones:  If you cook the entire fish sometimes you can grab the backbone and the tail and just lift all the bones out still attached to the spine.  Other times if the fish is really well cooked you can take a fork down the rib line from top to bottom and the bones will come out.  If you are dealing with a fresh caught fish make a small slit above the pin bone line before filleting and slice the fillet as normal without cutting any bones, then lift the head and tail and most of the bones will be pulled out of the body.  Then skin and fillet.

Heading up again in about 9 hours, and I gotta say, getting into some fish did me a world of good.  Its not quite the excitement that I get the night before the first day of buck, but I'm definitely excited.  Also, weirdo that I am, I'm pumped that the weather has decided to me miserable (is anyone else like that?  I LOVE being out in bad weather).  I just hope conditions dont become dangerous.

My friends are already up there, and saw some action on 20 Mile, no fish landed though.  I suggested Elk for tomorrow morning, and I think that's what we're doing.

Good luck all!

Also, if you're on Elk near the Legion hole, and see me, say hi!  I'll have an orange coat, green hip boots, and a Pitt hat w/ gold hook on the brim. 

For now, I'm gonna have a beer or three with some friends, then try and sleep...and hope this skein-sicle thaws by tomorrow morning!

I guess I,m in your legion of weirdos. lol
Just love being there and having a great day!