A friend just quit...

A friend of mine just called it quits on the Steelhead fishing. He left all his gear on my porch today and said its all mine. 2 spinning rods, a fly rod, dozens of flies and lures, tackle box, fishing vest..his entire set up. I think I'll organize everything and wait till Sept or Oct.....He'll be back....lol.

I can see quitting steelhead fishin, but fishin altogether? Not a chance! She aint worth it!

I can understand his frustration, i say atleast once or twice a year i'm done dealing with all the people. But i've found if i dont start til mid to late november i can miss the crazies who drive me nuts and still enjoy myself. I'd throw the stuff in the shed, he'll be back by october..

I steelhead fish one of the most exploited rivers in the world; and often find open water; can't see how other people can make you not want to steel fish again... there's too much water and too many fish out there to let others ruin it for you. Just sayin

ORIGINAL: Bogeyjoker

I quit stream steel fishing a decade ago (I still like to catch them on open water). I don't miss it a bit, and my blood pressure has stabilized ever since.

Amen brother if I wanna rag and tag I'll go to the local tavern. its been 20 years for me. I can find plenty of ****bags at the local pharmacy

Is everything in erie that small cold? I guess that would turn me off as well... I travel 4 hours to catch my steel as it is; that's how deep my passion runs for them... I've had days where I lost count on hookups and didn't see one... also hadd das where the water looked perfect and caught nothing.that's what keeps me coming back... I don't like to see them. There are plenty of tribs that are tiny and host large runs; but I prefer to just watch without a rod in hand on these tribs....

It is frustrating at times, but walk a little and you can find less pressured waters.
He will be back, once you get it in your blood, it's hard to shake.

I love catching sunfish..............

anyone who has fished Erie tribs understands the fiasco it turns into..........walking does alleviate many issues, but the second you hook up......you have 4 new best friends fishing off your shoulder........

I just love catching fish........small ones, big ones.......pretty silver ones.......ugly scaly golden ones.......love them all........

Just keep your friends gear nice and organized.........he'll cool down.......and want it back

I have been doing the steelhead thing in Erie for close to 15 years now.  At one point I was doing 15+ trips a year compared to the maybe 5 times total in the last 3 years. 

I have basically run out of patience for the idiots wandering the streams up there.  I do my fair share of walking up there and know the ditches well, but anymore with the loss in access and increase in tards up there, there really is no safe place to hide from the mongrels.

Eff PA steelheading.....  
 
 

Only been fighting the circus for a couple seasons now, but the number of rude and clueless fisherman is unbeleivable.

Guess I have a leg up on most as I never really got hooked to begin with, I'd rather chase eyes or perch. Don't get me wrong, it's fun to catch them, eating them not so much...

My first impression was much like the distaste expressed here, opening day circus that lasts for a couple of months. I'll be up to see my "Erie buds" but don't really care about hitting the tribs...

passions consumed me over the years, but interests change with age. my duck hunting days are pretty much done, and i have rid myself of most of my equipment, save a sack of duck and goose decoys. my walleye trolling days are done, my boat and trolling gear and crankbait treasure chest are gone (to a good home). ice fishing gear is gone. i have sold or given away almost two dozen rods and reels over the last few years. what i have left is one rack of spinning and casting outfits and a few fly rods....and i am at peace with it. i find myself trying to go back to my fishing roots when i had much less and had more fun. (i don't begrudge anyone for having a lot of stuff, boats and the like. this is a good addiction, there are much worse. i just don't have time). as bug said, i now get excited about panfish, i still love throwing raps for smallies and i look forward to putting some holes in the mouths of channel cats this summer.

interests change over time, sometimes purging yourself of some clutter opens up new doors. life is an adventure with new roads appearing all the time.

i say...follow your heart.

I understand some of the arguments you guys are presenting about crowds and what not. But I live up here, I'm lucky in that sense. How many of you though have actually knocked on a few doors of private land owners and asked for permission to fish their property? I did with 2 of them and I received permission from both. Granted one guy is someone I casually know. But in exchange for allowing me to fish his property I help him cut wood in the fall. Ask some of these people if there is anything you could do in exchange for allowing you to fish. Hell even rake their yard for a couple hours before you hit the stream. You might be surprised.

what is good about them being there is that they are not at pymatuning when i am there.

Some random comments on the Erie steelhead thing, as it is today, in reply to no one in particular.

Erie has no big water? BS. PA has no big water. NY and Ohio have some big water, big enough to be suitable for 2 handed swinging and other big water tactics such as long rod pinning.

The crowding nowadays is horrendous compared to what it was even 15 years ago. Glen and I were very fortunate to start sthd fishing back in the early 80's when the runs were smaller and the sthd program was just taking off. From about 1982 thru the late 90's the fishing was very, very good with lots of room, even in PA. Nowadays we prefer NY, even though the runs are smaller. Trading numbers for space gives us a much more satisfying experience. We do fish in PA, only as a last resort, when everything in NY is blown out. Lots of PA fish do stray into the NY streams thanks to the high numbers stocked by the PAFC. Being local, we can pick and choose when we want to fish. Weekends are out, we can fish thru the week, which helps somewhat.

If I had to travel 200 or 300 miles to fish Erie sthd, wouldn't do it in this day and age. There are other fishing options where space and solitude are not a problem and the quality of the experience is better.

The worst of the crowding takes place Oct. thru about mid Nov. If possible, fish late Nov/ Dec. The nastier the weather, the more room you'll have to fish.

I have threatened to quit steelhead fishing around Erie a dozen times over the past 10 years. I still do it, but don't expect as much in the way of a good experience as compared to what it was even 15 yrs. ago. It's still fun, but now is more or less just an excuse to get outdoors more so than a blood hunt to run up numbers of fish.

This fall, i'm not even going to think about steelhead until the 1st of Nov. Chautauqua lake is 300 yds from my house and the lure of some very, very good fall muskie fishing appeals a heck of a lot more to me than fall steelheading around here.