Perspective on fish numbers

A fisherman died. When he entered his eternal home he found himself next to a beautiful stream. An angel handed him a rod and said, "You must cast to every rise." He did, and was rewarded with a beautiful 8 pound rainbow. Then another rise. He cast to it and caught another 8 pounder. Then another, and another. He cast to every rise and caught an 8 pounder each time. He looked at the angel and said, "I would like to go upstream." The angel replied, "You must cast to every rise." And at that, he saw another fish rise, he cast to it, and caught another 8 pound rainbow. This went on for a while until he said again to the angel, "I really would like to move up stream." The angel said, "You must cast to every rise." The fisherman said, "That means I have to stay here. That doesn't sound like heaven to me." The angel replied, "I never said it was."

It's no fun to catch them all.

Whether I catch fifty or catch wind, it's good to be out.
If the numbers are good or bad, it's good to be out.
If I have to look for the fish, or get a sore arm from catching so many, it's good to be out.
It's called fishing, not catching.
For the guys who have to travel a ways to get here, and pay for gas, non res license, etc., watch the boards and decide if you can still enjoy being up here, but MAYBE fishless.
But have fun.

So you're saying Erie is heII...
Well actually worse than heII... Because at least heII has fish that will rise

I can get with that

But in hell they always spit the hook!

I feel like we are having some psychological "Oprah moments"
Next you'll see me on a couch with my head in my hands, tears falling as I sob: "yes, yes, I admit it, I need more fish to be happy..."
The audience gasps...Oprah hands me a tissue....I hide my face in shame.

There are bazillions of fish in Erie. Why do most of em have to be Steelheads? Put that into Perspective!

**sniff** beautiful.  What freedom. Group hug everyone 

With your guys natural waterflows on small streams; I wouldn't suggest salmon... on dry years your banks would be absolutely disgusting...

WRONG.... MINUS 2

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(fly fisherman) As for dwinding numbers of steelhead and my learning curve. I got this fever 10 years ago and hardly caught a steelhead the first 3 years. Others around me hooking-up over and over. I could fish a large pod and mouth hook maybe 2 fish after hours of effort. I guess that was in the so-called glory days when steelhead numbers were sailing. I was feeling darn bad because I wanted to catch these beauties and could not.
I signed up with a popular steelhead school. Started to catch more steelhead after that. THe education got me on the right track. As years passed I got better and better. Seeing fish. Blind fishing to spots that don't seem to have a steelhead but do! Learned more spots to fish in the area and taking an educated guess on which place might provide better fishing. Keeping an eye on the water guages on Brandy Run and Walnut. Weather forecasts. Better drifts. Fishing bubble lines and seams, ledges,fast water etc etc etc. Changing sizes of flies, patterns, colors. Adjusting weights and sight indicator to fit the fishing spot(depth, water speed, clarity, whatever). Realizing when "no strike indicator" is the only option for success.
In this "present steelhead doldrum" I hook-up more than in the glory days. Why? Answer: Because I'm getting it together.
When I'm getting skunked, I know there is a reason and the reason is probably just not quite getting it together for the conditions. Or realizing that the steelhead have a reason for not being very frisky on this given moment or day. Maybe a front coming in, maybe they are shocked by a sudden snow melt causing too sudden of a degree change in the water temperature. I don't know. It's a learning curve. Like anything else. Some are quik studies. Some have to slog along and pick it up little by little. Anyway, I love steelhead fishing and have had great fun with it this year. And it ain't over yet! There are steelhead to be caught! You just have to get better at it. I say this to support the fishermen who really want to ketchem' but thinks that they are not there to be caught.
(my son, still in the learning curve, caught a 33" 12 3/4 pound male thursday of last week. Weighed in at PR's Dec 2nd) He is going to trade some of it for deer meat. I got some smoked fillets and traded some fresh fillets for fresh farm eggs. We only kept what we needed. We only had 2 trips so far this year. The October trip was very successful and all fish were carefully handled and released. The 3rd trip, if and when it happens, will be another catch and release trip.
I crimp all my barbs down at the tying vice, makes unhooking fish so easy, and releasing fish can some times be done without touching the fish or having it out of the water. If going barbless loses some fish, I don't care. But I do like to know what fly they like at the moment. No netting, no gloving, just use finger and thumb and pull the fly out. I'm rambling... I lurk this forum sometimes and really don't like to post, but I just had to chime in this time. adios muchachos