Hell or High Water

A nice buck that fell victim to an egg sucking leech

35 degrees and 2 inches of rain – I sat staring at the dismal weather forecast projected on my computer screen. I couldn’t think of a more depressing site to see when I had plans to fish Steelhead Alley the second week of April. A quick check of the USGS flow rate for the Chagrin had the river shooting past 3,000 CFS like a rocket heading for the moon. When I first started steelhead fishing, I would have likely sat on the sidelines waiting impatiently for the rivers to return to “prime” conditions. Since I only get a few precious windows of opportunity to fish for Steel every season, I wasn’t going to let Mother Nature and Cleveland’s horrid weather get between me and my dreams. The way I looked at it: It was either hell or fish the high water.

As I crested the ridge dropping down into the Chagrin River valley, I caught my first glimpse of the river. Chocolate milk with a hint of unmixed syrup still swirling around. I was prepared for this though and to be honest, it almost made me smile. I had a few tricks up my sleeve for these type of conditions. I pressed my foot firmly on the gas and sped off to my first, high water honey hole.

Steelyard Tip #1: If it’s blue, you can find steel. If you see a blue squiggly line on a map within 20 miles of Lake Erie, there’s an extremely high probability that a steelhead has swam through its waters. The resilience of these fish is second to none. Out west, some steelhead migrate nearly 1,000 miles to their spawning grounds. Hell, I’ve seen them in golf course culverts no more than two feet wide and 15 miles from the lake. On rivers such as the Rocky, Chagrin, and Grand, steelhead swim into smaller creeks which clear up at an accelerated rate, seeking relief from the turbid waters. These feeder creeks should be the first focus when the rest of the rivers are blown out.

Thursday morning, as I made my way to an unnamed creek feeding the Chagrin, I could already see fish splashing their way through the riffles. I sat on the creek bank for the first 10 minutes, watching in awe as more than 30 steelhead traversed and battled their way to the base of a three foot waterfall. I could only smile and think to myself, how lucky I was to witness this feat and what a truly incredible species of fish. Armed with my weapon of choice, a 9ft 7wt fly rod, loaded with a white and peach egg sucking leech and a single pink egg pattern trailer, I spied a long, narrow run on the opposite shore that had fish holding in the deep abyss of an undercut bank. I wiped the rust off of my rod and shot my first cast to the head of the run. As my float drifted stealthily towards the undercut bank, a fresh “chromer” shot from the depths below and hammered the egg…FISH ON.

A steelhead gets released into the small creek it had traveled to spawn in

Steelyard Tip #2: It’s the miles that make a fisherman. Over the years, the Steelyard Boys have logged countless miles and months’ worth of time exploring every river, run, and hole that Steelhead Alley has to offer. Through this hard work and shared knowledge, we have learned which rivers and spots produce under certain conditions. It’s now easier than ever before to find fishing reports and locations online, but it doesn’t do you any good if you don’t learn why a spot produces fish one day and then a goose egg the next. You can’t put a price on the leg work involved with scouting areas and finding secret locations. How do you do this you ask? It’s easy, Google Earth is your best friend. Spend some time following every meandering curve of each river and you’ll likely find some holes and riffles that will produce. As a general rule of thumb, the darker the water the deeper the hole, the white water means riffles, and the opposite bank of most river bends holds deep water and undercut banks – These are all fishy locations. Option B is to kayak the rivers in the summer. The Steelyard Boys try to do this over periods when it hasn’t rained in a couple months. The low and clear water allows us to analyze the bottom of each hole for structure and helps us find probable fish holding locations.

Friday morning, after spending Thursday night on Google searching for a blue squiggly line (see Steelyard Tip #1), I explored the virgin waters of unnamed creek. The water had that perfect tint of green and I knew there had to be steelhead lurking in its depths. I had fished and hiked about a mile with no luck before I came to pool that was about five feet deep and had a long set of steep shale falls flowing into its heart. I picked two large egg patterns out of my fly box and like a spider spinning its web, spryly tied them to my tippet. Three casts later and after a minor adjustment of my depth, I felt the tug and head shake of a strong male buck. He vehemently took off towards the end of the pool with little regard for my drag. I managed to turn his head before he got into the fast current but that only added to his vigor. As I started to feel like the odds were turning in my favor, the large buck leapt from the water and with two ferocious head shakes, through my fly from his mouth. My fly line sat limp at the bottom of my feet, a silence I hadn’t noticed before took over the river, and the beating of my heart slowly rescinded to its normal course. That is steelheading.

The Fishmonster displays a nice buck he caught from a creek when the main river was too high

Steelyard Tip #3: Don’t let the high water hold you back, the fish will still eat. Saturday night I sat staring at the Chagrin River flow chart on the USGS website showing the Chagrin at 600 CFS. 600 CFS equates to a river that would be a bit high and muddy, and not exactly ideal conditions, but this was the last opportunity I was going to have for the season. Besides, from past experiences, the high water seems to make the fish less weary and more aggressive.

As I awoke Sunday morning, the plethora of beer from the previous night didn’t seem to slow me down. On the 15 minute drive to my favorite honey hole, I got mentally prepared by blasting the Steelyard Boys anthem – The Rising by Bruce Springsteen. The headlights from my car broke the early morning snow as I pulled into the parking lot, not a sole in sight. As I approached the river it was just as I imagined, a light brown color with no more than 4 inches of visibility. I carefully waded over to a long stretch of riffles that fed into a deep hole and rigged my rod with a black egg sucking leech and an orange glo bug egg. I hastily pulled out 30 feet of slack line and shot my first cast to the head of the riffle with intentions of letting it drift freely towards the large pool below. A fat bright hen had other ideas however, as my float went all of 10 feet before rocketing to the murky depths. The hen fired off down the riffle and belly flopped into the large pool. She put up a valiant fight for the next five minutes until I was able to ease her to the bank. One cast, one fish – today’s going to be a good day. I shimmied back to my post at the head of the riffle and threw three more casts before another willing chromer decided he wanted to try some egg sucking leech. You always know it’s a good fish when you set the hook and the first thought that pops in your head is you’re snagged – well until the snag gives you a couple head shakes and takes off toward Lake Erie. The freight train at the other end of my line had me into my backing before I even knew what was going on. I tightened my drag to slow down Free Willy but it didn’t seem to have much of an effect. I resorted to the next best thing and started down the river after the fish. When it was all said and done, I held a respectable 26 inch male in my hands with scars that screamed it wasn’t his first rodeo. I couldn’t believe the fight that this guy had in him, I was expecting a fish pushing 30 inches. Over the next two hours, it was hard to go a couple casts without hooking into a fish. The high water was heaven. Not a sole in sight and all the fish I could ever want. Its days like this that keep the Steelyard Boys thirsty for more and ignite our passion like a bonfire. With that said, the next time you’re looking at the weather forecast and you see Armageddon approaching, I urge you to find a spot to fish, put in some miles searching for steel, and don’t let the high water hold you back.

Sincerely yours,

The Steelyard Boys (Author & Photos: Eric Fisher)