NY Steelhead Alley - Fun Firsts

Mighty fine first trip to New York's Steelhead Alley region last week with Cattaraugus Creek Outfitters. Really an awesome program -- rustic, but clean cabin with over 80 acres of river access in the beautiful Zoar Valley. Owner Vince Tobia, and guides Mike and Tom couldn't have been cooler guys to fish with. For me, bigger trips like this are opportunities to hit milestones. And on this one I scored a trifecta!

Number One: Biggest Steelhead on the Swing
Buddy Andrew and I spent Monday with Vince on the Catt swinging. Though the conditions looked tough, with a lot of stain from melt-off after recent deep snows, we stuck at the swing game. Mid-day we wandered up into an amazingly scenic canyon. Within 15 minutes, Andrew's reel is singing and shortly after we're on the board with a swung fish. Right after that, he sticks another, but loses it. Then things go quiet for a little bit. Suddenly, I'm upriver from Vince and Andrew when I feel the familiar tug that I so love. Fish ON! A quick lift after I feel the weight of the steelhead and the fight is on. This is my first fish on the new Speyco River Switch reel, so I'm curious how much palming I'll be doing. For a clicker, this reel has a pretty solid bit of drag. I put the boots to this fish, get some bend in my rod and after some jumping and antics, Vince performs some nice net work and I'm on the board, too! But it gets better -- the fish tapes out at a touch over 30"!!! This is easily my biggest steelhead on the swing; and probably among my top five ever. SWEET!

Sadly, the only photo I have is of this fish in the net. As soon as I lifted her for a photo, she found some more "go" and worked her way out of my grasp. Before we could get a net under her, she's gone. Ah well, I saw her, as did the guide and my fishing buddy.

Number Two: First Steelhead Double

Day two finds us headed to the creeks. Warm weather the day before has the Catt too colored to fish effectively. After finding crowds on the first creek, we head to the Chatauqua. I do love these creek settings of Steelhead Alley. You can step out of a neighborhood and into a little canyon that feels like a thousand miles away. The water is skinny and clear - you're sight-fishing to most of the steelhead. One my second drift, I hook up but lose the fish to a weak hookset. Note to self - this is indy fishing, not swinging. Set it like you mean it.

Fishing partner Ralph scores a couple from upstream, so our guide Tom moves me up just below a small waterfall. A few drifts later is bobber DOWN! Most of the fish we've hit today had moved into the slow-motion Winter fight. But not this one - she is pissed and fired up! So, down the river I go trying to keep her from getting an advantage in the current. Of course as I'm nearly down to Ralph, he hooks up!. Fortunately his fish is smaller and has less go, so Tom is able to net it quickly. As this is happening, I realize this is my first steelhead double - SWEET! But with Ralph's fish landed, now the pressure to close the deal is on me. By now, I've covered 50-75 yards and I'm finally getting this fish under control. A quick solid net job by Tom and I've got my first steelhead double.

Number Three: First Swung Fly Steelhead on a Fly I Tied
I've landed a number of steelhead on the swing. All have been on other people's flies. I've hooked up on a few on one of mine, but no landings. Today we're going to change that. Partner Karl and I decided we're going to man up and spend our last day swinging - to earn those tugs.

Guide Vince puts us in one of his favorite spots. And today he comments, "Let's run some of your big Michigan uglies!" So onto my line goes one of the Senyo's Artificial Intelligence flies I tied up just for this trip. I love this fly's motion in the water. Fat, shimmery, and just plain fishy.

Not fifteen minutes in, Karl's been bumped twice. Then he proceeds to hook up, but lose the fish. Shortly after that, I get a solid hit. This isn't a tug. More like a yank, followed by a solid run. The Speyco is howling and we're off to the races. I had to palm this one a little, but not much. Vince gives me a solid scoop with the net and I'm on the board with my first steelhead on the swing on one of my flies. A damn fine ending to an excellent trip.

-Sean-