Trout

The southern shore of Lake Erie that stretches across portions of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, known by many anglers as Steelhead Alley, provides an exceptional opportunity to fish for quality-sized steelhead.

With fall underway, the cold weather and high water means brown trout are in full swing with their migration back into the rivers.

Trout fishermen traditionally cast imitations of aquatic insects such as mayflies and caddis.

I don’t know what your weather has been, but in much of the northeast part of the country the soon-to-be-departed summer was exceptionally wet and relatively cool.  Which is good news for trout anglers.  These conditions are easy on wild trout and also provide extra sport for stocked trout.

After catching a smattering of six- to eight-inch wild brown trout, the sixteen incher looked like a salmon when it came out from behind a submerged tree trunk and inhaled the nymph.  A second later the seven-foot fiberglass fly rod was bent in a deep bend, one that could be felt the whole way into the handle.

When it comes to trout fishing, particularly on smaller streams, one need not let a lack of fly casting skill keep him or her from enjoying the benefits of showing the fish flies.

A recent trip to the Grand River in Ontario confirmed what I should have taken as an article of faith — it's hopper time.

Today many anglers choose to release trout they catch, carefully twisting their fishing hooks free and watching as the quarry swims back into the stream with a flick of its tail-fin. That's a marvelous experience and leaves more trout available for all of us the next time we venture out. That's the approach I take almost all the time. But every now and then it's nice to eat a few of these delicious fish.

It's about 10 a.m., and my buddy and I have already been walking for more than two hours. The trail into the forest long gone, we lunge over slippery fallen logs and scramble up rock outcrops.
 

The mercury in the thermometer has swollen to nearly reach the 100-degree mark, and the sun is bearing down unmercifully as you stand by the river's edge. Your annual fly-fishing vacation is underway, but you're faced with high heat, mandatory stream closures by the state's fish department and uncooperative trout.