# shockin the steel



## I_Shock_Em (Jul 20, 2008)

Been doing a bit of shocking recently in a few tribs/rivers here in northeast ohio. We've shocked up some fair numbers of steelies in the last two weeks. We shocked the.biggest one yesterday. Nice male that was sitting strong at 33 in. Woulda been nice to have him on the end of the line! Good luck out there guys and be safe!!!


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## ShutUpNFish (Apr 17, 2007)

CHEATER!!


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## xxpinballxx (Jul 18, 2010)

good to know they are at least there.....Ive been going out to just go through the motions and see which rod and reel im going to try and take with me and also get my tackle sling pack ready with just the stuff I need.


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## I_Shock_Em (Jul 20, 2008)

ShutUpNFish said:


> CHEATER!!


HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! Trust me. Id rather catch em on rod and reel rather than just scooping them up. For some reason they just don't fight as much . (As for the worry warts, all the steelies were put back to be caught another day. We don't keep fish because it would be a violation of our permit.)


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## RiverDoc (Mar 12, 2010)

Shock'em: Without divulging your river location, perhaps you can shed some light on the commensal species that you find in the same areas as the steelhead? That is, what comes up floating with them, bass, cats, etc? Also, in what proportions? 

I have always been curious about this. For as aggressive as they are, do you think they force others out of a hole completely, or push them off to the margin? 

Thanks, Screamin' Reels, RiverDoc


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## KSUFLASH (Apr 14, 2004)

Great question RiverDoc!! I wander this as well, and I also wander how far in the pods have pushed in so far. I am sure there are fish pushed in a bit, but the majority are still wandering about the weather just like us anglers.

-KSU


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## brodg (Sep 6, 2010)

What is shocking the fish?


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## I_Shock_Em (Jul 20, 2008)

RiverDoc said:


> Shock'em: Without divulging your river location, perhaps you can shed some light on the commensal species that you find in the same areas as the steelhead? That is, what comes up floating with them, bass, cats, etc? Also, in what proportions?
> 
> I have always been curious about this. For as aggressive as they are, do you think they force others out of a hole completely, or push them off to the margin?
> 
> Thanks, Screamin' Reels, RiverDoc


As for commensal species, it typically depends primarily on the water quality. Poor water quality typically means fewer fish as well as more pollution tolerant species. Obviously better water quality means more fish and more pollution sensitive species. Simply put, a river like the Grand is going to have a greater diversity than the Cuyahoga. For the most part, sport fish species are the same, however there is a greater diversity in suckers, minnows, darters, etc. As for sport species, We will typically shock up largemouth and smallmouth bass, numerous sunfish species, channel cats, bullheads, the occasional flathead, rock bass, crappie. As for the minnows, suckers, etc. there are more of those than I would care to list. In my opinion, the steelhead will not have to much of an impact on the larger predators. (they can't eat what can't fit in their mouths.) But for the minnows, shiners, etc. I would definatly say that the steels presence has an impact. (Would you hang out in a cage full of lions?) As for proportions of fish, water quality is the number one factor. Ohio EPA uses fish and bug populations as indicators of water quality. They are a better indicator than any water sample/test that can be done.

KSU- as for how far they have pushed up the rivers... we shocked a few within the last week 10 + miles from the rivers mouth opening into lake erie

brodg- shocking fish is refering to electrofishing....it is a method of sampling fish in a stream/river/lake where an electrical current is put into the water and it causes temporary paralysis to the fish allowing us to net them, put em in a livewell, and sort through them to determine species, numbers, and weights

Hope this helps guys...if you got any other questions, don't hesitate to ask


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## RiverDoc (Mar 12, 2010)

I_Shock_Em said:


> In my opinion, the steelhead will not have to much of an impact on the larger predators. (they can't eat what can't fit in their mouths.) But for the minnows, shiners, etc. I would definatly say that the steels presence has an impact. (Would you hang out in a cage full of lions?) As for proportions of fish, water quality is the number one factor. Ohio EPA uses fish and bug populations as indicators of water quality. They are a better indicator than any water sample/test that can be done.


Shock_Em; (1) Here I am thinking of a 5-6 Lb steelhead vs. a 1-2 Lb bass. Seems to me that because it is not spawning season, the steelhead would bully anything else out of its pool. That is, if this is where the steelehad would stay throughout the winter. 
(2) Regarding species composition as indicators of water quality, are you collecting samples of water and insects at the same time which you shock fish? (3) For examining water quality, are they looking at diversity indices for insects and fish in the same samples or separately. My guess is that habitat location within a stream (high gradient vs. low gradient) has a decided impact on the kinds of species. Thanks, RiverDoc


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## Steelhead Fever (Dec 31, 2009)

this seems really interesting...


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## Steel Cranium (Aug 22, 2005)

RiverDoc said:


> Shock_Em; (1) Here I am thinking of a 5-6 Lb steelhead vs. a 1-2 Lb bass. Seems to me that because it is not spawning season, the steelhead would bully anything else out of its pool. That is, if this is where the steelehad would stay throughout the winter.


I don't think that they are the bullying type. I have witnessed plenty of times where steelies were packed in a hole or run between bass and/or carp. You may see the carp situation in rivers like the rocky quite a bit late and early in the season - where you sneak up on a pod of carp and notice a few darker fish (steelies) in the mix. I believe that they know they are faster than other species in the pack so don't have to bully when they can outswim others to the food.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Hey Shock-Em, I just saw a NERSD boat motoring down the lower 'Hoga last week. Was that you guys?

I was curious where they put the boat in, you don't usually see motorized craft in the river.


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## RiverDoc (Mar 12, 2010)

Steel Cranium said:


> I don't think that they are the bullying type. I have witnessed plenty of times where steelies were packed in a hole or run between bass and/or carp. You may see the carp situation in rivers like the rocky quite a bit late and early in the season - where you sneak up on a pod of carp and notice a few darker fish (steelies) in the mix. I believe that they know they are faster than other species in the pack so don't have to bully when they can outswim others to the food.


Steel Cranium: I can see how they might all share a pool or tolerate one another as they migrate in-and-out of the rivers. However, when they start claiming territories for long term and spawning purposes, I bet they push the other species out. Evidence for this is the number of fish species out there that displace others. 

But I don't know for sure. I have yet to catch a steelie and a bass in the same hole on the same day. Maybe a very large pool but I doubt in the same hole. Screamin' Reels, RiverDoc


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## ouflyboy9 (Aug 12, 2008)

10 miles - wow! i thought they would be staying much closer to the mouth this time of year
>>Shock-em, do you guys keep a year to year tally of the fish species you find?


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## BobcatJB (Mar 30, 2005)

I have to jump in on this conversation as I have the "pleasure" of working with I Shock Em each day. The majority of the steelhead we turned up this week were sharing water with species such as white sucker, pumpkinseed sunfish, largemouth bass, and creek chub. All fish were very bright and fresh out of the lake. 

River Doc- Many of our fish sampling sites coincide with water sampling sites, but the samples are not taken at the same time, usually. 

Creekcrawler- That was me you saw on the lower Hoga last week. Where did you see us?


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