# First fish



## Ten Bears (Jan 12, 2012)

I fished for steelhead 2 years before I caught one. That was 30 years ago. New guys today have all the information on catching them that us old folk did not have. Hungry? Bet you could get Grubhub deliver to your fav run. Times have changed.


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

I was actually just reminiscing about my first eye opener to steelhead fishing last night as myself and a couple friends watched our glow sticks bob around the Emerald Necklace Marina. It was there at that marina in the spring of 1998. My dad, who wasn't much of a fisherman, although knew I was passionate for it had read in the paper of the steelhead stocking. He drove me up there in his work van one April morning. I can remember walking up to the river's edge there at the launch and watching dozens of guys set the hook on these acrobatic and strong fighting fish. I've never seen rods so long before. Doubled over noodles lined the bank. Guys chucking glo-bobs with tiny jigs or spawn out into the middle of the run and watching those green and orange bobbers dunk into the Rocky. I couldn't reach for my stuff quick enough. 

I remember to learn was to watch and politely ask. Time on the water was the best teacher. Asking my dad every weekend to drive up there. He'd bum around and smoke his cigar, chumming it up with the old timers and asking them how they were so successful. I remember being nearly so frustrated at striking out I wanted to cry. Ha! Watching those long, 12 foot poles dance and listening to the drag peel was all I needed to keep trying. I actually submitted a hand written letter to the author of an article in the In-Fisherman magazine on a column for steelhead fishing. I was overwhelmed at the response letter I received (months later) with some information! 

Like Ten Bears mentioned it wasn't for another year or 2 later when I hooked my first fish on a Little Cleo spoon. I'll never forget it. Bobber fishing got way easier when I was old enough to buy my first noodle rod. 

Now these days it is spoon fed information with the internet at our fingertips. I'm not completely against it because back in 1998 if I had that opportunity I would use all the tools I could get to put my hands on a steelhead. What is rather frustrating is seeing posts of "do you guys think this will work?" or "my set up is xyz and I'm this deep and the weather is cloudy, will this be a good set up?" and "what color works the best when the water is fast and bla bla bla" 

GO FISH AND FIND OUT. I can't stand it.


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## MechMark (Nov 3, 2021)

9 years of failed attempts to hook my first steelhead on my own. I had a bad teacher (dads friend) that didnt really know what he was doing although he definitely tried. I finally educated myself thru reading books and articles and watching videos. Although small, it was possibly the most rewarding fish Ive ever caught.


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## TRIPLE-J (Sep 18, 2006)

1 more, 
talk about memories...when I first started only articles you could find were in sports afield and field and stream....they would talk about the salmon and steelhead fishing on the west coast...my first steelhead noodle rod was a 9 foot flyrod i put an ultralight shakespeare spinning reel on....you couldnt get noodle rods around here back then...lol
Back then it was all spoon fishing and bottom bouncing there was no such thing as floating jigs lol
Awesome memories


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## Bwana J (Sep 12, 2010)

Ten Bears, like you I started when they first stocked Steelhead in Ohio waters. My first fish came on Connie thanks to my Steelhead mentor, Jim Woda. Spent many fantastic hours wading with my flyrod. Tried float fishing but had more fun swinging fly's on both single handed flyrod and a Spey rod. Glad I have all the memories' because health reasons now keep me off the streams. Hopefully one day I'll be able to walk the streams again.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Here's a story youngsters. From an old steelhead curnudgeon -


Was around 30 years ago, my Bro & Pops (RIP) and me had been fishing an unmentionable for a some years - catching
largemouth, smallmouth,and odds and ends. No one knew this flow even had many fish in it, we had it to ourselves.

Lil Bro and Pops took the hike on a nice fall day in November, hoping for a few bass. 
I get a call later -*"Dude get over here! You won't believe what I got down there!"*

Turns out, Bro hooked "something" on a red rooster tail on his ultralight with 4# test. Fish goes crazy, breaks outta the pool and heads downstream into some rapids. With Pa chasing and pulling branches out of the water before the fish got to them, they get to the next deep run.
Took him 45 minutes, but he landed a 32" King Salmon! It still hangs on his wall.

'Course I went back there the next morning. Fishing a 4 1/2' UL, again, with 4# test and a 1/16oz curlytail (that's what we always threw for the bass & panfish). Got myself _four big steelhead! _Before then, none of had ever even caught a steelie.

This lead to a steelhead madness. We were fishing below the 82 dam in winter before anyone went there past warm weather. People would look at us like we were idiots. We caught steelhead.
It got worse from there.

Many good times & memories were had. Eventually, Pops got too old to be heading down the hill to the old fishin' hole
in the woods. He still managed to sneak down to the Hoga in the summer with his worms though.
Ma bitched. He said, "Hell, If I'm going to drop dead, may as well be when I'm fishing."

Nowadays, I head out a few times a year when conditions are good. Just don't have the time, the gumption or the desire to beat myself up 1-2 times a week like I used to.


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## twistedcatfish1971 (Jul 21, 2013)

Awesome story and awesome pictures. 

Don.


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## archerjay1 (Jun 11, 2015)

Well when we were 11-12 yrs old we used to get dropped off at the Erie shoreline and we would plunk for steelies. So that consists of and egg sinker a tiny spilt shot a treble hook some skein and big red bubble gum...we would put the skein in the hook then wrap the gum around it to hold it in place. Cast the set up out and set the poles down with a pinch of sand on the line with the bail open and when they took the eggs the line would rip out of the reels like crazy...pick up the rod give a little more line and click the bail over and set the hook when the line gets tight. Spent alot of weekends in my youth off that little old pier and it's such a great memory. Nowadays it's everything from plastic beads, jigs, flies and shank knots for my eggs. I don't even bother with sacs anymore and it doesn't seem to affect the catch.


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## Gotworms (Jan 29, 2015)

I remember mine prob 25 years ago in the deep cut Under the cliff first deep spot west of Rt 7 in conn. Caught a lot of fish in that little hole. To this day it’s my first cast when I make it up there a lot of days they are just above it a little but there is nothing like watching that float waiting for it to sink just like it did back then I can still see it plain as day. A lot of good memories fishing and meeting guys on river up there never a bad experience always loved watching the fly fisherman catch them very interesting to watch someone that was really into it. When water was low they would tear em up those were good days


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