# Elk Creek, PA Thursday



## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

Was able to fish with a new friend on Elk on Thursday. What a bunch of slush we found when we arrived at 10:30. We decided to hike into a decent hole and wait out the slush. We fished slowly from 11 til 1 when the slush opened up then it was game on. I landed 1 below the slush, a nice 8 pound male on a 14 black/ silver copper john. When the slush cleared a bit the fish started moving up to the head of the pool and were feeding on something down there. Wasn't long before it was my 14 yellow crystal meth. Landed a 12 pound male may have been my biggest ever on Elk. My buddy hooked a couple below me that shook off. I was spotting the fish for him and coaching him to give it a slight swing above the fish. (this was working for me) He hooked another just 8 feet away from me. I saw the fish come up shaking his head and I told him to set the hook. He does and wins the battle with a nice 8 pound female. Same time I tell him to set, I feel a bump at the end of my line, which was sitting there for a minute at the end of my drift. Then I feel a head shake and a turn, raise my rod and we have a double header. This one fell to a 14 copper copper john. His was on a 14 prince nymph. I added one more from the gut of the pool to make it 4 on a tough day. Glad we made the trip but we had to leave at 2:30 when it was really heating up. Gave the pools to the next guys and we were on our way back home. Almost all the fish came on a SLOW drift with a slight SLOW swing in front of the fish. Persistance paid off for us. Mike will send me some pictures today so I may get them up here later.
Happy New Year everyone. 
Rickerd

Update 1-2-2012, the guy downstream of us was catching a couple too. He must have been using 3/4 oz. of lead to get it through the slush. He left just after the fish started to get interested and gave us his spot. We caught our last 2 and lost a couple others from near where he was fishing. I was using 1 or 2 small shots with no indicator. My indi kept catching the slushbergs and would pull the fly up. When I took it off, and was able to get between the bergs, then I could feel bottom and became confident. Wasn't long before I caught the first one which is the picture on the right.


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## LilSiman/Medina (Nov 30, 2010)

What were you fishing for? Browns? Those are monsters..


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## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

Fishing for Steelhead, or Browns if they are there. I haven't caught any Browns there this season in a few trips. Last year I caught a 21 inch Brown on Elk in December. They are strong fighters and I would love to see more.
Best regards,


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## LilSiman/Medina (Nov 30, 2010)

''steelhead'' are the rainbows that are stocked there right? Or is Elk a trib too Tionesta lake or Lake Erie?


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## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

See your PM. Elk Creek flows into Lake Erie from McKean to Lake City.

best,


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## bigduck10 (Feb 15, 2009)

I my memory serves me correct the State of Pa does not stock Brown's in Elk Creek. I think they do stock Rainbows in the spring.
If you catch one it might have run up the creek from the lake or the fish was a NY Brown. New York does stock Browns in Chautauqua Creek just inside the NY border from Pa.
If you want to catch some serious monster lake run Browns hit some of the Lake Ontario tribs. I have caught a few 8-10 pounders over the years. 
Had a guy standing about 100 yards from me in a snow storm last year catch a 12 pounder.


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## oarfish (May 12, 2004)

Awesome story Rickerd. Thanks for sharing. It sounded like you did not use strike indicator while nymphing.


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## brodg (Sep 6, 2010)

Great "play by play" commentary. 

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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

bigduck10 said:


> I my memory serves me correct the State of Pa does not stock Brown's in Elk Creek. I think they do stock Rainbows in the spring.


Elk is stocked with lake run browns and also the regular size browns for trout season in the spring. They don't stock any bows in the Erie tribs, except for steelhead. Elk in Erie county that is, unless you're talking about the one LilSiman/Medina was talking about then I'm not really sure whats stocked in there, I think browns and brookies, maybe bows too.


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## LilSiman/Medina (Nov 30, 2010)

fishinnick said:


> They don't stock any bows in the Erie tribs, except for steelhead.


Bows are just steelhead in a inland river which they do not run down to the lake and back into the rivers. Right?


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

Yeah, steelhead are a strain of rainbow trout that migrate back and forth to the ocean, or in our case a great lake. As you can tell from looking at the steelhead forum steelies are much bigger than your average bow. The only places you will ever find steelhead are tribs to the Pacific and the great lakes, any rainbows you catch inland aren't steelhead.


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## LilSiman/Medina (Nov 30, 2010)

Alright but the "rainbows" stocked in inland rivers like the apple in ohio and all the other rivers in pennsylvania are the same fish that are stocked into the tribs aren't they?


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

Technically yes, but they don't have the urge to migrate long distances to and from the ocean or lake like steelhead, its not in their genes. So yes steelhead are a type of rainbow trout. 

If you would go to stock regular rainbow trout(like the ones in Apple, etc.) in the Lake Erie tribs probably none of them would swim down to the lake and return again at a bigger size. But steelhead after they're stocked as smolts(around 6in) swim down to the big lake and live there for a few years then come back to the tribs when they're over 20in. 

So to some it up steelhead are the "salmon" version of rainbow trout I guess, but yes steelhead are a raibow trout.


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

This may answer your question better, the fish stocked in Apple and other inland streams are not the "same" fish stocked in the Erie tribs, but a different "type" of the same fish(rainbow trout).


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## copperdon (Jun 3, 2011)

bigduck10 said:


> If you want to catch some serious monster lake run Browns hit some of the Lake Ontario tribs. I have caught a few 8-10 pounders over the years.
> Had a guy standing about 100 yards from me in a snow storm last year catch a 12 pounder.


Lake Huron's tribs hold very nice trout as well. My in-laws live in Ontario on Colpoy's Bay at the base of The Bruce Peninsula - the finger of land that juts up into Lake Huron and forms Georgian Bay to the east. 

The tribs up there - rivers like The Sauble, Saugeen and Sydenham, along with their smaller feeder creeks (Oxendyn Creek, Colpoy Creek, Bighead Creek) are filled with really big brownies - along with nice rainbows and brookies as well - many of which follow the salmon runs to feed on the spawn. 

Many of these tribs cut through the peninsula from one side to the other, draining out of Lake Huron and dumping into Georgian Bay (or vice versa).
The fish are big because the bodies of water where they live and feed on either side of the peninsula are huge. 

7 lb brownies are certainly not uncommon up there. 

I myself have never caught any that big - my largest was around 4 lbs - but I've personally witnessed anglers landing browns between 6 and 8 pounds.


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## bigduck10 (Feb 15, 2009)

The Steelhead stocked in Ohio Lake Erie tribs are of the Manistee strain from the Manistee River in Michigan. They are not the same fish that are stocked in the inland streams.
Both strains of trout are raised at the Castillia hatchery. The Manistee fish go in the LE tribs the others go in the inland streams.


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