# Surprise Late Steel



## jojopro (Oct 9, 2007)

Last week while fishing for carp on the Rocky River I was shocked to reel in this little trout. It was only about 8" long and bit on corn. I'm guessing that this little trout has never even seen the big lake yet, it must have swam the wrong direction after being stocked this Spring.








Now before all the guys with their panties in a bunch go off on me for catching a steelhead in June...Let me stress that I was not targeting steelhead, I was fishing for carp using corn, and this was just a bonus fish. I reeled the fish in fairly quickly, handled it gently with wet hands, and the fish was released unharmed.

John


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## RiverRunner88 (Jun 15, 2006)

pretty cool!!! hopefully the little fella will find his way!


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## WISH IT WAS YOU (Jul 25, 2006)

i bet it was one if teh stocked bows they stock in the rocky i mean it could have been the stocked steel but weird for it still to be in the river


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## liquidsoap (Oct 22, 2005)

Looks like one of the stocked yearlings to me.
They were in heavy a couple weeks ago. All over the minnows.


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## lucky1 (Jun 6, 2007)

Aw he was hungry...


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## Steel Cranium (Aug 22, 2005)

I have caught those upstream of olmsted falls during the summer - and some make it all summer when they stay in the faster and deeper water. Could be some natural reproduction, but more likely some smolts that decided to run upstream.

I agree that it looks like one of the steelhead smilts instead of a east branch stocked rainbow. The ones stocked upstream were mostly over a foot and had a different color, being the kamloops strain.


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## joe01 (Apr 16, 2004)

you were fishing for carp with a centerpin?


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## jojopro (Oct 9, 2007)

joe01 said:


> you were fishing for carp with a centerpin?


Yeah. Centerpins aren't just for steelhead. In Europe, where centerpins originated, they are all about pinning for carp. Hooking into a big carp on a centerpin is a blast!









I also use my pin to target catfish, smallmouth, or whatever else may be biting in the rivers, afterall centerpins were designed for fishing rivers and streams. For the Summer I use my pin on a shorter (8' 6") and stiffer rod than I use for steelhead.
























This little smallie was another surprise catch while I was carp fishing with corn.

















John


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## lucky1 (Jun 6, 2007)

I have a pin but have never used it for anything other than steelies. I've always wanted to hook into a carp, cat, or smallie with it. Any advice for this summer jojopro?


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## jojopro (Oct 9, 2007)

lucky1 said:


> I have a pin but have never used it for anything other than steelies. I've always wanted to hook into a carp, cat, or smallie with it. Any advice for this summer jojopro?


Well I'm certainly no expert...this is my first summer fishing with a pin, but I basically fish the same way that I did for steelhead. 

For smallmouth, my most effective bait has been the Berkley Powerbait Realistix soft minnows, and I trot them extremely slow or will even stop and hold them in place or reel in one turn or two every so often to simulate a minnow struggling to hold its place in the current, and I sometimes use streamer flies fished the same way. I also have caught them on Gulp nightcrawlers cut in half, and Berkley Powerbait crawfish, which I trot along near the bottom the same way you would an egg sack. 

For catfish I fish the Gulp nightcrawlers, and Berkley Powerbait crawfish the same way I just mentioned for smallies. Also live or dead crawfish work great too. Since a whole crawfish will usually be too much weight for my loaded float, I'll just use the deshelled tail meat from dead crawfish I find. Look for deeper pools and trot your bait just above the bottom.

For carp I only use corn. First I locate an area with feeding carp, or an area I suspect would have carp, and then I'll toss in a handfull of corn to bait the area. I like to use Raven Specialist hooks size 8 with 3 kernels of corn hooked onto it. I stand directly upstream of the area I'm fishing and drift my bait along just like an egg sack for steelies.

Good luck.

John


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## lucky1 (Jun 6, 2007)

Thanks for the informative post! I'll let you know when I get out.


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## Duckdude82 (Feb 26, 2007)

jojopro said:


> John


thats a pretty gill! there's tons in the lower vermilion if you get board on the rock. 

as for the carp, it's not the catching and fighting that would be so bad......it's the touching! EEEEEEWWWWWEEEEEEE!


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## fishon (Apr 20, 2004)

Very very cool thread!!!!

and thanks for the pics and idea's as well as the report!

Frank


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