# Multi River Skunking



## ReelPower (May 18, 2009)

For what it is worth, fished mid Connie skunked, didn't see a fish and it is low. Backtracked to mid Grand hit three prime areas skunko did not see a fish there either pretty low. The company was great...one single weird oldtimer fishing from his mountain bike along Connie. And a bunch of covered bridge watchers.

I did find a rather large pile of bear poop along the Grand though, that is unusual. 

Wish I could be more helpful but I can tell you where they weren't.


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## lowhole4trowt (Feb 1, 2014)

Interesting, gotta believe there are a few scattered in grand based on other systems east and west of it but haven't heard much from there. Hoping there's a big wall of fish waiting to move, and I'm there to intercept them. . If you ask me that river has the highest potential of any popular OH water for an absolute beat down of a day come november/dec.


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## ReelPower (May 18, 2009)

I had some good visualization of the river today due to flows...I thought there would of been a few I checked spots after I fished them. I just wasn't in the right spot for the early critters, lower rivers always have a better probability this time of year but I don't like crowds. Mid river can be hit or miss and I swung hard.


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## srharris88 (Sep 22, 2014)

Bear along the Grand River?


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## Archer4life (Apr 16, 2013)

What big wall. There are no big numbers of fall run fish anymore. Manistees are a spring spawner. Very few show up in the fall. Kevin Kayle will tell you otherwise but those of us who have fished these rivers for steel for years will say emphatically NO. Our early fish now are strays from pa and others. Conneaut would be your best bet early since pa stocks it with their mutt strain. Fish low. Downtown but beware of the crowds.


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## ReelPower (May 18, 2009)

srharris88 said:


> Bear along the Grand River?


Yup. No doubt I've worked all over brown, grizzly and black bear country. Pretty good sized pile of poop.


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## ReelPower (May 18, 2009)

Archer did you read my report I started on Conneaut. There were a few to be had down very low but I don't like crowds much.


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## Archer4life (Apr 16, 2013)

yep I hate crowds too but dowtown would still be your best shot .


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## lowhole4trowt (Feb 1, 2014)

Archer4life said:


> What big wall. There are no big numbers of fall run fish anymore. Manistees are a spring spawner. Very few show up in the fall. Kevin Kayle will tell you otherwise but those of us who have fished these rivers for steel for years will say emphatically NO. Our early fish now are strays from pa and others. Conneaut would be your best bet early since pa stocks it with their mutt strain. Fish low. Downtown but beware of the crowds.


Not going to get into that argument. But I did state Nov and Dec as the months of interest. At least a few big waves of fish are stacked by then.


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## flylogicsteelhead (Oct 4, 2006)

Falls are going to be rough ever since PA cut their stocking program by more than half 3 years back. 


Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

ReelPower said:


> Yup. No doubt I've worked all over brown, grizzly and black bear country. *Pretty good sized pile of poop*.


We want proof.....LOL


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## ztkaz (Sep 25, 2013)

flylogicsteelhead said:


> Falls are going to be rough ever since PA cut their stocking program by more than half 3 years back.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire



That doesn't affect us yet to much. Steelhead return 3-4 years after stocked. They still stock almost a million fish a year we don't even do half of that!


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## racetech (Dec 2, 2013)

Ventured out today for first time. Threw some hardware in Geneva up and down the mouth of Cowles, and out into the lake even, nothing doing at all.


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## MadMax1 (Aug 27, 2012)

Fished rocky for a couple hrs tonight - waste of time low n clear. Hooked 1 couple Sundays back on grand by that RR bridge up from E walnut - was my 1st hookup on the swing. Swung olive bugger right to parallel to that big log jam - first strip it slammed it, went 3' vertical and was off. The whole ordeal lasted about 2 seconds. My heart was in my mouth!

In response to everybody complaining about Manistee strain, you are all correct - won't b anything to catch until spring... Total waste of time to get out this fall. Don't even bother. Real bummer. 


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## ReelPower (May 18, 2009)

Snakecharmer said:


> We want proof.....LOL


I briefly considered snapping a pic for you doubting Thomas types! I give you report and bearPoop, no bull$¥|&!


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## fishon (Apr 20, 2004)

Usually this time of year for me at least : is the time to fish hard ware only-i prefer to fly fish or swing but these far and few fish are found by covering lots of water fast- fishing spinners and or trolling spoons- we got 2 yesterday trolling the grand in the late afternoon trolling spoons. And last sunday I hooked a beast on the rock with a blue fox spinner.


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## flylogicsteelhead (Oct 4, 2006)

ztkaz said:


> That doesn't affect us yet to much. Steelhead return 3-4 years after stocked. They still stock almost a million fish a year we don't even do half of that!



I would say we are smack in the run of that right now. PA has been cutting back for awhile now. When a stocking program is cut in half, it reduces returning fish by more than half, it's an exponential decrease. I've been fishing erie tribs for 24 years, and we've seen a slide in numbers for a good 6-7 years now. Look at the reports for fisherie on PA tribs where guys are walking 16 mile and not seeing a fish, I've had 50 fish days there years back. 


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## ironfish (Jul 31, 2010)

ReelPower said:


> For what it is worth, fished mid Connie skunked, didn't see a fish and it is low. Backtracked to mid Grand hit three prime areas skunko did not see a fish there either pretty low. The company was great...one single weird oldtimer fishing from his mountain bike along Connie. And a bunch of covered bridge watchers.
> 
> I did find a rather large pile of bear poop along the Grand though, that is unusual.
> 
> Wish I could be more helpful but I can tell you where they weren't.


 best report to date.


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## Willyfield (Apr 1, 2007)

MadMax1 said:


> Fished rocky for a couple hrs tonight - waste of time low n clear. Hooked 1 couple Sundays back on grand by that RR bridge up from E walnut - was my 1st hookup on the swing. Swung olive bugger right to parallel to that big log jam - first strip it slammed it, went 3' vertical and was off. The whole ordeal lasted about 2 seconds. My heart was in my mouth!
> 
> In response to everybody complaining about Manistee strain, you are all correct - won't b anything to catch until spring... Total waste of time to get out this fall. Don't even bother. Real bummer.
> 
> ...


The Manistee is a tragic mistake by the ODNR. I have been fishing the salmon and trout runs since 1976. I grew up 100 yards from the banks of the Grand, and a few miles from Lake Erie, so I lived on the rivers and lake shore back then. The coho/chinook runs were incredible, and yes they would hit/crush lures in the early fall. ODNR then went to browns and londons. Not the best returns on the browns, but I was lucky and caught a few. BTW we used to start fishing the londons in late August. The fishery I thought was better with the Londons than the the Cohos and Chinooks. Now we have the Manistee. They sounded like a good idea at first, but I think it is a failure. The fish run in Nov for the most part, right about the time we go off daylight savings time, so that limits fishing to the weekends for those of us that have to work, not to mention I can't take my son who's at school fishing during the week as it's dark before we can go. Now add in the crowds since most everyone is in the same boat. Hopefully the rivers don't freeze and the trout run under the ice like last year, and then leave when the rivers are breaking up. On a side not my Amish buddy did well drilling through harbor ice and catching them. Maybe this is what we are reduced to now. In 2002, I had 14 steelhead off Conneaut's long wall, and my nephew had almost as many. Tons more hook-ups too. Great times. The only time I would catch a skunk was when the lake was muddy. Now in three trips with my son, nothing. Only one quick hit. Junior said he would rather stay home and play video games. Can't say I blame him.


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## ballast (Sep 15, 2011)

I just got into steelhead fish, but Saturday I said, " I think this isn't for me". I absolutely love catching them but.... Ima weekend guy too and the flow is wrong 69% of the time, and the crowds are manageable but still a crowd. So IDK?


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

ballast said:


> I just got into steelhead fish, but Saturday I said, " I think this isn't for me". I absolutely love catching them but.... Ima weekend guy too and the flow is wrong 69% of the time, and the crowds are manageable but still a crowd. So IDK?


You need to go for a walk on the river. There are many many spots that do not have a soul on them during the rivers. Fishing anywhere right by the main public access run is always a recipe for crowds.

Low and high flows do not mean you will not catch steelhead. It only means you need to change your tactics and areas where you typically fish. Keep in mind that during high flows, the further up river you go, the better conditions will be....the run off has already taken place and stay higher than the feeder creeks.


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## surewoodys (Jun 24, 2008)

Boated 2 in harbor lost 2 others on spoons, boated 1 in creek on jig today.


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## ballast (Sep 15, 2011)

I didn't know that about the flow, but it's my search for active fish that's taking me off the main access grid. I wish I had a do over this weekend because I definitely LEARNED alot. After my bitc#in N moaning I hooked up,and it was awesome!!


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## ReelPower (May 18, 2009)

Nice Woody! There are definite fish down low. I saw a few caught in lower Connie just not my deal in the crowds anymore. I need the mid-river hunting exercise at my advanced state of corpulence.


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## ReelPower (May 18, 2009)

ballast said:


> I didn't know that about the flow, but it's my search for active fish that's taking me off the main access grid. I wish I had a do over this weekend because I definitely LEARNED alot. After my bitc#in N moaning I hooked up,and it was awesome!!


Look for barriers to migration at this time of the year if you are on the hunt upriver. Extensive shallows, shale drops, old dams, etc. they can be anywhere so focal points certainly help. Fish the barrier and the best holes immediately downstream. Good luck!


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## thephildo0916 (Mar 4, 2009)

This is the best fall run so far (very early) I have seen in the few seasons I have been fishing for steelhead. Number wise.


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