Tis The Season..

Day two for Tom looked alittle like this...

Today was another successful day on our area streams and rivers. Jay Gregory, John Miller, and Will Turek reported good results, and good fishing with some amazing gentleman. Guys thanks so much for fishing with us!!! Some of the area streams in Ohio are up a bit and have gained some color, but this is surely going to bring in some very bright and energetic fish. The PA streams are also looking really good. Hot flies today were assorted streamers and minnow imitations like Clouser minnows, Senyo's Ice Man Minnows, and White Crystal buggers.

The rest of the week is going to be pretty hectic, and I am sorry to tell you that there will not be a blog entry until at the very least Saturday. The entire team with be on the water and as always pretty tired by the end of the day, so we will see you again on Saturday with an update and pictures from the SAO gang. Please don't hesitate to call me on the river at 419-466-9382 I will get back to you ASAP. Our Spring guide season has very limited days left!!! If you are seriously considering steelhead on the fly in Ohio or PA, we are on the rivers daily and know were the fish are.... We would love to hear from you...

Sorry for the short blog entry, but I still have alot of prep work to do for the week, so here are a few of our steelhead pictures from today's outings, I hope you enjoy and we will see you soon!!!!

Tom with 12 pounds of Ohio steel, sure makes the trip back to Wisconsin that much more enjoyable. Nice catch Tom!!!

Tom with another nice buck

Enjoying the last few moments of a good catch

Beau hooked up on a beautiful spring day.

Beau with a nice Ohio Buck

Be safe and good fishing!!!
Greg Senyo
Owner/Operator SAO

Cold Temps and Hot Fish

Well, it finally happened....we got some rain and yes even a measurable amount of snow!  It came down slow and easy with much intermittence between showers and gave us a subtle bump on the streams.  We were a bit nervous heading to the river today as overnight we saw that the rivers had come up.  However, upon arrival, we found the rivers to be in good shape...a little high, but in good shape.

We have been awaiting the push of water because we knew that with it would come hot fish.  Isn't that what we all wait for when it's Steelhead season?  So, with much anticipation our guides hit the water today (Greg Senyo, Patrick Robinson, Will Turek, John Clouser, and John Miller) with clients fully expecting that chrome would be found.

They weren't all chrome, but then again, a whole lot of them were!

BEN GETS THE DAY STARTED WITH FRESH FISH

THE ONLY DARK FISH OF THE DAY FOR BEN AND DAN

DAN WITH HIS FIRST STEELHEAD....NOT BIG, BUT HUGE...

 IF YOU GET MY DRIFT

DAN CAUGHT ON QUICK AND HIS FISH GREW

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH A FRESH BUCK

THE RELEASE

Greg also got out today with clients and managed to help Tom get into some really nice fish! Coming in all the way from Wisconsin, he was rather excited about the greatness of the fishery.  The day wasn't even done and he was talking about when he would make his next trip back.

TOM WITH A SUPER NICE BUCK

A HEALTHY HEN POSES WITH HER SUITOR

Will Turek had the pleasure to take our another Tom.  Tom was interested in learning two hand tricks....spey....and swinging.  And as I understand it, he was a quick learner.  Today Tom got his personal best to date.  Congrats Tom on a great day!!!

TOM'S SMILE WITH CHROME IN HAND IS UNDENIABLE

RELEASING THE BEAUTY FOR ANOTHER DAY

YET ANOTHER FISH BY THE TWO HAND DUO

POLISHED UNTIL IT SHINES

John Miller had clients in from the east coast that he fishes with on the Delaware out in eastern New York.  As always, John did a great job and his clients were on fish....some were fresh, some were colored, but one thing is for sure.....they had a great time!

BOB WITH A STOCKY HEN

DON WITH A SILVER BULLET

BOB ONCE AGAIN WITH ANOTHER NICE FISH

John Clouser was our final team member on the water for the day and if he played a part today, it was clean-up.  You know the kind.....the one who brings everyone home.  That was John today and his guys were an integral part.

No doubt about it, we had a bit of a challenge getting Hal and Bill out fishing due to scheduling conflicts.  However, when Hal hit the water it was like turning the dogs loose.  John says he was on fish after fish after fish all morning.

Oh, and we don't want to forget about the guy who never gave up....that was Bill.  He had his hook-ups, he had his break-offs, but when the day was done, Bill had his fish.

BILL POSES WITH HIS FRIEND HAL AFTER NAILING HIS FIRST FISH

BILL CELEBRATES

ONE OF HAL'S MANY NICE FISH FOR THE DAY.....ALMOST 

BLINDING IT'S SO FRESH

HAL WITH A COLORED UP BUCK

ANOTHER NICE HEN

SOLID CHROME AND A NICE ONE AT THAT

HAL WAS THE HOT HAND FOR THE DAY

Well, one thing is for sure....it was a cold day full of hot fish!!!  To all of our clients, thanks for fishing hard!  You are what makes our trips rewarding.  And to our guide team....you guys are awesome and we are looking forward to the rest of the season on the Alley with you!  

We are out in force the rest of the week, so we will see what kind of trophies await us and our clients.  If you are interested in a trip, we are very limited at this point, so call soon if you want to get in on some spring steelhead.

Until next time, tight lines!

Patrick "Flybum" Robinson

Head Guide

Steelhead Alley Outfitters

Amidst the Maddening Crowd

After hearing good reports from a certain large river all week, we headed out ultra early Saturday morning. Head lamps on, we humped it down the hill to a favorite run to set up shop for an early morning session of swinging flies.

Water color was as good as it ever gets, flow slightly low but still plenty good for swinging. Optimism running high, we stepped into the head of the run and let one fly. And then another one, and another one and another one all the way down the run. Nothing. Fly change, then starting all over again. Nothing. One more fly change, and another run through. Nothing.

The run looked so good, so promising, and so totally to ourselves it was hard to believe we didn't get so much as a bump. This was starting to feel like real steelhead fishing and not the bobbicator massacre we've become accustomed to.

We quickly reeled up and headed downstream where we found a few fish and a few more anglers as well. With the 2 handers laying big goose eggs, the short rods and floats yet again proved their effectiveness for catching finicky fish.

After a while and a very short burst of activity, we decided to join the rest of the Saturday angling hoohurah and see if we couldn't find a few fish further upstream.

40 minutes of hiking and a few stream crossings finally bought us a little solitude. Although for most of the day there was more angler migration up and down the bank than steelhead.

Fortunately, these guys could fish. I mean they could "get it done". 40 foot casts and sweet extended dead drifts to water beyond the average angler's reach started to pay off with a slow but steady number of hook ups. Unfortunately, most of the fish hooked had been in the river for a quite a while, i.e. "dirty fish" due to their grey bellies. A few hot fresher fish made their appearance as well, but no super charged chrome came to the net.

AJ with a fresher hen.

When faced with the madding crowd what can you do? Smile and shrug it off... hell no. Walk farther, fish harder, and cast longer. In short, just get it done. Thanks Jeff and AJ, you're my kind of anglers.

Will Turek

SAO Steelhead Guide

TGIF!

Let me introduce you to "Boss Hog" Nice fish Jeff!!

It was another good day on the water with clients with plenty of steelhead released to fight another day. On that note thank God it's Friday! The guys are really starting to look a little ragged around the edges if you know what I mean.... We will have guys out this weekend, but the majority are taking it easy until Monday and then back at it in full force.

We would like to thank everyone for a great week on Steelhead Alley! We had a lot of multiple day trips this week, and it was an honor being apart of so many great memories. Seeing Tucker's first Steelhead on the fly, long time friends reuniting on the water, fathers & sons with unbreakable bonds and unmistakable smiles, and of course being apart of some of the nice catches and some personal best fish on the fly. These are the most important values and reasons we guide!!!

We still have days available for this spring. Don't hesitate to call us at 419-466-9382 if you are interested in fly fishing for Lake Erie Steelhead. If you have been following this blog you can see these guys are guiding our local rivers everyday and know where the fish are! We would love to see you smiling in one of these steelhead pictures!

Pray for rain because we need it bad!!! Once we get it the fishing should get a whole lot better. Same types of fly patterns in our past blogs are hitting fish. Here are some of the Steelhead photos, plus a bonus shot from today on Steelhead Alley. Be safe this weekend and Tight Lines .

AJ with a feisty spring Ohio Steelhead


Jeff with another good sized Ohio Buck

Keep 'em coming their not photo shy

John With a fat Grand River Hen

Gary with a healthy fat Ohio steelhead

Tom with another good buck

Troy poses with a good looking fish

The bonus catch of the day!

Tom with his fly caught Walleye! Hey I thought we were steelhead fishing?

Father & Son Doubles? Priceless!

Marc & Tucker on a hot streak!

As you can see 12 year old Tucker had the magic touch Today!

Rich with a nice buck

Jeff with a great looking hen

Allen with his first Ohio Steelhead

Good Fishing!!!

Greg Senyo

Owner/Operator

Steelhead Alley Outfitters

A Crazy Day Produces Crazy Results!

Today was a crazy day. With 15 clients and 6 guides on the water, you can bet that many miles of water were covered in search of those specimens whose shimmering radiance would brighten any fisherman's day.


As luck would have it, every group was successful today despite some tough conditions. I was the last one to pull through with fish to the net. We had trouble for whatever reason, getting fish to the net all day long. By mid afternoon, we still didn't have the skunk off. Knowing that the rest of our guide staff had put multiple fish in the net wasn't making it any better either.


The cool thing about our guys is that they know how to rally. Today's trip for me was like a fourth quarter rally that ended up in our favor. Yes, perhaps we didn't catch as many fish, but I would bet we caught the biggest.

A Nice Buck Caught on a Swung Streamer Heats Things Up!

Today on the nicest buck we caught, there was the signs of a famous Great Lakes invasive species....The Sea Lamprey.

The wound was fresh and a reminder of the frailty of nature when things show up that should not be around.

Sea Lamprey's Leave Nasty Wounds Wherever They Have Been!

Soon after getting the skunk off, John (pictured below) decided to make a connection. Not just any connection, but a huge connection. Upon setting the hook, I thought we may have a 34-35 inch fish, but isn't that how every fisherman's eyes look :) ? In all seriousness, this may not have been that big, but this fish was huge!

The Show Stopper for the Day

A Very Large Buck Weighing In At 12 Pounds!

So, after a very nice fight and another fish under the belt, John decided it was time for some celebration. Cigars were offered up and John smoked to the goodness of the day...regardless of the late entry into the game.

A Great Celebration After a Stellar Fish!

Below, you will find photo highlights from the other guides that were on the water today.

Marc and Tucker with a little double play!

Victory!!!

Father and Son pose with Tucker's first Lake Erie Steelhead! Congrats Tucker!

Proud Father Marc With a nice buck of his own.

Tucker with yet another great Lake Erie Steelhead!

This Ohio buck took Tom for a ride this afternoon.

Tom with a great looking Ohio steelhead.

Jeff with a nice buck, one of many this day...

Dave with a nice Ohio Tributary buck!

Dave with a feisty hen steelhead.

Tom with an early morning Ohio steelhead.

Conner picking up were he left off yesterday!

Conner releasing the warrior buck!

Conner the steelhead King with yet another good fish!!!

As usual we will have a lot of guides and clients on the water tomorrow morning. Keep your eyes peeled for the next installment!

Tight Lines,

Patrick "Flybum" Robinson

Head Guide

Steelhead Alley Outfitters