Jetlagged

This nice Char was taken on a swung fly!

We made it back home after a brutal red eye flight schedule! Shortly we will have a series of blogs put together from our hosted trip to Alaska. It was absolutely a great time, and each year we travel to Alaska there is always something new going on... I spent most of the trip with switch rod in hand, and getting my casting dialed in for upcoming Lake Erie steelhead runs.

We will also list several great tying events and shows coming up around the region, and in the shop to get you ready for the start of the fall. Stay tuned for more in the next couple of days!

A Summer to Remember, But There's No Place Like Home!

The leaves are changing and the weather is starting to feel a lot more like Autumn here on Lake Erie. Most of the guys have concluded their summer guiding gigs and have started to migrate back home to the big lake to scout and fish for early season Steelhead. At this point a few good pods of early run fish are scattered around the lower tribs. Hopefully we will see some good rain in the next couple days and continued low 50's through the coming weeks, as this will start the fall season with a blast of fresh steel. The bad news is that the tributaries are extremely low and clear right now. But the good news is that the fish have been pretty thick and the sizes have been better than average. It's really just a matter of time now..... Our guide schedules are filling quickly as we get closer to kicking off our season! If you are interested in spending a day or two fly fishing for fall Lake Erie Steelhead we would love to share in that experience with you. Please don't wait or hesitate to put your dates in early... If you have any questions please feel free to call us at 888-453-5899 or email us at team@steelheadalleyoutfitters.com.. Below are a few of the recent pictures from the gang!

Guide Brett McCrae with fresh chrome

straight from the big pond!

Another fine early fall specimen. Guide Tim Hess will a solid Lake Erie Steelhead.

Tim with another early fall Steelhead.

Steelhead That Fell For A Micro Bead Head Nymph.

Guide Joel Bock with a fresh Lake Erie Steelhead.

John Miller has nearly completed a great summer of guiding clients on the Delaware River system for Brown and Rainbow Trout. As of late the streamer fishing has been great and John only has a few more trips to run before he joins us for the fall Steelhead runs. A special thanks to our friends and associates over at the West Branch Angler for a wonderful season! Here are just a few of the recent trip photo's, and if you are interested in fishing the Delaware River system and need more information please visit http://www.westbranchresort.com/.

A beautiful Delaware River Brown Trout!

I couldn't think of a better way to spend the day!

You can't fake smiles like that!

Another good Delaware Brown Trout.

Another good Brown Trout...

Delaware River Brown trout poses with a happy angler!

And we'll end with this toad of a brown trout!

SAO guide Mike Schultz spent some time away from his summer guiding haunts on the Huron River in Michigan to fly fish Baja, Mexico for Dorado and Rooster Fish! If this doesn't get your blood pumping, I don't know what will. I will let the pictures he sent over do the talking!

Schultzy poses with one of the Rooster Fish caught on the fly!

Nice Dorado, but that hat is off the hook bro!

Schultzy holds another fine Rooster Fish while fly fishing in Mexico.

Our hosted trip for Alaska 2011 is down to it's final two slots! This will be our fourth trip back and we are really excited about it! There is just something about Alaska that just keeps talking to you! Here are a few more pictures that just came in from this Augusts hosted trip with SAO's Joel Bock and Jason Gregory. If you are interested in fly fishing Alaska, you will really enjoy fishing with our group. Remember only two slots remain, and many have expressed interest....the clock is ticking on this amazing opportunity. For more information check out the top of this blog in the hosted events page.

Hooked up on a Naknek River Silver Salmon.

A Margot Creek, Alaska Arctic Char.

A fresh Naknek River Silver from "Silver Bend."

Another Margot Creek Char.

Fat Naknek River Rainbow Trout.

A fat Sockeye Salmon from Brooks River, Alaska.

Brooks River, Alaska.

A nice Silver Salmon from the Naknek River.

Brooks River Rainbow Trout.

Pushed out of the pool by one of the locals!

I hope you enjoyed the last of this summers photo's! Our focus has now turned to nothing but the approaching fall Steelhead runs, scouting the local tributaries, and tying lots of flies! We will have more to come your way very soon....

Until Next Time!

Greg Senyo

Owner/Operator

Steelhead Alley Outfitters

Once Only In Dreams, My Eyes Have Now Seen

For years, going back to my childhood, I can remember dreaming of an opportunity to travel to Alaska. For more than just a child, Alaska is a place that many dream of....men and women alike! It is easy to see why so many dream of this place. It is full of amazing wildlife, some of the largest in the world.....Caribou, Moose, Grizzly Bears, Polar Bears, Walrus and the list goes on and on!

THE EVER FAMOUS GRIZZLY BEAR

The land is strewn with majestic glacier covered peaks many of which are alive inside (volcanic). Circumventing the peaks, clear water and glacial water streams flow rich with life of every kind. Each has is own special characteristics and I guarantee they will leave a mark on your soul that you won't soon get rid of.

MARGOT (pronounced Mar-go) CREEK

BROOKS RIVER WINDS IT'S WAY

TOWARD NAKNEK LAKE

Another cool thing about Alaska is the crazy color of water that is found in some streams and lakes. Rivaling waters further south in the caribbean, the glacial waters of Alaska will leave you absolutely awe inspired! Some rivers and lakes flow with a beautiful shade of cloudy turquoise blue (that can't really and truly be described). you will just have to take my word for it when I say it is simply spectacular.

THE BLUE GLACIAL WATERS OF UPPER NAKNEK LAKE

All in all, the state 0f Alaska is breathtaking and will take more than one lifetime to explore unless you have the opportunity to live there. My first opportunity to explore came just about a week ago. It was an amazing opportunity and one I am thankful to have taken. Fishing on the fly was our focus and I have to say that the fishing was spectacular. It was at times so fast and furious that it left your head spinning like a top. I can remember one such instance when I was fishing for Bows on the swing on the Naknek River. Now, mind you, swinging streamers for any species is fun and rewarding, but you don't typically get fish hand over fist using this technique. I recall that morning on the Naknek, and I went five Bows in a row all over 20" with two breaking 25". These weren't the grab and got em on the first try either. These were patience testers. You know the kind? Hit you once....you stay in the game....strike you twice, still nothing....the swing continues........then BOOOOM..........PAYDIRT! The drag starts to scream and off into the deep the bows would head.

All in all, the fishing was spectacular! From Rainbows to Char, Grayling, or Salmon.....every fish was an honor to catch!

JEREMY ROBINSON FIGHTS HIS FIRST

UGASHIK CHAR OF THE TRIP

A BEAUTIFUL BOW CAUGHT SWINGING

ARTICULATED FLESH FLIES

To sum it up, Alaska is a truly amazing place. In the days that lie ahead, I will strive to share with you some of my photos and stories from our time in King Salmon.

Currently, I am trying to relocate my family to a new home so bear with me if the posts don't come as fast and furious as all of us would like. I am currently writing with paint covered hands and an aching back. Nevertheless, I will keep posting every opportunity I get.

Until next time,

Patrick "Flybum" Robinson

Head Guide

Steelhead Alley Outfitters

Alaska Part IV: The Red Salmon

I am fascinated by the large schools of Sockeye jumping waterfalls and being caught in mid air by hungry grizzly bears! HD Television and the Discovery channel do a great job of making you feel like your standing next to the production crew. For years I have watched, just waiting for the opportunity to head north. To finally arrive in Alaska and experience the wildness and fishery first hand has created an addiction I will need to feed for the rest of my life. What TV fails to provide is the tingling sensation on your neck when a 1200 pound grizzly sneaks up behind you, and proceeds to fish well with in your comfort zone! This was something that you learn to come to grips with and soon appreciate. The shear numbers of sockeye layered in the pools is mind boggling! It did not take too long to realize how important the sockeye was to every living creature on this land. Humans, bears, Birds, eagles, char, trout, etc... depend on the red salmon flesh & Eggs to sustain them through the long winter. It was a time of plenty and nothing goes to waste. Estuaries such as this looked like the water was stained with pure blood, as thousands of Sockeye were constantly pouring into the streams. Large Rainbow trout and Char were strategically placed among the salmon gorging themselves on drifting eggs and flesh. Watching the Grizzly bears tear into salmon after salmon put alot of food in the drift, and watching the char feed in and spar for feeding lanes was extremely entertaining. Every good group of salmon was followed, patrolled, and preyed on by the large Char and Rainbow Trout. Fishing egg imitations on the out side edges of schools like this produced alot of good fish. At first you were excited to catch Sockeye along with the Char and Trout, but after a day of landing these red beasts you started to feel like there numbers would get in the way of your drifts. What a problem to have right? Too many fish in the way! LOL!!!

Sockeye half eaten my a grizzly becomes food for wolf, birds, and the weak and old. Nothing but bone will remain in this highly utilized Eco System.

This is what the Red Salmon made possible for me. The opportunity and chance to catch and release Large Arctic Char! A dream come true and something I have always wanted to catch on the fly.

Watching huge fat grizzly bears crash into the stream from the near by alders and high grass was awe inspiring!! It also scared the living s**t out of you time and again. The old saying of turning white and resisting the urge to scream like a little girl would describe this situation perfectly. Its not like I have 1500 pound bears back home on the Alley to worry about, so it took a day...or two to get use to the whole bear thing.. In the end I feel like I won and overcome my fear of being bear food.

Greg Standing on a large boulder fighting a large Char that was sitting behind a school of sockeye. Everyday since I have arrived back home, I found myself day dreaming of my stay in AK. So much to do and so little time to do it..

The Prize of the Sockeye runs! Big Colorful Char, My pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I have never held a fish that was as beautifully colored and as mesmerizing in 20 plus years of fly fishing. I felt full filled and a sense of accomplishment and true appreciation for being granted this opportunity.

For their size, I was amazed at how agile these big bears could move to catch salmon. Along the streams you see alot of large holes that are dug out by the bears just to put their bellies in while they rest.

Sockeye on Dry Flies? I spent a good amount of time swinging and stripping mouse patterns in search of Rainbow Trout. The mouse would slash over the school of sockeye, and next thing you know this large green alligator jaw would poke through the surface and take off with your dry! It was an added bonus and happened quite often through out the day.

Sockeye are very territorial and aggressively attacked patterns such as woolly buggers, egg sucking bunnies, and small sculpins. When hooked their wide bodies are tough to turn and make for one heck of a battle.

John Clouser fights a trophy sized arctic Char that took a tangerine colored egg. We were all amazed at the number of 20 plus inch trout and char in the streams. Add that to the line busting runs, the wildness setting, and the terrific company it makes for a great time.

Standing over a pod of sockeye, and watching the Char feeding on the far outside edge of the school. The next photo shows why we were so excited.

I was able to get a hand on the char from the pool above. Dave fought him like a champ! The funny thing was just minutes after this fish was released he was back feeding! These fish don't waste anytime...

John with a trophy class sockeye!

Sharing water with some of the locals.

Joel with a Trophy Red.

Solitude and Trout on the fly.

Dave with a nice fly caught Red.

Talk about being shuffled out of your hole!

Craig with a sockeye on the 4wt.

Eric with a red salmon from the mouth of the Brooks River.

This grizzly decided to fish directly across from us.

School of Red Salmon

Swinging and drifting buggers and leeches produced alot of strikes.

Sockeye that smacked a mouse pattern.

Alaska will be forever a place I visit! Counting down the days already!! We will be hosting back to AK again next year, and we are already taking those RSVP's. If you are interested in spending a week with us, we would love to have you. We can be contacted at 888-453-5899 or email us at team@steelheadalleyoutfitters.com.

Steelhead season is right around the corner, but we need alot of rain to get it started. Our Ohio and PA steelhead Alley reports are current every week through out the entire year. The report is located right next to the blog entries on the top right hand side. We will keep you updated!

Until next time....

Greg Senyo

Owner/Operator SAO