2010 - Fall in Review

I have one thing to say,,,,,, "What a Great Fall Season". The video above is the first of a series of videos coming to help you get over the cabin fever.

Thanks to all of great people I had the opportunity to fish with this season. You are the reason I keep doing this. You have enabled me to live my dream. I also want to thank my wife for being so supportive and Greg Senyo for his help throughout this steelhead season.

November 29th with Vince and Eric

SAO Guide John Miller along with Vince and Eric had a great time in Pa. yesterday. We had good flows and good visibility. The fish were starting to settle in, but recent rains will change that. Keep your eye on the gages.

Deer hunting may be in order the balance of this week. Contact us as our guides will be on the water checking the situation. They will know where the fish are.

Meanwhile, take a look at the pics below and get prepared for some stellar fishing that will follow the front that is now upon us.

How about Doubles

Nice fresh fish are in.

Doubles again?



A Hard Fighting Chrome




A nice fish to get the day started.

Four from Long Island -- First Steelhead Trip Ever

We were joined by 3 Mikes and an Anthony. Mike Albano the Father of Mike and Anthony along with Mike Palma a very good friend. All four of them very good fisherman, but new to the steelhead game. They fish the Delaware for lunker browns and rainbows and they say if you can fish the Delaware system, you can fish anywhere.

They arrived on Steelhead Alley after driving for 8 hours from Long Island and began preparations for their 2 day fishing trip. John Miller and I were their SAO guides for the 2 days and we were excited to get going. Elk was primed and ready to go so we got out early to beat the sun and hit the first light bite. John went low on the river and I went high. It was not long before we were into our first fish. Mike hit a nice shiny steelhead that took him to school and eventually got off. He was excited and shaking. He said to Anthony "those fish are unbelievable". I watched him play that fish with a joy on his face that can only be described as a child on Christmas moring receiving his first 2 wheeler. There was a real honest joy written all over his face. From that moment I knew we were going to have an exciting two days. These guys were not looking for numbers of fish, but the entire experience. All them, as good as they were continued to be students of fly fishing and just enjoy the fact that they were with family and friends sharing new experiences. As it turned out, they caught a ton of fish as well.

The river on Friday was near perfect conditions. It was on it's way down and clearing. By Saturday afternoon, it had dropped quite a bit and cleared to about 24 inches of visability. So with good conditions and good fisherman, we had a banner couple of days.

Below is Mike Sr. with one of the largest fish taken during the two days. This fish took him for a walk up then down the river. It's a good thing he had lots of backing. After about 20 minutes John Miller was able to get this fish in the net.

Mike with a very nice Steelhead

How about the Chrome that Anthony is holding (pictured left)

Mike And Mike

Mike releasing a fine Steelhead (obove left) Anthony proudly shows a nice chrome.

Someone always has to mess up the silver streak with a bit of gold

Anthony with a nicely colored fish (above left) and Mike showing off his solid chrome

These guys were a riot to fish with. It was a fun two days and from the smiles I witnessed they almost had as much fun as I did.

I will need to post more pics on future blogs. Hope you enjoyed these and keep us in mind for your Steelhead fishing trip. I look for conditions to take another up swing so keep your eyes on the weather and book soon.

Scott McClintock
RSM Fly Fishing

Steelhead Alley Outfitters

Fly Fishing Specialist.

Steelhead Alley gets visitors from Long Island

Story and Pictures coming soon.

In the mean time, fishing has been very good in Pa.. As for Ohio, we have high expectations for more fish in the system due to the reason rains.

The Gages are indicating rivers are coming down and will be clearing, so keep your eyes on the gages. Use the links under "helpful links" at that side of this page.

We suggest sending us an email or giving us a call to book your trip soon to ensure you get your preferred dates. Again, keep your eyes open for the new updates of pictures and stories from our last few days of fishing. We had good conditions and lots of fun so stay tuned for "Fresh Chrome".

Stream Conditions as of 11/16/10

We started early walking into Elk at dark. It wasn't long before we hit a nice chrome Steelhead at the head of a small pool. Ken (pictured below) played the fish well to the net. In spite of the conditions we had a number of hookups, but patience was required. Being able to change and adapt to differing conditions was crucial and we eventually enjoyed some success.

Ken showed me a new technique that we called the "One Hop" catch. Ken was fishing a run that was fairly close to the bank when he set the hook. The fish jumped about four feet out of the water and landed on the bank. Shortest steelhead fight I ever saw. Must be a record.
We quickly got him from the ground into the net and back into the water. Great technique and certainly eliminates the chances of break offs.

Ken got into a nice brown that made some very hard runs that definitely gave him a chance to practice his line management. The fish decided to go straight upstream through the shallow riffs and just rip line off his reel. Then as if by magic, gone. Another lesson on fly fishing that will make Ken just a little better.




Stream Conditions

Elk is low and very clear and the fish are tight lipped. Be prepare to cover the water to find fish. There are large pods of fish in the deeper pools, but they are nervous and difficult to coax to the fly. Cover the water and fish the runs and small slots and you will hit a few cooperative fish. At the end of the day, I noticed fish starting to move up stream. This could be a good thing.

Ohio Tribs had a bit of color and flows have been ok. The fish are spread out and there doesn't seem to be many fish in the system right now. The guides have been out scouting and guiding everyday and have found them, but you need to move and cover the water (run and gun).

I recommend no inicator in the pools and fish the head and tail of each pool. In the good runs and pockets, if you're not comfortable with "High Sticking" use an indicator.

We have taken a number of fish on small streamer patterns. Dead drift them into a swing and you should hit a few fish.

We need some rain to add a little color to elk and increase the flows a bit, and Ohio needs another push of fish. We have some rain in the forecast and that should help.

Remember hit the pockets and slots. Go light on the weight.


See our fishing reports for steelhead. By clicking the nav button Steelhead above or
http://rsmflyfishingsteelhead.blogspot.com/


Tight lines everyone
Scott McClintock

Tough Conditions Still Produce Fish

Above are some of the wonders of Steelhead Alley. If you Select SAO you can be sure to have the best guides around. They know the water and real pros.

We have had some tough conditions the last few days. All of the guides have been working real hard to find the fish in Ohio and we are finding them, but we are covering a lot of water. You can't beat being out on nice crisp autum day searching for those large fish that bring so many smiles. We are hoping for more rain to bring a fresh batch of fish in and it looks like it's coming.

The fish above was taken by Victor under very difficult conditions. The water was low and clear and we covered a lot of miles to locate fish. We had numerous hookups thanks to the skills displayed by Vic. By the way Victor's venison sausage is superb.

This colored up buck was an early morning strike by Dave who played it beautifully. For never fishing for Steelhead before Dave certainly played this big guy well.

More pics and stories coming so stay tuned.

Rain is coming everyone so get ready for the fishing to turn up a notch. Give us a call.

See you on the water,

Scott McClintock

Mixed Conditions with a Surprise Ending.

The day started out dark with the threat of rain or snow coming. The river was already on the rise, but still had good color with about 18" of visibility. I wanted to get some fish quick because with the river rising this quickly I just wasn't sure what it would be like later in the day.

I was fishing with Brooks and his daughter Ashley who had fished with us in the past. Both very good fishing partners. I was particularly impressed with Ashley's natural ability with the fly rod. She listened well and followed instructions. Just a great student of fly fishing.

Ashley was the first to strike. She played this fish with very little instruction from me. The

fish definitely put her to the test. It did not want to be in my net, but Ashley played this fish through numerous hard runs and eventually to my net.

Ashley with a Very Fine First Fish with Proud Father



Plenty of smiles to go around

We went through a dry spell with the river still rising and getting muddier by the minute. We had numerous hookups but nothing to the net when we decided to head up stream to explore a bit. Then Ashley struck again with a nice shiney steelhead. Brooks had many hookups throughout the day, but nothing to the net yet. He was intent on catching a good fish.

I heard about a few browns that were lurking around a particular hole so we headed in that direction. We rigged up for the run and hole we were going to fish with the "Iceman". Brooks went to work hooking a nice fresh steelhead. Then an hour later at days end with a lot of persistence and drive Brooks made "one more cast" about 10 times when he snagged up.......... He wacked at that snag 4 or 5 times to no avail. I took the rod to get it free when it felt a little odd. I lifted gently and felt weight moving. I handed the rod back to Brooks and said get ready for that snag to explode. Seconds later into the backing. It was a large brown. With Ashley and I shouting instructions on deaf ears, Brooks eventually brought that fish to the net just like a pro. You can tell by the smiles we were all excited.

It was nice to fish with a family that truly enjoyed each other's company. They wanted nothing more than for the other to be successful and they were in more ways than one.

Tight lines eveyone,

Scott McClintock

RSM Fly Fishing

Steelhead Alley Outfitters

Orvis Endorsed

Fly Fishing Specialist

Difficult fish and Good Fishermen

The day started early at 6:15. It was dark with a chill in the air as we walked to the stream. We were going to fish Elk with high expectations due to the recent rain. I had two experienced fly fishermen with me. Bob, never fished for steelhead before, but was very handy with a fly rod, and Meridith who fished with Steelhead Alley Outfitters numerous times over the years.

Pictured below was our target, and one of Meridith's first fish. The First Fish at about 7:30am

Meridth was first to strike with a nice pair

Bob soon followed fishing in a nice run up above. Since this was Bob's first steelhead, we wanted this fish in the net real bad and as you can see (pictured below) it was a good one. It gave all three of us a work out. This fish headed upstream, then downstream, with many jumps and the guide chasing him all over the river. Add to that Meridith running up to get pictures and getting stuck in the mud and rolling around, we had a memory and a good laugh as we rested ourselves on the bank. The fish was in much better shape than we were after that battle and I'm not sure who won.

The Master Strikes Again and Again

Two more for Bob and another good one to boot. I'm not sure who is hooked here.

Meridith Showing Off Another

There are Big Fish in Our Rivers

Looking back at the day, I wish I had a video camera with me. There were so many moments that we will only be able to store in our memories. A good time was had by all and I know that I enjoyed myself.

We are getting some nice fish and it will get even better. Give us a call if you're interested in getting out on Steelhead Alley. We're sure you'll have a laugh, and a good time.