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Dfishinfool's Guide Service
"Steelhead
Alley" River Reports Page
No B.S. honest river
reports compliments of Don Mathews and the staff of
guides at Dfishinfool's Guide Service
Scroll below for some
of our favorite Fall steelhead trip pictures and reports
Winter Steelheader
Special..!!! Winter Steelheading can be very
rewarding for those brave enough to face a little cold
weather. Here on “Steelhead Alley” we target holdover
fish in December and January. Fishing heats up with the
daylights warmth so early starts are not necessary. We
are offering a winter steelheading special during the
months of December and January this year. Of course we
will still offer our regular all day trips if you
prefer. Our Winter Special trips will start at 8:30 am
and last until 4:30 pm. Plan on eating a hearty
breakfast and fishing all day. Lunch will not be served
but we will have hot beverages and Granola Bars.
Everything else is the same as our regular all-inclusive
trip. All rods reels bait flies ect. is included in the
trip price. There are no hidden charges. All you will
need are waders a license and some warm clothes. Please
mention this special when booking your trip.
SPECIAL PRICE 1
Angler $230, 2 Anglers $270, 3 Anglers $330
11-29-07 Report:
Finally we have gotten some
good soakers to bring the fish in. With the recent high
waters we have been fishing the Pennsylvania streams the
last couple of days. Crowds have been manageable except
for Saturday (it was a zoo) Since Mondays flood we have
been chasing prime water conditions as the streams
dropped. We are finding a good run on fish on all of the
streams we have been able to fish. We had a great day
yesterday on Elk Creek with all eight of our guests
making double digits on the fly. The fish are finally
well distributed throughout the stream. Not allot of
chromers but lots of fish. Hot flies were the Ingersol
Steely stones and white angora sucker spawn.
Ohio is starting to shape up and some of the streams
should start to fish today. Ohio has been smoking hot
all fall, for us. We are starting to see lots of chrome
Manistee strain fish entering the system the last couple
of weeks. Mixed in with all the earlier running Pa stays
it has made for some great fishing for us. We have been
doing very well on bait and flies. Hot flies in Ohio
were White buggers and Crystal minnows before the flood.
The Grand is at 2500 CFM this morning so she's at least
3 or 4 dry days away. We are booking December - January
Float trips for her now. Our high side Hyde drift boat
is a great way to beat the crowds. Connie really blew
out Monday. I was surprised how much she dropped
yesterday. I think she will fish Friday. We are hitting
fish in good numbers on the Pa stretches of Connie now.
The Chagrin will fish today and I have found fish all
the way up to Gates Mills Dam. Rocky should fish today
as well but it been awhile since we have been over
there. The -V- finally blew out and will fish today. Up
to this point low water has made it a slow go. I look
for it to be hot now that there’s water.
I’m working real hard trying to get my website back in
shape and the pictures updated. Watch for the changes in
the next few weeks. If your interested in a winter or
spring trip with one of our guides give me a call.
330-565-5457
Good Fishin..!! Don Dfishinfool Mathews
11-11-07 Sunday
Report We got some much needed rain last Tuesday and
it brought in some fresh fish. We have been having great
days numbers wise and still are 100% for the season. The
fish are very fat and healthy this year. Fools Gold and
Sucker Spawn are the current hot flies but it seems to
change daily so mix up the menu. Eggs and shiners are
the preferred baits but the more popular holes get hit
with bait hard daily, so it pays to give the flies a
try. I have been doing better by avoiding the big holes
and working the pocket water.
Ohio I am seeing more
Manistee strain fish in the Ohio streams now. Fishing
continues to improve. The Vermillion is still terribly
low and not many fish. The rest of the Ohio streams all
have fishable numbers even in the upper river. Crowds
haven’t been too bad most days.
Pennsylvania The
fishing is hit or miss. Jeff hit a great run on a Mile
trib last Wednesday. We were excited that a big run
might be coming into the Pa tribs. So we fished Elk
Creek on the dropping water Thursday. We only landed
one fish by 1:30 in the afternoon. Nobody seemed to be
doing well. We went to Ohio after lunch and caught over
20 before dark. Where are all of the Pa fish? I think
most of the ones that came up early are in freezers in
Pittsburgh but I would have expected bigger numbers than
there are in the stream now.
New York With the
hot Ohio fishing we haven’t been over to NY for a bit.
I’m going to try to fish the Catt later in the week. I
have heard rumors that it is still fishing good and the
Browns are in the Western NY streams also.
Good Fishin..!! Don
Sorry that I haven’t
had much of a chance to post any reports. I have been
very busy fishing. All of the guides here at
“Dfishinfools Guide Service” are starting to look a
little ragged. Some of the guys are fishing seven days
a week , me included. Dicks walking a little more
hunched over than usual and Jeff reeks like an egg sac.
Well at least his waders do. Sorry Jeff. LOL!! These
guys are dedicated to their sport. It is with much
pride that I say were batting a thousand. So far this
fall every one our guests has landed a steelhead. Many
memories were made. I think this speaks highly of
guides I have put together. Each one of my guides is a
steelhead expert by himself but networking is the key to
our success. Six steelhead veterans in constant contact
via cell phones lets us stay on top of the fish as they
move throughout the streams. We also are friends with
many of the local fly and bait shops. Many of whom stock
our steelhead flies. These fine folks help us stay on
top of the ever changing river conditions. Our guides
are licensed insured professionals that are trained in
CPR, Water Safety and First aid. They will never ask you
to provide your own tackle, flies or Liability insurance
like other outfits do. So, if you would like to give
Steel heading a try with a true professional guide,
please give me a call at 330-565-5457
Good Fishin..!! Don
11-07-07 Report:
Rain and snow have made it tough he last couple of days
but we have managed to land plenty of fish. Easy double
digits and they are chromers. Greg and Dick fished Ohio
today while Jeff and myself hit Pennsylvania. Good
numbers of fish are in all of the streams from
Vermillion to Buffalo.
Ohio has great numbers for this
time of year. They are in the far upper stretches of
the larger streams but still haven’t made it very far up
the small streams. We have had lots of success with both
flies and bait. Leaves are starting to cause some
problems and we still need water but the fish are there.
Fish are responding well to #14 pastel egg patterns and
minnow patterns such as the crystal minnow.
Good Fishin..!! Don
Dfishinfool Mathews.
10-26-07 Steelhead
season is in full swing here in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
All summer long the charter boats have reported great
steelhead action out on the lake. I think we are in for
a good run this fall..!! The last few days have been
awesome, we have been seeing lots of fresh fish pushing
upstream. Fish can now be found in every stream. Thus
far we have been fishing Ohio and New York most of the
time.
Pennsylvania There
are lots of fish in the Pennsylvania streams right now.
Lots of fish in an understatement, stupid numbers of
fish are in the Pennsylvania streams now that they
finally have a little water. The fall crowds have been
very heavy in Pennsylvania. the recent rain should help
spread the guys out. If we get some fresh rain the mile
tribs will be great other wise I would stick with Elk
and Walnut.
Ohio There are
more fish than normal in the Ohio streams for this time
of year. Ohio and NY are your best alternative to escape
the Pennsylvania crowds and this is a great fall to do
it. My guess is the low water on Elk and Walnut in early
October caused some of the Pennsylvania fish to stray.
No one knows for sure but it has been a good fall so far
in the buckeye despite the low water. Up until now the
action has been in the lower rivers but the fish are
spreading out in Ohio as well. We have caught several
good runs in the mid to upper river the last few days
and had the place to ourselves. All of the streams are
at a fishable level even the Grand. I may even get the
drift boat out next week if we get some rain this
weekend. Looks like we will be dry all week. So it
looks like once again things will go low and clear.
New York In Ny,
the Catt has produced well so far this fall, with lots
of big fish to be had. We have found her muddy several
days when it should have fished. The rumor is they are
mining gravel from the river- bed on the reservation. We
haven’t fished the Res this year so I can’t confirm
this. By now the fish are surely past Gowanda and
probably at Springville so if you hit unexplainable mud
I would try upstream or me to one of the smaller Ny
tribs.
Fish have been
responding very well to the fly for us. We have been
split between fly and spin trips so far. We have had
such great success on the flies that we have been
choosing flies over bait on our spinning setups the
majority of the time. When spin fishing with bait,
Salmon eggs and shiners have worked the best. The hot
fly has been the Crystal minnow, especially at
daylight. Any minnow pattern is the ticket right now.
I haven’t been able to keep Crystal minnows and
Schmieser minnows in my fly box, but we have been mixing
it up and have done well on the nymphs as well. A blue
wiggle stone in the afternoon is defiantly worth a try.
Remember go light.
The most common mistake we see on the stream is
oversized line and terminal tackle presentations. A
section of 4 or 6 lb test fluorocarbon tippet is
essential weather you’re fly or spin fishing. This time
of year a quality single egg impaled by a #16 hook on 4
lb test line is hard to beat when they get finicky. I
don’t bother curing my own single eggs. The folks at
Poor Richards and Elk Creek Sports have it down to a
science.
We have guides
available almost every day including this weekend and we
provide all of the rods, reels, bait and flies, so if
your interested in an all inclusive “Steelhead Alley”
guided trip with one of our licensed insured guides
please give us a call at 330-565-5457 or drop me an
e-mail at dfishinfool@aol.com
Good Fishin..!! Don
Dfishinfool Mathews
Monday 10-01-07
Back to reality for me. What a trip. I would like to
thank Ben Belleau and his staff for the wonderful time
they showed us on the Ojibaway reservation once again
this year. We spent 11 days on the Garden River near Sue
Ste Marie in Ontario Canada fishing with our native
guides. The fishing was terrific again this year.
Heck, It was better than terrific. It wasn’t even
fishing. It was catching..LOL..!! Everybody seemed to
enjoy themselves and my predictions are that several of
the guys are on a diet this week so they can fit into
their clothes. Nine guests made the trip. We camped in
comfortable heated Wall style tents and slept on cots,
just feet from the most productive section of the Garden
River.
We are the only group on the stream and we saw
no other anglers that were not with our group. Our only
fishing competitors were the Eagles and Bears. The
Eagles were everywhere and that only added to the
magical fall color show. This was a so-called off year
for the Pink salmon but nobody told the fish this and
the anglers in our group had no trouble catching dozens
and dozens each day. Ben tells me there really isn’t off
years anymore. The King Salmon fishing was great and
the fish were running hard all week. The Kings averaged
about 16 lbs and the biggest fish of the trip was 39
inches. These fresh run kings put the test to our fly
gear. So the size of the Chinook Salmon was a little
off from past years but the huge numbers of unmolested
fish more than made up for it. There were a few
steelhead and native trout caught each day as a bonus.
We ate and ate and ate. There is nothing like a hot
shower after fishing, followed by a streamside steak
dinner next to the fire at sunset. The leaves were in
full color and to be honest it was hard leaving. Word is
getting out about this wonderful trip. All meals, guide
fees, access fees, and tent lodging are included in the
price, all you need to bring is a sleeping bag and your
beverages ,fishing gear. Our group gets exclusive
fishing rights during the seasons peak on the third week
of September each year and space is limited to twelve
anglers next year. Next year is an on year for the Pink
Salmon cycle. We are already half full so it will be
sold out for sure. Five nights in camp is $1250 U.S.
and 9 nights cost $1950. A $300 deposit will hold your
spot.
.Please call if you
would like to join us on this trip of a lifetime next
year.
Good
Fishin..!! Don Dfishinfool Mathews
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Fishing reports Click here
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