September Steel?

Cool days and chilly nights trigger the biological clocks of Lake Erie steelhead and the clocks are now ticking. Reports that a few early fish had made their way up both the Erie, Pa., streams and the Rocky River in Ohio got me out of bed this morning and on the river.

More anglers than expected joined me in the lower part of the Rocky. I fished a nice run that a few years back produced an early season skip jack. I swung a white streamer hoping for a surprise, but not expecting much more than the chub that attacked the streamer. The Rocky was still full of summer silt and carried the odor from the Lakewood sewage treatment plant.

I tried one more spot and picked up a sucker. I thought I saw a steelhead in one of the runs, but it was just an early season mirage. Nonetheless, it was good to stand in the water, listen to it rush toward the lake, and watch the great blues hunt and the deer drink.

In a few weeks the fishing will be better. I'll be there. But this September will be steel free for me.