The Thundering River

The water temperatures from what I have heard from friends all over have been higher than normal this year. These links will show how now the Great Lakes are finally cooling down so we can see the runs of fish in the tributaries we are used to seeing.

The temperature transects are interesting to look at because the buoy information they are recording show us what all the Great Lakes are doing. Follow this link https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/glcfs.html and look the temperature transects. Here is some more information on lake temps https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ofs/ofs_station.html?stname=Ontario&ofs=lo&stnid=NULL&subdomain=0

and https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ofs/ofs_station.html?stname=Buffalo&ofs=le&stnid=9063020&subdomain=0

I will summarize the runs are behind and the numbers are down down!

Back to the trip story sorry for the long in the tooth weather stuff, but it all plays a part. Friday night I staged all the gear at the door to wait deployment. I took my twohanded stuff and an eggbeater. The Scott switch rod would be my go-to for this trip.

This next part of my outing I am going to write about tears apart my soul truly at the fiber of my heart for me to even talk about. I arrived at one of the public access points on the Thundering River and saw twenty-four cars! I said to myself this must be a joke. I went up to the hoods of the other cars and they were ice cold. These vehicles have been here so long the engines are cold. There is no way in hades all these people are down there I said to myself. Then four other cars showed up and they said good morning to me and responded in kind.

I said how long has this been going on. I know the runs of fish are bad all over, but this looks like the parking lot at Wal-Mart. They chuckled and said it has been a while since you have been here or is this your first time? I said no I am old, and I laughed and have been away from here fishing during prime time for a few years, but it was never this peoplie.

They went on to tell me what YouTube videos and Instagram commandoes with all their hero shots have down to bring awareness to this river.

I finished gearing up and I said I might be back lol and I walked the mile walk to see how bad is bad. I dropped down off the bank and saw no one up stream yet. Now mind you it is still dark and sun-up was not for another hour.

I rounded another point on the river and there I saw it dimly lit head lamps. Then as I go closer other people started to turn on their headlamps. They even stated to spot me with theirs. I said to myself well gents that is not nice but ok. I used a Princeton Tec Apex Series head lamp. I was using the seventy lumens setting and traversing the slick as snot rocks and river. Then I realized they are wanting me to see where they are. Lol So I turned on my high spot setting and went to 550 lumens so I could see them on. Night turned into day and a lot of them turned off their lamps. I turned down my head lamp and let out a huge sigh. The sigh was my soul leaving my body. I was shocked to see people every ten feet on center and lined up though all the beautiful water in this spot. Now could I have pressed on and found other holding water sure. In knowing this river as well as I do, I decided to leave broken hearted. Before I left the two gentleman that I walked up on and coincidentally did not but their head lamps on me said Hey friend if you want to fish next to us you can stay.

I said that’s truly kind of you folks to offer. We had an enjoyable conversation about the glory days and other people we have met here on the river. Even a story about the local high school hockey teams that would have pony keg parties and launch those kegs off the cliffs after the parties were over! Always a fun time on the Thundering River.

So, feeling beaten down, but not out I walked back to my car. The guys where walking down to the river and I told them good luck and be well. They said the same nice to meet you and pressed on.

As a result of this I will not be fishing the lower river on the south shore after this season. I will be getting my passport over winter and going to fish the north shore and be in peace once again.

I arrived atop the gorge and here the elevation is 535 feet, and the bottom elevation is 321 feet and with I am guessing five hundred stairs that masons have over the decades have replaced and repaired. When I was younger these would not a big deal and now needless to say I am a little slower. The scenery is always breath taking here as you can see by the photos. You must be mindful not to trip and take your time because you will get hurt if you fall. It’s not like rock hopping in the salt, but with all the lichens and water we will just say be safe.

I arrived at her shore and the gulls (sky rats) where singing their songs. The feed bag was on for these sky rats. I am guessing they had some type of shad kill and as you can tell from the photos and the video it was an epic moment for them.

I would come to a part of the river I have always called it deaths door. These rocks have been falling for as long as I can recall. Now the erosion has exposed a cave! I am not sure of the size of the exposed cave, but you can hear water running through it! From my vantage point the cave looked big enough to house a mobile home! I pressed on because you will have zero reaction time when another rock lets loose. These are the safety issues we as outdoorsman need to be aware of aka situational awareness.

I pressed onto which must be one of the most dangerous places to fish on her. This place is about 1200 feet down stream of one the world’s most know places on the river. This classic Class V rapid has a great slot at the head of it and can be epic. All one needs to do is not slip in the water because if you do it will not go well!

I lined the rod with a new intruder I had tied the week before. With the river having three feet of clarity and still that inky green, emerald color I went with pink over white. I covered the water short first and with a 112-grain tip but would switch out to a 133-grain tip of T-14 being 9.5 feet long. At about the seventh cast my line would snap taunt. When have all had this happen. I do not well I try not to carry a loop and let and let my drag work for me right off the bat.

TFN from the previous post has used a two-handed rod in both hemispheres and he convinced me I will lose less fish if I do not carry a loop.

The fish would be a steelhead and without hesitation come to head shake at the rivers surface. He then proceeded to head back to Lake Ontario, and I could not turn him before he got the Class V rapid. I will be as happy as a lark and for me just hooking that one fish was good enough for me.

I would start my walk out of the gorge and head to another river. I was thinking while on my walk with the run of fish being so bad this year, I would be willing to bet that Oak Orchard would have all the people at the dam and almost void of people on the creek!

Yes that's the Archer's Hole above with one person in it!

Yes that's the Road Hole with two people on River Left

This situation has happened to me before it is NOT the norm, but it has happened. This time I have photo proof. By the time I got out of the gorge and walked up the Stairmaster from hell it was 0945. I pointed my car east and an hour later I was rewarded with the sight of sights.

As you can clearly see the Road Hole had two anglers in it on the south bank and Archers Hole had one person in its Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! On another disturbing note I saw less than a dozen dead salmon while traversing the creek. This is yet another sign of the poor returns of fish.

I swung the Road Hole after changing my tip to 112 grains of T-14 and being eight feet long. I was grabbing weeds and it was annoying, but it is all part of the game. I then moved up to the Archers Hole and the one person who was fishing said its all yours we are leaving. His crew had been sitting the pavilion for awhile I guess watching him.

I started with the tip I had on and then I saw a green moldy salmon rise. I thought to myself I do not want to hook one of those. I changed my tip to eighty grains of T-14 and being almost five and three quarters feet long.

My thought process was trout will feed up. I will swing over the oldie Moldies head and just maybe I could get one to rise.

I fan casted downstream and would step down stream. I would step two side-steps and cast short, middle river, and then close to the other bank. The Water had an extremely dark tannin brown/red color to it. It was eerie just like for those who have ever been to Michigan can attest to it is a little unnerving, but you get used to it.

I did this four times and returned to do it a fifth time. The scene was set in motion and what I did not know is the chance just the chance to hook a fish would become a reality. By myself in the Archers Hole on 11.14.2021 with good flow a steelhead would rise! Carrying no loop but with a moderate drag setting the line slapped the rod and the gentle sweep of the tube fly mid-way through the run. She never broke the water, but I could tell it was a steelhead or brown just from the washer machine tumble they do in the water. For those who do not know what I am referring it its when a fish brings their tail towards their face to the left and to the right and does not swim. This is all happened under the water, and they are trying to dislodge the hook.

I applied side pressure to keep her off balance and soon to hand I hoped. When I did not know is how well she would be hooked. That hook would be in the roof of her mouth right between her nostrils. That size 2 Owner needle point hook stuck her and there would be no coming unbuttoned today.

I have had enough of the Oak and went to go fish another tributary, but from Lake Erie instead working my way home!

The weather was foul but great for steelhead fishing. I had snow squalls, rain, more snow, and yet wait for it more rain!

Well, it is a part of it but when the leaves fall, and it rains it creates one of the toughest things to fish through! I call it the “Leaf Hatch.”  These leaf’s range in size from ten inches to eighteen inches across and while they fun for a minute they are annoying. The creek was slate gray from all the sediment in the water column but had twelve inches of visibility. I fished a swingable run for thirty minutes and I had to concede to mother nature.

 

With the new snow on the ground I could see footprints. I knew I was not alone. I would not leaf (lol) because of this one set of footprints because I knew this Leaf Hatch would have me leaving soon. I caught a glimpse of this fellow fly fisherman. I could tell just from his stature and his shiny new gear he was new to the sport.

I approached him with respect and asked him how he was doing. He exclaimed “I just started fly fishing and I have no idea what I am doing!”.

I asked him would you mind if I looked and helped you out? I introduced myself and helped his with his rig. Like most steelheaders they start with bobbers, lead split shot, and tandem flies. With his regular dry fly weight forward fly line for his six-weight fly rod he was understandably struggling. I gave him a large, slotted ice fishing float.

I spent an hour with him. We went over knots and reading water in that section he was fishing. Come to find out he is a Veteran and a Leatherneck. He was grateful and I gave him my contact info and said as time goes by reach out to me with questions you may have. I would be happy to help.

The trip home was nerve racking between the blinding snow and rain. All the ditches are filled with water. The flat land had water just sitting on top and not going anywhere. The runoff from this will last a long time and will add to the sustained flows to the surrounding creeks and rivers. This will make or break my Thanksgiving week trip.

I hope you enjoyed the write up and be well,

Sonder