By: James Swearingen This season when targeting steelhead in high water I’ve found that drifting a bag and bead combo has been the most effective technique. The biggest reason I do it is to draw trout and steelhead into your bait when the water is dirty or muddy. I use the bead as an attraction […]
By: James Swearingen We are in the heart of spawn sac season in the Great Lakes and for the first time in more than 20 years I’m using something different in my sacs. Historically, I’ve had to fish with salmon eggs and brown trout eggs that I harvested in the fall in New York. Meanwhile, […]
By: Chris Shaffer We planned to film Pautzke Outdoors in Northern Pennsylvania last week. However, due to high water in many of the systems we were scheduled to fish we rerouted to West Virginia where conditions were more favorable. Meanwhile, we were able to squeeze in one episode shortly after landing in Pittsburg at 6pm. […]
By: James Swearingen This time of year most anglers think that because there’s colder water you want to use a smaller spawn sacks when steelhead fishing. I don’t subscribe to that. Instead I prefer larger bait and still catch plenty of fish. As with all fishing the key is experimenting. Size Matters When I tie […]
By: James Swearingen There’s two ways to fish eggs in the fall for trout and steelhead: in egg sacks and as skein. It’s good to be versatile and have booth. I always have both. In fact, each is used for a different setting. Normally, spawn sacks are ideal in shallower and faster water. Meanwhile, when […]
By: James Swearingen Even though our Pennsylvania steelhead season is about a month behind we in the midst of the run right now. The last two weeks it has rained almost day and put a lot of water in the system. Steelhead are in every tributary and scattered from the lower end to the midway […]
By: James Swearingen Now that our Ohio River basin catfish have spawned they are aggressively feeding to prepare for winter. These fish are naturally hungry in late summer and fall and tend to feed for the next few months before their metabolism slows down as the water cools. Now and during the spring is my […]
By: James Swearingen Chicken and beef liver are soft catfish baits. Almost every time you cast them they tend to fall off the hook. There’s no way to avoid this. Unfortunately, livers are soft, but catfish love them. Livers are two of the best channel catfish baits around. Everyone uses them. Meanwhile, so many times […]
By: James Swearingen Central PA’s Standing Stone Creek was packed on opening day. There was a ton of trout caught. However, crowds have thinned and there’s a decent number of trout still available. Fortunately, those numbers will skyrocket this Tuesday as the last in season stocking of the year takes places. The PA Fish & […]
By: James Swearingen As we transition from winter to spring I prefer using trout/steelhead eggs when targeting spring steelhead. I believe steelhead eggs are effective because that’s what the fish are keying in on. This is natural food source and something they see on a regular basis this time of year. Many anglers use powdered […]
