The tributaries that flow into Lake Erie provide some of the best steelhead fly fishing on the planet, as well as plentiful opportunities to catch salmon, brown trout, smallmouth bass, and other species. The 400 miles of southern Lake Erie shoreline in three states—Buffalo, New York at its eastern end; Toledo, Ohio, on its western flank; and Pennsylvania’s shoreline in the middle—is affectionately called “Steelhead Alley” by the tens of thousands of anglers that come to fish it. According to many, “the Alley” is the best location within the entire Great Lakes region to catch steelhead on a fly.
This book is the culmination of over twenty years of guiding and fly fishing throughout the Alley. In addition to covering steelhead in depth, it also covers opportunities for smallmouth bass, lake run brown trout, lake trout, and the occasional chinook or coho salmon that you can catch on a fly, along with the best tributaries and shorelines in which to find them. The author shares his tips for timing the best fishing, reading the water, the most productive local fly patterns, and how to rig and fish for success. He covers detailed access, individual tributary descriptions and reports, many of which are relatively unknown, plus a few new techniques that will help you put some more fish in the net.