 December is always a tricky month that often results in feast or famine fishing conditions. If winter hits hard, the streams can start to ice up and effectively grind our season to absolute halt, but if fall temps linger into the Christmas season boom times can prevail. Early in the month it seemed like we were headed for an early ice over and a shutdown in fishing for the foreseeable future. Fortunately for everyone (except ice fishers!) Mother Nature decided to cooperate and the recent warm spell has breathed new life into the season!  Steelhead fishing in the PA tributaries has stayed steady, although the peak of the run is behind us. There's plenty of fish in the streams and trips have been putting up stellar numbers as of late! Egg patterns in purple and orange have been the recent winners (my Clemson graduate wife is quick to point out), as have smaller nymphs like a copper ribbed RS2 and micro mayflies in size #18. The great joy of fishing this time of year is that the worse the weather, the thinner the crowds. Anyone who has steelhead fished the PA tribs before can attest to how suffocating the people can be, so take advantage of any opportunity to eliminate some of that pressure. Days that feature some snow, rain, or wind coupled with some colder-than-usual temperatures can result in some solitude fishing for one of North America's best sporting fish! The Ohio waters lag behind PA during the early winter months, but fear not! The strain of fish that runs in the Buckeye State typically hits their peak in February or March with strong fishing lasting through April. While a few fish can be found right now, the best is yet to come for our westerly neighbor!
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