Fall Steelhead Trip 2025 – Don’t Miss It!
Dark Skies Fly Fishing is teaming up with Mountain Laurel Guide Service and Captain Kurt’s Charters to host another fully guided group trip for steelhead November 12-15, 2025. This is prime time for fishing in the Erie tributaries!
(For a recap of the March 2025 and November 2024 trip, and to see pics of the fish caught, scroll down.)
Home base will again be The Lodge owned by Captain Kurt. This beautiful house/cabin is ideally located within walking distance of a private access section of Conneaut Creek and a short drive from a private access section on Crooked Creek and other waters we’ll be fishing, too. Steelhead fishing with Captain Kurt and his daughter Morgan has been featured on The New Fly Fisher TV show.
Captain Kurt runs a first-class operation, and I’m excited to offer this opportunity to you. We are going to have an absolute blast, and I hope you’ll join us in March!
Trip Details
Here’s what’s included in this trip:
- Arrive between 4-5pm on Wednesday the 12th. Fish fully guided days on the 13th and 14th. Depart on Saturday the 15th after breakfast or stick around and fish on your own that morning before heading home.
- Price includes all stream fees/private access to sections of Crooked Creek as well as Conneaut Creek.
- All meals and lodging.
- All fly rods, reels, leaders, tippet, and flies are provided, or you can bring and use your own.
- 1 guide per 2 anglers.
- Maximum of 10 anglers for this trip.
Not included in this trip:
- Gratuity for the guides.
- Ohio and Pennsylvania fishing licenses.
- We fish waters in both states depending on water conditions.
COST: $1,250 per person.
How to Reserve Your Spot
Reservations are first come, first serve.
A 50% deposit ($625.00) is required to reserve your spot on this trip. The remaining balance of $625.00 is due by October 1, 2025.
To reserve your spot, contact Ralph Scherder today at info@darkskiesflyfishing.com. We accept checks, money orders, or we can send you a link to pay online. (A 3% transaction fee will be applied to online payments.)
Watch: Captain Kurt on The New Fly Fisher
March 2025 Group Steelhead Trip Recap
After what can only be described as an old-fashioned, hard winter, the weather broke just in time for our March 2025 group trip! Literally, only a week before arriving, all of the Erie tributaries were frozen over and there were very few spots open enough to fish. Fortunately, we got a sudden and massive thaw that broke up the ice and pushed it through the system, and it was game on!
The trip was held March 2-5, 2025. We had a group of 9 guys on this trip, and 6 of them caught their first-ever Erie steelhead! Hot flies were the White Death and egg patterns. They weren’t really keying in on any specific color, though. We caught fish on a variety of egg patterns and colors this trip.
November 2024 Group Steelhead Trip Recap
The rain arrived just in time! After a long, dry fall with low water, several days of rain brought creeks up to ideal levels for our trip, and we had a fresh run of steelhead move through the first morning. We couldn’t have asked for a better situation! As soon as it got light enough to see the indicators, we were into fish!
The trip was held November 24-27, 2024, and we had 6 anglers. There were lots of fish landed, including some giants!
Hot flies for these two days were the White Death, Blood Dot Egg, and the Y2K. Speaking of the White Death and Blood Dot Egg, the creator of those legendary steelhead patterns, Jeff Blood, stopped by to chat and offer some advice, which you can watch in this short video on our YouTube channel. Although I’ve seen Mr. Blood at various events recently, I never had a chance to talk with him. It was great to meet and talk to him on the water.
Despite the quality of the fishing — and it was truly high quality! — the best part of these hosted trips, for me, is what happens among the group. Every group has its own dynamic and personality. It’s truly awesome what happens when you bring six guys together, mix in some great fly fishing, big fish, excellent lodging and fantastic food. It’s the perfect recipe for creating lasting memories. And we’re excited to be doing this again in Spring 2025. Hope you’ll join us!
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If there is another trip let me know out of town for the one in nov.
Will do! Probably won’t be another one this year, but next year we will be doing it again, and it will likely be a different week. Thank you!