Even the most experienced and insightful anglers sometimes struggle to trigger strikes from wily game fish.

John Breedlove certainly qualifies as an expert angler. He has caught just about every kind of fish that swims Northeast Ohio waters and rarely goes home without limiting out.

Breedlove, a Girard resident, is especially savvy in the ways of the steelhead trout that grow far out in Lake Erie and migrate to the river mouths every fall enroute to their winter homes in the tributaries’ pools.

He makes two to four trips a week to troll the harbors and river mouths for steelies, but Breedlove is scratching his head a lot this fall as he works to figure out the details of each fishing trip’s tactical plan. He’s not alone.

“It’s been kind of rough lately. I talk to my friend John LaCava and he often tells me he’s riding the ‘struggle bus’ out there on the rivers,” Breedlove said.

The “struggle bus” for Breedlove and LaCava might equate to “only” six or eight steelhead a day. Even a dozen steelies is not a bragging day for Breedlove, who has tallied more than 20 trout uncountable times out on Erie’s river mouths.

By this point in the autumn of years past, Breedlove has boated a truly impressive number of steelhead. His numbers are down this year, but not because the fish are not out there, and he’s optimistic the fishing is going to improve markedly in the coming weeks. His best day this year was a 12-trout catch and his biggest was just over 10 pounds.

“There are tons of baitfish everywhere I’ve been. The emerald shiners are thick out there and that shows how healthy Lake Erie is right now,” Breedlove said. “I have marked a lot of fish so I know they are milling around out in the harbors and the lake, but we’ve really not seen the big push that we usually see by this time every year.”

He believes the lack of rainy weather and resulting low flow in the streams is a major factor in the modest numbers of fish migrating into the tributaries.

He also has noticed a correlation in his hookups and sunshine.

“I usually catch them good early then once the sun gets bright, the bite dies,” he said.

To adjust to the bright sky, Breedlove switches from flashy metal spoons to painted crankbaits like Shad Raps and Flicker Shad.

“I think the fish get a little spooky in the sunshine so the flashy spoons don’t produce.”

Breedlove regularly fishes the Ashtabula and Grand rivers and Conneaut Creek.

While the peak of the run may still be coming, Breedlove is impressed with the size of this year’s steelhead, which are largely Shasta strain fish with thick backs.

“I caught a 28-inch fish that weighed 9.5 pounds, which is a very fat fish,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody breaks the Ohio record (21.3 pounds) in the lake this year.”

If, as Breedlove believes, the best is yet to come, then it could very well be that 20-pound-class fish will be in the next wave.

Jack Wollitz’s book, “The Common Angler,” explores the fun stuff that makes fishing a passion for so many people. He appreciates emails from readers. Send a note to jackbbaass@gmail.com.