Spring Steelhead Tips
The best tip I can give to any steelhead fishermen is be prepared to adjust to the constant changing conditions. This is often the case with spring steelhead. Fishing for steelhead this time of the year is like fishing against the clock. You have a limited amount of time before the fish are back in the lake and you can waste a lot of time waiting for the so-called perfect fishing conditions. When the Steelhead is in, you have to take full advantage of the limited time you have.
Tip -- 1
High water conditions -- Fish the back channels and near shore gravel beds.
One thing you can plan on is fishing in high water for at least part of the spring Steelhead run. High water river conditions are often not as bad as they appear. When rivers go through high water periods, the increased water flows will bring in new fish and liven up the fish that have been in the river for a while. The main thing to remember is, Steelhead is a high water fish. Once the fish are moving up river, they will move into parts of the river where the water flow is comfortable for them. Often the steelhead will follow the soft water along the river banks. At times, the fish will be running in less than a foot of water. Steelhead can often be funneled into the back channels where you can quickly find yourself fishing small water along a flooded river. This type of migrating behavior is most prevalent during high water flows. When the water temperatures are right for the steelhead to spawn, look for the fish on the gravel beds near the shoreline. I am talking about the spots where you would look to wade out and stand in the river to fish. The same type of water that we find safe and comfortable to wade, is the same water the steelhead will like to set up and spawn in.
Tip -- 2
When fishing over spawning Steelhead, fish with a swinging fly.
Fishing over spawning fish, has its own controversies. However, we have done this from the beginning. When we handle and carefully release our fish, there seems to be little harm done to the resource. With the status of our steelhead runs lately, I do not like to upset too many spawning female Steelhead. We need all the new fish we can get. What I like to do is target the males and let the females do their work.
The majority of the spawning female Steelhead will generally ignore a fly presented on a swing while they are actively spawning. Once they have finished spawning and have moved off their spawning beds they will once again be interested in taking flies presented on a swing. When a female is working her spawning bed she will often be accompanied by several males. Large wet flies and streamers, fished on the swing, will often trigger a territorial response from these male Steelheads.
Tip -- 3
Steelhead love to eat stone flies.
When fishing the Salmon River, if you do not know what fly to use, fish a black stone fly. For the Salmon River, at least, everything will bite a black stone fly and Steelhead is no exception to this. When it comes to Steelhead, stone flies are one of their favorite nymphs. Even when the water is low and the fishing pressure is high, stone flies are one of the few fly patterns that you can count on to be productive. Stone fly nymphs need to be fished on a dead drift along the bottom to be effective. Often, I will use a strike indicator to help maintain control of the drift. The sizes of the flies that I like to use are from six to ten, in colors black and occasionally brown. I will often fish with a stone fly pattern that has been jazzed up a little.
Tip -- 4
Fishing for drop back Steelhead -- fish with sink tip lines and swing a fly.
When it comes to fishing for drop back Steelhead, they can be any where along the river. When you add to this, there is never a big concentration of fish in any one spot, at any time. It would leave someone to think that fishing for drop backs is not worth the effort. This is far from the truth. By the time the steelhead start to drop back the water temperatures are in the lower 50s. At this temperature the steelhead are very aggressive. With their spawning out of the way, the steelheads are now starting to look for food and are back to behaving more like themselves. This means that when you do put a fly near a steelhead it will most likely take it. This is where fishing with sink tip lines becomes very effective. You can cover a pool quickly and then move on to the next pool. The more river you can cover, the more fish that will see your fly, the more bites you will get. Because the steelhead is starting to feed, fishing a swinging fly just off the river bottom will be more visible to the steelhead and have more of a life like appearance to the fish, hopefully, triggering a predatory response.
Tip -- 5
Fish with a light drag.
Steelheads are known for their exciting fighting abilities. Between the hard hits and fast runs, a steelhead can put a lot of stress on a tippet. I often like to set the drags on my reels as light as I can, just enough so the reels will not back lash. As I play the fish, I will slowly add more drag as needed. I like to say, the secret to consistently landing a hot steelhead, is to stay connected for the first two minutes. After that, you have a good chance of landing the fish.
I hope that you will find one or more of these tips helpful. As I have said earlier the main thing to do is to be flexible when steelhead fishing. Go with the flow and adjust to the conditions, because the fishing conditions are just like the water. Wait a minute and it can change.
Royal coachman wet (tied Great Lakes version)
NAME: Royal Coachman [wet]
HOOK: Daiichi 2441 size 4 or 2051 size 7
THREAD: UNI thread 6/0 black
TAIL: brown hackle tips
RIB: medium copper wire wed
BOBY: 1/3 peacock 1/3 fluorescent pink floss 1/3 peacock
WING: whit calf tail
HACKLE: brown hackle
The Royal Coachman is a time honored classic fly that has proven to be very effective for our steelhead fishing. I have slightly modified this pattern from the original fly patterns to accommodate our steelhead. The fluorescent pink floss can be substituted with chartreuse floss. I use the brown tackle tips for the tail because it is easily available and always handy. I like to tie the Royal Coachman on large wet fly salmon hooks, in sizes ranging from 2 to 6. A size 4 wet fly salmon hook is the same size as a size 6 streamer hook, which seems to be the ideal size for steelhead fishing.
Tying note; for those of you who are not used to working with peacock hurl. The medium copper wire rib will need to be counter wrapped to give support to the peacock hurl, about five to seven turns will be adequate to do this.
Jay Peck: Is a fly fishing guide, fishing on the Lake Ontario tributaries: Fishing Oak Orchard, lower Genesee and Sandy Creek in Monroe County, for steelhead and brown trout through the winter into mid spring, and then the Salmon River from mid spring to late spring for Steelhead. To contact Jay e-mail at www.jay@jaypeckguides.com or go to www.jaypeckguides.com or at Coleman�s Fly Shop 585352-4775 or e-mail www.colemansflyshop.com