Winter steelhead fishing alongside the Great Lakes may be among the most enjoyable you’ll ever have. It may also be among the most tough and depressing fishing you’ll ever expertise. I’ve had it each methods, and I’ve been fortunate sufficient to chase them in tributaries throughout their total vary from New York to Michigan. On one hand, the cool factor about Great Lakes steelhead is that they’re accessible to everybody. But concentrating on them—particularly within the winter—may be daunting for the uninitiated. Not solely do you must courageous the chilly, however you additionally should be ready to struggle a fish that has way more energy and stamina than your common resident stream trout.
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To even get to that time, although, you must first work out what they wish to eat, which, as you’ll study, is each easy and form of complicated. There are many nuances to steelhead fishing that will probably be realized over time, however if you happen to’re model new to steelheading, you’ll be forward of the sport with somewhat primer on the way to gear up and what to tie on the tip of your line.
Where you’re fishing for steelhead and the way you like to catch them naturally elements into rod-and-reel choice. There are, nonetheless, some widespread threads relating to deal with. Steelhead are extremely sturdy, and they’re going to change path in a blink. It’s throughout these fast path adjustments that you simply most frequently lose the fish. They introduce slack into the road, and it occurs so rapidly that it’s tough to compensate by reeling in quick sufficient. But an excellent steelhead rod will compensate for you.
If you’re fishing from shore, you need a rod with further size and a slower motion close to the tip—what’s sometimes called “soft action.” Spinning rods designed particularly for steelhead can measure so long as 12 ft and have gradual noodly suggestions, therefore the nickname “noodle rods.” If you’re a fly angler, go for a 10- to 11-foot rod within the 6- to 8-weight class as a substitute of the usual 9-footer. With each rod types, the additional size and provides within the tip will assist keep higher stress throughout fast turns. Though further size is much less vital when fishing vertically from a ship, a rod with a slower motion remains to be helpful for surviving the struggle.
Another widespread thread runs via the rigging course of. During the winter, steelhead are typically stacked proper on the underside in deeper holes and runs with slower present, so it’s vital that your providing will get down quick. One of probably the most generally used rigs incorporates a pencil lead that slides freely on the primary line forward of a barrel swivel that acts as a stopper. A 2- to generally 4-foot fluorocarbon chief within the 6- to 10-pound vary will get tied off to the alternative aspect of the swivel, and your egg or fly goes on the tip of the chief. Thin, cylindrical pencil leads are designed to tick alongside the underside with out getting hung up. I’ve chased steelhead in Michigan and seen this identical rig used on fly rods, although cut up photographs are extra generally used for getting flies down quicker. The want for ample lead that can drop into the zone rapidly is what spawned the nickname “chuck-n-duck” fishing. It’s not the sexiest solution to fish, however if you happen to dial in what these winter steelhead wish to eat, it’s definitely the simplest.
Make Lure Selection (Over) Easy
Entire books have been written about what flies and lures to throw for steelhead, however it doesn’t should be that difficult. The reality is that irrespective of the place you’re concentrating on winter steelhead alongside the Great Lakes, fish eggs are going to be considered one of their main meals sources. In many areas, steelhead are sharing spawning tributaries with salmon, however even lengthy after the salmon are gone, steelhead will slurp salmon eggs. They’ll additionally feed on their very own eggs throughout the winter, in addition to the eggs of lake trout and suckers that always cohabitate their streams and rivers. The backside line? When you haven’t any concept what to make use of, tie on an egg.
Eggs, in fact, are available in all sizes and shapes. You may use a ball of pure eggs cured in brine and held along with a bit of mesh netting materials. You might additionally use an egg fly manufactured from yarn, or one of many many artificial soft-plastic eggs available on the market. In current years, anglers have gravitated towards utilizing plastic beads to signify eggs. These are pegged on the road with a toothpick or rubber stopper just a few inches above the hook, and when the fish takes the bead, the hook slides up, catching the fish on the within or exterior of the mouth.
The most tough a part of fishing any form of egg sample—whether or not cured and dyed or completely artificial—is selecting a shade. But one factor I’ve realized over time is that you simply don’t select the colour. You let the steelhead determine. You do, nonetheless, have to begin someplace, and the most effective place if the water is obvious is with muted, pure tones, like pastel pink, orange, tan, or yellow. If the water is off shade, begin with extra vibrantly coloured eggs that shiny orange, chartreuse, or neon yellow.
There will probably be days when it takes a number of adjustments to dial in the fitting shade, which is why carrying a wholesome selection is sensible. There are so many varieties of egg flies, dye colours for pure eggs, and bead colours that it may get somewhat overwhelming. But until somebody clues you right into a shade that’s been on hearth wherever you’re fishing, all the time carry at the very least just a few oddball colours like blue, purple, and inexperienced. It makes no distinction that there’s nothing remotely pure about them, and I’ve skilled many days on Great Lakes steelhead rivers the place Cookie Monster blue was the one shade they’d slurp.