Post your best steelhead tip!

[hughzar]

I must say, I find a lot of these tips very helpful! Thanks for all the wisdom!

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

My tip and a safe one, dont't I repeat don't stay at the elk creek lodge!

 

[jayL]

Centerpin and egg sack or trout bead.

 

[SBecker]

Find a female on her bed and cast on top of her, male's are sure to be behind her? Is this a true strategy?

 

[PatrickC]

LRSABecker wrote:
Find a female on her bed and cast on top of her, male's are sure to be behind her? Is this a true strategy?

Now that's funny....

 

[SBecker]

Being serious though, couple guys I was talking to were telling me they will search for a females and do this. They tie an egg fly with a little of white fox fur on it to. Not a fly tier so don't know the name of the fly, Atomic Egg? something like that. Then they will constantly toss at her back to simulate an egg escaping or some thing like that. Told me they do it in Alaska and Pulaski when they go. Also told me a story of a guide in Alaska that purposely catches a female and then ties her off and places her in an area and fishes like that. Not saying it is ethical to do that but was an interesting story.

 

[jayded75]

Fishing to bedded steelhead is flatly cheating. Never be proud of a fish caught on or just behind a bed! That's where bears and bait fisherman go!
Here's my tip:
Go to Ohio to fish . . . during the week. Follow the trails to where locals were fishing the weekend before and kill 'em. (the steelies, not the locals)
Here's a gear tip:
People tend to think that big steelies bite big flies (large buggers, multiple egg rigs, etc.) But. . . Fish small. I've had great luck with size 16 and 18 black stone nymphs and BB sized single egg patterns. When the water gets muddy you need to go larger, but on a typical good water day, tiny flies can really work wonders.

 

[jayL]

If they aren't naturally reproducing, I fish for 'em on beds. IMO, there's nothing wrong with it.

A wild fishery is a different story. Erie has a staggering, completely unsustainable population of planted steelhead solely for the sake of a recreational fishery. As long as it's legal, I say have at it. They are all on spawning runs in the first place, so why bother them at all?

 

[bam]

Agree on the Erie tribs. There's limited, if any natural reproduction so have at em.

 

[jayded75]

There is reproduction in both Erie and in some of the Ohio waters. The fry never see the light of day, let alone make it back out to the lake. . . but that's not the point. I'm not trying to save the baby steelhead, I'm trying to protect the integrity of the sport of steelhead fishing. You don't have to be much of an angler to catch a bedded female. She's probably in a foot and a half of water and she'll strike out of sheer territorial instinct. Finding and catching a 8 to 12 pound fresh silver back on 4 pound test in the middle of a 4 ft deep, 45 degree run run of late November river water. . . now we're steelhead fishing!

 

[SBecker]

jayded75 wrote:
There is reproduction in both Erie and in some of the Ohio waters. The fry never see the light of day, let alone make it back out to the lake. . . but that's not the point. I'm not trying to save the baby steelhead, I'm trying to protect the integrity of the sport of steelhead fishing. You don't have to be much of an angler to catch a bedded female. She's probably in a foot and a half of water and she'll strike out of sheer territorial instinct. Finding and catching a 8 to 12 pound fresh silver back on 4 pound test in the middle of a 4 ft deep, 45 degree run run of late November river water. . . now we're steelhead fishing!

Who said anything about catching the female? If this is a working way to go about fishing for steelhead you would never want to catch the female. You just hammer the males trailing behind.

 

[jjsjigs]

Great tips guys! I'm really enjoying this thread. Keep it up!

 

[TroutBuster]

I figured this would be any interesting thread to start..... hopefully provide alot of info all in one thread for beginners (and veterans alike)!