Spring-Run Steelhead
As effective as a wet-fly swing can be in Great Lakes tributaries, it is seldom as effective as nymphing. I like to fish spring steelhead downstream from the primary spawning gravel where fish will begin moving out of the deep water and nosing around. Fish will congregate here waiting to intercept the nymphs and eggs that female fish dislodge while digging spawning redds with their tails. This disturbance also draws the smaller trout and baitfish to feed. Active areas like this can stimulate aggressive competition-type feeding. Even if it is a month before any substantial spawning activity, the fish will begin to hang near these areas.
The ideal run is from 3 to 5 feet deep with a good current and a bottom of baseball-size or bigger stones. If the run has larger stones, say basketball-size, you should give these areas special attention because the fish in these spots seem to be extra-aggressive. Tail-outs that average 3 feet deep are also good bets, especially early and late in the day. A good rule of thumb for spring steelhead is to fish slow water when it is 40 degrees or below. As the water warms, move to the faster currents.
Streamers
Each season brings a new generation of Great Lakes steelhead flies, even though the old standards work well. If you favor streamers and swinging flies, standard Egg-sucking Leech and minnow patterns such as the Gray Ghost or Mike Mercer’s Sac Fry [See Fly Tyer’s Bench in this issue. The Editor.] are always strong producers.
Sculpin patterns are also becoming popular. The Zoo Cougar, Steelhead Woolly Sculpin, and Kiwi Muddler have been just a few of the newcomers moving to the top of steelheader’s fly boxes. Sculpin patterns work well all year but are especially effective for post-spawn fish on an extreme feeding binge as they head back to the lake. I also carry a good selection of tan- and brown-colored leech patterns. My top-producing streamers for the last four years have been a black Galloup’s Woolly Sculpin and the Galloup’s Hex Bugger.
Nymphs
For every steelhead taken on a sinking line, a thousand or more are taken nymphing. The number of patterns in this category seems to double every season as steelheading gains popularity. Because most Great Lakes rivers are incredibly fertile, many different aquatic insects are available to the steelhead. Some of the most popular patterns are larger sizes of traditional patterns such as the Hare’s Ear, Pheasant Tail, caddis larva, Teeny Nymph, and stoneflies.
A relative greenhorn to steelheader’s boxes is the Mysis shrimp pattern. One of the most effective patterns is one that I originally designed for salmon in the ’80s. My friend Ray Schmidt, of Schmidt Outfitters on the Manistee River, obtained the original fly, modified it, and started using it for steelhead. Since then the Ray’s Antron Bug has become a staple throughout most of the Great Lakes region.
I have since started fishing another version of a Mysis that is a smaller, more exact imitation. I used this fly on the Erie tributaries in the fall of 2001 and it outfished my egg patterns seven to one. According to steelhead biologists, when Mysis shrimp are found in the lakes, they can make up as much as 50 percent of a fish’s diet. Anglers using Mysis shrimp are making use of a steelhead’s memory much the same way Pacific steelhead anglers do when they tie prawn patterns.
Hexagenia nymphs are one of the most popular nymphs for steelhead fishing, and Lake Michigan rivers are home to some of the best Hexagenia populations in the world. Jeff (Bear) Andrews’s patterns and the Schmidt Hex are popular in this region. One of my favorite Hex patterns, Galloup’s Hex, is a simple fly made out of a rabbit strip. It’s easy to tie, works exceptionally well later in the year, and the fish love it.
Stoneflies are also popular and the standard Kaufmann Stone is about as good as it gets. I like to use smaller, lighter-colored patterns down to a #16 early in the year. Michigan anglers often use a two-fly combination affectionately known as “green eggs and ham” that combines a chartreuse egg pattern on top and a black Kaufmann Stone on the bottom.
Egg Patterns
Egg patterns in various shapes and sizes have accounted for more fly-caught steelhead than all other patterns combined. Steelhead are extremely cannibalistic and will gorge on any egg that floats by. Perhaps an egg is an egg, but there are dozens of different types and colors of egg patterns. New ones are introduced every year and you should carry a variety of extras. The most productive colors are Oregon cheese, chartreuse, cerise, and various shades of pink and orange tied to size 8 to 10 hooks.
These flies are just the basics. Virtually any fly that has been used for steelhead has caught fish. One of my all-time favorite spring steelhead patterns is a #8 Peacock and Grizzly Woolly Worm. Go figure.
Indicators
Many Great Lakes rivers are shallow and wadeable and can be fished with a strike indicator and nymph rig of some sort. I prefer the right-angle system because it allows me to use the least amount of weight to reach bottom. In this region if you are not drifting the bottom, you are missing most of the fish. They will often move several horizontal feet to pick up a fly. The key is to use enough weight to get to the bottom quickly, but not so much that your fly is continuously hung up. This is without a doubt the most important variable when fishing for steelhead with this method. You may have to change the weight often, but if you are not bouncing bottom, you are missing fish.
Copyright © 2012 Intermedia Outdoors
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