height="136" alt="Catherine Creek, Schuyler CO. NY" class="image-left" BORDER="0"> Steelhead are
one of the targets of my fly rod that continue to frustrate me. As far as fly fishing
goes, I can catch and land just about anything with a degree of competence, except that
is, for steelhead. I can find them, and hook them, but often lose the game when it comes
to the playing and landing department. Ten pound fish on four pound tippets are tough to
deal with, but when the fish is a steelhead, it gets twice as tough.

Having gotten that off my chest, why would I write a steelhead article? Well for me,
winter is too long, and as my age increases, so does the length of that season. Steelhead
fishing trips make the winter more fun for me, and while I don’t qualify as a
steelhead expert like my buddy Jim Kelso, I have learned many things from him about
pursuing width="178" height="250" alt="Lower Salmon River near Altmar" class="image-right" BORDER="0"> these
incredible fish in the dead of winter. A lot of Jim’s ideas have never been written
about elsewhere, and I think you’ll learn from them as I have.

First of all, here in New York we have a couple of different runs of steelhead,
including some Skamania steelhead stocked in Lake Ontario tributary streams. The steelhead
in our tributaries start running each fall, with November being one of the prime months
when they enter spawning tributaries. We also get spring runs of steelhead as well, and
depending on the water conditions, fresh runs can enter anytime between fall and spring. A
lot of the steelhead that run in late fall don’t actually spawn until the following
spring. They follow spawning king and coho salmon, and stack up downstream of their redds,
greedily devouring all the salmon eggs that they can get. While the kings and cohos are
busy doing their thing, steelhead can be a lot easier to find and catch then they are when
the icy weather hits.

height="185" alt="Flies for Salmon River" class="image-left" BORDER="0"> If
you want to catch them- match the hatch. Egg patterns that mimic the colors of the salmon
eggs work well. Stick with white, yellow, red, or orange, and you have it made. Size of
the eggs is important, so try and get a handle on how big the salmon eggs are in the
stream that you fish. Jim ties most of his egg patterns on Tiemco 105 hooks, in sizes
#4-#14, or on the Mustad Accupoint Shrimp/Caddis hook (#80200BR). The simplest way to make
egg patterns in a hurry, is buy ready-made eggs, tie some thread on a hook and glue them
on. Most craft stores sell little pom-poms in a variety of colors that make great egg
patterns, and a lifetime supply only costs a couple of dollars. A couple of turns of
chenille will also do it. Glo-bug yarn is another way to make egg patterns.

If you can find some salmon spawning on a redd, it is often easy to see steelhead
stacked up behind them waiting for the eggs. Jim tells me that he has even seen steelhead
bash into the sides of female salmon to force the eggs out. Cast the egg pattern upstream
of the salmon and let it drift down underneath them; present it properly and they will
take. Steelhead that are seen holding in the tail of a pool will do the same thing, even
without the salmon.

Another fly pattern that works during the pre-spawn pattern is a simple nymph.
Steelhead will hit nymphs, or better src="http://www.flyfish.com/library/graphics/steelhead5t.jpg" width="250"
height="168" alt="Salmon River" class="image-right" BORDER="0"> yet, a nymph that looks
like it has grabbed an egg in its mouth. Bead- head nymph patterns work well for this type
of fishing, not only because they get the fly down to where it needs to be, but they also
look like a nymph carrying off an egg. The patterns that Jim uses are pretty simple, he
uses nymphs like the Hare’s Ear. The patterns are very simple, usually not much more
than a simple tail, a spun fur body, and a bead head. Not very extravagant, but they sure
do work. After the salmon spawn is over, nymph patterns become very productive. Throughout
the winter, steelhead can be coaxed into taking nymphs, particularly dark colored
patterns. They do some feeding while they are in the spawning streams. The trouble is that
the fish are usually harder to locate.

When the steelhead actually get down to the business of spawning, which can start even
during the winter months in Lake Ontario tributaries, the pattern changes. Steelhead will
vigorously defend their redds. The small nymph and egg patterns give way to any type of
intruder that will anger a spawning steelhead. While they spawn, they are constantly
pestered by smolts, minnows, leeches, and other egg stealing marauders. This is where the
wild stuff comes in. Smolt patterns, tied with plenty of flashy materials like Estaz work
well. Egg sucking leeches, bunny flies, and Wooly Buggers are also good patterns for
aggravating a steelie on a redd. Usually you end up catching the male, and there are often
more than one around a big female, and he can be safely returned to doing his business
without hurting the local steelhead popuation.

height="153" alt="Kickboat on the Salmon" class="image-left" BORDER="0"> When it comes to
a good winter steelhead rod, it is hard to beat a 6-7 weight. Jim prefers a rod with a
fairly soft action, and often uses 10 -11 foot rods because it is easier to control and
mend line with a longer rod. One key point in rod selection, if you can find the right
setup, is the guides. Fishing for steelhead in the dead of winter is a lot easier with a
rod that has oversize guides. Tiny guides ice up easily, and can be quite frustrating
because you end up spending more time clearing ice from the guides than you do fishing. A
good reel with a smooth drag is essential. Often, when the fish are skittish, it is
necessary to go down to 4, or even 2 pound tippets. A reel with a drag that doesn’t
engage smoothly or skips a little bit, will usually result in a lost fish. There are
inexpensive reels that will do the trick, and there are also very expensive reels that
won’t do the trick on steelhead. The drag has to be as smooth as butter. I use an STH
salt water model that has a turbine drag, and it engages gradually and it really seems to
help.

The most productive way to fish, is by sight. Finding fish can be fairly easy during
low water conditions.. Steelhead src="http://www.flyfish.com/library/graphics/steelhead3t.jpg" width="204"
height="250" alt="Salmon River Guide" class="image-right" BORDER="0"> usually will prefer
current over slack water, and are common in riffle areas or the tailouts of pools,
particularly those containing good amounts of gravel suitable for spawning. Like I
mentioned above, they will set up below spawning salmon and grab eggs during November and
December. Temperature determines where Jim looks for fish. If the water temperature is
below 35 degrees, the fish sulk, and will be found from the middle of the pool, to the
tail of the pools. If the temperature is higher, the fish will hold in more current,
usually at the headwaters and tails of the pools, or in fast current seams and riffles. At
this time of year, it is a matter of knowing a river, or having good information, and then
prospecting the likely areas.

Winter fly fishing isn’t for everyone, but for those who are willing to brave the
cold, it can have its rewards. Latching onto a steelhead in the dead of winter will get
the blood flowing, no matter how cold it is outside, and it will make the cold,grey winter
a little shorter.