Steelhead Fishing

March 1, 2008 | By Larry In Fish, fishing report |

Just visualize yourself standing in the river a long side your favorite steelhead hole. You have got your shades on and can see the out line of that monster fish. This is the 4^th time you have run your spawn bag by him. You think come on!, you have to take this, this time. You feel the bump on your line and you set the hook-the water explodes! The fish is in a fight for his life and you struggle to keep control-this is awesome, what an adrenaline rush . Many things go though your mind. Is my drag set to tight? This is an awfully big fish is my line weight heavy enough? On and on while you engage in the battle. This fish will test your skill and your equipment over an over again till he is brought to rest in your net on the shore line. You know if you make one mistake he is gone forever. This is steelhead fishing.With the beginning of March being upon us and the weather starting to warm here in upper Michigan I cant help but think of the steelhead run that is just ahead. Here in upper Michigan we could see some activity as early as the end of March(depending on the weather) peaking the middle to the end of April. This is a good time to get your gear ready. Get that new line on and check your equipment over.For those of you that are new to this type of fishing. It is done many different ways. You can use a fly rod with streamers along with a sinking tip fly line or you can use a spinning combo. My personal choice is a spinning reel matched to a Shakespeare ugly stick. I have used steelhead streamers very successfully using this combination. I like to use 10# test mono for my line weight. I use 8# on the lake but I like the extra strength of the 10 in the rivers and sometimes I think that is a little light. Depending on how many obstacles you have to deal with in the river you are fishing. If you have an extra line spool for your reel load it with heavier line and take it with you so you will have it if needed. These fish are very powerful, it is a good idea to have an extra rod and real with you along on the trip.

If you get a chance, scout out the river before hand. Learn where the currents and the holes are at, log jams and ect….. It will make your 1^st day navigating the river a lot easier. Try to get on the river very early, once a lot of activity starts the fish will get spooky and hard to catch.

For fishing lures and bait you have a lot of choices. You can purchase pre-tied spawn bags from sport shops in the areas you are fishing. I use spawn and tie my own bags from fish I have previously caught. As always the fresher the better. Another bait that works really well, especially if the fish aren’t hitting the spawn is night crawlers. These some times work great when nothing else will. For artificial baits -colored yarn is often used and there is a wide selection of streamers on the market. The choice is yours experiment and see what works the best for you.

So get your equipment ready and get set to go. The spring fishing season is almost here!

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