Tag Archives: steelhead

California’s Smith River Has Steelhead Now

By: Mick Thomas After no fall salmon season (due to no water) we’ve finally got some good news on the Smith River. The rain we’ve been waiting months for brought in a large number of fresh steelhead. Since we’ve received heavy rain the last few days the numbers of steelhead in the river have been […]

Why Natural Trout Eggs Are Perfect For Great Lakes Steelhead

By: James Swearingen We are in the heart of spawn sac season in the Great Lakes and for the first time in more than 20 years I’m using something different in my sacs. Historically, I’ve had to fish with salmon eggs and brown trout eggs that I harvested in the fall in New York. Meanwhile, […]

Chetco River Steelhead Outlook

By Andy Martin Judging by the first few weeks of the 2020 steelhead season on the Chetco River, anglers may have to deal with high water conditions. The year is off to a wet and stormy start. In between rainy weather, steelhead fishing has been good. Hatchery fish are showing up and plenty of wild […]

From the Bait Lab: Spring Spawn Sack 101

By: James Swearingen This time of year most anglers think that because there’s colder water you want to use a smaller spawn sacks when steelhead fishing. I don’t subscribe to that. Instead I prefer larger bait and still catch plenty of fish. As with all fishing the key is experimenting. Size Matters When I tie […]

Michigan Steelhead Report

By: Kyle McClelland Northern and Western Michigan offers exceptional steelhead fishing during the winter. However, this winter anglers have had to work harder than normal to catch steelhead throughout the region. Although the numbers have been down and anglers have been working harder to catch them, the size of the steelhead has been larger than […]

Salmon River Steelhead Bigger Than Average This Year

By: Troy CreasyJust when we thought the Salmon River and other Lake Ontario tributaries we’re going into a deep freeze the recent warm up and rain has opened the creeks back up. Rivers are now running at a higher than normal levels. In fact, it rained all day today and almost all the creeks are […]

Learn A Super Simple Cure For Steelhead Skein

By: James Swearingen There’s two ways to fish eggs in the fall for trout and steelhead: in egg sacks and as skein. It’s good to be versatile and have booth. I always have both. In fact, each is used for a different setting. Normally, spawn sacks are ideal in shallower and faster water. Meanwhile, when […]

Guide Reveals His Top West Coast Egg Cure

By: Bob Kratzer Fall salmon season is in full swing. I cure a lot of eggs this time of year. This includes eggs for the rest of salmon season and the upcoming steelhead and springer seasons. Each season I continue to pursue the best way to cure quality eggs and do so in a timely […]

Try This Bait: Catch More Trout, Salmon & Steelhead

By: Mike Ainsworth When our rivers were low and clear, and the fish had lockjaw a few weeks ago I had to adjust my techniques to get bites. This was during a time when salmon were being stubborn and weren’t reacting to traditional techniques and baits. To attempt to lure salmon into feeding I started […]

Erie Steelhead Run Settling Into Fall Pattern

By: James Swearingen Even though our Pennsylvania steelhead season is about a month behind we in the midst of the run right now. The last two weeks it has rained almost day and put a lot of water in the system. Steelhead are in every tributary and scattered from the lower end to the midway […]