How To Fish For Steelhead

The steelhead is a fish that is sought after by many anglers. When they are in, you will see mass amounts of anglers crowing every hole on the stream. You will see dozens of fishing lines of all colors all going straight down into the water. What makes this fish so desirable? Well, for one thing, its size. Many of these fish measure 24 in. or longer and a fish this size puts up a great fight when you hook into one. Also, they are notorious for dancing on the surface of the water while you are fighting one. Add to this how good the meat tastes and you have some pretty good reasons for fishing for steelhead.

The steelhead is actually a rainbow trout. Now, you may be thinking that you have seen steelhead and you have also seen rainbow trout and they do not resemble each other much at all. Well, this is because a steelhead is a rainbow trout that as moved out into the lake and grown considerably in size and lost much of his color. If you look closely at a steelhead, you will notice that there is a faint stripe down his side, reminiscent of his rainbow trout coloring.

To catch some steelhead, you will first have to know when they are in. You can easily enough find this out by joining local fishing organizations and asking about what time of year the fish run and where they can most easily be caught. Once you know this, you are ready to rig up your rod and head out. You should use 8 or 10-pound test line and carry with you a variety of lures, mostly spoons in several shapes and colors. When you get to the stream it will be very crowded, so make your casts accurate in order not to cross over someone's line and get tangled. Keep trying different lures and different presentations and with any luck you will catch a nice one.

Steelhead are cousins of the rainbow trout and have a decidedly chrome-like coloring. They are amazingly acrobatic and can provide any fly fisherman with a fulfilling challenge when trying to catch them.

Most of the fly fishing techniques used to catch steelhead are based on those historically developed to catch Atlantic salmon. Flies are cast downstream from the angler on a floating or sinking line. The take, which can sometimes be quite violent, usually occurs towards the end of the swing. You can also use nymphing methods usually used by trout anglers.

Winter steelheads are often considered the "hard core" of fly fishers, sometimes enduring hours of repeated casting in cold water and freezing conditions for that one tug that can occur when you least expect it. Many fly fishers will spend a lot of time trying to land that prized steelhead only to be frustrated near the end.

The main thing to keep in mind when fishing for steelhead is to practice a lot of patience. For people who fly fish for steelhead regularly, the success of a day consists of one good hook. You will not see big numbers of catches like you will on trout rivers. Keep a positive attitude and watch what the fish are doing.

Most steelhead pockets are found downstream, but other anglers know this as well. Steelhead are most plentiful in the cold, winter months, but you can often find several other fly fishers trying to fish the same spot in hopes of landing their fish. As you can imagine, this is not especially good for the fish or the fisherman. Practice appropriate etiquette when on the river fly fishing for steelhead.