Steelhead fishing is a style of fishing that requires movement and adaptation to changing stream and river conditions.
In the video below, we are steelhead fishing primarily in tributaries and small-mid size rivers. Bank tactics can often be ideal for winter steelhead as you can move to many different sections of a river, or hit multiple rivers to maximize success.
Steelhead Migration
Steelhead migrate into the stream at different times during a specific run. As they move in they start to occupy parts of the river. Finding where steelhead hold is key to catching more steelhead. This often requires a lot of casts and time spent on the water learning the contours of the bottom and sides.
We will often fish many parts of a river throughout the season. Targeting the freshest steelhead in lower parts of rivers, near tidewater or during the tide. We'll move up in the stream to find good holding water the fish are pushing into. We'll sometimes even fish small sections of river that fish are moving through.
Taking Care of Wild Steelhead
When we hook wild or protected steelhead we work on getting the fish in quickly and keeping the wild fish in the water. Waders assist in this as you can hold the fish safely in the water while removing hooks or taking pictures.
Steelhead are strong so you'll need to take care to restrain the fish while not allowing it's head to knock repeatedly against rocks, make sure to keep sand or mud out of the gills too and wash the fish. If it's too tough of a spot to land a wild fish safely, just remove the hook or cut the leader if necessary. All in all we just ask that you take care of fish you will release, so that they have the best chance at survival and spawning.
You'll see that we're float fishing, spoon fishing, drift fishing - lots of tactics employed for one purpose, to catch more steelhead!
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