One word describes fly fishing for steelhead: “addiction.” I have watched friends lose girlfriends and wives over this migratory, ocean-going trout. Those of you who fish for them know the madness. Those of you who haven’t will never truly understand it until you hook one. Fishing for steelhead becomes a craving unlike any other type of freshwater fishing that you can do.
Every time you hook one, it is an adventure concentrated into one beautiful, chaotic experience, from the hard strike to the fish rocketing out of the water and the quick, erratic, powerful, reel-screaming runs. I’ve spent the last 20 years guiding for steelhead all over Northern California. Below are nine things to keep in mind for finding and catching these amazing fish.
Why They’re There. All steelhead, no matter whether you fish for them in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, or Alaska, are in the river for the same reason. You are fishing for a migratory fish whose number-one goal is to spawn. All steelhead fishing depends on that basic fact.
Timing. I know that this seems like an obvious statement, but I can’t tell you how often people go fishing for steelhead during the wrong time of year. Do your research and understand the river you’ll be fishing. Northern California valley rivers such as the lower Sacramento, Feather, and Yuba get steelhead runs primarily in the fall and spring. The coastal rivers in the redwoods get the majority of their steelhead in the winter. Call a local fly shop, read blogs, and do online research before you head out hunting steelhead. If you go during the wrong time of the year, you won’t be successful.
Flows. River f lows dictate all steelhead fishing decisions. Serious steelhead anglers are constantly watching river flows on their phones and computers. To be successful at catching steelhead, you need to be fishing the river as it drops following a storm or when its flows have stabilized. You never want to be fishing for steelhead when the river flows are increasing. Remember that the main goal of a steelhead is to spawn. When river flows start to increase, the fish start swimming quickly upriver to get to their spawning grounds. Steelhead that are quickly swimming upriver are very hard to catch. They are intent on the main thing that matters to them, making other steelhead. Don’t fish rising river flows.
A good steelhead angler is on the river several days after it has crested. The increased flows have brought new fish into the river system. Once the river flows begin to stabilize and the water starts to clear, the steelhead stop moving and become more willing to attack your fly. However, in low flows, they also become more wary of anglers. Fishing low flows is possible but it’s much harder to be successful at it.
Every river in the world is different in how its flows react to rain and snow. Some rivers clear slowly, while others clear very quickly. Thus, you need to pay attention to online river graphs and stay in tune with the best fishable conditions. Don’t dictate your fishing trip based on what river you want to fish, but rather choose the river with the best dropping and stabilizing flows.
Water Clarity. Good steelhead anglers also know that water clarity is a major issue. The perfect fishing scenario is to have four to five feet of visibility in water with a green color that almost seems to glow. Steelheaders often call this “steelhead green.” Steelhead green water signals that the perfect conditions are in place for angling success on every steelhead river in the world. In these conditions the fish are less wary of anglers and they stay in feeding lanes.
In dirty brown water, there is nothing you can do to improve your odds of catching a steelhead, because they can’t see your fly. You may get lucky, but you would be better off driving to a different river with better fishing conditions.
Ideally, you are fishing a river with a minimum of two feet of visibility. This will still be on the browner side, but there will be a hint of green to it. You can absolutely catch steelhead with two feet of visibility. However, the greener the water, the better the fishing conditions. As the river recedes and flows continue to drop, the water clarity will continue to improve, but then, as I said, that also means the fish will become more wary and harder to catch.
So both too little and too much clarity makes for difficult fishing. However, in clear water, you know the fish are at least seeing your flies. But consider: if you’re fishing in water with two feet of clarity, if your fly is three feet away from the fish, it will not see it. Water clarity therefore dictates a lot of other things, including fly choice and where and how you present the fly.
Structure. Steelhead love structure. When the water clarity is steelhead green, the fish feel safe from predators and are less inclined to hold tight to structure, but the clearer the water, the more important the structure becomes. Consequently, when fishing really clear water, you need to make sure that your flies are passing as close to the structure as possible. That means you are going to lose some flies, but if you don’t get your flies to where the fish are, you will not catch them.
Weather. There is a misperception that steelhead fishing means fishing in cold, wet weather. The opposite is true. Rarely are you fishing in the rain, because rain means increasing water flows. As with the flows, you have to pay close attention to the weather to know when your best fishing opportunities will occur. The ideal weather has heavy cloud cover, because the low light makes the fish less wary of predators. Trust me when I tell you that steelhead hate the sun. The cloudier the conditions, the easier steelhead are to catch. Foggy days are great, as well.
On sunny, clear days, the steelhead become more wary, hold closer to structure, and are harder to catch. On sunny days, fish in the early morning, late afternoon, or focus on runs with lots of shade. If you know that you will be fishing in sunny conditions, you can change your fishing strategy by spending more time in low-light spots.
Funnel Runs. Funnel runs, or pinch points, as some anglers call them, are spots in the river where the river narrows and forces the fish to traverse one specific current seam. Funnel runs can be created by large structure such as logs and boulders, by tight turns in the river, by small creeks coming into the river, or by rocky points on the bank. Fishing funnel runs will greatly increase your chances of catching more steelhead, because the odds of steelhead being in that specific spot are higher.
By contrast, water that all looks the same is less productive than a run with one major current seam. If you maximize your fishing time where there is only one place for the fish to be, your odds of catching more steelhead greatly increase. As a guide, I would much rather fish a run that has one main current seam than a spot where there are multiple seams where fish can hide.
Feeding. Steelhead, unlike salmon on their spawning run, love to eat. However, most steelhead migrate into rivers when there is a relative lack of food there. You need to understand what food sources are available to the steelhead at that time and place, because that will dictate the fish’s behavior. For instance, in Northern California, if you are fishing for fall-run steelhead, salmon also likely will be in the river, spawning, and the steelhead will want to eat salmon eggs. Even when steelhead are hiding deep in the runs, waiting for the river flows to increase to swim upriver and spawn, they frequently will come into shallow water to feed on salmon eggs. It is common to find big steelhead in two feet of water trying to get a free Egg McMuffin meal deal.
If there is no major food source available, steelhead eat opportunistically. In these more typical situations, you will find steelhead holding in deeper, slower water, conserving their energy. Knowing the foods available for steelhead will enable you to know what flies to present to them and where they are likely to be feeding.
Cover Lots of Water. If you take only one thing away from this article, it should be this: the more spots you fish in a day, the greater the odds of catching steelhead. When steelhead migrate into rivers, they don’t come in as single fish. Steelhead always migrate in groups that tend to stay together. Your odds go up if you can find a group of fish, rather than waiting for the fish to come to you. So if you get to a spot and fish it thoroughly, but don’t see any signs of fish, move on. Don’t get stuck fishing one spot for a long time. Keep moving to new spots until you find the fish.
By the same token, when you catch a steelhead, other steelhead likely will be around. Quickly cover water until you get your first hookup, then slow down and fish the water thoroughly.
Even with all of this information in hand, steelhead fishing can be a grind. You can know and understand all of these steelhead tendencies and still go out and struggle to find them. There are days where they seem like ghosts. You can do everything right, have a great fishing strategy, and still they elude you. Steelhead fishing takes effort. Understanding the basic issues that affect steelhead fly fishing will greatly improve your chances at hooking one of the most incredible freshwater fish in the world. When that moment comes, and you hook a hot steelhead, you will be left with a huge smile and the start of an addiction that only another steelhead can satisfy.
