Son's First Fly Rod Steelhead

[Bruce Litton]

Matt said, "If you told me a year ago I'd catch a steelhead on a fly rod, I never would have believed it," so I guess it's best I didn't say so! His weighed about 7 pounds. The next day, I caught one about four pounds by looping an Estaz egg into a tail out, as soon as light enough to legally fish. Salmon River.

Matt said he prefers the 8 wt rod of the guide 1st day, DSR, but I don't. I just don't really know or not yet if I can hold a big one on my 6 wt. We hooked up on a few others and the losses weren't due to the light rods. Seems I can, but even with 6-pound tippet, if you hook a 15-pound steelhead, you need some power in the butt...so... Matt was using a 9 ft 5 wt the second day...maybe I'll buy him an 8 for next year.

Salmon runs were real bad this year. And steelhead fishing has been so slow the DSR river walker told us at noon Matt's fish was the only one on the DSR! Steelhead are super-sensory, and for all we know, maybe they can sense there's just not so many salmon eggs to feast on this year.

[saltfisherman]

Congrats to your son.

Bruce the steelhead are also off on Lake Erie tribs too. Was up at Erie PA a week ago and the number of fish are down there too.

[dakota560]

Doesn't help that the water temperature in the rivers is still around 50 and there's no water or rain. Cold winters and ice covered great lakes the last two years have impacted the steel head fishing. By how much and for how long is what everyone is trying to get their arms around. After the die off they had last year and the ultra slow start this year, lot of people are scratching their heads. DSR reports have been anemic and the rivers have no where near the fish they should have this time of year. November / December will be interesting months to see if the fish are late or if the fishery is in trouble. At this stage I think if you asked most people, they would suggest the later. Hope the chrome mysteriously appear from somewhere otherwise we might be into a longer term trend that nobody wants to admit.

[Bruce Litton]

Doesn't help that the water temperature in the rivers is still around 50 and there's no water or rain. Cold winters and ice covered great lakes the last two years have impacted the steel head fishing. By how much and for how long is what everyone is trying to get their arms around. After the die off they had last year and the ultra slow start this year, lot of people are scratching their heads. DSR reports have been anemic and the rivers have no where near the fish they should have this time of year. November / December will be interesting months to see if the fish are late or if the fishery is in trouble. At this stage I think if you asked most people, they would suggest the later. Hope the chrome mysteriously appear from somewhere otherwise we might be into a longer term trend that nobody wants to admit.

That was my feeling...what if...But water at 50--normally, by mid-October there's a lot more steelheads than now this year anyway. I heard about the ice while up there, but I didn't quite get any info on how ice makes any difference, and how die off, exactly; do you know? Yeah, reports were like, oh no, we're getting skunked.

Also, I heard Asian carp are in western Lake Ontario. That's real bad news, but probably not affecting the Eastern fishery for years yet. All I know: The Salmon River was once absolutely loaded with wild Atlantic salmon, wiped out, late 1800's. And at some time or other, they attempted Chinook stocking--that failed. And then they tried again in relatively recent decades and got the fishery we've had, or at least until this year's low salmon & steelhead numbers. So the Salmon River is sort of a bipolar story going back centuries, and if it dies because of Asian carp...doesn't necessarily mean it's all over. Sometimes it seems all is lost, but all returns.

[AndyS]

Where is the pic ? Thought I saw it on FB, NICE fish, congrats !!

[Mikey topaz]

Plain and simple the more salmon the more steelhead ...... 7 wt/9wt are perfect sizes for these bad boys. It woulda been baddddddddddd u hooked one those rockets on a 5 wt oboy lol!! Just like dakota me tioned these fish are very senitive to water temps and with the weather this year one day 40 the next 70 is not helpin and really puts these fish Into shock, for christ sake its november they should least 2ft snow up there by now hah! Congrats on ur fish man

[Bruce Litton]

Plain and simple the more salmon the more steelhead ...... 7 wt/9wt are perfect sizes for these bad boys. It woulda been baddddddddddd u hooked one those rockets on a 5 wt oboy lol!! Just like dakota me tioned these fish are very senitive to water temps and with the weather this year one day 40 the next 70 is not helpin and really puts these fish Into shock, for christ sake its november they should least 2ft snow up there by now hah! Congrats on ur fish man

Didn't mention, he did hook one on the 5 wt, but only about a 6-pound fish. It took off downstream like a bullet train and he had a good, solid hold on it; steelhead leapt, came down, pulled the hook. But of course I'm thinking 7 wt.