Steelhead – Page 6

7 Cool Things You Never Knew about Steelhead

December 27, 2015 By JD 4 Comments

Steelhead are rad. Sorry to have to go to the vault and bust out a 1980’s adjective there, but it really does fit, doesn’t it?

Everything about them is cool: The way they crush a plug or mash a swung fly. Their ability to cartwheel 3 feet out of the water and then burn 50 yards of line in a nanosecond. Their incomparable beauty. The incredible places they live.

Pure and simple steelhead are indeed… rad.

While I love my kings and coho and stripers and browns and roosters, if I had to pick one fish to chase for the rest of eternity – it would be the steelhead without hesitation. And I’m sure many of you out in FishwithJD Land feel the same way. So let’s take a look at some interesting factoids concerning our favorite fish…

So, where do they go in the ocean?

Precious little is known about their wanderings in the sea. While steelies eat some of the same prey items that salmon do, they obviously don’t hang around much with them – otherwise we’d catch a lot more steelies while hunting kings and coho.

Back in the early 1990’s when California’s offshore salmon fishing was going gangbusters, I asked a deckhand on one of the most popular charter boats out of San Francisco if they ever caught any steelhead during the summer season.

He said that they caught one… once. Back in those days, the boats would load up with 30 anglers and get limits (2 per rod) of kings every day…and sometimes twice a day… all summer long. Do the math: that’s a lot of kings and not so many trout!

I also have a couple commercial fishermen buddies who echo the same story. In all their thousands of hours out on the briny blue, they’ve caught exactly one steelhead. Strangely enough, it was taken about 26 miles off the northwestern corner of California on a big plug being trolled for tuna (see photo above).

What we do know is steelhead seem to roam great distances in the saltchuck. According to NOAA, a steelhead tagged south of Kiska Island in Alaska’s western Aleutian Island chain, was recovered about six months and 2,200 miles later in Washington State’s Wynoochee River.

Info I received from the University of Washington tells the story of a Steelie released from a hatchery in Idaho that swam to the center of the Gulf of Alaska, a distance of about 890 nautical miles, in only two months.

Another from Oregon’s Alsea River hatchery was caught south of Kodiak Island, Alaska five months later after swimming at least 1,200 miles.

Baja Steelies

Far from the green river valleys and fog-shrouded redwoods where we typically think of steelhead living, once there were actually spawning populations of steelhead in…get this…Mexico!

Located about two-thirds of the way down the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula, the Rio Santo Domingo used to see some small runs of anadramous rainbows on wet years.

Those fish, of course, are all gone now, but what a cool combo trip you could have put together back in the day – a little steelhead fishing in the morning, followed by some Rooster fish off the beach and maybe cap off the day with some wahoo and dorado.

Those were the days!

Speaking of Southern Steelhead, there are still a few stragglers each season in Malibu Creek near Los Angeles. In the 1950’s, the Los Angeles River used to produce good steelhead fishing and the nearby Ventura River had an annual run of around 4,000 adults prior to the construction of Matilija Dam in 1948.

The Santa Ynez River (above) near Santa Barbara had as many as 22,000 steelies annually.

Now of course steelhead in the L.A. River are nothing more than an April Fool’s gag and all other southern populations are either extinct or residing on the Endangered Species List.

Fun with fecundity

Four thousand, nine hundred and twenty three. That’s the average number of eggs a female steelhead carries in her cargo bay. That being said, can anyone please explain to me why it is still legal to keep wild steelhead in some places??

Not my first rodeo, cowboy!

Steelhead are unique in that they don’t necessarily die after spawning. While many of them succumb to the rigors of the journey, a percentage of fish beat the odds and return to their natal streams more than once.

Rates of repeat spawning for post-development Columbia River steelhead populations range from 1.6% to 17% (Hatch, Branstetter, Whiteaker 2001).

In Alaska, where there are generally shorter steelhead drainages with fewer man-made diversions and habitat infringements, the incidence of repeat spawning can be significantly higher. The rate can be from 11% to 38% with an average between 25% to 33% (Brookover and Harding 2003). On the Situk River in 1994, 907 steelhead were captured and sampled for age and length and 51% of them were found to be repeat spawners (Johnson 1996).

Atlantic Steelhead?

Yep, you heard that right steelhead exsist in the Atlantic. There’s a nice population of sea-run rainbows in the Rio Santa Cruz in southern Patagonia. The steelies that run right-to-left up the Santa Cruz are not native to South America and, allegedly originated from fish transplanted from the McCloud River (a tributary to the Sacramento) in Northern California around the turn of the century.

Methinks a trip down there may be in order…just to see how our friends are faring on the “wrong” coast!

Speed Demon

We all know steelhead are fast, but did you know that they can hit bust speeds of 26 feet per second? Think about that one for a minute – 26 feet per second is pretty impressive.

If you hook a fish right at the transom of your jet sled, it could be several feet off your bow in the blink of an eye!

If you do the math, a steelhead traveling at that rate for an extended period of time (they can’t), could travel a mile in about 3½ minutes.

So, the next time you’re left there dazed and confused on the river bank, with a blistered thumb and a limp line, you’ll have a better idea of what just happened to ya…

For more steelhead info, check out the Steelhead Techniques page here.

The Top 6 West Coast Fishing Cities

May 11, 2015 By JD 1 Comment

Each year, hundreds of thousands of Chinook salmon swim right through the heart of downtown Sacramento

On the 6 a.m. Southwest flight from Sacramento to Portland on a Monday morning, I am the odd man out. Surrounded mostly by folks in suits and briefcases – business commuters – I’m sporting fleece wading pants, a Gore-Tex parka and stained fishing cap. When we hit the tarmac at PDX, most of my spiffily dressed friends here will shuffle off to work somewhere downtown. I’m headed just a few miles southeast to do something quite the opposite – to go steelhead fishing on the Clackamas River.

This interesting contrast gets me thinking about how big cities and good fishing don’t always go hand-in-hand, but here on the West Coast, we have several major urban areas that play host to some surprisingly productive and diverse fisheries. Here now, in no particular order, are some of the best:

San Diego, CA

You could spend a lifetime sampling all the sportfishing opportunities that the greater San Diego area has to offer and never come close to doing it all. From giant tuna to record class largemouth bass and everything in between, there’s a little something for everyone here.

Long range fishing may be king in San Diego, but don’t forget about the great inshore and freshwater opportunities as well

San Diego is perhaps best known as the homeport of the extremely popular long range fleet that fishes along the Mexican coastline – and points further south. Cow yellowfin, wahoo, dorado, albacore, yellowtail and marlin are the main draws, but there are plenty of calico and sand bass, barracuda, halibut, white seabass, rockfish and bonito in the local inshore waters to keep the small boat crowd happy, too.

Get seasick? No problem – just head into San Diego or Mission bays with some ultralight gear and have a ball with sand bass, spotted bay bass and halibut. Additionally, bay anglers also catch the occasional seabass, bonito, barracuda – and even bonefish. Or, you can always prowl the beaches for small ‘butts, corbina, perch and croaker.

Then there’s the whole freshwater scene. Giant Florida strain largemouth draw record hunters to places like Lake Dixon (formerly home of “Dottie,” the mammoth bass that made so much news a couple years back), Lake Miramar, Lake Hodges and others. As if that weren’t enough, you can also catch trout in lakes like Poway and Cuyamaca.

San Francisco, CA

Of all the West’s big cities, San Francisco may just offer the most diverse collection of angling opportunities. Right outside the Golden Gate there are lings, rockfish of every size and color, albacore and Chinook salmon to chase. And who could forget the Dungeness crabbing? Inside the bay, there’s terrific striped bass, sturgeon and California halibut fishing all within sight of the city’s high rises.

Capt. Jay Lopes of Right Hook Sportfishing sticks a halibut in San Francisco Bay

Shore-bound anglers can fish San Francisco’s ocean beaches for perch and striped bass or venture to one of the region’s many freshwater lakes that kick out a wide range of fishing that should suit just about everybody’s taste. Most feature put-and-take trout fisheries, along with bass, panfish and catfish. Check out Lake Chabot, Del Valle Reservoir, San Pablo Reservoir, Shadow Cliffs Lake and many others.

Just inland lies the vast Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that pumps out all sorts of mixed bag action. Stripers and sturgeon probably get the most attention here, but the Delta also has a solid reputation for harboring good numbers of jumbo largemouth bass, along with a modest population of smallies. The place is also teeming with catfish that can go from paniszed bullheads to blues and channels that have topped the 50-pound mark in recent years.

Portland, OR

Location, location, location! Situated about an hour and a half from the coast and just minutes south of the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, Portland is an angler’s dream. Right downtown there’s some of the best sturgeon and spring-run Chinook salmon fishing to be found anywhere in the two big rivers. Smaller tribs like the Clackamas and Sandy rivers play host to seasonal runs of winter and summer steelies, springers, fall Chinook and coho salmon.

Catching steelies near Portland in the Clackamas River

An hour east is the amazing Columbia River Gorge and more epic sturgeon, steelhead and salmon action – plus smallmouth bass and walleye, too. To the west lies the fabled Tillamook Bay area, which is the epicenter of some of the West Coast’s best salmon and steelhead fishing and there’s plenty more up north across the Washington border.

Los Angeles, CA

Much like San Diego, there’s a ton of saltwater fishing to be had off LA. Near shore, you’ve got calico and sand bass, barracuda, bonito, mackerel, halibut, sheepshead, sculpin, white seabass, cabezon, lings and rockfish. Get out into the blue water and you’ve got a shot at big game species like bluefin and yellowfin tuna, dorado, albacore and billfish.

There’s an endless supply of beaches to explore with a rod and reel around LA. Surf perch are a common surf catch along with corbina, croaker and small sharks.

Newport Harbor is an exciting fishery for the light tackle aficionado and fishes a lot like a bass lake. By tossing small plastics around pilings and under boat docks, you can expect to catch sand bass, halibut and croaker. For a really interesting experience, hit the beaches around the Santa Monica Pier in July when the sand crabs are out in force. If you look closely, you should be able to see plenty of corbina working the foam line right at the feet of the scads of waders, swimmers and boogie boarders.

If coldwater species are your thing, check out the trout fishing at places like Irvine Lake and Santa River Lakes, where chasing oversized planter rainbows on featherweight tackle is almost a religion. There are big bass here, too. Though not the glory hole it once was, Lake Castaic has produced a number of monster largemouth, including a 21-pound 12 ouncer that narrowly missed the world record for the species by ounces. Other waters to check out include Piru Lake, Lake Casitias and Ojai Lake. If you’re into stripers, try Pyramid Lake near the Grapevine.

Sacramento, CA

It may be the smallest town on this list, but the Capitol City can hold its own. Flowing smack through the heart of downtown are both the American and Sacramento rivers and then you have the Feather River just north of the airport. All three play host to excellent runs of Chinook Salmon and several other species.

Some big and bright king salmon can be caught right in the shadows of the downtown high rises in Sacramento

Anglers flock to the Sac and Feather every spring for world-class striped bass fishing, while the American is more of a size over numbers game. Good shad runs also enter these streams April through June and the Feather gets a run of small fall steelhead, too. Most of the action in the winter comes courtesy of the American, where winter steelhead to 15 plus pounds are taken – or the Sacramento which yields big sturgeon to bait anglers.

To the southwest is the vast Delta system and all it has to offer, while Folsom Lake is an excellent trout, king salmon and bass fishery. Lake Natoma doesn’t produce a lot of fish, but a handful of rainbow trout over 20 pounds have been landed there. Then you have a myriad of lakes within an hour’s drive in any direction, including popular Lake Berryessa, Camanche Reservoir, Sly Park, Union Valley Reservoir, Lake Pardee and Lake Amador.

Seattle, WA

Because it’s bordered by both fresh and saltwater, the Emerald City is another urban area that features great fishing diversity. Just yards off Seattle’s western edge, you can catch king, coho, pink and chum salmon, plus rockfish, lings, halibut and crab in Elliot Bay and Puget Sound.

Pink or “humpy” salmon are extremely popular fish for Puget Sound anglers in odd-numbered years

To the east, the city is hemmed in by Lake Washington, which produces good cutthroat and rainbow trout fishing, along with yellow perch and smallmouth bass. Additionally, sockeye salmon migrate up through the Ballard Locks and into the lake in the summer months. On years when biologists determine there are enough salmon in the lake to reach escapement goals, they open it up to anglers and a zoo-like troll fishery materializes overnight.

Just over the hill from Lake Washington is Lake Sammamish, which gets seasonal runs of coho and king salmon to go along with a nice resident population of smallmouth bass.

For the river fishing enthusiast, there are several rivers that serve up nice salmon and steelhead action, including the Skykomish, Snoqualmie, Tolt, Snohomish, Wallace and Sultan to name a few.

So there you have it – there’s some pretty good fishing to be had in the concrete jungles of some of the West’s largest cities. On that next business trip, you just may want to pack a travel rod in with your laptop!

How To Rig a Side Planer for Steelhead Plug Fishing

March 9, 2015 By JD 17 Comments

Back trolling plugs is one of my favorite ways to fish for steelhead. The way a big steelie tries to atomize a plug that comes wobbling into its lair is so awesome!

It’s a technique that can really yield results – and plugs often attract the biggest fish in the creek: The giant males that are super territorial and all hopped up on hormones.

But you can’t back troll plugs without a boat right? What about the bank angler? Well… good news! With the help of a Luhr Jensen Hot Shot Side Planer (or similar device), you can fish plugs right off the shore. It’s a super fun and productive way to fish, too!

Recently, I’ve met a lot of anglers who are a bit confused as to how to rig a side planer… truth is the instructions on the package are more than just a little hard to follow. So, for those of you like me for whom pictures are better than words, here’s a nice, clear step-by-step look at how to rig one of these handy little steelhead catching tools.

Step 1

Run your main line from the rod tip down through the wire eye at the front of the planer. I like colored braid for planer fishing so I can see where my rig is.

Step 2

Next, the line goes down through the hole on the top side of the side planer.

Step 3

Now, flip the planer over and run the line out through the screw eye on the back end of the unit.

Step 4

Slide a bead up your main line and then tie a barrel swivel to the end. Your leader goes on the other eye of the swivel. Generally, I’ll run 3 to 6 feet of leader…but for the photo I kept it short, Finish it off with your favorite lure, in this case the super hot Yakima Bait MagLip. On larger waters, I love the 3.5 size. The new smaller 3.0 is awesome on smaller streams or when you have really clear water.

Step 5

Now, you’re going to want to let out some line. With your reel in freespool, hold the planer in one hand and pull several feet of line through (and out the back of) the side planer. How much line you pull through is going to set the distance behind the planer your plug will be fishing. In clear or deep water, longer is better. I typically set my plug 15-30 feet behind the planer.

Step 6

Okay, now you are about ready to get this baby wet! The next step to to ensure you have proper orientation of the planer. The wire rod at the front of the planer should always be pointed towards you and the “outrigger” arm should always face away from you. The arm easily attaches to either side of the planer and the wire will swing either direction. You have to adjust these two things depending on the side of the river you are on and which direction the current is running. Anyway, lock the wire eye into the notch of the planer as shown here.

Step 7

Once the wire is snapped into place facing you, wrap your mainline 4-5 times around the tab at the front of the planer, keeping it tight between the wire eye and the tab. This keeps the planer where you set it (as I mentioned before, usually 15 to 30 feet ahead of the plug). When you start reeling in, the planer will slide back down to your swivel so you can fight the fish without having it well up the line.

Fishing the Side Planer

Okay, now it’s time to fish! In this case, the river is flowing from right to left, so we have to reverse the sides that the wire and outrigger arm from the ones in the rigging pix. Set the plug in the water and then ease the planer in as well, keeping tension on the line so it doesn’t unravel off the nose tab. You have to put the rig in water with some current, otherwise it won’t go anywhere!

With the reel in free spool, use your thumb to let line slip off the reel under tension. You need the tension on the rod side to help to get he planer to pull away from you.

It can take a while to work the planer out into the current, but it should eventually start pulling down and across from your position. The Luhr Jensen Hot Shot Side Planer comes with two different sized fins to run on the outrigger arm. Use the large one in slow water and the smaller one in fast water.

Continue to let line out at a controlled rate with your thumb until you get the plug and planer where you want them. As you can see, I have the planer working here near the opposite bank of a smaller river. Once in place, you can just hang out and wait for a fish to come to you or you can slowly walk downstream, back trolling like you would from a boat.

As I mentioned earlier, strikes are often savage! Resist the temptation to set the hook immediately and instead let the fish turn downstream with the plug first.

More Steelhead Techniques

Southern California Steelhead: Clinging By a Thread

March 6, 2015 By JD Leave a Comment

Southern California Steelhead: Against All Odds-Trailer from California Trout on Vimeo.

3 Plastic Worm Rigs to Help You Catch More Steelhead

February 25, 2015 By JD 4 Comments

Steelhead love plastic worms! While there lots of ways you can fish ’em, these three rigs have been hot all up and down the coast this season.

1. Bobber & Worm Jig

For the beginning steelheader, this rig is a great place to start. Very few moving parts and it’s deadly effective! Fish it on a dead-drift and set the float so that the worm is about a foot off the bottom.

I typically use a fixed balsa float like the Thill Turbomaster, a 1/8-ounce jig headhead and a 4″ Mad River Steelhead Worm.

Standard pink is a good all-around worm color color, but the one pictured above is called the “Nightmare” pattern and it is a killer in low, clear water! For this rig, spinning gear is the way to go because its so light.

2. Jet Diver Rig

If you have a boat, back trolling a worm behind a diver (just like you would a plug) is an awesome way to hook steelhead. For several seasons in a row, this is the only rig I guided with for winter steelhead.

Let it out 40-70 feet behind the boat and slowly slip downstream at a pace that’s about half the current’s speed. There are three types of bites on a back trolled worm: The “tap-tap-tap” style, which is often (but not always a smaller fish). Then, you have the two-stager that starts with a solid thump, followed by a pause and then the rod doubles over. And finally, my personal favorite: The “suicide bite” in which the fish grabs the worm and then makes a crazy headlong dash for the sea while you try to hang on.

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Pictured is a 4-inch Mad River worm, but you can drop down to the smaller 3-inch size in super clear water or go up to a 6 incher on big water. Late season big wild bucks are particularly fond of a big pink worm. You can go with a Corkie, Spin-N-Glo or Hard Fish Pill ahead of the worm to give it extra color and buoyancy – or use a floating worm instead.

I generally run a 4- to 6-foot leader down to the worm and an 8- to 16-inch dropper line to the diver. Speaking of divers, you can use size 10 or 20 Luhr Jensen Jet Divers, or go with a Brad’s Bait Diver.

3. Bobber Dog Worm Rig

Here’s one you can use from shore or a boat – the Bobber Dog Worm Rig! For this setup, run a slider or “slip” float like a Clear Drift (pictured), or Beau Mac Float. I generally run a 1/2- to 3/4-ounce model, depending on the size and flow of the river and how much lead I need to get down.

Slinky sinkers work well for this technique as they are very snag resistant. Add a 4- to 6-inch worm and you are in business. For this rig, I ran the worm upside down or “half wacky” style to give it some extra action. You can also thread a worm straight onto the leader like in the Diver rig above. In this case, I have a Hard Fish Pill on the line between the worm and hook to add a little more flotation.

My Favorite Steelhead Fishing Gear

In traditional float fishing (as with the jig and bobber method mentioned earlier), you fish the lure suspended off the bottom. But the Bobber Dog rig is different in that you want your sinker to tap the bottom the whole time. So, set your bobber stop to a depth that’s at least a few feet deeper than the water you are fishing. This is like a drift fishing/bobber fishing hybrid and it can be really effective because your gear is always down in the strike zone.

Give these rigs a try the next time you hit the river. Stay tuned because I’ll be posting more rigs and tips soon!