what do steelhead eat?

[gian]

I've seen some reports of people using different corky and yarn setups, but I want to know if steelhead eat in rivers, or do they shut down like salmon? Should I be trying to "floss" steelhead or is there a bait, scent they will actually strike? How do salmon eggs hit? flys? nightcrawlers? maggots? what live bait should I be picking up for these guys?

If I set up a spinner with a live bait chunk on the hook, is that effective? I know I'm going to have to go through hours of color changes, depths, and presentations until I find what works, but any info to get me headed in the right direction will save me hours in freezing water getting rained on dodging logs.

[curado]

depends on the river is it selective gear rules no bait or barbed hooks allowed or Non-selective rules bait allowed. READ your ragulation pamphlet when u have not fished a certain river before. for Bait i use eggs,prawns,Nightcrawlers more than likely they will pick it up they will attack some baits

[swedefish4life1]

They still have the spawn deals on the time frame and clock once the acclamation process back to fresh waters they came from as fry.
Hatchery brates the worse shooting through the systems sometimes in days that is why 99 percent on local hatchery fish are caught in the month of December.
Nates will take there time in most systems.
EAT= night crawlers, maggots, ghost shrimp, prawn meat, Roe/eggs, flys, pink plastic worms, spinners and spoons, plugs, flatfish, yarn and beads and much much more.:compress:
I tried the ex:-# on some monster nates but they passed ( bad Bait) lol
Even -2 with the correct bait or gear they will respond and EAT IT!!:colors:
Steelhead are dumb as fence posts= location and finding them and reading real holding waters but once on them very easy to catch, never had the 1,000 casts deal ever .

Location and finding them can be tough as heck but once on them showtime and much easier then Lock jaw Salmon in the fresh waters we press them! :compress:

[A9]

I've seen some reports of people using different corky and yarn setups, but I want to know if steelhead eat in rivers, or do they shut down like salmon? Should I be trying to "floss" steelhead or is there a bait, scent they will actually strike? How do salmon eggs hit? flys? nightcrawlers? maggots? what live bait should I be picking up for these guys?

If I set up a spinner with a live bait chunk on the hook, is that effective? I know I'm going to have to go through hours of color changes, depths, and presentations until I find what works, but any info to get me headed in the right direction will save me hours in freezing water getting rained on dodging logs.

A) Don't floss.
B) They will eat eggs that are washed out of gravel beds from previously spawned fish if they see them, but will hit out of aggression as well. Steelhead aren't super smart, its just a matter of putting the proper presentation in front of them. Jigs, bait, spoons/spinners, pink worms, rags, corky/yarn combo, plugs,
C) Bait: Eggs (clusters fished behind a corky/spin n glow, float fished) or sandshrimp fished the same way. Nightcrawlers do work for folks as well, nightcrawlers under a bobber caught many steelhead in the Sammamish slough (waterway between Lake WA and Sammamish) back when steelhead ran through there.....
D) Scents: Can be used in combination with bait or not. Steelhead rags, corkys, can be touched up with shrimp scent to enhance your offering.
E) Avoid spinners/spoons with live bait on them. Just touch them up with scent, or not. Many people throwing lures don't really believe it is necessary to stick scent on them.
F) Don't floss.

Hatchery fish will be caught from November thru Feb, with late November thru mid January being peak times. After that, the native fish come in and swede is right, they seem to take more time in the systems then do brats.

Good luck. Steelhead are considered a fish of a thousand casts, and it seems as if you are understanding of that. Try fishing areas with people around you so you can see what they are doing. There are some spots on the Sky and Snoqualmie that you will be around other folks, which is a great way to learn: you can see what presentations they are using, where they are presenting them (reading water) and in what conditions, etc.

A guide is also a great way to learn a boatload of knowledge in one day....Sure it is expensive, but for $150-$200, you can save yourself a lot of tackle, trips, gas, time, on the water when you are first learning the sport.

[kevinb]

Great information,...I need to get my butt out there#-o

[gian]

thanks for the info guys. I would have thrown a spinner with a nightcrawler tail on it, but that doesn't seem to be the ticket. The river i'm going to target is the Tolt off Snoqualmie. I've been spending a few weekends out there getting to know the river, and I have a good idea on where I'm going to start. There's no lure restrictions and I still have quite a few nightcrawlers in the bucket. I've been laying tarps on my back patio, and picking them up in the mornings - free bait - can't beat that. I also have shrimp scent and all the types of lures you guys suggested. Now I just need to get out there ASAP.


I have another question... with salmon they change color once in the fresh water and anglers can use that as a sign weather or not the cooked fish will be "game-y". Do steelhead have a similar sign I should be looking for in case I want to have some fish for dinner?

[swedefish4life1]

Eater / smoker!!!!!! LOL For Metalheads

[wolverine]

Steelhead "bite" much better than salmon. They also are more curious so an offering needs to be colorful and look good. Night crawlers are a great bait for summer run steelies, but hatchery winters are more oriented to eggs and shrimp. The nates that show up later in the winter will also go for the worm. One of the best nate lures is a pink rubber worm.

[swedefish4life1]

Night crawler= large one lol (winter) Feb 1st with a puff ball 26lbmonster CHROMER Buck Upper Skykomish just above the Wallace flats.
Land over 20 a year winter fish with Crawlers only:bom: the correct color yarn, colored gama and or puff balls with Crawlers but my fav is Ghost Shrimp over Roe meat/tail only:cheers:
Last 2 pics winter Jan of 2006 just past the high Bridge upper Sky =Lama hole 8 degrees 3 fish day and all on nightcrawlers large ones! LOL

[racfish]

I'll tell you what Steelies dont eat................My bait.....Hehehe

[Rich McVey]

I'll tell you what Steelies dont eat................My bait.....Hehehe

Sounds like you didnt do to well this weekend, Sorry I missed ya. Things got a bit busy at home Sat morning.

[gian]

I got some salmon eggs in the works and my crawlers are all ready. I'm changing out my line to 15lb mono and making sure all my gear is in order for this weekend. I plan on fishing the tolt all day, I also hear the salmon river is killin it for steelies right now, but that drive is crazy. I'm hearing next weekend will have highs in the low 30's? Man I'm going to freeze my butt off, I hope it's worth it.

[fishingboy]

they also eat shrimp!

[swedefish4life1]

They Love Sand/Ghost shrimp summers runs, winters runs one of the most productive steelhead natural baits/If bait is allowed shrimp A-1 offerings
Upper Sky monster nate on pink yarn and shrimp/released and cared to fight and spawn another day.
All fish that day taken on the Shrimpster bait and scent

[BentRod]

Good luck out there gian.
I have never fished this side of the state for steelies, but grew up fishing the Columbia over by the Tri-Cities. For bait we always used shrimp with added anise scent below a couple of colorful corkies with a small weight. All that went below a stick bobber at about 5-8 feet. Other than that, we'd mainly use spin'n glows with a little orange/red yarn.
Hope you have a great time and let us know how you do.