spawning steelhead

[Fisherman_max]

i am kinda new to steelheading and had a question. it started when i started seeing dead spawned out silvers around in the river and no steelys, and noticed how bad silver get before they spawn, with the drastic color change and males getting hooked noses. but i had never seen a dead spawned out steely and besides the color they dont really change that much. and you can see that steely's range from 7-20lbs and that is a huge range so do steelhead die after they spawn like salmon or do they return to the ocean, get bigger and come back the next year?

[colton]

well i do believe that steelhead make a couple trips to the ocean. they dont die out like salmon, but they will change color like you said

[Fisherman_max]

yea that is what i thought colton i hit lucia falls today and got skunked but the water was clearer and it was a little high. if a couple of days with little no no rain come up the fishing should get better

[colton]

yeah ive been to the east fork a few times without any steelhead. i went to daybreak today and the water was clearer and a little bit slower but no catch. i dont think the fish our in yet.

[A9]

Yep Steelhead spawn several times throughouot there life. They don't turn into boots like salmon though, they just get colored up nice and red...

[Derrick-k]

I wouldn't advise keeping a spawned out steelhead though, they get the flavorless meat just like boot salmon.

[Fisherman_max]

yea i found a dead steely on the east fork yesterday that was red but it was only about a 7-8lber which made no sense unless it was hooked in the gills, got loose and bleed out.



colton the fish are in the rivers right now, the peek of the runs start at the end of december around here, so the fish are here but its just a little to high to fish for them. i could not get to a couple of my good spots yesterday

[colton]

i guess if i keep tryin ill catch one eventually. i havent been seeing any fish anywhere though. i went to lucia a few days ago and didnt see any fish trying to get up the falls. i guess the question is if they up higher or still coming up?

[Fisherman_max]

i am going to try lucia again on saturday. make sure you are 100 feet above or below the falls before you fish or else its illegal

[colton]

yeah i will. where do you usually fish at lucia??

[Fisherman_max]

well i park and walk down a small trail that is on the right side of the old diner they have there. then i just walk up and down the river to a few different spots i like. i have had most success right next to the lookout deck in the real deep spot

[Fisherman_max]

i went to lucia a few days ago and didnt see any fish trying to get up the falls.

the steelhead runs are not has hard as the coho(silver) runs so you may go all day without seeing one jump or you might see tons of them jump it justs depends on when you are there. sometimes the steelys just spawn right around lucia or stay there to wait out low water or real heavy flows, until it get easyer to get upstream. lately the flow has been real heavy and fast so i would not expect any fish to be jumping soon. if you want to see fish jumping go to the falls around august and september and you will see hundreds of silvers jumping.

[colton]

oh ok. do you know if people can fish for silvers at that time??

[Fisherman_max]

yea i am sure you can fish for them at the spots i hit for steelhead, just depends on if the wardens feel like inforcing their laws or not, to this day i have not seen a single game warden at lucia.

[colton]

oh alright. i have now heard of a few fish caught above lucia falls. so i think i might try it tomorrow. the river is quite high but its worth a shot

[Fisherman_max]

hey is that a steelhead in your picture colton? i went to lucia today and fished for 3 hours with no fish. i even tried other lures like jigs and spin n' glos with no success. i guess i was fishing in the wrong spot.

[colton]

well not exactly. i caught this fish a while back. it was a summer steelie. but have you been doing any fishin lately anybody??

[A9]

i guess i was fishing in the wrong spot.

They are the fish of a thousand casts...Sometimes you have to put in over 10 hours of fishing just to land one...

Don't get down on yourself for it, getting so much as a hit in a long days of fishing is pretty productive...

[fishingmachine]

Has anyone recently had any luck fishing the snoqualmie river

[Derrick-k]

i guess i was fishing in the wrong spot.

They are the fish of a thousand casts...Sometimes you have to put in over 10 hours of fishing just to land one...

Don't get down on yourself for it, getting so much as a hit in a long days of fishing is pretty productive...

lol a lot of times more then that.