Lake Superior Steelhead
By Jason Wild Contributing Writer
Some twenty-five years ago, my friend and his dad
introduced me to steelheading and the Wisconsin Brule River. I
remember standing in formation with many other anglers along
the Mays’ two edges, a portion of river with waterfalls and drops,
and most of us were tossing spawn logs and yarn flies into the icy
current. Although there was easily twenty miles or more of water
to fish for steelhead in the Brule, it seemed most anglers fished
the ledges, as they slowed down and bottlenecked the Steelhead as they migrated upstream. So, I took
my position amongst the ranks tossed and flipped yarn flies, hoping something would tug back other
than the continual snagging up with “rock trout”. The weekend passed, fishless, and my friend’s dad,
nicknamed “old cement shoes” because of his penchant for standing and fishing unbearably long
periods of time in one spot, briefly rolled a big silvery fish, but didn’t get a good hookset. Other anglers
did catch a few fish and I remember a snowball fight or two, across the river, but mostly I remember
wondering when and if I would catch a steelhead. My friend and I wandered the river bank looking for
the ideal spot to drift fish, but the good spots, such as below the falls, were always taken well by
sunrise, and if it was a real good hole, like the Falls Hole, you needed to be there early to claim a spot.
There were spots to fish below the two edge stretch, but we were not experienced enough to find the
steelhead in the longer runs and pools downstream of Mays’ two edges.
We fished the next weekend and it was basically a repeat of the first weekend. Although it was
the first weekend in April, it still was cold. Shelf ice lined the riverbanks and deep snow banks were to
be found under the pines and cedars in the woods. The river had not warmed up at all since the last
weekend. Winter still had the Brule locked in its grip. I remember fishing a marginal spot behind a rock
and the angler next to me landed a beautiful chrome bright Steelhead of about 6 pounds. This was
encouraging; at least a fish was close to me! Still no luck; at least I was gaining experience in tying up
Snell knots and yarn flies. This section of the river was very rocky and if I lobbed the sinker and yarn fly
combo at an angle too far upstream, the current would push my rig into the rocks and get hung up.
Mainly, I remember that weekend as being cold. My friend and I saw a good spot that was not being
fished on the opposite bank. So foolishly, we thought that we could wade across the icy swollen river.
Needless to say, we both slipped and took a header into the river, filling our waders with icy water.
Fortunately for us, the fishing being only so-so, it didn’t take much convincing to get cement shoes to
leave his spot and get us back to the warmth of the car and some lunch in Iron River. That was my first
introduction to steelheading. I didn’t fish anymore that season, yet seeing some pictures my friend had
taken of fish caught by mostly his dad and older brother, well, this intrigued me. Having fished for
Stream Trout, I was used to measuring fish in inches, not in pounds. I very much desired a trophy.
Then, on the following April, it happened on the
Knife River. I drifted my yarn fly and sinker for
perhaps the five hundredth time, behind a
submerged rock, and the line just seemed to pause
in its drift. I didn’t really set the hook, thinking that I
was hung up on another rock. I was about to lift the
rod tip to free the sinkers, when my “rock” shot
downstream and rolled on the surface, exposing a
gun metal gray back and bright silvery belly. The
Steelhead zipped line off my fly reel, stopped mid
river in the heavy current, and would not budge.
After putting extreme pressure on the fish, he
moved downstream, zipping more line off the fly
reel, effortlessly taking out twenty yards or more of
line. Several times this happened, until finally a
couple hundred yards downstream from where I hooked the fish, another angler scooped up my prize in
his net. The Steelhead, although not a trophy wall hanger, was definitely a nice one of about 27 inches
and maybe 7 pounds.
Steelhead were never native to Lake Superior or any of the other Great Lakes. They probably
were introduced about the same time as Brown Trout were in the Brule River of Wisconsin during the
1900’s and elsewhere. By the 1930’s, Steelhead had strayed throughout the lake, naturalizing
themselves in most of Superior’s tributaries. Steelhead are really a migratory or anadromous species
of Rainbow Trout. They spend about a year or two in their natal streams and once they reach a size of
around 6 inches, the smolt lose their camouflage skin patterns and turn silvery and then migrate back to
the big lake. After foraging in the lake for a year or two and maturing, they are then ready to complete
a life cycle. Most Steelhead are triggered on a spring spawning run once ice melted water raises the
streams in late March, April, or even May. Common fish lore is that 40˚ water will trigger fish
movement, because now the rivers are warmer than Lake Superior. The female Steelhead search out
gravelly streambed areas and fan out depressions or “reeds”, into which they will deposit their eggs.
Usually one, but sometimes more, males will fertilize the eggs alongside her. Neither fish will stay with
the reed and guard it. Once females have finished, they drop back to the lake. Males usually stay in
the river longer and attempt to spawn again before migrating back to the lake, and then a new
generation is created.
Lake Superior is a harsh environment and it is truly a fish eat fish world. If the juvenile
Steelhead can survive the stream environment (some streams nearly dry up in summer and freeze
solid in winter) and dodge the King Fishers and Mergansers, the young Steelhead smolts are then
greeted by a host of predators, such as Lake Trout, Chinook Salmon, and the parasitic Sea Lamprey.
Minnesota DNR studies of the Knife River and its remnant Steelhead population have shown that
juvenile Steelhead smolts do indeed suffer extremely high mortality rates. A special smolt trap located
at the falls below the expressway of Hwy 61 captures the young Steelhead as they make their way
back to Superior. Each year roughly an average of 20,000, smolts are captured. Yet only about 100 –
400 Steelhead adults have been returning each spring. Sadly, the vast majority are being eaten by
Superior’s other game fish. Surely, the other tributaries of Superior have similar situations.
Fortunately, the once liberal catch and keep limits have been drastically reduced to protect the
fishery in recent years. Stocking of various strains of Rainbows, such as Kamloops, have offered
anglers more options and chances to fish. I hope that in time, the Steelhead population will recover on
the North Shore of Lake Superior.
Probably the most common steelheading rig I see on the streams and rivers are 7 – 10 weight
fly rods around 9 – 10 feet long, with fly reels spooled full of monofilament. This simple rig works well,
as long casts are not usually the normal situation. The casts are short and repetitive. The idea is that
an angler covers a small area of a pool or run and instead of making longer casts, the angler
repositions himself a step or two downstream in order to cover a new piece of water. The reel is never
used much, it just stores line and the angler retrieves the line by hand, holding some loose coils and
then flipping it out again – somewhat a hybrid of fly-casting. I have found this method to work well for
me on smaller rivers. I prefer a good quality abrasion resistant, 8-pound test line, like Maxima
Ultragreen, sharp Snell hooks in sizes 4, 6, or 8, and an assortment of round wingless split shots in
sizes BB, 3/0, 5, and 7. For baits, I like to use fresh spawn logs and if the water is clear, night crawlers
work well. It pays to have an assortment of glow yarn. Some prefer to have pre-tied yarn flies, and
being easy to tie eggs, this works well, however, I like to carry an assortment of yarn with me in pink,
reds, oranges, gold and chartreuse. I simply tie a Snell knot onto an up eyed hook and place a piece or
two of yarn into the loop and then snug the knot up to the eye. This tightens up the yarn and fluffs it up
into a ball. Then I trim with scissors to desired shape.
Drift fishing or bottom bouncing does take some getting used to, as you can expect to get hung
up occasionally and lose hooks and sinkers. It pays to change weights often, as each pool or run will
have different current and depth characteristics. Generally, if you have to “pull” the sinkers through to
keep from being hung up, then you have too much weight. An ideal drift should have the current doing
the work and occasionally you should feel a bump or two from the bottom. Also holding the rod tip
lower to the water will put more line exposed to the current, and the current will help push the bait
through the run.
Another method that is gaining popularity is float fishing, and it stands to
reason, because it can be a deadly technique under the right conditions. I
had heard about center pin reels and read articles about them, but had
never seen them in use, until about ten years ago. I was fishing a large
Canadian tributary to Lake Superior, and the river had a “classis”
Steelhead run – water depth of about 3 – 5 feet deep and current flowing
about walking speed. All morning long I covered the run thoroughly,
starting at the shallower rapids near the top of the run, fishing my way
downstream to the tail out, a couple hundred yards below. Not having
much luck, I was resting on the bank, when I saw two anglers come up the
trail and take positions upstream from me. I watched as they swung their
bright orange bobbers out in the current and seemingly let the bobbers drift
ridiculously long distances downstream. I watched this, noticing the long
rods that made my 9 foot long fly rod seem like an ice fishing jig stick, and the spinning handles of what
appeared to look like a revolving, over-sized fly reel. Interesting, I thought, and I was about to dismiss
the style of angling as a “Canadian fad”, when one of the anglers set the hook into a large Steelhead.
Encouraged that a fish or two might be in the run, I decided to fish the run again, as there was still
plenty of room for the three of us. After an hour of drifting, I still had not hooked a fish, while the
Canadian float fishermen had thoroughly cleaned house, hooking and landing about a dozen Steelhead
between them. Clearly, there was something to this style of fishing.
One does not need a center pin reel or a 13-foot float rod in order to catch Steelhead. However,
the longer rod does keep a lot of line off the water and makes for easier control and hook sets, and a
center pin reel does allow for a totally controlled downstream float and quicker hook set. Nevertheless,
with that said, anytime spent on the water enjoying the beautiful surroundings you cannot really go
wrong.
As I look back over the years since this first outing. I can say my life has been blessed with so many
life-changing adventures with the friends I have met along the way, all the fishing adventures, fish
caught, and the friends I still have to fish with. I thank the Lord for all he has given me and pray for the
adventures to come.
Thanks Stop Back Soon!
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