Steelhead: The tug is the drug

The fish struck with a lightning blast I could feel all the way to my shoulder. Just as quickly, he was gone. Broken off and back into the dark water.

But the unanswered adrenaline jolt that particular fish unleashed is what stuck with me the rest of the day and beyond. Not the beefy hen I hooked and fought for several minutes before she finally abraded the line enough to swim free. Not the second hen, around 9 pounds, that I managed to wrangle into the boat. Nor the fact that both those fish hit a streamer that I offered with a two-handed spey rod, all of which were personal firsts.

Nope. It was that momentary hammer strike that proved to me the steelheader’s adage: “The tug is the drug.”

It is the worst kept secret among serious steelheaders that autumn is the best time to hook up with a hard-fighting chromer. The reasons are simple: Everyone else is in the woods chasing deer. That river that was packed with anglers in spring is now silent. And the fish are coming in from the Great Lakes to feed heavily in anticipation of winter.

That means anglers can target steelhead with just about anything, from spawn bags to streamers to nymphs to hardware. If it’s flashy, it’s food.

“We catch them on everything under the sun,” said fishing guideKevin Morlock of Indigo Guide Service in Walhalla, Mich, “And on different days they’re in different moods, but generally an October, early November fish is a pretty aggressive critter and if you find him he’s willing to give it at least one tap.”

Morlock offers the following fall and winter steelhead tips that will put more chrome in your net:

1. Think fast in warm water and slow in cold.  This simple rule applies to both holding water and presentation speed. Nothing swims fast in cold water; a bait that does looks unnatural.

2. As a general rule, go with bigger and brighter colors with deep and dirty water and smaller and more natural or darker colors in low and clear water. But always keep in mind that this rule gets broken all the time. On days when fish are really aggressive, whatever gets their attention will often get more action.

3. As you’re approaching a holding run from the traditional shallow side, always, always fish close first and work your way into deeper water. In low light conditions the feeding fish are often holding on the break from shallow to deeper water. Steelhead love to sit in that "gray" zone where you just can't see the bottom.

4. Cover water quickly until you are certain that you’ve presented to any fish that might be in the run. I like to fish all my great spots quickly with two proven methods, which allows me to develop a pattern for the day: plugs vs. bait, chrome vs. pink or the top of the runs vs. the tailouts.

5. Eggs, eggs and more eggs if salmon are still spawning in the area you’re fishing.

6. Learn the biology of the waters you fish.  It is OK to take a few hatchery fish but wild fish need to spawn.  If they're missing fins they are hatchery but if they have all their fins they are wild ... perfect equals wild.