# Where are the Steelhead?



## lenfishing17 (Apr 1, 2017)

I have never caught a steelhead, and would like to know where to go and what to use this weekend!


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## Yakeyes (Jan 1, 2015)

I have only fished the grand river. They should be in the river by now, if not the short pier would probably produce. But I'm not much of a steelhead guy. I've heard the chagrin and Rocky are better but I have never been. Small jigs and maggots, rapalas, spoons is what I've had luck with. Good luck


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## bustedrod (May 13, 2015)

depends on where ya live. the rocky.. start at the marina, 7ft spin rod,8lb,mono.float and spawn sack, or jigs w minn or mag. cast up river so you follow your float back past you .adjust float according to the depth of the part of river your in. you want your offering ticking along the bott. walk towards the bridge fishing all the water, if theres current put your float in it. spoons , spinners, minnows, it all works. all the rivers same deal. the trout are stacked up at the river and creek mouths waiting for this rain to draw them in. on some days there jumpin all over . but its on from now until april ish.. walls and piers like the grand, wildwood, fairport, conny. hope it helps


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

Hey len,,,, Something else to try.
friend Joe landed 8, 2 days ago.
If you try the Rivers, don't go without nightcrawlers. (till the snow flies).
He usually uses a VERY SMALL STICK bobber with 6# flouro but when the water is gin clear, go to 4#. #14 trebble hook & NO weight. 1/2, to whole worm. Wrap the worm around the hook, making a ball & let the rest hang,,,, drifting where the current takes it.

Floating JIGS,,, very small hair jigs,,,, 1/16- 1/64oz, completely black, or with red or orange heads. Fill 'em with maggots, or a 1/4" piece of worm. If your fishing a River mouth, deeper water, try 16" down, to 4' below a bobber,,, depending on time of day & water clarity.
Give the bobber a 2" POP & STOP as it drifts,,,, attract attention.

When the above fails,,,,, cast spoons & large roostertail spinners.

#1 thing,,, get out there & watch, copy, & BS with everyone CATCHING. 
Tell 'em your a 'newbie', & NEED to catch a fish! ;>)


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## lenfishing17 (Apr 1, 2017)

Thanks everyone!


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## Jonathan Nutt (Aug 22, 2016)

Fished the rocky last night still pretty high and very muddy. Caught a little smallie in a pool beside one of the fords, no steelhead but my guess is itll clear up today


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## andybren (Dec 10, 2005)

Anyone know if the rocky cleared up enough to fish yet


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## Bassbully 52 (Feb 25, 2014)

Jonathan Nutt said:


> Fished the rocky last night still pretty high and very muddy. Caught a little smallie in a pool beside one of the fords, no steelhead but my guess is itll clear up today


Weird. I was there at the marina to the fords on Tuesday and the water was gin clear and very low. I saw no jumping fish and one hookup and land at the marina. It was on a bait rig...nice fish.


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## Jonathan Nutt (Aug 22, 2016)

Yeah we got quite a bit of rain since then. You can always check the flow rate in the USGS water data page. It's still high today, over 200 cfcs but yesterday mourning it was over 1000. Rock drains pretty quick


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## bubbster (Jun 2, 2013)

lenfishing17 said:


> I have never caught a steelhead, and would like to know where to go and what to use this weekend!


The Steelhead are in the rivers now. Landed two yesterday on a guided trip. But very light biting, and muddy water doesn't help. Hooked up on probably half a dozen.


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## hailtothethief (Jan 18, 2017)

Its muddy. A chartreuse jig head will increase your hook up rate substantially.


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## chrisrf815 (Jul 6, 2014)

Fish the breakwalls in the lake, still a lot staging there, went 2 for 5 today in 3 hours off break walls in cleveland.


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## bubbster (Jun 2, 2013)

hailtothethief said:


> Its muddy. A chartreuse jig head will increase your hook up rate substantially.


Yep, coming in!


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## bustedrod (May 13, 2015)

yep went 1 for 3 in lorain yesterday


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## BWW (Oct 28, 2017)

*NOVEMBER 3, 2017*

*Temperature: *Mid-50s
*Wind:* Northerly (from the North to the South)
*Moon:* Full
*Water Temp:* 55
*Time:* Between 9 AM and 1 PM. We started around 9 AM (boat problems) and fished until an hour after sunset. We caught all the fish before 1 PM. 
*Location:* Conneaut Creek Harbor, Vicinity of 41.971960, -80.549785, in the dock for ships. We went a short distance up the creek with no luck.
*Depth: *3-5’ for the tackle, we marked fish in the 15’-25’ range.
*Technique: *Trolling, 2.2 MPH to 3 MPH.
*Tackle: *
Rapala x-rap, model 08, length 3.125”, clown color (one fish)
Little Cleo, 2/5 oz. Blue and Silver, and Pink and Gold (one fish)
Rapala Original Floating, approx.. 4-5” orange (one powerful strike a the mouth of the bay)
Also tried trolling spoons with a small dodger, an Erie Dearie. . . none of which produced.
*Catch: *Two Steelhead, approx. 24”
*Narrative:* I really think the wind from the north to the south helped a lot because it kept all the flotsam from Conneaut Creek out of the dock and the water was relatively clear -- say 2-3 feet. I caught all the fish and my buddy lost them at the boat (keep reading). We may have caught more at the mouth of the bay, but the rough water kept us at bay, literally. There was a canoe with two anglers and a trolling motor fore and aft. They were slaying the fish and showed us one over 30”. I have no idea how many hits we had – more than 10. It is critical to have a swivel on for the little cleos. The braid got horribly twisted with the action of that spoon trolling all day. Once we tied on a leader, that problem was solved. 


*NOVEMBER 4, 2017
Temperature: *37 in the morning rising to approx. 55
*Wind:* Easterly (from the East to the West)
*Moon:* Full
*Water Temp:* 55
*Time:* Sunrise to Sunset. We only caught fish after noon. Nothing in the morning. 
*Location:* Conneaut Creek Harbor, Vicinity of 41.980161, -80.556553, in the mouth of the harbor
*Depth: *3-5’ for the tackle, we marked fish in the 15’-25’ range. Waves were 3-5’, which I really think helped the action of the lures since the boat would go from 1 MPH to 4 MPH depending on whether we where in a trough or surfing.
*Technique: *Trolling and Jigging. All fish were caught trolling. We jigged where we marked fish, but did not have even one hit. 
*Tackle: *Rapala x-rap, model 08, length 3.125”, clown color & Little Cleo, 2/5 oz. Pink and Gold. Truth is, we threw everything in the tacklebox at them in the morning – with no success. 
*Catch: *Two Steelhead, approx. 24”, One around 18”. I also caught some jacka** who drove across my line. I’ll tell you what, nothing fights like a 90 HP Yamaha. 
*Narrative:* A coal ship moved in overnight. Many anglers blamed the ship for the poor fishing in the dock. The water was a lot murkier on the 4th. We caught all our fish out in the mouth of the bay. An 18” to 24” fluorocarbon leader with a barrel (or ball bearing) swivel at one end and another snap swivel (barrel or ball bearing) at the other end (the lure end) is essential. The fluorocarbon stretches while the braided line does not. This proved key for a fish like steelhead which fights so incredibly hard. My buddy hooked up several times, but always lost them at the boat. The only thing we were doing differently was the flourocarbon leader.


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## Fallfrombetween (Feb 11, 2017)

Hey, that's me with the duel trolling motor canoe! Going out this morning! Which guys were you out there that day?


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## thenugeroolz (Apr 8, 2009)

lenfishing17 said:


> I have never caught a steelhead, and would like to know where to go and what to use this weekend!


After you read all of these helpful posts and before you hook one of these silver bullets, set your drag fairly light. They explode when they feel the hook. If you aren't prepared, its an easy break off and that sucks. A 5 pound fish can make that drag scream. Play the fish with the rod and drag and you will be rewarded!


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

Grand River was a good place to be today. My Dad and I both caught our limits. Hooked 5 and lost 1. Keeping these and enjoying them for dinner. I caught the largest being a hen at 25". Using Blue Fox Vibrax Classic spinners blue chrome and silver color size 3 or 4 depending upon depth. Many were catching from shore and in boats. 

I may venture out for more this spring, but I'm returning to walleye for the remainder of the season.


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## BWW (Oct 28, 2017)

Fallfrombetween said:


> Hey, that's me with the duel trolling motor canoe! Going out this morning! Which guys were you out there that day?


 We were in the black Lund with the white Evinrude 150, two guys, and a yellow lab. Hope to head out this weekend.


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## Fallfrombetween (Feb 11, 2017)

kayak1979 said:


> Grand River was a good place to be today. My Dad and I both caught our limits. Hooked 5 and lost 1. Keeping these and enjoying them for dinner. I caught the largest being a hen at 25". Using Blue Fox Vibrax Classic spinners blue chrome and silver color size 3 or 4 depending upon depth. Many were catching from shore and in boats.
> 
> I may venture out for more this spring, but I'm returning to walleye for the remainder of the season.
> 
> View attachment 249313


Nice catch, kayak! So why do you say you're returning to walleye for the remainder of the season? We did a lot of walleye fishing this year at Mosquito.


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## Fallfrombetween (Feb 11, 2017)

BWW said:


> We were in the black Lund with the white Evinrude 150, two guys, and a yellow lab. Hope to head out this weekend.


That's who I thought you guys were, BWW, with the dog. Sweet, man! We ended up with 8 on 4 in that day. That big steelhead I held up for you on the water ended up measuring 31 inch, 10 pounds even. I had to keep it for a skin mount.


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

Fallfrombetween said:


> Nice catch, kayak! So why do you say you're returning to walleye for the remainder of the season? We did a lot of walleye fishing this year at Mosquito.



Because I love eating walleye, and I also find them more of a challenge especially within inland lakes.


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## Fallfrombetween (Feb 11, 2017)

Here are some photos of that day, 3 Nov. We use Rapala Floating #7 exclusively. All were caught during morning daylight hours in the industrial slip, on the 4×4 canoe. We had a North wind which, as BWW said above, helped to keep all the river debris at bay. 31", 28", and 2 x 26"


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## Fallfrombetween (Feb 11, 2017)

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