# Steelhead Season



## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

When do the steelhead start gathering back at the mouths of the river before making their run?


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## lowhole4trowt (Feb 1, 2014)

Could be there now, could be in Canada. Depends on water temp and bait availability during summer months. Generally you may start to see some numbers peaking around the breakwall after one or two rains (especially if they are cooler rains) middle to end of august. Could be interesting this year with relatively consistent cool temps at night this summer.


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

Thanks that is some great information. I am really looking forward to catching steelhead soon!

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## rustyhooks (Aug 17, 2008)

generally , when the shoreline water temps are in the mid 60's , they will start staging.


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

You can typically count on hearing some numbers caught in the mouths and break walls in the Ohio tribs in middle of September. Last year, I caught a few fresh fish in the Chagrin in the North Reservation in Gates Mills. They migrate based on weather, not time, so its tricky to figure out. If you head further east, out to the mile creeks, or even the Catt in NY, you'll see big numbers running for their fall run. The Catt, from what Ive read, has about a 25-30% native return rate, meaning no clipped fin.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Simple. Anytime after Labor Day.

Used to always hit the Fairport breakwall Labor Day weekend.


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

Thanks! September is going to be an exciting month, steelhead and squirrel season!


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

Anyone hearing any reports or know if any steelhead are being caught near the shore yet?


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## dlancy (Feb 14, 2008)

I can't help on the report, but I'm excited to start fishing for chrome again. With the cool weather we've had all summer I hope the season will start early. 


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

dustinlancy said:


> I can't help on the report, but I'm excited to start fishing for chrome again. With the cool weather we've had all summer I hope the season will start early.
> 
> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


Just thinking the same thing! Could be early part of Sept. this year!


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## lunker23 (Jun 28, 2013)

Steelhead season has been cancelled this year! I heard the Steelhead are on strike.......


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## Patricio (Feb 2, 2007)

Not soon enough. been an ok year for bass. average year for trout in pa and northern michigan. the hatches were disappointing. hopefully an early autumn and mild winter is in our future. 
ive caught trout memorial day weekend in the rivers. a cool rain will do it.


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

Just talked to a local bait store and they said they had a report of 3 limiting out on steelhead by the mouth at the Chagrin. Looks like it's beginning =)


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## tehsavage (Aug 16, 2013)

I asked craig at erie outfitters this same question last year about mid september. Basically whenever the river becomes colder than the lake the baitfish move into the river systems, and the steel follow the baitfish. So keep an eye out for big schools of minnows and there will surely be steelies around.


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## Stewball (Aug 29, 2009)

kayak1979 said:


> Just talked to a local bait store and they said they had a report of 3 limiting out on steelhead by the mouth at the Chagrin. Looks like it's beginning =)


Any reports on what they were hitting on?


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## lowhole4trowt (Feb 1, 2014)

Stewball said:


> Any reports on what they were hitting on?


Stingers or other assorted spoons in blue/silver/chartreuse ripped above walter speed 2.8-3.5 perhaps? Exciting and good news nonetheless. Bring on the chrome and insanity that comes with it.


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## kayak1979 (Jul 13, 2014)

I was so excited tonight that I tore out to Fairport Harbor thinking they might be there as well with my kayak and didn't get one hit. Was using spoons silver and blue and Vibrax Blue fox different colors but no hits. The water was really muddy because of the dredging that has been going on. I'm going to try the Chagrin tomorrow.


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

Its 80+ degrees out with 70+ degree water. Give it another 4-8 weeks and revisit.


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## salmonsteel97 (Dec 26, 2013)

mdogs444 said:


> Its 80+ degrees out with 70+ degree water. Give it another 4-8 weeks and revisit.



What he said.


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## lowhole4trowt (Feb 1, 2014)

Kayak, if ya roll even just one early sniffer in that open water on your yak more power to ya. Is it early yet? sure. But fishin is better than many alternatives if you've got the time and hooking a rocket in fairport or mouth of chagrin will be a blast. Some of the most fun days I had last season consisted of battling skips and slightly larger than skips in a sliver of open water on the lake. Insane when a float drops and fish rockets 4 feet out of the air 100 yds down range...


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## catfishhunter06 (Apr 5, 2006)

4-8 weeks!!! that is insane! Last year had a fish in the boat 8 days after today. They will be there very very shortly. If you want to wait 8 weeks to hit the rivers thats cool, more room for me.


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

catfishhunter06 said:


> 4-8 weeks!!! that is insane! Last year had a fish in the boat 8 days after today. They will be there very very shortly. If you want to wait 8 weeks to hit the rivers thats cool, more room for me.


I don't troll, pin, or spin. I only swing spey flies. They won't be in the rivers without dropping back until the water hits 58 degrees. Its over 70 right now, so 4-8 is an accurate assessment.

I travel in the fall for steelhead - just got back from the Dean River (British Columbia), heading to the Deschutes for summer A-run steelhead next month, and then will be focusing my efforts on the Catt until December/January hits.


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## catfishhunter06 (Apr 5, 2006)

Thats cool. Well its too early to be swinging for em, ill be in that game also when the time comes. 
I do like your profile pic of you holding a big ol' fish on a boat with the trolling rods behind you


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

Thanks! That was on my buddies boat out in Lk Ontario a few years back trying for some Kings in August. Managed about a dozen steelhead and lake run browns, but no Kings. Boat fishing is great - because I get to drink while the rest watch the rods


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## lowhole4trowt (Feb 1, 2014)

mdogs444 said:


> I don't troll, pin, or spin. I only swing spey flies. They won't be in the rivers without dropping back until the water hits 58 degrees. Its over 70 right now, so 4-8 is an accurate assessment.
> 
> I travel in the fall for steelhead - just got back from the Dean River (British Columbia), heading to the Deschutes for summer A-run steelhead next month, and then will be focusing my efforts on the Catt until December/January hits.


Those are some pretty awesome destinations to have on the list! I'm not trying to start a spey/spin/pin whatever argument here but if you were planning to swing spey flies here in Ohio why would you wait until December/January to fish them on the swing here? Correct me if I am wrong but I have always targeted active aggressive fresh fish when swinging flies from time to time. Is it the potentially "low numbers" of fish in the systems here in the fall? 

I have also done best within the first 2 hours of daylight (and some say last hour also although I haven't had that same success). I would think once you see night temps dropping below 60 with the right wind it'd be prime time to try and swing a few, especially ones that will be sneaking into the river overnight/at first light and then dropping back to the lake as the day goes on instead of continuing upriver? Warmer water, active fish leaving a lake full of bait or following a school of baitfish into a lower river?? Sounds like a perfect time to try to connect on a swing as opposed to ice cold water with very low activity (lethargic) and little bait around....again just looking for your insight as I am far from an experienced spey fishermen.


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## iggyfly (Jun 30, 2012)

Youve got the right idea.


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

lowhole4trowt said:


> Those are some pretty awesome destinations to have on the list! I'm not trying to start a spey/spin/pin whatever argument here but if you were planning to swing spey flies here in Ohio why would you wait until December/January to fish them on the swing here? Correct me if I am wrong but I have always targeted active aggressive fresh fish when swinging flies from time to time. Is it the potentially "low numbers" of fish in the systems here in the fall?
> 
> I have also done best within the first 2 hours of daylight (and some say last hour also although I haven't had that same success). I would think once you see night temps dropping below 60 with the right wind it'd be prime time to try and swing a few, especially ones that will be sneaking into the river overnight/at first light and then dropping back to the lake as the day goes on instead of continuing upriver? Warmer water, active fish leaving a lake full of bait or following a school of baitfish into a lower river?? Sounds like a perfect time to try to connect on a swing as opposed to ice cold water with very low activity (lethargic) and little bait around....again just looking for your insight as I am far from an experienced spey fishermen.


Thanks! I'm a big travel guy - I get bored fishing the same thing time after time. You don't need to wait until Dec/Jan to swing for steelhead. I'll be out there a few times before that, but typically the numbers are relatively low in the fall since we are a spring fishery. Not to mention, my most hated time is when the leaves are on the bottom and you can get two swings/drifts through without pulling up leaves. Theres some arguments as far as this part - but my opinion is that most of the fish you see in the Oct-Nov range are lost fish from PA/MI, which is why the numbers are low.

The main reason I fish in the winter is to get away from the crowds and that the water levels/flow is relatively stable, unlike the spring. I use big ostrich/maribou flies and slow my swing down to a crawl with a light 100 grain sink tip to entice them. Once spring hits and you catch a few jacks in the morning, you know the next wave will be a good one.

Steelhead and cold water fish, so they really don't stabilize in the rivers until they drop below 60 degrees. Else, you'll see them dropping back during the day light hours and come in during the night time hours. The 40-55 range is typically what I look for. Once it hits higher than 55 in the spring, you can pretty much count the next blowout or two to be the end of the season.


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## dlancy (Feb 14, 2008)

Great info guys! I'll be watching the water temps a lot closer this year. 


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## Bwana J (Sep 12, 2010)

Any time steelhead are in the rivers my go to method is swinging streamers. When they're out in the Lake they mainly feed on minnows and will also feed on minnows in the streams. Drifting nymph's work well also it's just a lot more fun when they slam a streamer.


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## lowhole4trowt (Feb 1, 2014)

mdogs444 said:


> Thanks! I'm a big travel guy - I get bored fishing the same thing time after time. You don't need to wait until Dec/Jan to swing for steelhead. I'll be out there a few times before that, but typically the numbers are relatively low in the fall since we are a spring fishery. Not to mention, my most hated time is when the leaves are on the bottom and you can get two swings/drifts through without pulling up leaves. Theres some arguments as far as this part - but my opinion is that most of the fish you see in the Oct-Nov range are lost fish from PA/MI, which is why the numbers are low.
> 
> The main reason I fish in the winter is to get away from the crowds and that the water levels/flow is relatively stable, unlike the spring. I use big ostrich/maribou flies and slow my swing down to a crawl with a light 100 grain sink tip to entice them. Once spring hits and you catch a few jacks in the morning, you know the next wave will be a good one.
> 
> Steelhead and cold water fish, so they really don't stabilize in the rivers until they drop below 60 degrees. Else, you'll see them dropping back during the day light hours and come in during the night time hours. The 40-55 range is typically what I look for. Once it hits higher than 55 in the spring, you can pretty much count the next blowout or two to be the end of the season.


Heard that...if I had a list like that for the fall I'd hardly touch Ohio waters myself. Good info I agree with you on the strays but I do think even eastern Ohio gets sufficient numbers (stray or not) for plenty of fun on the water mid-late Sept through the big fish months of January and Feb. Absolutely love getting out over Christmas or anytime between then and March. I prefer other methods for the most part during those colder months but that's not to say you can't get a tug on a swung fly then either...I'd love to see the water hit 55 with the lake still in the upper 60s but we had to wait well into november last year before we had rivers cooler than the lake for the most part (and by then they were both well below 55). I'll be out searching for some mislead dummies that find their way into a river in the next few weeks here (and maybe a few fish too!)


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## ztkaz (Sep 25, 2013)

The fish do not move out of the rivers in 55 degree water in the spring that's when they start really spawning? Steelhead will be here soon but not in numbers, till spring. Winter is the best but last year you couldn't touch the river all winter. I caught a steel last week in ohio waters


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

ztkaz said:


> The fish do not move out of the rivers in 55 degree water in the spring that's when they start really spawning? Steelhead will be here soon but not in numbers, till spring. Winter is the best but last year you couldn't touch the river all winter. I caught a steel last week in ohio waters


55-58 is typical spawning water temperature. But when we're at 55, its typically on the rise, and a few big rains with the run off bring the water temperature up to 60 or so. You'll still have the post-spawn drop back feeders after they have left the gravel beds, but its frowned upon to fish for them because the warm water and fight can wear them out to where they will die instead of recovering to head back to the lake.

I'm not a big fan of going for them on the shallow gravel beds to begin with.


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## lowhole4trowt (Feb 1, 2014)

ztkaz said:


> Steelhead will be here soon but not in numbers, till spring.


Not visible numbers in the shallows, anyway . 10+ fish day is plenty possible anytime after October 1 if you ask me.


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## ztkaz (Sep 25, 2013)

lowhole4trowt said:


> Not visible numbers in the shallows, anyway . 10+ fish day is plenty possible anytime after October 1 if you ask me.


 are you trying to be a smart a$$ with the redd fishing stuff already?


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## lowhole4trowt (Feb 1, 2014)

Perhaps, but more so stating that one can usually find pretty decent to big pods of fish in sections of different rivers throughout the entire season. All depends how you look at it or your approach.

Considering the original post was about when they show up and there seemed to be a fair amount of people discouraging fishing this early.


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## ztkaz (Sep 25, 2013)

lowhole4trowt said:


> Perhaps, but more so stating that one can usually find pretty decent to big pods of fish in sections of different rivers throughout the entire season. All depends how you look at it or your approach.
> 
> Considering the original post was about when they show up and there seemed to be a fair amount of people discouraging fishing this early.



I'm not discouraging at all, but is true fish aren't here in numbers till winter/spring.


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## iggyfly (Jun 30, 2012)

Good to see the usual steelhead season chatter has starting running early , hopefully some ideal conditions to.follow


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## ztkaz (Sep 25, 2013)

iggyfly said:


> Good to see the usual steelhead season chatter has starting running early , hopefully some ideal conditions to.follow



It's wouldn't be right with out it! Haha


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