# steelhead bait



## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

Ive been doing a lot of internet searches on steelheading and something strange comes up now and then about what some use to catch them. Shrimp , and marshmallows.....has anybody had any luck in Ohio rivers with either of these ? I sort of understand that in some places shrimp may be part of the diet that steelhead eat , and that mini marshmallows resemble eggs a little and they float. But what Im wondering is do all steelhead think alike and will they go for these baits by something genetic or atleast in the case of the shrimp , would they have needed to eat them in the past in order to fall for the presentation on a hook ? Something that dont usually come up is nightcrawlers , they are a natural food source and fool other trout but I dont see that many use them speciffically for steelhead , is there a reason for that ? I think I am heading for the rocky this coming Saturday and Sunday even though the water is up and probably muddy and I am thinking ahead so I can try as many presentations as possible before I give up and head back to Findlay. I went to bass pro shop yesterday and picked up some hooks , canned spawn bags ( in case I dont get a chance to go to erie outfitters for fresher kind ) and I got a little advice on rigging , but I want to be as prepared as possible especially since the river may be hard to fish. I appreciate everybodys input on my other questions , you all have been a great source of information. I cant say enough about ohiogamefishing this website and those who are members here are the best. Thanks for any information you can share.


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## Sharp Charge (Jun 24, 2009)

You may want to save the trip this weekend, the river was garbage yesterday because of the melt. 

My buddy was catching the other day while I was skunked 10 feet away using a jig tipped with wax worms under a bobber with a spinning rod. Nothing was hitting on fresh egg sacks, and I had tried commercial sacks last friday with no luck. 

Hope this helps.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

Thanks for the input. I have already taken Sat. and Sun. off work for the trip so I am committed. I might as well do it since atleast I will have an idea of what to do and where to go after the trip. If they are in the river then they have to eat something so I atleast have a small chance of catching something if I try. Thats the bad part of taking time off a week in advance , you never know for sure what things will be like a week ahead. Having cabin fever , it should be an enjoyable experience anyway. It was either going to the rocky or to the maumee after walleye and that river is high and nasty too so I might as well go survey the rocky a little. I just have to get out , it dont matter where so since my wife is onboard for the trip it seems like the thing to do. Its just my luck though , seems like I am always there at the wrong time. I need to have some idea of the area before going over there this fall so it wont be completely wasted , though it will be heartbreaking if its a mess and I cant catch anything.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

Is there any chance the river could be in better shape by saturday or sunday ?


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## Gooseman71 (Mar 28, 2009)

I just got back from checking out Rocky River. I went down the west branch to Columbia Station thinking if any of it was fish able that would be the area. No luck, the river is swollen and muddy there and the tributes are the same.


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## Gooseman71 (Mar 28, 2009)

yonderfishin said:


> Is there any chance the river could be in better shape by saturday or sunday ?


I doubt it, there calling for rain all weekend.


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## Sharp Charge (Jun 24, 2009)

yonderfishin said:


> Thanks for the input. I have already taken Sat. and Sun. off work for the trip so I am committed. I might as well do it since atleast I will have an idea of what to do and where to go after the trip. If they are in the river then they have to eat something so I atleast have a small chance of catching something if I try. Thats the bad part of taking time off a week in advance , you never know for sure what things will be like a week ahead. Having cabin fever , it should be an enjoyable experience anyway. It was either going to the rocky or to the maumee after walleye and that river is high and nasty too so I might as well go survey the rocky a little. I just have to get out , it dont matter where so since my wife is onboard for the trip it seems like the thing to do. Its just my luck though , seems like I am always there at the wrong time. I need to have some idea of the area before going over there this fall so it wont be completely wasted , though it will be heartbreaking if its a mess and I cant catch anything.


I know what ya mean about work, all my time for the year is in already, fingers crossed I get decent weather during those times. 

The problem with the river high and fast right now, is you can't really see what you've got to work with. The place I was fishing in Sunday afternoon near the water treatment plant is completely submerged. I was standing on a cement pillar that had some big rocks around it and you couldn't even tell.

There are other places, start at the mouth and work south. Good places are near the Emerald Necklace Marina, the Lakewood Animal Shelter, any of the fords, soccer fields... If it's raining good be careful because the rangers will shut down part of Valley Parkway due to flooding.

Good luck though!


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## ouflyboy9 (Aug 12, 2008)

Sharp Charge said:


> You may want to save the trip this weekend, the river was garbage yesterday because of the melt.
> 
> My buddy was catching the other day while I was skunked 10 feet away using a jig tipped with wax worms under a bobber with a spinning rod. Nothing was hitting on fresh egg sacks, and I had tried commercial sacks last friday with no luck.
> 
> Hope this helps.


I'll second that - Yonder I would save the trip - most of the area's here are going under a flood watch starting tomorrow. Steelheadbob sent me a video of the rock this aft and it didn't look good


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

was down there earlier...the fords are invisible and now there is a huge tree on the ford at morley maybe further flooding will move it but I doubt it. you could go to e. 72nd and try your luck there...always an option. saw two caught there the 2 days I went. If you live by the rocky it is a sight to see when its like this


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

yonderfishin said:


> Is there any chance the river could be in better shape by saturday or sunday ?




no no no no no no


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

2 huge trees on the rockliff ford..gonna need alot more current to get that crap out of there


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## steelheadBob (Jul 6, 2004)

I was down there today walking the boy, the long wall at horse ford, it only had about a foot and a half befor it was coming over the wall, and it was rising still when i left, walked past dry land, walked back to the car and it was filled with water..... ummmmmmm yeaaaaaaaaaa...


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

Yeah theres no point in making the trip over there this weekend. I think I will save my money and take another couple days off work in about 2-3 weeks , unless we start getting heavy rains the rivers should be down closer to normal by then hopefully. Thanks for the help guys.


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## Sharp Charge (Jun 24, 2009)

yonderfishin said:


> Yeah theres no point in making the trip over there this weekend. I think I will save my money and take another couple days off work in about 2-3 weeks , unless we start getting heavy rains the rivers should be down closer to normal by then hopefully. Thanks for the help guys.


Good plan. Enjoy your weekend, and if you're still coming this way see some of the sights down town. Just keep an eye on the boards and you'll see the river updates, or check ODNR's site for flow rates and river conditions.


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## steelnuts (Aug 3, 2005)

I was fishing the Chagrin a few years back and ran into an old timer tight-lining on the bottom with nightcrawlers and marshmallows. He claimed the marshmallows kept the bait off the bottom. He landed 2 fish in the 10 minutes I spoke with him.......


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

To attempt to answer your "bait" questions, yes those things will work. Everyone knows that steelhead are just plain old(well, NOT quite!)-rainbow trout. I began fishing for the stocked hatchery fish in WVa over 50 yrs ago!! We didn't know crap about bait so we tried everything you can imagine and that included minature mallows(no Gulp back then!), balls of Velveeta cheese, canned yellow corn, salmon eggs, minnows, worms, hellgrammites, crickets, small spinners, all kinds of larva, every conceivable pattern of flies, jigs, shrimp & crawfish tails, small minnow imitator plugs, and even ---- <cigarette filters>!! Everything mentioned above worked.(Some of those billies even used (nets)! Sorry purists, but "rainbows ARE the CARP of the salmonid family"! They will eat anything that "looks" to them to be edible. Now I stick mostly to small colorful jigs tipped with maggots under a bobber-as maybe 35% of steelie fishermen do.


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

If presented correctly you can catch a steelhead with mostly anything. some guy told me they eat dead shad off the bottom I for one do not believe it but that would be a crazy catch if going for catfish


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## cglynn (Dec 20, 2009)

What you use isn't so much as important as how/where you use it. One, you gotta fish where the fish are (duh). But more importantly is fishing the bait at the correct depth. I have found that 3-5 inches off the bottom is a good place to start, and then modify if you are not producing. You want the bait to be moving at the speed of the bottom current. I always use the small foam bubbles that form in the water as a gauge, and figure that if my float is moving at about half the bubble speed, I am good. Drift your bait at the right depth, and the right speed, and you can catch steelies on just about anything. 

Good luck to you
CG


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