Best time/strem to hit for steelhead on Superior?

[SWMuskeye]

I've never done it before, but does anyone have experience hitting a steelie run from Lake Superior?

When would be a good time to plan a trip?

Also, I know that things get mighty crowded during the runs, which is expected. But, does anyone know of any streams that might be more productive than others?

Any help would be much appreciated.

-Matt

[traveler]

Hey Matt. If I had to pick a week it would be the last week of April, but anytime from early April till mid may can be good. Streams closer to Duluth tend to be more crowded, but also benifit from having Kamloops in the rivers as well as steelhead. Watch/ask the Duluth forum as we get closer for up to date info, it usually gets more steelhead discussion then the trout forum.

[SWMuskeye]

Call me dumb, but I'm not sure I know what a kamloop is. Could someone clue me into what it is. Is it a cross between a rainbow and a brown?

Thanks.

[smellzalilfishee]

Muskie, your not dumb for asking a question, only dumb thing would be if you did'nt. The kamloop is a strain of rainbow originating from British Columbia. They tend to have a faster growth rate than the native strain. Males are more colorful with red gill plates and the females tend to be more silverish. It really isnt a cross between anything.

[Renneberg]

Hands down the best steelhead river flowing into lake superior is the Brule river in wisconsin.

The season opens in April. The steelhead will only be in there until late April, so the best time to be there is the weekend the season opens and the following weekend.

------------------
"Study to be quiet"

[JP Z]

I would recommend a long Spinning outfit. For instance I have a St. Croix Avid Series 9' Medium actions Steelhead rod.

Of course you don't need this size rod but it sure makes it easier to position your drifts properly.

Essential baits would be plenty of size 8-4 Octopus style hooks for tying yarn flies or for using with spawn sacs. I would recommend swinging in to Marine General. There they have a great selection of yarn for yarn flies which you should also have. They can also give you some insite on techniques, and also if you have questions on anything they can help you with.

So for tackle.

Split shot sinkers in assorted sizes.
#8-4 Octopus hooks
Yarn for yarn flies
Spawn sacs
you can also use slinky rigs for your sinkers if you like. But I've found they tend to get shredded a bit easier when drifting.

This is an image of a hook snell that doubles for tying yarn flies. Once you've done all the wrapping when you have that final loop just stick your chunk of yarn in there and tighten and trim.

------------------
Tight Lines,

JP Z

[SWMuskeye]

Thanks for the replies.

Does anyone have any ideas of steelhead essentials that I should bring along? I plan on using spinning gear over fly casting gear.

Thanks for the help guys!

-MB

[traveler]

Cool graphic, JPZ. Makes me wish I knew a little more about playing on the confuser. Anyway, as far as tackle goes, I'd add make sure you have a variety of yarn colors, chrt, pin, red, orange, cream. Sometimes a buddy and I wil each buy a pack of the odd colors and split them, you don't use them often but it's good to have options. I probably use orange, light or bright, 75% of the time and the other colors the rest of the time, especially cream in low water. Also stress the variety of shot sizes, sometimes a little difference is a BIG difference in a drift. And a pliers, for sure, hemos are for little trout. I don't care for those baitholder hooks you have in the diagram. Good for crawlers, but I don't like 'em for yarn or spawn.

[JP Z]

Yeah, if I had a choice it would have been an Octopus style hook like I mentioned in my post. But this picture presented itself to me and I figured people could use whatever style they wanted but the image would give them the idea on tying the knot.

Yeah, I'm not that good at computers to throw this together.

------------------
Tight Lines,

JP Z

[tie flyer]

I know split shot was mentioned as an essential, but I will reiterate its importance. You don't want to make an emergency trip to town during the run. You'll go through a lot of sinkers.

Last spring I experimented with some lead alternatives. I wanted to test them in the most extreme of conditions.

Of course I had to use one or two additional sinkers, but I didn't find that the extra volume got me snagged any more. Sometimes it seemed like that chain of sinkers actually kept the line clear of the cracks and would-be snags. A real benefit was that they stayed put on my line better. When a mini-snag delayed my drift the Green Water Gremlins didn't slip on my mono as easily - they're a little harder than lead.

That meant fewer times adjusting the spacing between hook and sinkers.

Okay, sorry this is not an advertisement.