Jeremy says, "Hey Greg, come over here." So I waded through the unforgiving current straining to see what he was looking at. We had found a little piece of pocket water or should I say a pocket of steelhead. This piece of water was stacked with steelhead. I was setup with an indicator and started drifting nymphs, trying to drop them of the edge of the shelf so as to achieve a natural presentation. In theory this should have worked because Stoneflies were even hatching in fairly good numbers. But, in reality I had no takers. So, I tied on a Black Ghost streamer. I dropped the fly of the shelf and let it hand in the mid section of the pool. The line went tight and I had a steelhead on. The strike was agressive and my reel was singing and my rod was dancing.
I have come to realize that hooking a steelhead and landing a steelhead are two distinctly different things. I seriously had my doubts about getting this steelhead out of the strong current and into the slower water. Somehow, I did it. I took my time, relaxed and used every opportunity to take up line and keep him out of the fast water.
We have been pounding water. We have literally fished the river top to bottom and my feet are killing me. We have hooked some
great fish, lost some great fish and today is another day. So, I am always learning more and seeing more steelhead water every time I come to the Great Lakes. Steelhead and the Great Lakes steelhead fisheries never cease to amaze me.
Spring Steelhead: My Feet Are Killing Me
