Steelhead: In Search Of Chrome After A Slow Winter

by | Fresh Water

Steelhead & Brown Trout Video

Laurenslegend, Shaq and I headed out in search of chrome after a slow winter. In three days of fishing since January first I had a total of one small brown trout to my credit. Shaq was in the same boat as me. Laurenslegend was up for the first time since the fall so he had a clean slate. Shaq and Laurenslegend had searched far and wide for steel the day before with no luck. I met them the next day on the water and we started out slowly, but it turned out to be a great day. We ended up picking at fish all day long with each of us having little runs of fish followed by long periods of flogging the water. It felt nice to feel the pull of steelhead and some of the browns to ring in the spring. Now we are all looking forward to the next outing and the continued pull of these great fish. One thing that is funny about making fly fishing videos is that the video makes the day look like it was fish after fish. The reality was that we hit some fish here and a few fish there picking away at them. The net affect was a good day on the water with each of us hooking up multiple times. Its funny how the video can’t capture the sometimes hours of time that go between hookups. I personally will fish for hours to have a day where I get to hook and land several large steelhead and browns.

8 Comments

  1. jeremy on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    nice work …. some very nice steelhead and browns too … ya know, it’s funny … when i bump into fly fisherman from other parts of the country who check out flies and fins … they always are amazed with the brown trout from the great lakes … it’s funny how us steelhead addicts kinda play down the browns in our never ending search for chrome steelhead … but, those browns really are something else …. a 10 pound brown is really “just another brown” in the great lakes … where as to fly fisherman who don’t fish the great lakes a 10 pound brown trout is earth shattering …. i guess it’s kinda hard to describe … but all great lake fly rod steelheaders know what i am talking about … why is that? watching this video i realized that those browns are amazing …. and in reality they are really something unique, because steelhead can be caught in many places .. but giant browns of the great lakes in rivers and even little creeks are not too common outside of the great lakes … great fish guys, both steelhead and browns!

    ps… wrh — i know what you mean …. a little 2-3 minute video leaves out much of the not-so-fun stuff .. the long drive, pounding miles of river, casting with nothing happening for hours on end, absolutely starving and day dreaming of food as your feet go numb …. but, if we made videos that showed all that stuff .. they wouldn’t be too fun to watch … but, good point … the videos don’t show the full extent of the effort involved .. but any true steelheader knows that they never come easy ….. not for me anyway … good luck this season guys … delaware river next? or more steel?

  2. wrh on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Jeremy,

    It is funny how people do look down on the browns and one of those fish fought so hard that we all thought it was a steelie until it came in. It reminds me of how you describe peoples attitude towards blues. I like fish that fight well and are beautiful to look at. At the very least it beats the daylights out of not catching fish. You’re also right in that in most places; out west, argentina, NZ these fish would be solid to great fish and here people do look down at them a bit, except for the people who harvest the eggs for eggs sacks which breaks my heart. I like to think of them in terms of a hidden gem of the GL.

    As far as my next trip I hope to get one more time for steel but if not then the big D awaits in little over a week.

  3. Shaq on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    great re-live to the day!

    while those long hours to make it happen are part of the story, I remember the parts in the video the most. Sometimes on those fishless trip, the friends, the laughs, the bad food, and the terrible weather is the story and those trips are sometimes just as fun as the “good fishing trips”.

    This one was just a great day, thanks wrh for putting the memories together

  4. Steelie on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Those last browns looked great. And the last steelhead was chrome! Nice story and video. Good stuff guys

  5. Wilkie on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Any video or set of pictures with a brother sporting snowshoes on his back standing waist deep in 34 degree water with a fly rod in hand puts a smile on my face. Nice work guys. With 80 degree weather here in Maine, its only a matter of time.

  6. waterwhippa on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Great job guys. Glad you were able to coax them out of hiding. It is a late spring this year, lots of droppies still hanging in the restricted area….they should start heading to the lake any day now. Those browns were nice and clean!

  7. ChrisR on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Nice guys. I would definitely be a happy camper just catching some of those browns let alone all those nice steelhead.

  8. jinxed247 on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Great video and pics guys. Those browns were some lunkers! Great chrome too. Thanks for sharing!