Lake Erie’s Winter Steelhead
Published: Thursday, February 18, 2016
“Our steelhead fishery may be more famous outside of Ohio than it is among anglers here in the state,” said Steve Madewell as we waded into the frigid waters of the Grand River, fly rods in hand. With little snowmelt feeding the flow, the water was low, clear, and just above the freezing point.
By the time the sun dropped low into the streamside sycamores, we were famished, freezing, and fished-out, having landed six steelhead between us, keeping a one-person daily limit of two for the smoker back home and releasing the rest. We had hooked and lost a half dozen more, a tally that seemed incredible for this time of year, when most anglers are happy to jerk a few perch or bluegills through a hole in the ice.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Madewell added. “Anglers who are serious about fishing for steelhead know about this, and we do have fishermen coming from all over Ohio—as well as from out of state—to fish here, but we aren’t even close to capacity, especially in the winter,” said the executive director of Lake Metroparks. “If the average angler knew how simple this (fishing) was, how much public access we offer, and the size of fish they could expect to catch, I think they’d be beating a path to our door.”
Stream steelhead fishing requires wading as well as proper cold-weather clothing. Beyond that, he said that anglers can use anything from fly tackle to bait-casting rigs to tempt the trout in park waters this time of year. He said that fly anglers enjoy success with champagne-colored egg patterns and pheasant tail nymphs on size 8 to 12 hooks tied to tippets testing 4-6 pounds. Anglers using conventional fishing gear can drift spawn sacks, which are mesh bags containing clusters of trout eggs, or larval baits such as maggots, under a bobber. No matter what you’re offering, he said, it’s crucial that your bait drift as close to the bottom—and to the fish—as possible.
“It’s important that anglers understand what the fish are doing this time of year,” he explained, saying that water temperatures down near the freezing mark make trout “rather lethargic” compared to more temperate water conditions in the fall and spring. “You may have to put your baits right in their face to get them to bite.”
If water conditions are right you can sight-fish, locating the shadowy images of individual steelhead, sneaking within casting range and presenting your bait for a strike you may get to see. More often than not, this time of year the water will be muddied from rain and melting snows, and you’ll be fishing “blind,” drifting your baits into the deepest pools and tail-outs below riffles. Anglers work their way upstream or down from the access point, working from pool to pool, most never staying in one location for more than a half dozen drifts until moving on to the next likely looking steelhead-holding spot.
Lake Metroparks offers ample public access to steelhead-angling waters, with more than a dozen park areas located along 26 miles of the Grand and Chagrin rivers and Arcola Creek. A map that appears in the “Steelhead Fishing in Lake Metroparks” brochure shows the location of each park area offering fishing access, as well as sharing steelhead fishing tips and information. A larger, more detailed “Lake Metroparks Map” also shows the public fishing access areas and how to drive to them. Both maps are available for free from Lake Metroparks at lakemetroparks.com or by calling 440-358-7275. The Ohio Division of Wildlife also offers a free brochure with a map of the steelhead streams called “Trout Fishing in Lake Erie,” which can be ordered by calling 1-800-WILDLIFE or seen at wildohio.gov.
High water conditions can make steelhead streams unfishable for days at a time. Tributaries feeding the main rivers clear up and become fishable first, and Arcola Creek is a popular back-up to try when the other streams are still high and roiled. Instead of gambling a round-trip drive to Lake County, I recommend calling ahead for water conditions by calling the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s toll-free fishing hotline at 888-HOOKFISH or the Division’s Fairport Harbor Fisheries Research Station at 440-352-4199.
6583SteelheadOhio: You can catch steelhead in Great Lakes tributaries that are stocked with the lake-run rainbow trout all winter long—at least when Mother Nature keeps the water ice-free and open for wading or boating.
