Salmon/ Steelhead Behavior

[Unknownflyman]

On my home salmon and steelhead rivers Lake Superior and Lake Michigan for that matter a lot of times it's pretty hard to know how many fish are in and how fresh they are unless you see them. Sure on the big rivers with traps we get the count way after the fact and a general run timing graph.

The biggest myth in my area is that steelhead and especially salmon don't bite, they don't feed and many think they will not move at all to take any fly. I believed this at one time many years ago, till an old fly man from Duluth started catching steelhead on drifted and skated Adams dry flies. It was nt much of a conversation I bust him hooking up on a fish in his honey hole. It looked like he was fly fishing for trout! I was very excited!

He released the big steelhead. I say get many today? Nope just this one. (Nobody ever catches anything) unless you are seen doing it.

Me- So you fly fish too.
Him- yup
Me- what fly?
Him- Adams
Me- amazement you can catch steelhead on dry flies? Could it be true???
Him- yep do it all the time.

I hook my first dry fly steelhead on a Adams later that morning. He lands three more and walks off into the bush.

Since I started swinging I have seen fish chase the streamer sometimes across the river and either a nip and turn or complete refusal. So salmon and steelhead will take a fly and they do feed. I've seen it and I've caught them.

I really like scandi and dry line fishing and I have to wonder sometimes when this method is most effective. So I was a bit early for the steelhead run the boys are doing well up there and fishing dry line and catching and raising fish and some huge lake run Browns.


On our rivers run timing and water levels and sun have a lot to do with success swinging streamers or even drifting yarn, many go home skunked drifting as well.

I hear a lot of myths and stories on the river, and we are not the west coast salmon is not really a target species and steelheading really lost popularity and now runs and fishermen have been comin back. Oh and everyone is a pro steelheader now too. I bet most Minnesotans dont even know salmon/steel exist here. it's hard to separate the facts for the myth sometimes. Sure I could read a dry biology book on salmon and I have, but it's not the fly fishermans perspective.

So I sent Ard a PM about salmon steelhead behavior because I've certainly seen fish act not typical and salmon looking like they are feeding on dry flies over deep water, but they won't take my surface dry fly skater or streamer.

This is what I sent to Ard, he thought it would be a good thread.

Ard, when you are out on the river and you see steelhead or salmon moving up and you see fish jumping and they look like they are feeding are they?


Also when you see fresh looking fish rolling for lack of a better term on the surface in deep water what might they be doing?

It's not spawning I've seen that in shallow clear water, and bucks fighting too.

Any thoughts? Could this behavior be why skaters and top water streamers work.

Some days you see no jumpers or rollers. Other days the river is alive with big fish.



Ive watched digging fish and fighting bucks, active fish and zombie fish that do weird stuff or not even move.

Almost always that I know of, I've never seen a fish and had it take my fly. I've had a pods of cohos fairly fresh hang in the flow and slowly advancing and I swung my streamer in there area. Complete refusal.

I normally do not cast to fish I see, they are not usually the biters. Watching fish come out of hiding and make a pass at my streamer I've seen.


Some thoughts and questions of mine. Please join in and discuss. Thank you!

 

[Ard]

I'll do my best to confirm what I think soon because I have a seat at the Matanuska Susitna Salmon Symposium next month. I missed last years because of scheduling problems but will be there in November. There I rub elbows with the head biologist's from AK. as well as experts from the lower 48 so answers or at least professional opinions are readily available.

My take on this and I am ask often is that they have several reasons for the jumping and rolling. I like to think that these fish are accustomed to being in deep water and our rivers, although deep to us are quite shallow to the salmon and steelhead. I think they jump because they are at or contacting the bottom and rush upward because they are not used to that concept.

Another thing I notice is that when fish are moving they encounter fish who have already taken up positions in the river. The influx of new fish usually creates some excitement and competition for holding spots. This often results in fish chasing one another and some leaping as well.

Then there's the fact that when they get around hens they are energized and displaying by leaping. The proposing that they do seems to be sometimes just trying to gulp air and possibly look at the top of the water.

Whatever the cause what I can say is that when you see them showing it is your cue to move well upstream of them before trying to fish to showing fish. Remember these are not trout feeding on dry flies they are on the bottom except when you see them at the surface. Move up and fish deep being mindful that they are not where you say them on the surface, usually they bob down and move up a little from where you saw them. So you want to cast and fish short and gradually lengthen the cast & swing so that you aren't fishing behind them or lining them. Neither of those things will get them on the hook. I do find that when they are active they usually will take a fly, you just need to be sure you are getting in front of them as I described above. generally when I see displaying fish I'll move as far as 50 yards above them and work back to them.

Last but not least I think they jump because they can and they are happy to be alive.

Ard

 

[eastfly66]

I hook my first dry fly steelhead on a Adams later that morning. He lands three more and walks off into the bush.

I might have missed it but did you mention the time of year ? A guide buddy of mine told me he had caught SH on the Salmon in NY on a dry and I am certain he was not BS'ing me....I forgot if he said spring or fall too ...

 

[Unknownflyman]

There is a long deep run and a sharp bend and I was watching those kings jump and catch feet and feet of air. Huge over 20 pounds, hooked jaws and fresh.


You damn right I cast my ass off swinging deep and hoping. And I'd see them come through on the flat shallow fast water on their way up to the spawning grounds many miles up river.

Salmon are tough, some big cohos were harvested this year run was good. But man they had lock jaw when I was there. The week before and after was great though. Lol story of my life.

---------- Post added at 09:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 PM ----------

I might have missed it but did you mention the time of year ? A guide buddy of mine told me he had caught SH on the Salmon in NY on a dry and I am certain he was not BS'ing me....I forgot if he said spring or fall too ...

This was late spring May but the fall is the best, like right now, on this one river. Your river may vary.

Yeah it's not BS but the right time is critical for dry line around here. I'm also thinking that this old gent, had many years of steelheading and knew the exact conditions which would be not a huge waste of time.

 

[Ard]

I've never caught a silver on a skater but have been told they take them by others. I have tried, this year they were so tight lipped that I tried everything, even jigging them!

When the bite is on for kings or silvers they take the AK. Assassin on a tube (kings) and the silvers like the Pinky Purple shank. If they aren't taking Pinky Purple I go black leech or Intruder.

 

[Unknownflyman]

Seen a few pics of 27" + coho. That's a damn nice fish here, that was on the swing too but a majority was caught on, you guesssed it. Yarn

---------- Post added at 09:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 PM ----------

I think we might long line drift similarly.

Tubes are the most popular streamers here.

 

[Ard]

The one I swung up last week was 32" and 12 pounds without the guts. Not the largest I ever caught but a good fish. Here in the valley they average around 26" & 8 pounds. Some are larger of course.

 

[Unknownflyman]

Very nice Ard! Well very interesting reply, I guess I never thought about Lake Superior and how deep it is, and the river is two to ten feet deep.

They don't like belly dragging that's for sure.


What do you look for in river conditions?

 

[Ard]

What do you look for in river conditions?

Now this gets complicated and depends on which river I'm on. In some of these drainages the fish enter the rivers and hit the gas pausing only briefly as they mush along upstream. Other runs have a more relaxed style and they tend to travel up maybe 30 miles above the salt and then they hang up for days at a time before moving on.

In every case I'm looking for the deeper spots and these are usually troth's running from just 20 or 30 feet in length to a hundred yards. The fish will pile up in the deeper water and that's the target zone.

Low water makes it easy to see fish but they get stressed easy and can develop lockjaw in low clear water. hen it gets high and dirty it's a craps shoot because you gotta guess at where they are based on previous experiences.

Honestly I can't offer a solid 'always' answer. Sometimes I catch them right at the rim between 4" of water and 3 feet of depth while other times right in the middle of a channel. The only always is that they seem to be in or close to the deepest spot available when I hook one on.

Ard

 

[Bigfly]

Ard;
There is some speculation that breaching may be larger fish using displacement sound to tell the smaller splash guys what's up......or telling the girls....

I figure, they will eat my fly, no matter what it is.......just gotta get it in front of them...

Jim

 

[ia_trouter]

I might have missed it but did you mention the time of year ? A guide buddy of mine told me he had caught SH on the Salmon in NY on a dry and I am certain he was not BS'ing me....I forgot if he said spring or fall too ...

Run strength will have some bearing on our success too of course. If you happen to be fishing for five times as many fish, less productive methods are more likely to look good. And we sure remember what worked on the good days,. As you said, the conditions at the time of success matters for future success.

 

[jaybo41]

I had read a few articles about using dry flies and heard from a few people fishing the Great Lakes tribs that I frequent. Upon the word of mouth and having read the articles, I decided to carry a few Stimulators and Grease Liners with me--thank you Harry Lemire.

Last fall, the runs in the stream I frequent were very poor, there are many theories on why, but the water had been low for some time. When I was out, I'd say it was exceptionally low and clear. The streams I fish are shale lined spate streams and the fish are stocked as fingerlings, though there are the occasional wild strays that we will find from time to time.

This particular stretch is skinny water. Not wide by any means and you could see right to the bottom, so a two hand rod is not ideal here. I was loaded up with single hand tackle. I observed fish rising up and down in the water column as they will do when feeding. None of the streamers I had were of interest, no eggs, no nymphs. I recalled the article and decided to try some dry flies. Wouldn't you know it, I had one look up and go to take the fly, but before he could inhale it, I pulled and I missed him. The anticipation and excitement got the best of me. I proceeded to cast dries for them until I saw them snubbing my offerings drift after drift. That experience convinced me to be sure to carry a few dry flies with me.

I've seen steelhead move for a fly. Not just move to take it, but cover significant water, chase it down and smack it, so I know it happens.

 

[fredaevans]

If you see a Salmon/Steelhead jumping/splashing its odds on they're tryng to break up their egg sacks for spawning. That's my story and I'm stickin to it ..

fae

 

[Unknownflyman]

If you see a Salmon/Steelhead jumping/splashing its odds on they're tryng to break up their egg sacks for spawning. That's my story and I'm stickin to it ..

fae

I've seen that too, but not on fresh fish. I've seen them come up for a little orange and red maple leaf, my brothers indicator.. to me they look like they are feeding.

While I was out hunting deer my friends were out hunting steelhead and did pretty well skating Caddis on Scandinavian lines. Big fish landed, many grabs.

Our salmon turn black pretty fast, steelhead become colored up fast too.

 

[fredaevans]

I've seen that too, but not on fresh fish. I've seen them come up for a little orange and red maple leaf, my brothers indicator.. to me they look like they are feeding.

While I was out hunting deer my friends were out hunting steelhead and did pretty well skating Caddis on Scandinavian lines. Big fish landed, many grabs.

Our salmon turn black pretty fast, steelhead become colored up fast too.

Good friend from ScottieLand ... "Owwze the fishing Freedie?"

"River's loaded XXX, get your A$$ over here."

'Canna Bring the Daughter?'

'Which one?'

He has four that I know of.... he knows of ....

fae