Unknownflyman
Well-known member
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!
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!
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