5 Tips for Catching Spring-Run Great Lakes Steelhead on the Swing

Swinging is a great way to catch springtime salmon heading in both directions on Great Lakes tributaries. Photos courtesy Kubie Brown

When you think about swinging flies for steelhead, you might imagine standing in icy cold rivers with long, smooth-flowing runs, casting gaudy flies on heavy sink-tips and swinging them through deep troughs and holes, waiting and hoping for a tug. This methodical and disciplined style of steelheading is the epitome of the sport. But if you’re swinging flies on Great Lakes tributaries during the spring, then it all goes out the window.

Great Lakes spring steelhead are entirely different animals from the sluggish fish you run into during the winter. Full of hormones from the spawn, spring-run steelhead shoot up rivers like Olympic sprinters, striking out at anything that moves as they head upstream to build their redds. At the same time, other strains of steelhead that have already spawned—”drop-back” steelhead—are on their way downstream after a long cold winter of living off their body fat. These fish are voraciously hungry and will inhale baitfish as they swim back to the lake. It’s a combination that can create some of the best steelhead fishing of your life, so long as you’re swinging the right flies the right way and fishing in the right places.

Sure, it’s not the Olympic Peninsula, but these fish are big and hard-fighting.

1.Tone Down Your Flies

During the late autumn and winter, steelhead aren’t too interested in eating. So to get strikes, you often rely on large flies with a lot of flash, such as Intruders, that are tied in colors like purple, pink, and blue to trigger reaction strikes. However, spring steelhead are more territorial, aggressive, and hungry than their fall and winter counterparts. While these fish will still occasionally strike at your gaudier steelhead patterns, you’ll often have better luck swinging muted flies that look more natural.

As soon as the water begins to drop and clear in early spring, migrating steelhead look to spawn and feed. The drop-back fish are hungry and on the prowl for baitfish to eat, while the incoming steelhead will aggressively lash out at any trout, sculpin, or baitfish they think may raid their nests. As such, your early-spring flies should look as natural as possible, with minimum flash. Instead of the bright pink and blue flies of winter, try offering spring steelhead flies tied in white, gray, and olive, and you’re sure to get more grabs.

In late spring, when the water has dropped and completely cleared, tone down the size of your flies, as well, swinging the smaller, slimmer patterns you’d use when fishing with trout-Spey techniques. Some of my favorites include the Wiggler Sculpin, Spey Bugger, and Mini-Stinger, as well as the classic Ho-Bo Spey tied on a 17mm or 25mm shank. You can also have a lot of luck with traditional steelhead and salmon patterns, like the Blue Charm, Coal Car,  and Lady Caroline.

Spring steelhead often seek highly oxygenated water, so don’t pass up riffles.

2. Move Your Fly

One of the keys to autumn and winter steelhead success is to keep your swings as smooth and steady as possible. However, during the spring, shake things up a bit. Because the fish are aggressive and looking for trouble, twitching and moving your fly as it swings through the water can often draw more strikes.

The best way to move a fly as it swings is to pulse your rod tip up and down as the fly swings through the current. This will cause the fly to move rhythmically back and forth as it swims through the water, drawing attention to it and triggering steelhead to strike. However, it should be noted that moving the fly doesn’t always work, so it’s best to swing through a potential spot normally first and then follow up with a second cast and a pulsing swing to see what sort of mood the steelhead are in.

Fast runs often hold migrating steelhead this time of year.

3. Fish the Fast Stuff

Generally, steelhead are found in long, smooth runs where the water flows at a walking pace. While these areas will hold the occasional spring steelhead, it’s important to remember that spring fish are craving more than just food and fun; they’re also after oxygen. With the fish moving up and down river at such a rapid pace, those slow-moving runs often don’t always provide enough air for the tired fish. Many spring steelhead pass by the more classic-looking steelhead spots and seek out more turbulent water.

Swinging flies in rapids and riffles where spring steelhead often hold can be tricky but worthwhile. Concentrate your efforts in small areas of slick water in the middle of fast currents, as well as at the heads and tails of pools where there’s a lot of water churn. Start by making a short cast and hard upstream mends into the fast water, and then raise your rod and slow your swing as the fly reaches the sweet spot. For these spots, use heavier flies or short, heavy sink tips, which get your fly down in the fast water so it swings right in the steelhead’s face. Don’t be afraid to make multiple casts and mends and really work-over the water in these fast spots, as it often takes a bit of tweaking to get your fly to plane out properly in rapid currents.

The chances of multiple-fish days are significantly higher in spring.

4. Work the Rocks

Whether it’s a large boulder in the middle of the river or a few basketball-size stones breaking up the current, spring steelhead use rocks as a places to rest and hold as they work their way up and downstream. This makes every rock you see in the river worth a bit of extra attention, as fishing over even the smallest bulge in the current can result in a hook-up.

Whenever you’re swinging flies around visible rocks, it’s best to fish with a lighter sink tip—with a sink rate of 3 to 5 inches per second—and an 18 to 24-inch leader. This combo will both help prevent getting snagged on the rocks and help you to control your swing. Work a rock by first swinging the fly across the front-side “pillow,” on the side. Next, cast across the river and swing your fly into or over the top of the rock to pick up any fish hydroplaning alongside it. Finally, step downstream so you’re standing almost directly across from the rock and then send a cast behind it, swinging your fly downstream of the boulder to present your fly to any steelhead hiding in its shadow.

The mark of a parasite or predator shows how tough these fish are.

5. Stick and Move

In fall and winter, changing flies and going back through a run can land you an extra steelhead or two, but spring fish are more aggressive. Most of the time, these fish will strike on your first pass, and since they hold in so many different water speeds and depths, one of the best things you can do to catch more spring steelhead is to keep moving.

Instead of working over a run several times and just hoping a steelhead is there, choose a stretch of river with several runs, chunks of fast water, and different types of structure, and then fish your way through it all. Keep several different fly patterns and leaders with different sink rates close at hand, and then start casting and swinging your way downstream, changing out your tips and flies whenever appropriate. Often, you’ll find that most fish will be holding in certain water speeds and depths, so the more water you can cover, the more you’ll be able to narrow your focus and hopefully land more spring steelies.

Swinging is an active, exciting way to fish, especially when you’re covering a lot of water.

It’s the Best Time of the Year

One of the best things about swinging flies for spring steelhead on the Great Lakes tributaries is that it breaks the mold. Instead of spending hours suffering in the cold as you work over a run just hoping for a grab, you’ll often hook multiple fish in a few hours of fishing in what is essentially t-shirt weather. This makes swinging flies for spring steelhead an incredibly special time, which steelheaders should indulge in and celebrate. Just like vacations, the holiday season, and your early twenties, it will all be over before you know it.