Ahh yes steelhead season is here. They is in. And with impeccable timing as the area is dealing with January weather in November. I love fishing steelhead in the snow and cold temps, but not in November. Either way the time is upon us. One can choose to deal with the cold or sit at home and scroll through pictures of other people catching steelhead.
The Indiana tribs (salt, cal, and trail) had some fish show up. I was on Trail creek yesterday with the girlfriend for a few hours and hooked one on a 8mm bead. Water seems a bit low in areas so fishing the obvious deeper stuff should produce. These fish will sit deep as they can and tight to wood. Don’t be afraid to fish the timber. Yeah you are gonna lose rigs but that’s part of it. As always, make sure to explore different and unpopular spots, while respecting the rules and private property of course. The stuff that doesn’t get fished as hard can sometimes lead to epic days. People are lazy in general and don’t always want to hoof it through the woods to find fish. Explore a little, leave the 20 access alone. You might find something you weren't expecting.
I fished the Dowagiac river this past Saturday for a half day and an angler on my boat managed to hook one steelhead and a bunch of leaves. The fish was taken on a smaller black and blue leech swung through a deeper run. There are some fish around but I feel like the “D” is expecting plenty more before its all said and done. Fish seem scattered about but there are opportunities to be had. As the days go on fishing will be getting better and better. Especially with the amount of fish on the St. Joe at the moment.
Next week we will have a brief warm up so If you want to get out and fish please let me know. I have two days open next week. Come feel the steel. I’m probably gonna copyright that slogan. And make T-shirts. Then get rich. Then just fun fish all the time……. Word.