Spring Steelhead on the Fly

The warming temperatures of spring is a welcome change from the cold winter season experienced by the steelhead angler. This past fall/winter steelhead season was strong in terms of both size and numbers of fish caught which forecasts a strong spring season to follow. Average size of fish caught this past season ranged from about 24-26 inches with plenty of larger fish caught as well, we can expect large pushes of fish all through April.

Spring steelhead make their run congruent with the river’s rising water temperature. Look for a bump in water temperature in the tributary river you plan to fish, and you should see a push of fish along with that temperature rise.

Ohio has a variety of tributary rivers that feed into Lake Erie that see runs of both winter and spring steelhead, each of which provides miles of waterway to explore and experience. There are also a myriad of creek systems feeding into the main tributary rivers that see pushes of steelhead as well. These river systems span from the westside of the state all the way to the eastside, past Cleveland, such as the Rocky and Chagrin Rivers.

A decade of pursuing steelhead on the fly has taught me to be adaptive. Productive steelhead fishing is widely determined by on stream conditions, and your success is based on how well you can adapt to the ever-changing river conditions. All too often I will watch a river completely change in both clarity and flow from just the morning to the afternoon, be ready to change your style of fishing with those changes!

There are a variety of unique styles and tactics to fly fish for steelhead such as, swinging wet flies, high-stick nymphing, spey/switch style fishing, but the most popular style is to “dead-drift” flies under a strike indicator. This includes casting one or two flies on a long leader under a strike indicator, this drift presents flies to a fish completely naturally with the river’s current. The best gear to have for this style of fishing is a long heavy rod, preferably in the 10-foot length and a 7 or 8 wt. rod is recommended. A fly reel with a large arbor and an adjustable disc drag system is best against a steelhead. Your fly line should have a heavy tapered head, most nymphing style fly lines are best suited for the roll casting and mending that is critical to this presentation. The leader should be about 9 feet long in total, with your strike indicator set at approximately double the depth of the hole you are fishing.

On July 25, 2022, I had the privilege of guiding for a very special true friend, by the name of Dr. Eric Dennis. He is in a battle with Stage 4 cancer and wanted to get out on the water when the treatments weren’t slowing him down. This trip was like no other, when I got the call, I dropped everything and made plans for Monday morning to guide for him. He wanted to use his boat too, just to give it a good workout.

Flies include black stoneflies, brightly colored nymphs which are good for days with colder water temps, small streamers such as a “Zonker” or a “Wooly Bugger” in white or olive, which are a great bet for fish freshly in from the lake, and most importantly,

Mr. Dennis is a well-known fly-tying champion and has given many demonstrations and talks about fly tying and fly fishing. One of his flies can be seen at the Fly-Fishing Museum in Vermont. He is planning on doing some fly fishing in Montana with his son and friends soon (who are all dentists), but for now, we were bass fishing, and it was a beautiful morning for it. When we pulled up on our first area, at Turkeyfoot lake, Mr. Dennis landed a huge bass that weighed in at a little over 6 pounds! As I was taking a few pics, we were all smiles and laughs. The fun and friendships we make on the water may be the best part of what fishing has to offer.

After about 4 minutes we went across the lake and on his first cast there, he landed another huge bass, a 4 pounder this time. Our excitement was beyond words. It is not often you hook into back-to-back lunkers. This will always be a special day for Dr. Eric, his wife Mary and myself. We will never forget it and I hope that we can

EGGS! All colors are important to have when it comes to egg Mad River Outfitters, 614-451-0363. Article by Ben Phipps -

EGGS! All colors are important to have when it comes to egg flies. Orange, chartreuse, pink, blue, just to name a few.

Spring is a great time of year to take advantage of the amazing steelhead fishing we have available to us in Ohio. If you have any questions about Ohio steelhead on the fly or want to take a guided fishing trip for these awesome fish, give us a call at Mad River Outfitters, 614-451-0363. Article by Ben Phippsmadriveroutfitters.com

Summit - Portage - Mogadore area

do it again someday. Stage 4 cancer is a terrible thing, my prayers are with them. P.S. I have never had such a touching guide trip as this one. Sometimes we need some sunshine and a great fishing trip to help us put life in perspective.

Ron Slater is a fishing guide on the Portage Lakes in Ohio, he can be reached at 330-780-3652 or email bassfisher273@gmail.com