# wanta start steelheading next year have ??



## jjc155 (Oct 16, 2005)

I want to start steel head fishing, likely the Huron at Huroc as it is not too bad of a drive for me.

looking for rod/reel/rigging suggestions as I have no idea. 

We fish the Maumee for walleye in the spring so I have river fishing experience but from what I can tell u fish eyes and steelhead completely different? (bottom bouncing carolina rigs for eyes and drifting spawn for steel?)

My maumee river rig is a 7ft, fast tip/med backbone rod, Pflueger President spinning real with 20lbs Suffix 832 braid. I run mono leaders to floating jig heads/tails rigs carolina style so the current just ticks the weight along the bottom.

Would my rod/reel work out for steelies with just a change to drifting spawn? or is it to light/heavy/too long/too short etc.

What rods/reels, rigs etc do you experienced guys suggest.

Thanks in advance,
J-


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## Thebax (Apr 19, 2011)

I use a gander 10ft steelie rod (good bang for the buck)with 8lb spider wire mono. Rig hook up is about 6-8ft leader on a tri swivel. Put a separate 3in line on for your drop shots since there is a lot to hang up on there. Woolies and stones work for flies. 


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## tsr770 (Mar 3, 2010)

You could make due with about any rod to drift spawn or flies, the biggest thing with using a longer rod is the cushion for light line and a steelhead set on self destruct mode.

If you plan on doing most of your fishing on the Huron I would suggest setting up for bobber fishing as that is what most of the guys do due to how well it works. My setup is a custom 11'6" medium power rod with a soft tip and a Pfluger Arbor Reel. 20lb braid main line with a 12lb Maxima buffer about 10' to a small swivel and a 6-8lb Maxima Ultragreen leader about 2'. 

Cabelas sells a nice 10ft medium power Fish Eagle 2 rod that will have the backbone to drive a hook home when your bobber is way out there for $80. Any bigger spinning reel with a good drag will work.

I never bobber fished untill a couple years back, and I will tell ya, the first time your bobber does the wiggle wiggle and drops your hooked on them... 

Hope that helps


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## jerrob (Aug 6, 2011)

A couple weekends ago, while fishing with a guide, bobbers were not producing. He broke out bottom bouncing rigs and we tore the steelies a new one. IMO, get a longer rod for a float rig, and use the one in your post for bottom bouncing. 3way swivel, 6 inch dropper to enough led to keep contact with bottom, 3' fluro leader to sack or fly. Lift off bottom, let a little line out, drop back to bootom letting current carry downstream, just like wally fishing. This works well when fish are slow to chase. They're close to bottom anyway, and no bobber to adjust for depth. Good luck with it, let us know how do. Tight lines.


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## Jfish (Sep 22, 2010)

I've caught the steel using spinning gear drifting spawn. I have some steelhead/salmon combos that I bought at Cabelas for less than $100. I will probably use those for casting hardware in the future. I just bought a centre pin rig that I think I'll use in the future for floats. From what I hear, most guys that switch over to the pin, don't go back.


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## jjc155 (Oct 16, 2005)

thanks for the info guys. Like the look and function of the center pin reels but Yikes, didnt see one on line that was under about 200bucks, LOL

May have to crawl with a spinner before I run with a center pin lol

Can someone either 1) point me towards a website that has pics and explainations of how to rig the business end of the line or 2) if you have time to kill take some pics of what has worked for you guys and post them with a little write up?

Thanks again for the help and info,
J-


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## swaprat (Oct 1, 2011)

The rig is similar to the chuck and duck rig at this link. Except the bead and barrel swivel is either a snap swivel or a 3 way swivel with the slinky attached or weight attached. see link there using to many swivel here only need one. 
http://www.trailstotrout.com/tips.html
as for rod you will need something stiffer I noticed I was missing fish they sort of peck at the flies i use and spit real quick. on my medium action shimano convergence steel / salmon stick it 10 foot long rated 8-17 lb test. I am using 10 pound 3 lb dia spider wire attached to the swivel and a 8 lb leaders About ½ or 3/8 once weights below the coffer dam. Flies are wooly buggers black with a pink head and chartreuse green head etc&#8230; just tighten up the slack after casting so you can feel it tick the bottom. Rod tip will bounce a bit but you feel tugs or it start wiggling you got a fish lol&#8217;s some don&#8217;t notice it . also use stout hooks these fish will bend a regular mustad 9672 wooly hook with no problem so salmon hooks are a must Lol&#8217;s. Any way I think I need my okuma guide select down there I did not sink there hook in to enough fish rod action was not fast enough to catch them biting lol&#8217;s any ways wish ya luck down there. 


direct link to a pic of bottom bounce ing style rig 

http://www.combat-fishing.com/basicusefulrigs.html#ThreewayBotFinder


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## jjc155 (Oct 16, 2005)

swaprat said:


> The rig is similar to the chuck and duck rig at this link. Except the bead and barrel swivel is either a snap swivel or a 3 way swivel with the slinky attached or weight attached. see link there using to many swivel here only need one.
> http://www.trailstotrout.com/tips.html
> as for rod you will need something stiffer I noticed I was missing fish they sort of peck at the flies i use and spit real quick. on my medium action shimano convergence steel / salmon stick it 10 foot long rated 8-17 lb test. I am using 10 pound 3 lb dia spider wire attached to the swivel and a 8 lb leaders About ½ or 3/8 once weights below the coffer dam. Flies are wooly buggers black with a pink head and chartreuse green head etc just tighten up the slack after casting so you can feel it tick the bottom. Rod tip will bounce a bit but you feel tugs or it start wiggling you got a fish lols some dont notice it . also use stout hooks these fish will bend a regular mustad 9672 wooly hook with no problem so salmon hooks are a must Lols. Any way I think I need my okuma guide select down there I did not sink there hook in to enough fish rod action was not fast enough to catch them biting lols any ways wish ya luck down there.
> 
> ...


cool excellant info.

Also are there steel head (with decent enough numbers to fish) in the rivers year round or only during the runs like with walleye's.

Thanks again for helping the noobie, lol

J-


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## LuckyChucky (Mar 28, 2005)

jjc155 said:


> cool excellant info.
> 
> Also are there steel head (with decent enough numbers to fish) in the rivers year round or only during the runs like with walleye's.
> 
> ...


 fish will hold all winter with some rivers better then others before getting their largest pushes in March and April.Also on certain streams you can get into Skamania Steelhead which run during the summer months.If you are talking about the Huron or Clinton there are fish that winter over in both.Check for rain and any winter warmups as thatll always bring fresh fish in and recharge the ones that are already in the river.I often do very well mid January if we have a bit of a warm up


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## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

steelhead are mostly a fall, winter, and spring fishery. You can get summer runs in some areas, like St. Joseph.

As for rigging, theres probably as many ways to rig, as there are fishermen, but I go pretty simple. The two ways I do it is 1) I use 6# maxima ultragreen mainline, with a small swivel. When I tie up, I leave the tag end of the knot there, and clamp split shot to that. I then will tie usually 6# maxima flourocarbon for leader, usually about 3 feet or so, to that a small hook, I like the Eagle Claw Style #42 in size 10 or 12. My number 2 method, and this is so simple its stupid. Since I'm using 6# mainline, I'll just clamp the appropriate sized split shot about 8" above the bait, and have at it, no leader, no swivel or anything, and I have lots of guys who''l attest to the fact that I catch my share.

As for rods, I would start with something in the 9-10 foot range, as stated earlier, the longer rods help as a shock absorber for the light lines. Don't get anything with a fast action, or a slow action, but get something in the moderate range, gives a little and still has backbone, and you can feel the hits. On feeling the hits, what I do is rest the line coming out of the reel on my index finger, let me tell ya, if it moves, I know it. Hope that helps.


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## swaprat (Oct 1, 2011)

jjc155 said:


> cool excellant info.
> 
> Also are there steel head (with decent enough numbers to fish) in the rivers year round or only during the runs like with walleye's.
> 
> ...


 there are numbers maybe 5 fish hooked all day but not all are landed etc etc... problem is if your in a poulated area like detroit there too many people to fish ratio. it is a 6 angler to 1 fish ratio or even 10:1 ratio so some days it skunk city. others mite land a limit of what 3 fish it is hit or miss.. in other words some guys are on some are off just depends on the fish to if their in the system. i do not think i have hear of any skams in the huron yet there in their in the spring and fall always. when lake erie cools enough for them to come from the deep side of erie and or ice out and head up every river on the lake. there kinda of romers like some one on here has said there is a plant of 61,445 rainbow trout/steelhead. but do all return no because they are romers they go were ever there closest to to find spawning ground.


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## Jfish (Sep 22, 2010)

jjc155 said:


> thanks for the info guys. Like the look and function of the center pin reels but Yikes, didnt see one on line that was under about 200bucks, LOL
> 
> May have to crawl with a spinner before I run with a center pin lol


Yep, I just dropped $400 on a combo. It did come with line though


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## swaprat (Oct 1, 2011)

toto said:


> When I tie up, I leave the tag end of the knot there, and clamp split shot to that.


 
thats a awesome point the water above the dam is slower then below splits work awesome up there. i usally fish the weight of 1/2 and 3/8 below the coffer and splits above with flies. like said there are more rigs then people on the planet lol's. j/k any ways you could stop in the loacl shops like bottom line bait and takle of rock wood michigan it on jerfferson and east huron right antthe corner to the left heading from i-75 to jeferson. there are quite a few takle shops around just got to find them. 

i always used bb and #7 split shots. thing is even with the splits or the weights like 3/8-1/2 once you have to achive a drag free drift as much as possible what. as best you can if the fish are not takin lighten it up to splits that's why i liked the idea. cause you can't drop down to 1/4 once with 3/8 and 1/2 once weights that why i suggest split shots. this is because to adjust the need to use more but smaller shots . i always carry a medium and small shot not the fly fishing type you can not re crimp on but reuseable shots. and plenty of them shot i like tying my egg flies on stong hooks even wooly buggers on stout hooks. so don't buy nothing but the best slamon/steel hooks out there. bad hooks can wreck your day like it did mine once.


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