Steelhead fishing, specially fly fishing for steelhead can be an amazing journey. These fish spend most of their lives as an anadromous strain of rainbows, in the lake. Which means they can grow quite large without subjecting their energy budget to only survival categories. What i am saying here is that in most trout when their biological system is taking in food, hanging in the rivers and creeks the very last thing energy resources go toward is growth. While in the ease of Lake Erie, compared to a river or creek, the going requires a bit less stress.
That’s why at or around the ages of 3-4 years these fish find their way back to the tributaries as relatively large critters, full of power. Hence the fun… They have an over all life span up to 8 years, if they make it past the crowds on lower Elk, just kidding. As, poikilotherms, or cold temperature regulated animals. That is to say, these fish cannot, like all trout, regulate their internal temperature. With this in mind when the temperatures change in the water the fishing can change. More on winter tactics apposed to fall in a future post. Suffice it to say knowing the science can help in lowering your stress levels. Pull out a thermometer and check the temps. Maybe the fish are not as responsive as before when the weather and water was warmer. So, take a deep breath and look for some sunny spots or wait later on in the day. In my view, just understanding these things and putting them together is a win. In short, cold temps slow down the fish.
When do the fish start to run then? Well, that all depends on environmental stimuli. Such as what strain of lake runs are the fish. What is the water temp in the lake? Do the tributaries have the levels needed by the fish? Great questions. With the Pacific Northwestern strain (although a bit of a mix/mut) of fish that the PA Fish and Boat stock comes with it the internal close, so-to-speak of a fall run. Compared to Early fall out of Ontario and a spring run in Ohio. So, already there is an instinctive element to when the run occurs. Then lake temps seem to have to move into the low 70s to mid 60s. This is in relation to the afore mentioned cold blooded element of the fish’s biology. Let’s not forget the most important aspect of the fish that drives it, it spawning season. Although there is much speculation in the world of biology when it comes to these types of things, it’s clear there is a time in a period that the fish are driven for this reason. I often likened it to a buck in rut. There seems to be a bulking up of this animal before it’s pursuit of love. One study claims that a large portion of the steelhead, once in the tributaries, never feed. I’ll try to find that link it in this article. And also bucks definitely feed during the rut it is drastically reduced compared to the rest of the year. Mainly because it’s pursuing a female companion or companions. If my parallel holds true at all that many of the fish in the system that are vying for top dog as well as bragging rights for being with the most ladies will be a major driving force as to when the run occurs. As well as, how it occurs in the tributary’s. And then the one last thing that is really important is the flows in the tributary’s themselves. Most of lake Aries tributary’s are in the category of ephemeral. What that simply means in this particular hydrological description is that the streams are nearly 100% reliant upon rainfall for flows. Which is why you hear many of us talk so much about watching for oncoming rain and reading gauges. Although nature always seems to find a way these fish will run even in the smallest amount of water. But it limits access to a lot of parts of the streams if they don’t have the volume to push through and push over. These are all things, in my view, that are really important to being a well-rounded and knowledge invested angler. Understanding your fishery, understanding the fish, and of course overall fly fishing, from closing, to tackle, to the angle that we come at the fish. Until the next time keep your lines wet and your flies in the fishes mouth and remember it is an about the destination it’s the journey that makes us. – Adam