Patience Is The Soul Of Winter Steel

Steelhead may not move 6 inches to take something they really want to eat in 34°F water. They bide their time and wait, instinctively playing couch potato, probably believing something else will drift by eventually. This means the water must be covered incrementally, beginning with the shortest casts and ending with the longest—which should always be the case, to avoid “lining” fish that haven’t had a chance to see the bait. But, in winter, the increments have to be much smaller. Each cast should be as close to the last as possible, and hopefully just a few inches past, implying a long, slow, careful approach.

Steelhead crush the same lures, baits, flies, and jigs in winter that they hit all year, but the effectiveness of many presentations trails off when the water dips below 38°F. Bait becomes increasingly important. Steelhead tend to hold in slower water, giving them more time to inspect the offering. The natural scent of spawn, live nymphs, small minnows, waxworms, and maggots produces more strikes, as a rule, than any artificial, scented or not.

A stream float delivers bait into that tiny wheelhouse because depth becomes an adjustable commodity, and a few inches can make all the difference. Steelhead do tend to hover near bottom more consistently in extremely cold water, making bottom-oriented presentations almost equally effective. The best bottom presentations include a spawn bag tied with float beads (colored Styrofoam beads) or small leader floats, like Beaumac Cheaters, which slide free on the leader. In either case, adjusting the length of the leader by a few inches can mean the difference between catching zero and catching 20.

When using stream floats like the Thill River Master, try presenting bait on small jigs, especially when the water is under 40°F. A jig anchors the bait in the flow, whereas a bare hook rises, falls, and wafts side-to-side much more easily when “checking” (slowing) the float or when the bait encounters crosscurrent. The classic jig has to be designed for steelhead, because it’s a panfish-sized jig that requires a hook stout enough to land a tarpon. It weighs 1/64- to 1/16-ounce with hooks from size #8 up to size #6. When presenting 2 or 3 waxworms in winter (which tends to be a particularly good choice in cold water), I use a TC Tackle 1/64-ounce white or black head with a size #8 hook. With spawn bags, I go up to a TC 1/32-ounce head with a size #6 hook.

The jig is tied to a 3- to 6-foot fluorocarbon leader testing 3 to 6 pounds, depending on current and clarity. Since winter holes tend to be slow, I use 3- and 4-pound leaders a lot, which demand a long, exquisitely balanced rod, like the G. Loomis STFR1601S, a 13-footer that can quiet a hot fish with light line. A small-but-tough SPRO swivel is essential to keep line twist to a minimum. Soft shot should be applied above the swivel to the mainline, which is 8-pound-test Siglon F from Sunline in my case, because it floats, making it easier to mend. A good stream float from Lindy Legendary Tackle, Red Wing Tackle, Drennan, or Grayling rounds out the system. As winter conditions tend to be low and clear, a small, clear plastic float from Drennan or Grayling tends to be the optimum choice.