Did well there and at a creek further west. ;-) . Wilmot will be a huge challenge for most anglers in the fall as they act like BC winter steelhead, it's the only eastern trib where they behave that way.
Steelhead, much like salmon, do not like to feed once they enter their winter "home" steelhead are trout that do not feed when they return to the river that is why it takes many years of fishing them
to get them to strike. "Many believe steelhead won’t feed at all after entering a river, and this belief extends even to fall-run fish that might be in the river more than four months. This is an erroneous assumption as, even in 33°F water, steelhead do feed. Predominantly, in extremely cold water, they feed opportunistically on small items that drift right into their wheelhouse, which is a small strike zone condensed by conditions to a relatively tiny area right in front of their faces. This becomes the overriding factor determining methodology and presentation." this is much more true of Wilmot than any other local creek. The key thing to remember about winter steelhead is that more than 80 percent of them are fall-run fish, in the Great Lakes region. In a cold winter with no appreciable thaw, that figure jumps to 100 percent. It’s an important distinction because fall-run fish tend to spawn much earlier than spring-run fish.
Like Salmon, Steelhead undergo a change in their internal organs, most importantly the atrophy of the stomach. When Steelhead enter freshwater tributaries, they begin to prepare for the spawn. Their stomachs shrink and they can no longer digest food. Biologists explain that the fish stop feeding and begin to live off of their own body fat. This is not bad news for the fall angler, however. The term “feeding†means the fish stop eating for sustenance, because their bodies cannot process the byproduct of the food. They do however continue to “eat†in the streams, which biologists explain is purely out of habit. So the good news for stream Steelhead fisherman is that while Steelhead are not feeding for nourishment, they are still in the “bad habit†of attacking prey and slurping up drifting food.
Wilmot steelies can be very difficult. I remember 6 years ago 3 of us spent 6 hours floating over the same pool with everything in our boxes and they wouldn't touch anything, there were at least 100 fish in there. I finally figured them out but a Wilmot steelhead can be the most frustrating of Steelhead to catch whereas in other tribs they can be much easier. Some say it's the genetic imprint in them handed down and they may be right but for now it's a mystery.
