April Steelhead

[Brendan]

Good day! Im from PEI, I spend alot of my time fishing atlantic salmon, rainbows and brook trout here on the Island as well as in Nova Scotia. Anyway, I took a job in Alberta starting in late April and I was thinking it'd be a good way to break up the drive with some fishing through Ontario. I've always wanted to fish steelhead (we have rainbows that go to the estuaries and get large/silver but not true steelhead) so I was hoping someone could point me to some rivers that I could try out. Also wondering if most people swing flies or use a nymph setup. I'll be going through sometime in mid/late April. Any advice would be great! Thanks alot!
Brendan

 

[ChromeAddict]

April is a great time for steelhead fishing! Some people swing flies on larger rivers, but most people use an 'indicator' setup with either fly, bead or trout eggs. You can also use a spinning rod with artificial lures. I will PM you with some suggestions of rivers to try.

 

[ChromeAddict]

Oh and be sure to check the regulations - some rivers have a closed fishing season in the spring to protect spawning steelhead.

 

[Brendan]

Thanks a million ChromeAddict!

 

[AaronKrick]

When you say 'late april', what would be the time you're around Ontario? I say this because the trout opener is on april 25 this year. So that means that the entire river of pretty much every river will be open, but before that, only a select few rivers in small portions are open all year (except the Niagara, which is entirely open all year).

 

[fishermandan420]

Lots of places to fish. If you go north from here be sure to hit the st Mary's in the soo

 

[Brendan]

Catfish: I have to be in Alberta for April 30th, so I would have a few days there after the trout opener.

TroutCommander: Thanks, I've heard mention of that river before so I'll definitely look into it.

I'm sort of looking to work my way west and fish as I go, so Ill likely be checking out any rivers that are open and on my way. More than willing to go out of my way for some good fishing though!

 

[Klik]

i hope you catch some. i would assume they be spawnning in full force mid april and not many are coming up from the waters you are legally able to fish. never say never, but good luck. this is strictly for lake ontario from the east to pretty much around mississuaga.

 

[Alfiegee]

Lots of places to fish. If you go north from here be sure to hit the st Mary's in the soo

^
What he said

Alfie.

 

[Brendan]

Thanks LordMykiss- and a thumbs up for that handle! Would you say then it may be better to fish more north where they may not have started spawning yet?

Alfiegee: Thanks I'm definitely going to look into that. When you guys say st Marys do you mean the rapids area or are there tribs I should look for?

Once again, thanks for the info guys

 

[Alfiegee]

Thanks LordMykiss- and a thumbs up for that handle! Would you say then it may be better to fish more north where they may not have started spawning yet?

Alfiegee: Thanks I'm definitely going to look into that. When you guys say st Marys do you mean the rapids area or are there tribs I should look

Yes the rapids. I may get killed for saying that, but is no secret.
You will pass many Lake Superior tribs. If you have time check them out., particularly one that begins with the letter N and ends with gon.
Many good opps up that way.

Alfie.

Once again, thanks for the info guys

 

[Alfiegee]

Wish I could make the trip with you.
Such beautiful country. Enjoy the drive.

Alfie.

 

[Brendan]

Yes the rapids. I may get killed for saying that, but is no secret.

Well thank you for risking it all to pass on such information! I will definitely enjoy my trip across ontario thanks to the help of you fine folks! Really looking forward to this now

 

[Klik]

Thanks LordMykiss- and a thumbs up for that handle! Would you say then it may be better to fish more north where they may not have started spawning yet?

Alfiegee: Thanks I'm definitely going to look into that. When you guys say st Marys do you mean the rapids area or are there tribs I should look for?

Once again, thanks for the info guys

not very familiar with other areas, but essentially prime steelhead waters are zone 16 and 17 and they have pretty much the same regulations. there is zone10, 7 and 14 being more west. give or take few days, i assume they all spawn same time. they actually become very active as soon as ice is out. takes few weeks to swim, make a redd, find a mate, spawn and guard. and the opener is 25th of april. meaning they are there much earlier than you are planning to fish. not sure how more of west is though. now that said. depending on how warm it gets, you can actually get drop backs from the spawned out fish mid april. so dont lose hope.

 

[AaronKrick]

@LordMK: Last year we were getting dropbacks at the CRAA derby (which was may 10). I'm pretty sure Shmogley was nailing them into mid may too. I'd imagine it'd be similar this year, unless the fish can run under the ice.

 

[Brendan]

So there isn't much hope of any fresh fish coming in by mid April? I guess I'll just have to hope for a few post spawners to be coming down then.

 

[Klik]

like salmon. there is always few slow ones. there is always hope.

 

[Brendan]

Yup that's been my experience Atlantics too. I'm not overly concerned if it's slow fishing, as long as there is a small chance of hooking up I'm happy. New water is always fun to explore

 

[JDean]

As you go further north from the Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay tributaries the run will happen later. This is only natural as the ice leaves the north shore of Superior and Huron later than the southern part of the province. Lots of great steelhead fishing up on the rivers coming out of Superior heading west on 17 out of Sault Ste,.Marie and all the way along the north shore.


Check out www.gordellis.com/trout/content/trout-articles/article/northwestern-superiors-best-bet-for-bows then click on link for Northwestern Superiors Best Bet for Bows

Might be worth a day.

 

[NADO]

Fresh ones will be coming as soon as the melt off starts to run into the river. Often times its over before opener even hits. We will have a later one again this year but its not too far off. If this warm trend keeps up we should have fresh fish very soon.