Tips on spring steel

[tossing iron]

Want to increase your success?
When waters are clear.
You'll see a female and a good half dozen males behind her.
When you play this situation right you can bank 3-4 steel in an hour.
Simply ignore the hen in front and drift just outside of the males behind.
Very aggressive in this situation.
Take the female out first the males automatically scatter.

 

[Symmetre]

TI how can you go on about banning roe in one thread, then advocate pulling spawners off redds?

Not trying to be a jerk, but isn't that incredibly hypocritical?

 

[tossing iron]

Obviously I'm not suggesting ripping fish off the redds.
You'll find the males up the hens ass on all areas of the river. Be it pools , rapids or under banks.
The males spawn with various females which is why their mortality is higher.
Just pointing out another good reason to leave hens alone.
Improves your fishing immediately.

 

[Symmetre]

You'll find the males up the hens ass on all areas of the river. Be it pools , rapids or under banks.

Uh ... no. What your describing (males following a hen and being very aggressive, as you said in your first post) is what happens on the redds.

And, if you're seeing fish clearly enough to be able to tell male from female, then yeah you're hanging around the redds.

 

[fisgfreek]

I'd rather see guys pulling males off redds then stomping all over them like a bunch of idiots.

 

[TheTallFisherman]

Can someone inform me what is Redds?

 

[tossing iron]

Uh ... no. What your describing (males following a hen and being very aggressive, as you said in your first post) is what happens on the redds.

And, if you're seeing fish clearly enough to be able to tell male from female, then yeah you're hanging around the redds.

Wow , just Wow.
I strongly suggest you leave the gear home this spring.
Take the time to observe and follow just how steel behave.lol
Witness your self the game of follow the hen constantly happening in front of you. You'll see the same behavior with the salmon run .
Yea. Your correct. Males only behind hens when physically spawning on the reds. Ha
Another tip for ya.
The light colour shadows are either fresh run or hens.

 

[Trev]

The redds are the spawning beds.

 

[fisgfreek]

LOL, you have never heard the saying : Don't TREDD on me. Older guys would give us shit when they see us stomping up the river when I was a kid.

 

[rich_ace_G]

Can someone inform me what is Redds?

If you see fish(female) holding a spot, then drops back and smaller (male) comes up and slaps the area sideways and murks the water a bit....usually a foot or 2 deep...lots of pebbles....that would be nest / redd lots of loose eggs there.

That's why most of the part, specially during openers....I just go by the shore even when I have waders....unless I have to cross the creek....

 

[TheTallFisherman]

Thank you! I thought it was a fishing spot or something lmao.

I guess this is most commonly seen in the upper parts of the river?

 

[MuskieBait]

Wow , just Wow.
I strongly suggest you leave the gear home this spring.
Take the time to observe and follow just how steel behave.lol
Witness your self the game of follow the hen constantly happening in front of you. You'll see the same behavior with the salmon run .
Yea. Your correct. Males only behind hens when physically spawning on the reds. Ha
Another tip for ya.
The light colour shadows are either fresh run or hens.

Agreed with TI.

Female and males will stay together in runs, up riffles, into pools and eventually the redds. After a rain during spawning season, you'll constantly see fish push up the creek. The females are often followed closely by 1 or more males. When there are more than one males, they get much more competitive and aggressive.

You can TOTALLY target the aggressive males. Often times, they are fighting for position at the back of the pool...both steelhead and salmon.

Females and males can also tuck under log jams and undercut banks. The female is often the lead fish with the males hanging back just a bit. You don't need to be in 2 feet of water to see these fish clearly if you know where to look and what to look for. See a tail, see the tip of the snout, see the odd flash...etc. Heck, if you know fish well enough, you can fish 6" vis and still know where fish should hide.

But hell...what do we know...

 

[rich_ace_G]

Thank you! I thought it was a fishing spot or something lmao.

I guess this is most commonly seen in the upper parts of the river?

Not really...you can observe the activity in the water...loose pebbled areas are good spawning grounds and there are some not way up the river...I guess some late runners won't be able to reach way up...Only the fish knows when it's time.

 

[rich_ace_G]

Agreed with TI.

Female and males will stay together in runs, up riffles, into pools and eventually the redds. After a rain during spawning season, you'll constantly see fish push up the creek. The females are often followed closely by 1 or more males. When there are more than one males, they get much more competitive and aggressive.

You can TOTALLY target the aggressive males. Often times, they are fighting for position at the back of the pool...both steelhead and salmon.

Females and males can also tuck under log jams and undercut banks. The female is often the lead fish with the males hanging back just a bit. You don't need to be in 2 feet of water to see these fish clearly if you know where to look and what to look for. See a tail, see the tip of the snout, see the odd flash...etc. Heck, if you know fish well enough, you can fish 6" vis and still know where fish should hide.

But hell...what do we know...

I like this. The best way to really fish for trout in spring is to understand how they behave and familiarize the areas you fish. I don't venture much on other tribs unless invited by someone who knows the river well. I spend time hiking my trib and see if any structures has changed. A log last year where I pulled about 8 steels in one trip was no where to be found and was skunk city this year. And there was a pool that is very snaggy whee i lost about 50 beads & flies but was worth it because I got countless steels and browns...one thing about opener is that fish are not shy, they're hungry and play hard.

 

[Huronfly]

In my experience, they don't like to be vulnerable enough to be spotted in the open, unless they are following a hen near redds and have "buck fever" , and by opener most fish that are visible are likely in fact spawning, on their redds... sure, maybe other rivers and fish behave differently, but when I spot fish they are almost always on or just below redds. I prefer to leave those fish alone, and yes it is similar to shooting fish in a barrel. I feel like TI is trying to stir something up here, :razz: ​ it is very debateable... at least leave the hens alone.

 

[Symmetre]

Wow , just Wow.
I strongly suggest you leave the gear home this spring.
Take the time to observe and follow just how steel behave.lol
Witness your self the game of follow the hen constantly happening in front of you. You'll see the same behavior with the salmon run .
Yea. Your correct. Males only behind hens when physically spawning on the reds. Ha
Another tip for ya.
The light colour shadows are either fresh run or hens.

Ya whatever dude. Keep lining those fish off redds.

 

[tossing iron]

In my experience, they don't like to be vulnerable enough to be spotted in the open, unless they are following a hen near redds and have "buck fever" , and by opener most fish that are visible are likely in fact spawning, on their redds... sure, maybe other rivers and fish behave differently, but when I spot fish they are almost always on or just below redds. I prefer to leave those fish alone, and yes it is similar to shooting fish in a barrel. I feel like TI is trying to stir something up here, :razz: ​ it is very debateable... at least leave the hens alone.

That's why I love high and dirty.
Opener always a crap shoot on water level.
Like last year.
Yahoo's kept the water dirty by tromping through every which way.
For the first couple hours fish stood a chance.
And I stand by my observation aggressive battling males goes on all areas of the river.
Not just the redds.
Enjoy this springs action Huron.

 

[tossing iron]

Ya whatever dude. Keep lining those fish off redds.

I'm sure you'll do better on your second outing to the river.
Don't get too discouraged.
We understand.

 

[fisherman2280]

Time to drop this and grow up boys!

 

[fishermandan420]

In my experience, they don't like to be vulnerable enough to be spotted in the open, unless they are following a hen near redds and have "buck fever" , and by opener most fish that are visible are likely in fact spawning, on their redds... sure, maybe other rivers and fish behave differently, but when I spot fish they are almost always on or just below redds. I prefer to leave those fish alone, and yes it is similar to shooting fish in a barrel. I feel like TI is trying to stir something up here, :razz: ​ it is very debateable... at least leave the hens alone.

Hes talking about east ditches where they go gin and you can see everything. Not real rivers dude!

I think ive targeted a steelhead i could see maybe 3 times in my life. It makes it more sporting if you cant see em imo