Most of us will embrace suffering at one point or another. Whether we’re pushing ourselves to finish a marathon, working through sleepless nights to earn a promotion, or finishing up that awesome dragon back tattoo we’ve always wanted, accepting a little pain for an ultimate reward just adds some spice to life. This mentality is especially prevalent in the outdoor world, where backcountry hunters and deep-sea anglers push the limits of mental and physical endurance. And for my money, no other outdoor activity is quite as sublimely masochistic as swinging flies for Great Lakes steelhead in the winter.
Originally a method for catching salmon in the rivers of the United Kingdom, swinging flies for steelhead was only recently adopted by West Coast steelheaders, and the technique is picking up steam around the Great Lakes. It’s not nearly as efficient or productive as other techniques, like pulling plugs or drifting roe under a bobber, and it can sometimes take hours or even days to get a strike.
This is all part of the draw. Because instead of repeatedly hammering away at inactive fish until you force them to bite, you’re seeking out the most active and scrappiest fighters in the river that want to play ball. You’re also out fishing during the nastiest time of the year, trudging through snow and ice and standing in the face of freezing winds. It’s a game of determination, which makes every fish you hook a little more special. And when you finally get that electric and well-earned grab, you’ll see there’s no better way to catch a steelhead than on the swing.
The Basics of Swinging for Steelhead
Swinging flies is considered a challenge because of the nuance involved and the time it takes to hook a fish, but the act of swinging flies with a fly rod is fairly straightforward. (You can also swing a lure with a conventional rod-and-reel, but we’ll keep the focus strictly on fly fishing here.)
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The idea is to use the river’s current to methodically cover large swaths of water with your fly, which is typically a gaudy streamer or something similar. To do this, you cast your fly down and across the river at a roughly 45-degree angle, then adjust your presentation by mending or tightening your line depending on the speed and depth of the run. You then follow your fly with your rod tip as the line comes tight and a “belly” or arc forms in the fly line. This will cause the fly to move or “swing” through the run and across the current, and the swing ends when the belly in your line straightens out completely and your fly stops directly below you. You then take a couple steps downstream and repeat the process, presenting your fly to new sections of water until you get a grab or run out of patience.
It’s this grab that makes swinging flies for steelhead so addicting. Because when a strike does come, it’s rarely a gentle nibble, and with your line tight, you can really feel the fish slam your fly. After spending so many long and fishless hours hypnotized by the repetitive motions of casting, swinging, and stepping down, the sound of a screaming drag and the sight of a leaping steelhead is like a violent jolt of reality. There’s just nothing else like it.
Where and When to Chase Great Lakes Steelhead
When most people hear the word “steelhead,” they think about the rivers on the West Coast, from Northern California through British Columbia and up to Alaska, where these ocean-going rainbow trout return to their natal rivers each year to spawn. But thanks to an introduction program that started on Michigan’s Au Sable River in the late 1800s, there is now a naturalized population of steelhead trout in the Great Lakes system. Hundreds of tributary streams that feed the Great Lakes now host sizable steelhead runs during the fall, winter, and early spring, making it one of the most accessible and popular places in the country to swing flies.
It matters little, in my opinion, that many West Coast anglers look down on Great Lakes steelhead because they never touch salt water. The fact is, these adfluvial rainbows are every bit as big and strong as their anadromous cousins.
In a typical year, steelhead will begin entering the rivers around all five of the Great Lakes during mid- to late-autumn. They’ll continue to show up in small pulses through the winter months and all the way into April. Prime run timing depends on the river and local conditions, but it can start in October and peak as early as mid-November in some places.
Anglers have no shortage of water to fish around the Great Lakes, and they could spend all year exploring these tributaries. Some of the more well-known Great Lakes tributaries include Cattaragus Creek, Elk Creek, and the Vermillion River, which are part of the famous “Steelhead Alley” along Lake Erie, and Michigan’s Grand, Muskegon, and Au Sable Rivers. You can also find some big steelhead in the mighty Niagara River along the New York and Pennsylvania border.
Basic Equipment for Fly Fishing the Great Lakes Tributaries
Great Lakes steelhead don’t eat much once they enter these tributaries, as they’re primarily focused on migrating and spawning. But they’ve spent several fun-filled years packing on calories in the lakes beforehand, and when they do return to the rivers, they have all the strength and vigor of grizzlies. This means you’re going to want to leave your trout gear at home and hit the Great Lakes loaded for bear.
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You’re going to need a 6-, 7- or an 8-weight fly rod and a reel with a decent disc drag that can stop, or at least slow down, a running steelhead. Many anglers choose to use traditional single-handed rods, which are great for fishing the smaller tributaries and creeks around the Great Lakes. However, if you’re planning on swinging flies in a larger river, you may be better off with a two-handed rod, also known as a Spey or a switch rod. These longer fly rods are capable of casting further distances with less energy, which helps when seeking out active fish.
Single-handed casters should load their reels with a thicker weight-forward fly line or shooting head that can turn over heavy flies at distance. If you’re going the two-handed route, choose an appropriately weighted Spey line and connect it to the running line that fills up your reel.
You’ll also want a variety of sink-tips or sinking leaders that you can attach to the end of your fly line. These will help get your flies down into the strike zone and stay there during the swing. In smaller rivers, a couple 5- to 7- foot leaders with 2- to 5-inch-per-second sink rates may be all you need. For larger, deeper rivers, longer 10-plus-foot leaders with 7- to 10-ips sink rates are the way to go. You can also get a pre-loaded pack of various sink tips to cover all your bases.
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Lastly, you’re going to want a couple spools of stout, 12- to 20-pound tippet to connect your fly to the end of your leader. Attach a 2- to 3-foot length of tippet to your leader with a perfection knot or some other loop knot, and you’ll be ready to find some water to fish and tie on a fly.
Reading the River and Choosing a Fly
Finding steelhead is all about knowing how to read the river. As they make their way upstream, steelhead will push through sections of heavy current and then stop and spread out in deeper, slower-moving water, where they will rest and hold. Although you can sometimes find a willing fish in fast currents, you’re better off swinging your flies through these slower, deeper areas where fish are taking a break from their migration.
To get started, try to find a section of water where the current is moving at a walking pace. In smaller rivers, this can be a small pool or slow-moving piece of water behind a log or a rock. On larger rivers, it can be a mile-long run. Pay attention to spots right before or after rapids, near small waterfalls, or anywhere else where a steelhead might need to rest. Once you’ve found a couple of good-looking runs, pick them apart for any sweet spots: the slower holes and depressions, shelves and drop-offs, and places where rocks or other structures form a current break. These are the best spots for fish to hold and they’re worth fishing through multiple times.
After finding a good spot, your next task is choosing the right fly. This calls for a slightly different approach than choosing a typical trout fly, for example, because steelhead aren’t as focused on eating once they enter the river. More often than not, they’re biting a fly out of aggression, and it’s this reactionary strike that anglers are trying to elicit when they swing a fly through a run.
Steelhead flies come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. While there are some classic dry fly patterns you can swing, the most effective options are typically streamers and other wet flies that are fished under the surface. A lot of these flies, especially the ones used in the winter, are big, colorful, and gaudy. They look nothing like any of the batfish or any other prey you’ll find in the river — because, remember, you’re not trying to mimic a food source so much as make the fish angry.
Steelhead will often show a preference for one type of fly or another on different days, and even during different times of day. On warmer brighter days, when water temperatures are above 45 degrees, steelhead are more active and larger and brighter flies are often the most effective. On darker, colder days when steelhead are more sluggish, smaller, darker flies are usually the way to go. Feel free to experiment, and if you’ve drawn a blank with one style or color in a good-looking run, you can always change flies and fish through it again until you either get a tug or run out of fly patterns. Or you can adjust your swing.
Adjusting and Adapting Your Presentation
Presenting your fly at the right depth is the key to success when swinging flies for steelhead. The standard wet-fly swing is accomplished by casting downstream at a roughly 45-degree angle, mending the line so the fly can sink, and then allowing the fly to swing through the current until it stops directly downstream. It’s an efficient way to cover a lot of water. But it’s not the only way, and anglers will often have better luck if they adjust their swing for different current speeds and depths.
Fishing a shallower, boulder-strewn run, for example, might call for a little faster swing. You can do this by mending downstream and increasing the size of the belly in your fly line, which allows the current to pull the fly across the run more quickly. The slow, deep pools where steelhead like to hide call for a different approach as well, and the standard 45-degree swing might not be getting your flies down deep enough to where the fish are. In this type of water, it can sometimes help to cast directly across a run at a 90-degree angle, or even slightly upriver. You can then make a large upstream mend and then take a step downstream, which will give your fly even more time to sink before it starts to swing. Often these little adjustments are all you need to keep your flies in front of fish.
Adjusting and swapping sink tips and leaders is another way to keep your flies in the zone. Every time you hit a new run, look it over and take note of its depth and speed. Shorter and heavier leaders, like a 5- or 6-foot length of 10 ips, are great for swinging through faster water and for presenting your fly vertically around rocks and other structure. Longer, lighter leaders, like a 12-foot length of 3 ips, are great for covering slow-moving runs as they’ll help keep your flies just off the bottom and right in a steelhead’s face.
The Swing Is the Thing
Like sending up a fervent prayer just begging to be answered, swinging a fly for Great Lakes steelhead is holding onto enough hope to stay out longer, ignore your frozen appendages, and stand your ground. You only carry on because you know that if you keep the faith, you’ll eventually get a grab. And when it finally does happen and you hook into a chrome torpedo of a fish, everything else just melts away.
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