My buddy just moved to Ironwood, and we're hoping to find some steelies (or salmon) this spring. Anyone ever fish rivers in the UP? I'd like to fly fish primarily, but any suggestions (colors, locations, time frames) or stories that may lead to a chromer in my hands would be appreciated.

RM

Nope, nothing to see here.

They come up as soon as the water gets running. We had some warmups a couple weeks ago and folks found them. Not much of a fall run but they do come up and some probably hold over. When they head back out is a good question. It has to do with conditions but I've seen them as late as June.

I've only ever taken them on the fly rod with yarn eggs. I even prefer yarn with my spinning gear. I've tried buggers, ESL's, and big nymphs without much luck.

They can be really spooky.

I can't point you to any water but hunt around, check DNR reports, etc. You'll find the hot spots.

Hex

Not sure about Superior but here in the Lower on Lake Michigan you will know they are starting when you see fishermen surf fishing near the mouths of rivers and creeks. We use 10-12 foot noodle rods with a slip sinker and single eggs or spawn bags. The long noodle rods let you land a big fish on a four pound leader. The lighter the leader the better with steelhead.

On the fly, tie a large stonefly and trailing egg pattern. You'll want to get deep, so put some weight on your line, get it down to the bottom as fast as you can. It seems like every time we're not catching them is when we're not down deep enough. I stopped using a strike indicator and just go by feel, set the hook whenever you feel a tap, most of the time it'll be rocks, but that 1 in 100 casts it'll be a steelhead! I only fish the Brule in WI, I'm assuming it's the same up there.

I have caught steelies out of Superior, Ontario, Michigan and Huron and they have all taken a variety of flies. Simple flo. orange egg patterns are consistent winners and my most used fly for Ontario waters, but to be honest it was what everyone used so I did too. Perhaps my most consistent success per fish attempted was on the Au Sable for Huron fish. Fishing a noodler with simple chenille and sparkle yarn bodies, tied with a good meaty shoulder and tapered abdomen shape, but with both rubber legs, rubber tails and feelers (sizes 4 & 6). Color seemed somewhat immaterial, it was the shape and the animation of the rubber legs that I think was the key. As stressed above, DEEP is the key, but you must get the good drift to go with it and you must hit them right in the face.

That said, I have caught many on big streamers, sizes from 4 to 1, on 4x long shank hooks. Bright colors (the Mickey Finn is a winner as are most brightly colored bucktail-based flies) and lots of sparkle seemed to work well. Again you must get the flies to the fish! Lake Ontario was once a mecca for steelies with short rivers and huge numbers of fish, but the forage-fish populations have crashed, the cormorants have learned to follow the hatchery trucks, and water levels have been inconsistent in recent years. And my springs have been spent more canoeing than fishing. You can fish the rubberleg patterns on spinning tackle too, a favorite of anglers on the Au Sable. (Hint--don't ever fish the Au Sable on Easter weekend!)