Steelhead are rainbow trout that have a life cycle that takes them from our rivers and out into the ocean, some of them go as far as Japan, and then back to our rivers.  Many of them are raised in our state hatcheries on many of our rivers.

These fish are put into our rivers for us to catch but a lot of times they don’t all get caught.  And since the hatchery doesn’t use all the fish that come back the always end up with some extra steelhead.

You may ask what they do with them.  They recycle!

Some of them are trucked back down stream and released so that they have a chance to run back up river past all the fishermen again.  Others are taken to some of the local coast lakes.

That is what I wanted to write about today.

Rivers too blown out from too much rain?  Tired of crowds?  Want to take the kids out for some easy fishing?

Lake fishing for steelhead is for you.

Once these fish are swimming around a few days in their lake you can start catching them.  They will actually take typical trout gear like power bait fished off the bottom or worm under a bobber.

I prefer to fish a bobber and steelhead jig, either straight or tipped with a piece of prawn or sand shrimp tail.  Cast the jig out and let it settle, then every once in a while give it a little twitch and then pick up the slack.  Adjust the depth until you find the level the fish are running at, anywhere from 3 to 10 feet down.

They can also be taken on spinners cast and retrieved and on fly gear.

To find out when and where they are recycling these fish to local lakes call the North Fork Nehalem hatchery hot line or the Tillamook ODFW.

ODFW Office- 503-842-2741   Nehalem Hatchery-  503-368-5670

David Johnson is a renowned Northwest fishing guide. To book a trip with Dave call 503-201-4292 or visit Dave at www.davidjohnsonfishing.com