Water temperature and steelies?

[Pete]

I know temperature matters. What is the consensus, though? When is it too cold for a bite? Does it matter if the temperature change is recent? Does it change depending on what river you're fishing? (Is it different in the Alsea from in the Skeena system?) Are there techniques which are more productive in cold water? Tell me and I'll share what I know in a while.

[dawhunt]

Three of us fished the Kalama yeaterday for 8 hrs and never touched a fish.Yesterday was also the first day my guides got iced up this winter.We used some great bait awesome eggs and sandshrimp.It was very cold and clear skys for most of the day.I think all of the above was the reason we didn't catch any fish.The water was great decent color not overly fast.Should have been fish there.A fish cop told me years ago that when the water temp. dropped below a certain point that steelhead wouldn't bite ??I believe it,I don't remember how low that was,but he did tell me a good fisherman carried a thermomater,Needless to say I'm not cus I never carried one.I'm done untill we get a little more rain.most likley I'll start again this weekend its supposed to rain sat.and sun.,I'll start sunday morning.NAH !! I'll start again tomorrow :smile:
Bob

[ 01-16-2002: Message edited by: dawhunt ]</p>

[ampersat]

there was an article in the fishing and hunting news a few years back where they went into great detail regarding where steelhead will hold up at different winter water temperatures. i keep it tacked up on the wall of my cubicle at work. i don't know how valid it is but i can sum it up by saying when the water is colder, the water holds more oxygen so the fish can move into slower water, provided they can find cover. also, the lower the water temperature, the more lethargic fish will be and less likely to bite.

[First Bite]

Being a Steelhead nut and always looking for a challenge, I went winter steelhead fishing on the Wilson in late January of 96. It was 19 degrees and with a 25 mph wind making the wind chill a frosty -12 degrees. (I keep a detailed journal) I wanted to see for myself if I could get a steelhead in these conditions. When I got to the river I took a temp reading...36 degrees. I spent more time de-icing my guides then anything else. I was using my normal drift rig which was a small red corkie/white yarn with a shrimp tail. After about three freezing hours, I got a steelhead to take my offering right where I normally hook fish. After a not so spectacular fight, I landed & released one lethargic fish. Immediately after that fish, I gathered my stuff and headed home.

I look forward to long cold, dry spells in winter so the river can drop and get gin clear. Most people stay home because of the adverse conditions and this is when red jigs really make for some productive days on the river.

Mark

[David Johnson]

Hey Pete,

To me it seams that when it's under 40 the bite is off. I've got that temp guage on my fish finder and I can watch and see the temp rise through the day and many times we'll start in the morning and fish for a few hours only to catch a fish sometime after nine and then I'll look and see the temp had risen a degree or two at that point.

Of course the bite could have come because new fish moved into the area or some other factor but I've seen it happen enough to beleive it was a temp thing. I've seen this most noticably on the Clackamas and Sandy (colder mountain streams as opposed to coastal streams)but I've seen it on the Wilson and others too.

I've read that some strains of Steelhead will react in lower temps if that's the invironment they are adapted to (like in northern BC)

The book written on spinner fishing for steelhead by Jed davis (I think) talks alot about steelhead and how they react in different temps.

[BigSpinner]

I am talking more about spinner fishing but it works with drifting too, In 33-42 degree water the steelheads metabolism is low. The fish are less eager to strike, they are also less spooked so go with a bigger size 5. And fish are holding in slow deeper pools. 43-49 is a more normal winter range fish will be more willing to hit a spinner I go with a size 4. And fish will hold in more medium current. 50-53 is kinda weird some fish seem lazy some will kill anything it can, dont know what to tell you on that one. 54-57 steelhead become very spooked down size to your 2s and 3s brass,copper and black oxide. Fish are holding in fast water. I dont like fishing 60s and up so I wont talk about it. Fishing is not just about using one spinner all day. you need to find out what the steelhead wants by reading books and changing spinners. I hope this helped a little, well good luck to you.

Jeremy,

[Pete]

What I've read indicates that the bit is tough to get below 37 degrees. From 38 to 43 the bite is "lethargic". From 43 to 48 is very good and over 53 there is warm water lethargy. Anyway, that's what I get from reading Trey Combs and Bill MacMillan, two men who have written scholarly fishing research on steelhead behavior.

So the next question ... if the surface temp is 40, how closely does that reflect the temp at 4 feet down?

[David Johnson]

I asume that in a fast moving stream like the Clack it would be pretty uniform. The Willamette or Columbia may be a diferent story.

[ 01-16-2002: Message edited by: David Johnson ]</p>

[Bubzilla]

Famed steelheader Lani Waller produced a series of videos on fly fishing for steelhead that go into great depth on the effects of termperature on steelhead. What Waller does best is correlate temperature to how far steelhead will move to take an angler's offering. Essentially, Waller argues that as you move above or below prime water temperatures (low 50s), steelhead become less aggressive--of course his analysis was more complicated than that.

I remember reading in Bill Herzog's book on drift fishing a similar discussion of temperature and steelhead fishing success. Of course he was much more optimistic about catching fish in water in the low 40s and below, but essentially he focused on the necessity of getting the offering more in the fish's face in colder water too.

I'd say my experiences over the years support these observations. Steelhead tend to be less inclined to bite when water temperatures are either very cold or very warm. I've had some banner days when the water was very cold, though. As others have stated, the fight wasn't all it could have been, but the hooking was good nonetheless.

[Flatfish]

I've had a few banner days on steelies with 33-34 degree temps.They don't fight as well as they would in warmer temps, but they sure don't stop entirely.Silver spinners,jigs and k-12 kwikies as the fish do move to slower water.Bait always works. If you can find a spring that is 1 or 2 degrees warmer than the rest of the river then you have "as good as it gets" stuff.They are much easier to hook in warmer conditions though.36 or so and it gets pretty tough.Much more so here on the coast as fish from the East side drainages.Still do-able.
Good Luck
Mark