Rock the River for Steelhead

 

Niagara River expert Frank Campbell on fall-run steelhead with River Rockers

 

            Strong smelling and loaded with nutrition, salmon eggs have an incredible draw to steelhead. When Lake Ontario salmon move up into the Lower Niagara River to spawn and begin dropping eggs, the steelhead follow the salmon into the river, invading in big numbers to take advantage of the feast. For a while, the living is easy for the steelhead.

            There’s a problem, though. After a few weeks, the number of eggs begins dissipating.  The steelhead, which will winter over in the river, still need to eat, so they start seeking alternative food sources. That’s when the Lindy River Rocker will really start coming into play, according to Niagara River guide Frank Campbell.

About the same time as eggs’ availability starts to decrease, big numbers of baitfish begin moving into the river for the winter. Young-of-the-year emerald shiners, smelt, alewives and gizzard shad all become “steelhead candy,” and a River Rocker nicely imitates these baitfish. It also has a wide wobble and will run true, not rolling over, even when it is pulled fast, Campbell explained.

A large river that does offer some bank access but that is most effectively fished from a boat, the Niagara River is truly a world-class steelhead river. Ten-pound-plus fish are pretty much a daily occurrence once the bite gets cranking, and Campbell has had steelhead up to 22 pounds brought into his boat. Steelhead action normally begins in late October, picks up stream throughout November and has hit full stride by Thanksgiving. Fishing stays good all winter.

River Rocker Fishing

Campbell will fish mostly with the No. 5 River Rocker, which is the larger of the two sizes and is 3 1/8 inches long. He’ll let the steelhead dictate specific daily color preferences, but generally their demonstrated preference is for bright colors.

“Despite the fact that the river is really clear most of the time, the steelhead seem to prefer brighter colors like Chartreuse,” Campbell said. Good choices for the River Rocker include Aunt Creepy, Coward, Elton and Lime Disease.

            Steelhead spend the bulk of their time holding among rocks near the river’s bottom, so Campbell uses a three-way rig to keep his baits down to the fish. Using enough weight to keep his lead dragging along the bottom, he’ll drift downstream, relying either on the wind or his trolling motor to move the boat slightly faster than the current. That presentations keeps a River Rocker rocking just off the bottom and even kicking among the rocks, which is right where steelhead are most apt to be located.

            Campbell’s rig begins with an 8-pound-test monofilament main line and a three-way swivel. He then adds a 5- to 7-foot fluorocarbon leader (also 8-pound test) to the second swivel eye and ties a River Rocker to the end of that leader. The leader length is based on the length of his rods because Campbell prefers the longest leader that still allows clients to maneuver fish close enough to the boat for him to net them efficiently. The dropper to his weight is short, usually about 6 to 10 inches long.

            Campbell typically does make one lure modification because of the way he fishes. He removes the front treble hook, which prevents a lot of snags that otherwise occur when the lure is kept so close to the bottom. Running the bait with just a single treble hook on the back also helps Campbell release steelhead in good condition.

Steelhead Hangouts

            The most important thing Campbell looks for in terms of areas to drift is a break from the big river’s strongest currents whether because of a deep hole, the river configuration along a bend or some other factor. Where the river current will mostly be in the 4- to 10-mile per hour range, he wants to drift through areas where the current moves less than about 3 miles per hour.

            “The steelhead don’t want to fight the strongest currents, so they congregate in the areas where the current isn’t as strong,” he said. “You might have to try several drifts in different places before you find a good group of active fish. There are plenty of fish almost anywhere in the river, but you want to find the ones that are actively feeding.”

            Another significant factor that influences the location of active steelhead is the bottom make-up, with the steelhead generally favoring hard-bottom areas. Also very important is the presence of baitfish so Campbell will watch his electronics for schools of bait as he runs the river and as he drifts.

            Although steelhead are the main attraction and Campbell’s primary targets for this kind of fishing, he also catches a lot of brown trout and lake trout doing exactly the same thing during the winter. All lake trout must be released during December and Campbell doesn’t target them at that time because the season for them doesn’t open until Jan. 1; however, his parties do catch quite a few lake trout when they are steelhead fishing. Both brown trout and lake trout can reach sizes up to 30 pounds in the Niagara River during the winter.

            One important variable that Campbell warned about is that when hard fronts sweep strong winds across Lake Ontario and muddy the Niagara River for a few days, the steelhead will stop feeding almost completely until the water clears. The good part about that, he noted, is that when it does clear again and they return to feeding, the fishing can be exceptional. The dirty-water threat ends when the lake freezes over, but that can occur any time from the end of December through well into February.

            Fishing techniques do not change substantially over the course of the winter. In fact the only significant change in strategies is that very late in the winter and into early spring, the steelhead finally spawn, so the Campbell keys more on gravel areas that offer good spawning habitat and nearby runs.

Looking Ahead

            As winter begins giving way to spring, Campbell will continue to pull River Rockers on three-way rigs, catching big numbers steelhead in the river and trout over Niagara Bar at the mouth of the river; however, he’ll also spend some time casting Lindy Shadlings to shoreline cover in the river’s lower reaches and just inside Lake Ontario. In addition to steelhead, brown trout and lake trout, his clients will also catch some really big smallmouth bass by casting crankbaits during the spring.

Want to Go?

For updated reports on the Niagara steelhead run and bites, be sure to check out Frank Campbell’s Audio Fishing Reports. To learn more about fishing with Frank, visit niagaracharter.com or call 716-284-8546.