Catching Lake Superior steelhead through the ice is one of the most challenging and exciting types of winter angling there is. These big, nickel plated rainbow trout are tough to pattern at the best of times, and under the ice they become even more unpredictable. Yet hook up with a winter steelhead and it’s likely to be a fight you will remember. These fish strike at full snort and make mind boggling power runs. More than a few winter anglers have been spooled when they connected with a steelhead and didn’t have adequate line to handle the runs. Powerful stuff all around.
My first brush with winter steelhead fishing took place two decades ago, on Lake Superior’s Nipigon Bay. A small group of anglers and I were targeting whitefish, having reasonable success jigging Hopkins spoons and hanging live minnows. One of the anglers was very old school, and had cut a gad( stick) and was using a spool of monofilament pegged on it. When a whitefish would hit he’d set and hand line the fish. While not pretty he was icing a few whiteys. Later in the afternoon, however, his stick nearly went down the hole when something big took his minnow. Bedlam ensued as this angler tried to control the fish that was peeling yards of line off at an incredible rate. Despite the worlds biggest snarl up, he did manage to get it to the hole, his eyes bulging.
“It’s a big steelie!” he shouted, grabbing the fish under the jaw and flipping it on the ice. That steelhead was as bright a fish as you will ever see, and looked like a piece of iron in the late February sun. After a few quick pictures the trout was released back to the icy waters of Lake Superior. That fish has inspired quite a few winter steelhead forays over the past few years.
Location
The biggest puzzle you will have to solve if you want to connect with a Lake Superior steelhead is location. When you are dealing with the largest freshwater lake in the world that can seem a daunting task. However, the good news is that all steelhead spawn in the spring, and that means they stage near creek and river mouths. Sometimes they are very close to the river mouths, but most of the time they are cruising a flat or piece of structure within a few hundred yards of the inflowing water. They can also be many kilometres from a river mouth, but that’s another story. My preference is to ice fish within eyesight of major spawning tributary.
About a decade ago, a group of well-known anglers from the United States came up and fished steelhead with me in the dead of winter, setting up at the mouth of a large tributary that runs into Nipigon Bay. This particular bay was rather shallow, and had a sand bottom with a sprinkling of weed and the occasional rock. It didn’t look like great winter trout water, and I was not confident of success. However, we soon discovered that small schools of staging steelhead were cruising this shallow sand, picking off smelt, and these fish were aggressive. The water was clear and shallow enough that we could see to the bottom. It was amazing to watch big rainbows roar in and eat a white tube jig or spoon. They would hit like a speeding train, with no hesitation. Some of the anglers were unaccustomed to such large fish and were left with broken lines, and in at least one case, a broken jigging rod. Yet we also iced some beauties, including a chrome 10 pound male that now adorns a den in Minnesota. The fishing was inconsistent but rewarding, which is typical of winter steelhead.
When seeking steel, drill a lot of holes and fish with intensity. It can be a long time between bites but when they happen, it is zero to 60. Staying mobile and covering as much water as you can will pay dividends, especially when you are on a new spot and trying to contact fish. However, once you have landed a steelhead, you can be sure that you’ve found a spot. They do seem to have certain routes they use again and again. A GPS unit is very helpful for marking these contact points, especially on large flats.
Tackle
Keep it simple for winter steelhead. About 70% of the time, I tie on a jig of some kind, usually a white three inch tube, either tipped with a minnow tail or bare. Any type of marabou or bucktail jig is also deadly. Have a selection of hair jigs from black to white, and every colour in between. There are days the trout will definitely prefer dark over light. Jig a tube or marabou just off the bottom, adding a high lift every once and awhile. Don’t get too aggressive with the jigs. A speeding steelhead likes a target that’s easy to lock on to.
On the flip side, you can get a bit more crazy with a jigging spoon like the Hopkins, Swedish Pimple. PK Spoon or Kastmaster, to name but a few options. The erratic, flashing fall of a spoon looks like a smelt checking out of life and that is food for steelhead. A sharp up /down stroke will work great, but don’t be afraid to let a spoon hang still every once and a while. This can trigger strikes nearly as often as an active jig.
Since you are allowed a second line on Superior, I’ll set a minnow or sucker on a tip up or similar rig. A sucker works especially well as they tend to be a little more active under ice and can call in steelhead. Use a fairly heavy split shot to anchor the bait. A small #4 or #6 treble in the back of the minnow will make for increased hook ups.
Terminal tackle should be at least medium to medium heavy ice fishing gear. A three foot rod is nice as it gives you a bit more stroke for jigging and control when fighting a fish. A quality spinning or bait cast reel is a must. These fish will seriously test your tackle so I prefer 20 pound braid with a 12 pound test monofilament leader and a single Cros Lok snap to hold the lure.
Ice fishing for Lake Superior steelhead is one of the more unusual and thrilling games in northwestern Ontario. Give it a shot this winter and feel the steel. n