Steelhead: An old salt

PURSUING THE WILY winter steelhead can be invigorating and exhausting but worth the effort. Drift fishing is an excellent technique for snagging the elusive steelhead.

SULTAN--In the vernacular of the steelhead angler, a three-salt fish is more revered than a two-salt. The saltier the better, in fact.

"A three-salt's bigger, a better fight and the whole program," said Scott Weedman, an Issaquah steelheader. "You're beating the odds."

This rainbow trout on steroids--categorized as a salmon because of its anadromous, or seagoing ways--is graded by how long it spends finning in the ocean before coming home to spawn in freshwater.

Most winter steelhead have been to sea for two years, hence a two-salt, and average 5 to 8 pounds. Some 25 to 30 percent are three-salts, weighing in at 8 to 15 pounds. Fewer still--5 to 10 percent--are older fish; the state sport-caught record taken in 1980 from the East Fork of the Lewis River tilted the scales at 32 pounds and was thought to have been in the brine for at least five years.

But, know this, if you are lucky enough to land a steelie of any size, you have done something special.

"The average person invests a lot of time to catch a steelhead. There is a lot of emotional attachment. Whenever you catch one, it's like a job well done," said Bob Leland, steelhead program manager for the Department of Fish and Wildlife in Olympia who notes steelhead are Washington's rarest salmon and toughest to catch.

A uniquely aggressive and wily opponent, known to quickly spit a bait if its dining standards aren't met, the steelhead guarantees a spirited tussle, and, Leland said, "more often than not, may win to fight another day."

So it was with keen appreciation of its legacy that this angler came to the Skykomish River before sunup on a cold Monday to target steelhead. My first-ever steelie--an 8-pound, two-salt--was in the boat before I placed a 7:30 wake-up call to my wife.

"A lot of guys go a long time without catching a steelhead," said Dave Lee, who, with Weedman, is co-owner of Three Rivers Marine in Woodinville. "They're pretty elusive."

But Lee made the mission easy with an angling version of follow the leader. He would position his 18-foot boat and cast cured salmon roe on 10-pound line. Weedman followed with a cast to the same spot, and I after him. Lee controlled the boat's drift to keep the fishing lines upstream at 45-degree angles.

The roe is pinned to a pair of No. 4 bait hooks separated by a colored foam float called a cheater. The bait hovers off the river bottom behind a "slinky"--a customized sliding sinker made of buckshot and parachute cord--and 6 feet of 8-pound leader. The sinker often gets snagged on rocks, which can be unnerving because it feels like a strike. Resist the urge to set the hook, because it's easy to yank the bait out of the fish's maw. Instead, let the steelhead swim upstream from the boat and hook itself as the line goes taut.

"The boat does all the work; you're like a statue. It's a no-brainer," Weedman said. Prepare for a serious fight on light gear.

Cast, drift, add bait, repeat. All day Lee motored up and down the Skykomish scouring the water for steelhead. The technique is called "boondogging," or free-drifting; it is aggressive, tiring and effective.

"It's a natural presentation--the roe is what the fish would be seeing filtering downriver--and you cover a lot of water," Leland explained. "You go to the fish, instead of the fish coming to you."

That's not to say bank anglers can't mimic the procedure by casting roe upstream and letting the current bounce it down.

"You don't need a boat," said Redmond steelheader Troy Sansom. "Many holes are bank accessible or close to sand bars. When the fish are in, I've seen two or three landed from shore before I can even launch."

Leland noted that while steelhead don't feed in freshwater, they can't help but go after salmon roe. "It's instinctual," he said. "They want to spawn and if they see someone else's eggs, they want to take them out. They are reacting to the smell and can see color." Sand shrimp and various spoons, plugs and other lures also are popular to attract steelhead.

Sansom is surprised more anglers don't target winter steelhead and believes many aren't aware of the nearby fishery.

"People read there's endangered this and endangered that and we're shutting down fisheries, but there are steelhead to be had and close to home," he said. "It's also the time of year most people don't think about fishing."

The daily limit on the Skykomish is two hatchery-reared steelhead per angler; wild steelhead must be released. A hatchery fish has a scar between its dorsal fin and tail where the adipose fin has been clipped. Steelhead season is expected to close March 1.