Despite challenges, spring steelhead season has rewards

BOISE, Idaho -- Spring steelhead fishing is like a big Catch-22. You're waiting for warm weather to raise river temperatures a few degrees and get dormant fish moving again.

But the snowpack looms like a weak, leaky dam that hot weather or rain will erode and send a torrent of water downstream and turn prime fishing water into raging current. No one ever claimed steelhead fishing was easy; in fact, the challenge is part of the draw.

Steelhead anglers drive for hours, camp in the rain and snow, line up shoulder to shoulder on the river's edge, or stand thigh-deep in frigid water and cast like metronomes hoping that a steelhead will take their offerings.

When it happens, there's an electric jolt like you just tapped into Mother Nature's power main. A leaping, thrashing, line-stripping steelhead can battle like few other fish, and when you've tapped into that energy, the river doesn't seem so cold, the drive so far or the weather so bad.

Despite the challenges of spring steelhead fishing, it does have its advantages over fall when fish are dispersed in large rivers.

Steelhead move into headwaters in spring, where they are concentrated in the smallest sections of the rivers. There's excellent bank access, and when conditions are right, you can actually see the fish you're trying to catch.

Fly-fishing guide Dave Tucker, of Parma, has gotten many neophytes hooked into their first steelhead. Tucker owns and operates Dreams on the Fly and guides for steelhead and trout in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. He will be guiding this spring on the upper Salmon River near Stanley.

Despite the unpredictability of spring fishing, Tucker said it is a good time to learn about steelhead fishing.

"It's probably the best chance for a trout fisherman to catch a steelhead," Tucker said. "They're a little easier to get to, and you don't need a lot of technical gear."

You can catch steelhead with a heavy trout rod, like stiff 6-weight or a 7-weight rod, he said, and a fly angler who can cast a nymph or an egg pattern and an indicator can usually get their fly to a steelhead.

Gear fishermen also can have excellent spring fishing by drifting shrimp or roe, or just yarn with scent. Bobbers and jigs also are popular, especially in slow, deep holes where fish often congregate and rest during their upstream migration.

Whatever your fishing method, spring steelhead will test your patience, but it will also give you a chance to catch a fish that will dwarf even the largest trout.

Here's four rivers that will test your skills and patience:

Little Salmon River

The Little Salmon can provide some of the best spring fishing in the state, but it is steep and shallow, so it can be tough to fish at higher water. Anglers tend to congregate at the deeper holes in the river, so they can get crowded.

But there's lots of places to access the river and you can catch fish nearly anywhere when steelhead are moving upstream.

Bring lots of fishing gear. The Little Salmon is infamous for snagging tackle. Many anglers fish with just a snelled hook and yarn and some scent on it. The Little Salmon parallels U.S. 95 between New Meadows and Riggins.

Grande Ronde River

This river in northeast Oregon is popular with Treasure Valley steelhead anglers because it has good road access and can be waded in most areas.

It's about a five-hour drive, but much of that is on freeways. Take I-84 to LaGrande and have a road map from there. The river isn't hard to find, but it is easy to miss a turn to the river.

The Grande Ronde is in a picturesque canyon with abundant wildlife, including deer, elk, bighorn sheep, turkeys, bald eagles, geese, and more.

The river can get high, muddy and difficult to fish in spring, but when it does, you can still fish the Wallowa River, which is a tributary.

South Fork of the Clearwater River

This tributary stream has a big run of hatchery steelhead and features the large "B'' run fish that commonly weigh 10 to 15 pounds. The South Fork can get crowded, especially at prime fishing holes, but it also has good road access to a long stretch of river, so you can find places to escape the crowds.

The best way to access the South Fork is by taking U.S. 95 to Grangeville and Idaho 13 to the river. You will run into more private property in the lower end and more public land in the upper river.

Upper Salmon River

The headwaters of the Salmon provide over 100 miles of steelhead water from the Salmon area to Stanley. This section of the river is much narrower than the river near Riggins, so it's easier for bank anglers to fish. There are also sections you can float in a river-worthy boat. But make sure you know the river because there are treacherous rapids in some stretches.

The spring season runs well into April as fish make their final push to the Sawtooth Hatchery. To get there, take Idaho 55 to the Banks to Lowman Highway and head to Stanley.