steelhead

[BAD KARMA]

i was wanting to try trolling for steelhead and have no idea were to start. can someone in the vermillion area let me know if i would be able to fish of the vermillion river area when they start staging for river run. and also what type of bait and depth would i look for. i have dipseys and troll big boards with jets in western area. i go to the bouy a couple times a year but have never caught one.
thanks joe

[TIN CAN]

i was wanting to try trolling for steelhead and have no idea were to start. can someone in the vermillion area let me know if i would be able to fish of the vermillion river area when they start staging for river run. and also what type of bait and depth would i look for. i have dipseys and troll big boards with jets in western area. i go to the bouy a couple times a year but have never caught one.
thanks joe

Most Steelhead are still far out in the lake and more to the East end. A few have been taken in the Ashtabula area.
Most fall steelhead staging should take place further east because more of those fish are fall run fish. The run on the Vermilion primarily takes place in March through the last of April. This because of a change in the strain of fish stocked from Londons (fall runners) to Manistee (spring runner). PA. still stocks fall run fish so more opportunity there. However there are still some fish that will run the V starting in mid October. Fish outside the break wall in about 15 to 20 ft of water using small spoons and minnow type lures.

[Backagainbaha71]

I have docked in Vermilion for over 10 years and we catch them in the river mid october. I have caught a couple as well perch fishing and can be a riot on a light spinning rod. In November I actually target crappie in the river with a smaller boat we own and have caught a few as well. I dont target steelies anymore since I use to fish Rocky a-lot as a kid and have had my fair share of battles with them-plus they dont taste to good.

[BAD KARMA]

thanks for the replies, seems like i need to go farther east or maybe spring.

[jake1]

always had good luck with stingers spoons silver pink blue ,,

[docwet]

Try this if you're looking for something different...Take a big flyrod, add extension butt, remove flyline and replace with 12-14# mono. Use 4" dodger and tubefly w/ big hook(3/0) or #44 Sutton spoon. Add Du-Bro dropback release to flyrod grip. Use downrigger to lower lure to desired depth; generally no more than 35'. Du-Bro release will prevent reel from free-spooling. Troll slowly allowing dodger to swing lure back and forth.

ps; Make sure you have plenty of line and backing.

Cheers, Docwet

[Dr.Ed]

If you want steelhead action try the Conneaut shipping channel and in and around the breakwall this fall. Call Jack at Snug Harbor for the latest info.
(440) 593-3755. We drag Cleo and K O spoons 80'-100' back at 0.6-0.8 mph. When the action heats up, for fun we put noodle rods on the downriggers and use whatever lure is working. It is worth the drive from wherever when you can get over 20 hookups and only have to burn a couple of gallons of gas.

[BAD KARMA]

thanks guys i might try that what time of the month does that usally happen i would love to go catch a couple.

[SteelEyes]

As Dr.Ed and TIN CAN stated, Conneaut will be your first place to start. We have been getting some mixed in with the walleyes trolling 8-15 miles out. As water temperature lowers and we get some good rains, the fall run steelhead will smell the 'home waters' and begin to stage and make their runs to the river. Snug Harbor, as suggested, should be called, they record a fishing report daily. Sometimes it's as early as september, but October and even November can be good months for staging at conneaut. We troll spoons 80- 100ft back, with no diving devices and are successful. This fall I may experiment with some shallow divers outside the harbor.
To expound on the previous statements, you can troll in and out of the harbor, and in the ship channel. If your boat is small (low) enough you can even troll up conneaut creek. You just have to be able to get under the rail bridge at the back of the ship channel. Generally you can boat fish the creek to just upstream of the Woodworth Road boat ramp. Just upstream of the boat ramp their is another rail bridge, there is 1 pool upstream of the rail bridge we troll and turn around in, upstream of that it gets real shallow. Saw a jet ski bottom out and get stuck there one day last year.
The below link has some good information on Ohio steelhead. Good point to remember is that conneaut creek gets stocked with both fall run (by PA) and winter/spring run (by OH) strains.
http://www.steelheadschool.com/new_page_11.htm
http://www.steelheadschool.com/fall_fishing.htm
Also, if you can get under the rail bridge at the creek mouth / ship channel, then you could launch your boat at the woodward rd boat ramp for free, rather than paying the $5 at conneaut harbor.

the lines on the attached harbor picture show the general area where we troll, the circle shows the low rail bridge at the river mouth. the river image has the circle for the rail bridge, another for the boat dock, and the line at the bottom shows how far upstream we troll.

[BAD KARMA]

that was an awsome report and i appricate it. i am going to try that out when the reports are good. been wanting to try to catch some steelheads for a while but walleye fishing has been so good its hard not to go get a cooler full. I have a 22 ft. center console with a t top. do you think i can make it under the bridge. i can make it under the last one in vermillon if you have ever been there. thanks again joe.