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Greetings steelheaders!


It's been a crazy fishless year for myself but I hope to rectify that fact soon. First a little Spring wrap-up. Here's what the steelhead and Kamloops capture rates looked like for the combined traps.




Note the strong temperature/run component in the numbers. We actually had pretty decent flow this Spring, but the temps were up and down around that magic 40 degree mark which made for some tough fly-fishing.

I spent just over 2 days chasing steelhead without much to show for it this spring, but I did get to scout some water in a little more detail. And speaking of scouting... The Fall runs are just around the corner, and there is no better way to learn new water than to get out there after our most diminutive salmon species: The Pinks

Whether scouting new water, or simply getting to know more familiar waters better, keeping track of where you see pinks congregating will help you find steelhead in the Spring since they like the same type of water and for the same reasons. There's no better way to spend a Fall day than tying into feisty fish while increasing your stream knowledge. Who knows, you might just find a chinook, coho or even coaster as a bonus.

Look for Pinks to start staging off Upper Shore river mouths within the next few weeks, and runs to begin after rains in the second week of September give or take. And speaking of scouting, another great tool is available to North Shore steelheaders:

Simply zoom in on the North Shore and look for the "Biological Station" icon. From there select "View Data" and click on the station. A wealth of information will appear from watershed size to bottom substrate, fish species present, sizes, densities and listings of insect species. One very useful tool for scouting streams.
Regards-
NMF

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