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minnows for steelhead


huzzsaba

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In the fall here on Lake Erie vast schools of Emerald Shiners congregate along the rip rap and break walls at some of the river mouths. Those same areas seem to be where steelhead also congregate before entering the rivers.

 

I used to keep a steelhead a year in the fall for a dinner, when I cleaned them they were full of emerald shiners, small shad, and small perch. The lures I used to catch the steelhead, white tubes, small chrome and black crankbaits, and jigs with a white twister tail imitated baitfish.

 

It stands to reason minnows should work?

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Yes! As Dave alluded to the use of minnows is much more common Stateside, although it's hard to understand why. Up here I've been using them for many years, mostly in pier or estuary situations. (I never walk a river with a minnow bucket).

 

No one does it up here.

 

There have been times on certain busy piers where everyone is either drifting roe or flies and I've had to be ultra secretive about what I'm using so as not to educate 100 other diehard steelheaders.

 

I guess the secret is out now. :)

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Hey, I wanna give this a try. How do you guys fish them, on a jig?

 

Can't speak for anyone else but always under a float lightly hooked through the back on a light wire hook. Clear water is best as a steelhead will home in on a wildly dancing minnow from a long ways away. The hits are usually pretty savage.

 

I've found it's often more effective to run a pretty shallow lead as well. Much more effective than drifting the minnow close to the bottom. In general about halfway to the bottom seems about right, sometimes even shallower.

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You can"t beat live meat, especially this time of year. The hoity toity center pin heads are likely going to sneer at you, if so, screw them it's your river too

 

lol. I try to stay away from the crowds but I will keep that in mind if I catch anyone staring.

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I know I seen a stretch of river where minnows were jumping about and right after,there were some big swirls and splashes. No dought they were chomping on them minnows. I have also heard of some guys :whistling: using gulp finness minnows, under their floats.

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So tried port dalhousie yesterday and no luck with minnows. its a tough place to fish for sure and the water clarity was not the greatest. Saw many fish surfacing, light brown color so I'm guessing they were brown although a few seemed to look like bass by the way they were swimming along the wall but it was hard to tell at night.

Edited by huzzsaba
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So tried port dalhousie yesterday and no luck with minnows. its a tough place to fish for sure and the water clarity was not the greatest. Saw many fish surfacing, light brown color so I'm guessing they were brown although a few seemed to look like bass by the way they were swimming along the wall but it was hard to tell at night.

 

Current is strong there, 90% of the time it's a reaction bite. Many of the regulars bottom bounce there very successfully with large streamers.

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Current is strong there, 90% of the time it's a reaction bite. Many of the regulars bottom bounce there very successfully with large streamers.

 

Sure is. I haven't seen any place like port D. the current is one of a kind. Bronte and port credit is a little more fisherman friendly and water is much clearer.

Edited by huzzsaba
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Not live minnows but imitate them.... try larger bass sized white tubes (3 to 3.5") on a 1/16 to 1/8oz tube jig head and bottom bounce them through runs on the smaller flows (Bronte etc) . This works really well for fresh fish.

 

Burt :)

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Not live minnows but imitate them.... try larger bass sized white tubes (3 to 3.5") on a 1/16 to 1/8oz tube jig head and bottom bounce them through runs on the smaller flows (Bronte etc) . This works really well for fresh fish.

 

Burt :)

 

 

Thanks for the tip. I will try that.

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