May steelhead action continues in Lake Ontario tributaries.
Posted on May 4th, 2014
Aaron Shirley, our pup Mulligan and I had a great time steelhead fishing Lake Ontario tributaries with our Rapala Drift Outfits. We matched our 11? Rapala R-Type drift rods with Rapala drift reels, Sufix Tritanium andSufix Seige 8 lb. test main line and Sufix 6 lb. test fluorocarbon leaders with #10 Gamakatsu Octopus hooks with sensitive 4 gram floats and fished treated trout egg-sacks.
[nggallery id=931]I took these sequence shots of Aaron fighting a really nice size spawned out female which he successfully landed, posed for the camera and released it quickly….well don Aaron!
Both Aaron & I had fun catching and releasing some nice post-spawn steelhead. When steelhead start dropping-back to the Great Lakes they are usually skinny (having lost quite a bit of their body mass from spawning/eggs), and they become very acrobatic.
Drop-back steelhead can really school up in larger pools but they can also get very spooky and line shy. A stealthy approach to a pool helps, and making a long drift to a productive spool with the aid of a drift-outfit really helps to ensure fish taking your well presented egg-sack on almost every drift!
It is evident in nature that we have a late spring. I took a picture of these Bloodroot that have still not bloomed….maybe in the next few days!
One of my favorite trout/salmon egg pickling recipe is as follows:
- 1 cup scraped/skeened or loose salmon or trout eggs (do not wash)
- 5-table spoons of powdered Borax
- 3-table spoons fine pickling salt
- 1/4 cup unrefined brown sugar
I take the above and mix them in a tray, adding the Borax first letting the eggs absorb it for a few hours. Than I add the pickling salt and again stir well and I let it sit for a couple of hours. Lastly I add the brown sugar, mix it well and let it set in the fridge. Each day I mix the eggs gently to make sure they all come in contact with the ingredients. I find it’s best to keep the eggs in a flatter (as opposed to a high) container where they eggs don’t put too much weight on themselves. They are ready to tie the next day and will keep for months in the fridge…..and they work great!!
