Wobbling Lures for Steelhead
Posted on April 1st, 2009
Many of the southern Ontario tributary waters rose dramatically through the weekend and we are still seeing lower visibility in many of the streams that flow into Lake Ontario. If the clarity is at least 6-18″, spawn-sacks will continue to work well, but if the clarity drops below 6″, it can make for difficult drifting with trout & salmon eggs. Under these conditions I have had good results using wobbling lures, not just in the smaller tributaries, but even in the Niagara River. Niagara River guides know that when the Niagara gets “blown-out” by strong winds on Lake Erie (which dumps it’s murky water down the Niagara River), and they still have charters, they usually go to wobbling lures and drift them along the bottom in the same way they would be drifting spawn-sacks. If you are planning on using wobbling lures keep these two simple rules in mind;
1. If you are fishing smaller/larger tributaries and the water is pretty clear, use small size wobbling lures in natural colors. This would include the Luhr Jensen Kwikfish #5 & #7, Luhr Jensen Hot Shot 030, 035, in silver & gold, with light “accent colors” of greeen, blue, pink, etc., & skunk color.
2. If you are fishing smaller/larger tributaries with turbid water condtions, use larger size wobbling lures in fluorescent colors. This would include the Luhr Jensen Kwikfish #9 , Luhr Jensen Hot Shot 025, in fluorescent red, chartreuse/red spts. skunk, etc.
