Winter Steelhead Fishing In Michigan / Steelhead & Trout Smack Down! Float Fishing Jigs Beads & Bags

Winter Steelhead fishing in Michigan can be cold and miserable bank fishing or wading so we hit up our buddy Dustin from Swift Waters Guide Service. Staying dry in a boat with a heater and a guide that knows the sweet spots is the best way to spend winter steelhead fishing. This trip turned into a trout smack down and we went 4 for 5 on steelhead. The spawn bag and bead bite was where it was at on this day but we tossed a bunch of jigs as well. I ended up Catching my pb steelhead and Jason boated 3 steelhead as well!
For a great trip hit up Dustin at Swift Waters Guide Service!
For winter float fishing Tips & tricks check out my steelhead fishing playlist or my educational fishing tips playlist.
• Steelhead fishing
• Educational Fishing Vi...
Float fishing for steelhead is the best way to fish this time of year and steelhead fishing with beads is a proven technique that catches steelhead and trout all year round but winter steelhead love beads. Winter steelhead fishing Michigan rivers means its time to break out the jigs and beads and keep the presentations subtle because these fish are just hanging out lazily taking convenient snacks that float by while they wait to do the thing they came to do. When it comes to river fishing for steelhead you got to think like a fish and know what they are thinking but more importantly make as many casts as you can cause eventually you will present your bait to a fish that does not say no to a free snack! Steelhead beads just don't get turned down by steelhead. I have on multiple occasions used a double rig with a spawn bag being turned down in favor of a bead. A steelhead fishing bead is more subtle than the average spawn bag and I believe it more naturally replicates what they would find in the river. A single steelhead or salmon egg floating down river is a more likely situation than a cluster of overly scented eggs. Sometimes however after no luck in a spot with beads making a switch to spawn bags or jigs can seal the deal on a picky fish that had a different snack preference. I over time have grown to me more confident fishing a bead under a bobber for steelhead than any other technique. I catch a good amount of steelhead on spinners but I definitely catch way more steelhead float fishing. The nice thing about float fishing for steelhead is you can use a million different baits and lures all with the same setup and presentation. Steelhead jigs can be hot and Steelhead beads always work. I have caught steelhead float fishing minnows under a bobber. Run out of minnows and just switch to a night crawler or plastic worm. Steelhead Float fishing is not a lot different than fishing for crappie or bluegill in my opinion and I know people who float fish for walleye in the river. The thing steelhead, crappie and walleye have in common is that subtle presentations like float fishing work well for them all because grabbing an easy snack is not the same as getting a reaction strike from a spinner or crank bait. You got to bug me a bit to get a reaction but I always want a snack even when I am not actively feeding... So remember when you are river fishing for steelhead in winter your goal is to use the subtle presentation of float fishing to gently deliver a subtle but tasty snack right to the steelhead wherever they are... In my opinion the most efficient way to deliver a subtle snack is with a long float rod and a centerpin or baitcaster reel. It is hard to beat a 13 foot 6-12 lb float rod and remember stiff rods=BAD
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[@johnk9698]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

Likewise! Tight lines!

[@ASTHECROWFLIESHIKING]

Wow! Amazing catch. Some cold fishing, but worth it. New follower here. Crow✌️

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

Thanks for stopping by!

[@aaronmccarthy4180]

Big buck steel! Awesome fish. Keep up the vids I enjoy watching them when I have to stay home with the baby

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

Thanks for dropping me a line! I appreciate the feedback and always love to hear from people that enjoy what I do. My babies are preteen and teens now it gets easier lol.

[@aaronmccarthy4180]

@@ReelMichiganAnglers I hope it does! But I don’t at the same time

[@rjsinnett8889]

Nice vid! Just found your channel and I’ve become a fan I’m a Michigan angler myself. Just got into the fall salmon run in the last 2 years and have had some luck I’m going to try for some steel head in the next 2 weeks. Nice content and merry Christmas to you all!

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

I’m glad you found me! I have plenty of educational videos for steelhead and salmon fishing. Thanks for dropping me a line and Merry Christmas!

[@junior8027]

Niicee! Keep it up homie!

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

Thanks I appreciate it!

[@jessehamilton957]

That is the same brown I caught! Goes to show safe catch and release does work, great video man!

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

That’s awesome! We named it Jesse’s brown lol and I sang it to the tune of Jesse’s girl… “I wish that I caught Jesse’s brown… da da da da da “

[@jessehamilton957]

@@ReelMichiganAnglers 😂😂 that’s awesome! Always a good time aboard Dustin’s boat!

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

@@jessehamilton957 true dat!

[@jamiegrames7744]

What line you running thank you

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

I usually use Pline CFX mono and I think that’s what I was using in this video as well but I’m not 100% sure.

[@jamiegrames7744]

@ReelMichiganAnglers thank you just got baitcaster for Christmas trying setup for drift fishing for steelhead

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

@@jamiegrames7744 the P line CFX is pretty cheap and smooth so you get good casts out of it and it doesn’t birds nest as easy as some other line I have used.

[@husseinrahal6111]

Is this over in the manistee river?

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

No, but it’s one of the other rivers near there.

[@scottwinslow940]

Wow! Nice video, love your content. May I ask what your running for main line and leader? Also what is your favorite hook for spawn bags? I've had fairly good luck with dime size bags on a Raven Specialist size #8 in the winter.

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

Thanks for the feedback! I like a number eight for Spond bags. There’s no reason to go big, but I don’t see a reason to go any smaller than eight. I have had awesome luck with the blood run skeena hooks myself. In this video we were using Dustin‘s gear and I am not sure what he has for mainline. I know it is high viz. mono and I’m guessing it is 12 pound definitely not more than 17. On my bait casting set up I run 12 pound P line CFX mono main line. I typically run P line tactical Flurocarbon in 8 pound for a leader.

[@scottwinslow940]

@@ReelMichiganAnglers Awesome! Thanks for the info.

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

@@scottwinslow940 my pleasure :)

[@seanyboy1011000]

Great video, digging out of 2ft+,hope i can get out, i think the guide said 8lb leader, you know what brand? Having some problems with 8lb in the cold weather. thanks

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

I like P Line Tactical Flurocarbon the best. I’m not sure what he uses. R u breaking off or getting tangled?

[@seanyboy1011000]

@@ReelMichiganAnglers I like P Line too ,had great success with the 12lb S S fluoro, for Kings, wanted to lighten up, so I went with 8lb Tactical, soon as the weather dropped into the 20s I had three lines break with very light pressure, not close to hook or split shot etc. You have any issues with Tactical in cold weather?

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

@@seanyboy1011000 with my 13 foot nova midnight series I don’t think I’ve hardly ever broken an 8 pound liter but with my 11 foot six bait caster that is less moderate, I have broken some. I haven’t had a lot of issues with the tactical braking. Is it breaking near the knot?

[@seanyboy1011000]

@@ReelMichiganAnglers no it's not breaking off near the knot or split shot, it's really strange because it wasn't a lot of pressure and it only happens since the really cold weather, I'm using a 9ft6 Fenwick medium moderate action, it was recommended, it was great for kings, probably too heavy for steelhead even with a real light drag, but I didn't have any heavy pressure with the breaks I've been having.....

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

@@seanyboy1011000 yeah, I would imagine that the bigger problem is the stiff rod. Definitely super light on the drag if you’re using an overly stiff rod with a light leader. There was a time when I was losing a lot of fish, and after switching to a more moderate rod, it hasn’t been a problem nearly as much.

[@scott843]

What baitcasters do you guys run 1:51

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

We were both using diawa tatula reels and 11 foot nova tackle rods.

[@scott843]

@@ReelMichiganAnglers nice I have a couple nova rod’s myself

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

@@scott843 I have 3 myself (spinner baitcaster and pin) but we were using the guides rods because he runs different models than what we both have and I don’t have the high end ones. We were using the nova chrome series rods.

[@scott843]

@@ReelMichiganAnglers nice I have the 2 of the 11’6 one pin one baitcaster just looking at a new baitcaster reel due to the fact that the daiwa t-wing system won’t let the bobber stop to go through

[@ReelMichiganAnglers]

@@scott843 everyone I know runs tatula for the most part. I run a cheap plastic composite Kastking for now and have had good luck. Eventually I’ll get a tatula or a concept z or a reveo beast or something when I find a good deal.