Still water Steelheading...

[downriver79]

There are some coastal lagoons near me that have sand bars separating them from the ocean. Most years, the winter rains will temporarily washout the barriers, allowing fish to enter. Mostly SRC's but some Steelhead do come into them. I'm guessing that stripping streamers would be about the best way to target them in this situation, but would love to hear y'alls input, pattern recommendations, etc. for this situation. I'm thinking maybe shrimp patterns or clousers? What about tides? Would incoming or outgoing be better/worse? I have almost no experience fishing saltwater (although I guess this would technically be considered brackish). Any input is really appreciated. Thanks!

 

[jeradjames]

Steve Raymond wrote about fishing for steelhead in the estuaries in his book Steelhead Country and the Estuary Fly Fisher. I don't remember the patterns or if he mentioned them but I'll look when I get home. Think it was just stripping streamers. Incoming tide brings fish in but almost positive he wrote about finding them in holding spots during low tide waiting for the water to rise to push out of the estuary and into the river.

 

[Stonedfish]

I recall reading an article many moons ago about fishing for steelhead at tidewater or just above written by Bill Herzog. He mentioned using the color red.
I can’t recall his reasoning, but it might be worth noting and having a few red patterns in your box.
SF

 

[SurfnFish]

There's a non-power coastal lake that on an irregular basis receives surplus steelhead from a local hatchery. If we heard among a very small grapevine a new batch had been placed, we'd take turns rowing each other around in drift boats while the bow fisher looked for cruisers to cast to, Rainbow Clousers tied on size 6 worked really well.
Fighting a ten pound steelhead with a 6 wt in stillwater, with searing runs that go well into the backing in seconds, is an absolute hoot.

 

[IHFISH]

From Raymond’s Estuary Fly Fisher.

 

[jeradjames]

A couple good pages you may find useful from Steelhead Country by Steve Raymond

 

[RRSmith]

I am familiar with these lagoons as two of them were under ownership of the outfit I worked for and part of my management area for a portion of my career. While steelhead have been documented in three of them, only one has a consistent annual run. I never targeted steelhead but used to occasionally fish for cutthroat in two of them (from a boat). I once chatted with a guy at the Eureka Fly Shop about steelies and while we didn't talk patterns, he did say that he thought it was important to get on the lagoon as soon as it breached and became tidal as he felt the fish didn't linger too long in tidewater. My other tip would be to maybe focus in an area near the main tributary. Be careful where you park your rig - I recall break ins being an issue but that was over 10 years ago.

 

[John Svahn]

If these estuaries are where I think they are I have fished them. Usually from the sand spits and sometimes in a canoe. I have only caught the cutties but one time I had a follow from a hyper energized non-cuttie. The spit was breached at the time. Orange comet if I recall. That was like 15 years ago but I still remember the follow!
Bummed to hear about the break ins. We used to love camping in the county park as a surfing/fishing hub.

 

[downriver79]

Wow! Great info! Thanks y'all, much appreciated!
And FWIW, unfortunately, things haven't gotten any better in the last decade as far as break-ins go. The collapse of the local industry has had a real trickle down effect.

 

[Yard Sale]

I used to fish those lagoons back in the 90s. We would troll rust colored simi-seal buggers on intermediate lines and do pretty good. We didn't worry too much about the breaching, we'd just troll along the outside sand bank were I think they were staged up. This was back in the belly boat days so we were trolling pretty dang slow. Pretty neat place to fish!

 

[skyriver]

I would think a good old orange GP would be a good one to try.

 

[GAT]

The fishery isn't really a lagoon, but instead a lake. For years, the ODF&W would dump the surplus returning hatchery steelhead in trout lakes near the coast. One is particular was very good to me. Turns out, the longer a steelhead stays in fresh water, the more apt it is to return to its smolt ways.

Soooooo...... from my pontoon boat I've caught a goodly number of adult steelhead in the lake using a full sinking line and my favorite stillwater trout flies .... usually a version of a Woolly Bugger. Olive, brown, black variegated olive all with gold bead heads worked fine. And if they didn't catch steelhead, they'd certainly catch the planted rainbows. Over the years, I caught a lot of steelhead from a lake ... and yes, they do have a tendency to pull you around in a floating craft. Hoisting them into the boat was also a neat trick but over time I figured it out.

I don't know if the same approach would work for a lagoon but I guess it just depends on how long the steelhead have been there.

 

[SilverFly]

The fishery isn't really a lagoon, but instead a lake. For years, the ODF&W would dump the surplus returning hatchery steelhead in trout lakes near the coast. One is particular was very good to me. Turns out, the longer a steelhead stays in fresh water, the more apt it is to return to its smolt ways.

Soooooo...... from my pontoon boat I've caught a goodly number of adult steelhead in the lake using a full sinking line and my favorite stillwater trout flies .... usually a version of a Woolly Bugger. Olive, brown, black variegated olive all with gold bead heads worked fine. And if they didn't catch steelhead, they'd certainly catch the planted rainbows. Over the years, I caught a lot of steelhead from a lake ... and yes, they do have a tendency to pull you around in a floating craft. Hoisting them into the boat was also a neat trick but over time I figured it out.

I don't know if the same approach would work for a lagoon but I guess it just depends on how long the steelhead have been there.

This ^.

Same small/buggy fly approach works in the CR Gorge trib mouth fisheries a hundred + miles from the ocean.

I'd have a hard time believing ocean fresh steelhead wouldn't be at least as receptive, and likely far more aggressive. Per flies, a total hunch on my part but I would lean towards a bit flashier, more colorful patterns. But still on the smaller side relative to something you'd swing in a run. Like maybe the above mentioned GP in a size 8

 

[RRSmith]

I never really had a chance to target these lagoons other than occasionally as I only visited our Eureka office a few days a month. If I lived there - I would have been all over the coastal cutthroat scene. There are some real trophies in those lagoons.

A little history:
California does have a history of propagating and planting coastal cutthroat along CA's north coast, primarily in the coastal lagoons. Originally a brood stock was maintained with fish originating from the Alsea River in Oregon. That broodstock program was discontinued in the late 1970's. In the late 80's to mid 90's, Humboldt State University's fish hatchery (along with the Mad River Hatchery) took over propagation. This was accomplished through collecting eggs originating from local wild adults and rearing to fingerling and sub catchable size. This was also discontinued due to concerns over cutthroat predation on tidewater gobies.

These lagoons have self sustaining, in some cases thriving cutthroat populations - most exhibiting the adfluvial life history with occasional forays into the salt. These highly productive lagoons range in size from 500 acres to nearly 7,000 acres with Lake Earl being one of the largest coastal lagoons in the US. All three are reputed to have (and continue) to produce trophy class coastal cutthroat. California doesn't officially recognize subspecies in their freshwater records but the unofficial state coastal cutthroat record is 5 lbs 12 ounces taken in the 1980's from one of the lagoons.

There's been documented hybridization between steelhead and cutthroat in two of the lagoons and a master's thesis was done about this in 1997. I have seen some enormous "cutthroat" that I would bet have some rainbow mixed in. There were a couple of Humboldt State (now Cal Poly Humboldt) kids that were catching monsters and posting them on social media. Here's a few images that I grabbed from their social media:

 

[HauntedByWaters]

I never really had a chance to target these lagoons other than occasionally as I only visited our Eureka office a few days a month. If I lived there - I would have been all over the coastal cutthroat scene. There are some real trophies in those lagoons.

A little history:
California does have a history of propagating and planting coastal cutthroat along CA's north coast, primarily in the coastal lagoons. Originally a brood stock was maintained with fish originating from the Alsea River in Oregon. That broodstock program was discontinued in the late 1970's. In the late 80's to mid 90's, Humboldt State University's fish hatchery (along with the Mad River Hatchery) took over propagation. This was accomplished through collecting eggs originating from local wild adults and rearing to fingerling and sub catchable size. This was also discontinued due to concerns over cutthroat predation on tidewater gobies.

These lagoons have self sustaining, in some cases thriving cutthroat populations - most exhibiting the adfluvial life history with occasional forays into the salt. These highly productive lagoons range in size from 500 acres to nearly 7,000 acres with Lake Earl being one of the largest coastal lagoons in the US. All three are reputed to have (and continue) to produce trophy class coastal cutthroat. California doesn't officially recognize subspecies in their freshwater records but the unofficial state coastal cutthroat record is 5 lbs 12 ounces taken in the 1980's from one of the lagoons.

There's been documented hybridization between steelhead and cutthroat in two of the lagoons and a master's thesis was done about this in 1997. I have seen some enormous "cutthroat" that I would bet have some rainbow mixed in. There were a couple of Humboldt State (now Cal Poly Humboldt) kids that were catching monsters and posting them on social media. Here's a few images that I grabbed from their social media:

View attachment 174155

View attachment 174161

View attachment 174165

OMG I need a cold shower…

 

[RRSmith]

We had an office and staff at Lake Earl Wildlife Area near Crescent City which was within my area of responsibility. One of our scientific aids was an older guy who grew up in the area and hardcore fished for trophy cutthroat in the coastal lagoons. He told me he trolled a 6" rapala for the big ones. There was a photo of him with a fish that he claimed weighed 5 lbs hanging on a bulletin board in one of the offices. I believed him - it looked every bit of that. I had yet to start my journey to pursue SRC's so I didn't appreciate what a unicorn it was. He was a Vietnam vet who sadly ended up passing from Parkinson's disease at the age of 60. About a year after he passed, I went looking for that photo and it was gone... RIP Larry