Winter Fishing for Steelhead

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Waders will help with the cold and that one moment when you want to step two feet in the river.

[Northcountryman]

1 hour ago, Fat Dan said:

Thanks.  I appreciate the advice.  I am itching to get out but maybe I'll wait a few weeks.  I don't know if I can wait until April but I can make it until March, haha.  I'll focus on walleye down here in the meantime. 

I bought a pair of stockingfoot waders and boots.  I got the felt soles but that might make things slippery in sub-freezing temps.  I was thinking about fishing from an area they call the high wall.  I guess I can pick up a cheap pair of lug soled wading boots to increase my versatility.  Thanks again. 

Oh yeah?  Have you been out for Walleye lately? Whatre yu using right now for them?  Minnows on a jig?  I wouldnt imagine theyd be too aggressive right now w/ water temps bein so cold.

[Fat Dan]

Yeah, I was out on Sunday and didn’t get a bite.  I was using jigs with soft plastics.  Minnows may have done better but they are hard to find since Cabela’s drove the local bait shops out of business. I don’t have the patience to buy the at Cabela’s. I did see a lot of waterfowl and a big ass beaver that kept swimming around.  I caught some pretty nice walleye last winter but it was a bit warmer than this year.  
 

I’ll be trying again tomorrow or Sunday.  I might even bring my 9 year-old son. He’s been asking to go but he’ll be bored after 15 minutes. I get bored this time of year so I go even when I’m not likely to catch anything. I need to learn how hunt geese or something for this in-between time. 

[Northcountryman]

4 minutes ago, Fat Dan said:

Yeah, I was out on Sunday and didn’t get a bite.  I was using jigs with soft plastics.  Minnows may have done better but they are hard to find since Cabela’s drove the local bait shops out of business. I don’t have the patience to buy the at Cabela’s. I did see a lot of waterfowl and a big ass beaver that kept swimming around.  I caught some pretty nice walleye last winter but it was a bit warmer than this year.  
 

I’ll be trying again tomorrow or Sunday.  I might even bring my 9 year-old son. He’s been asking to go but he’ll be bored after 15 minutes. I get bored this time of year so I go even when I’m not likely to catch anything. I need to learn how hunt geese or something for this in-between time. 

Yeah, I'd go with bait this time of year; water's so cold right now, theyre not gonna be interested in much else IMHO.  Are you fishing from shore?

[Fat Dan]

Yeah, this time of year I fish from shore. 

[Fat Dan]

Change of plans.  I talked to my friend and he still wants to go.  We understand that there is a good chance that we get skunked but, barring something unforeseen, we are planning to head up on Friday morning.  We should get to the river around 11:00 or 12:00.  I am hoping the moving water will mean that it is open water and fishable.  I have all the gear we need, I think.  

We are planning to drift floats with beads, jigs, spawn sacks, etc. Our plan is to stay at a local hotel and fish Saturday too.  If the Oswego seems hopeless after Friday, we might try somewhere else on Saturday.  We’ll head home on Saturday evening. 

This is all subject to change if a blizzard comes or something. I may be too stubborn for my own good (I drove alone to Colorado with a bow and tried to shoot an elk despite being alone and not knowing where I was going). I figure it can be a recon trip.  At least I will know the lay of the land for a return trip in March or April.  

If anyone wants to meet up, that would be cool. In the meantime, if anyone has suggestions that would be great too.  Thanks

Edited February 16, 2021 by Fat Dan

[Northcountryman]

12 hours ago, Fat Dan said:

Change of plans.  I talked to my friend and he still wants to go.  We understand that there is a good chance that we get skunked but, barring something unforeseen, we are planning to head up on Friday morning.  We should get to the river around 11:00 or 12:00.  I am hoping the moving water will mean that it is open water and fishable.  I have all the gear we need, I think.  

We are planning to drift floats with beads, jigs, spawn sacks, etc. Our plan is to stay at a local hotel and fish Saturday too.  If the Oswego seems hopeless after Friday, we might try somewhere else on Saturday.  We’ll head home on Saturday evening. 

This is all subject to change if a blizzard comes or something. I may be too stubborn for my own good (I drove alone to Colorado with a bow and tried to shoot an elk despite being alone and not knowing where I was going). I figure it can be a recon trip.  At least I will know the lay of the land for a return trip in March or April.  

If anyone wants to meet up, that would be cool. In the meantime, if anyone has suggestions that would be great too.  Thanks

Sounds like a good time; wish I could make it... LMK if and when you go to Delaware; I probably could do that much sooner than an Oswego trip at this point 

[Fat Dan]

We are making the trip tomorrow.  We postponed for 2 weeks hoping for better weather but it looks like the gamble didn’t work.  It’s going to be cold and windy but it beats watching t.v.   

[Northcountryman]

 Im just gettin over COVID so am out of commission for a bit, but I wish you luck; post us some pics so we can fish vicariously through you!! 

[Fat Dan]

We had a fun trip but didn’t catch any fish.  We fished both the Salmon River and Oswego River.  We were starting to think the steelhead were just a myth to attract tourists (like the Loch Ness Monster) but the a guy near us managed to catch one.  That was the only fish that we saw caught.  I might try again this spring if I can get some free time.  

Edited March 7, 2021 by Fat Dan

[Northcountryman]

Where did you try, over by the dam or did you stay on the wall?

[Fat Dan]

We stayed by the wall.  The river looked pretty treacherous to wade.  We saw a couple guys across the river wading a bit but no one near the dam.  We actually went to the salmon river too.  That is where we saw a guy catch a steelhead.  We didn't see any catches in the Oswego.  It was a stronger and faster current there than I expected.  it is hard for me to imagine walleye in the Oswego current but I know people catch them there.

[Northcountryman]

Yeah , they usually catch em deep , near the wall I think . I’d actually like to try fishing the other side of the damn sometime , further upstream . I’d imagine there’d be walleye in there . Next month is supposed to be very good for Steelhead Too, so keep that in mind !! 

[Robhuntandfish]

I've seen guys wade out to that median across from the dam and then get stuck there.  

We used to fish under the first bridge from the dam towards the lake and do well.  Especially for browns it seemed and could get close to the water there without a fence.  But if water was high and they took you past the bridge piling downstream forget trying to get them back.

Edited March 8, 2021 by Robhuntandfish

[Fat Dan]

1 hour ago, Northcountryman said:

Yeah , they usually catch em deep , near the wall I think . I’d actually like to try fishing the other side of the damn sometime , further upstream . I’d imagine there’d be walleye in there . Next month is supposed to be very good for Steelhead Too, so keep that in mind !! 

Yeah, I’d imagine prespawn walleyes are bunched up at the base of the dam.   It might be worth a try but it would be potentially dangerous. I would try it under the right conditions.  My buddy was pretty much done fishing after the first hour of the first day.  I was less adventurous than I would have been solo since he is way less gung ho. He’s a good guy but loses interest fast.