Steelhead streaming in
Paul A. Smith
As the curtain rises on spring, our world achieves a rare sense of balance: half light, half dark. Sun rise directly in the east, set directly in the west.
But even mighty Sol has its limitations.
A dozen anglers have gathered along a 50-yard run of Oak Creek. The surface glitters like diamonds as the creek, fortified by snow melt, tumbles to Lake Michigan.
In the mile of water from its mouth to the dam in Grant Park, the creek hosts at least a hundred rod-wielding visitors this day.
They've come in a spring ritual, an attempt to tap into a seasonal bounty found in Oak Creek and Lake Michigan tributaries all along the Wisconsin shore: steelhead.
So while the weather is moderating and our daylight is perfectly balanced to dark, the lives of many anglers are focused on only one thing.
"Believe me, I like all kinds of fishing," said Bill Hegyi of Cudahy, tossing a line into Oak Creek. "But when it comes down to it, steelhead have an edge over everything."
I joined Hegyi and Scott "Steelhead" Scardino of Milwaukee for a couple mornings of fishing last weekend in Grant Park.
Hooded mergansers fished near the creek's mouth, and hairy woodpeckers flitted in the surrounding woods. Canada geese staked out nest sites.
Spring had sprung, and nowhere was it more obvious than in the throng of anglers.
"A chromer!" said Hegyi, his enthusiasm mounting as a 30-inch steelhead took line.
The fish ran up and down stream for two minutes and then was worked within reach of the net. Hegyi reached down and plucked a spawn sac out of its mouth and released it back to the stained water.
It's one of the spring spectacles of life in Wisconsin. After ice out and into May, Lake Superior streams such as the Brule River and dozens of Lake Michigan tributaries host runs of steelhead.
Steelhead is another name for rainbow trout that spend most of their life cycle in big water and migrate up rivers to spawn. The fish are native to the Pacific Ocean and have been stocked in Lake Michigan since the 1960s as part of a plan to introduce a top-level predator fish to reduce the number of beach-fouling alewives. Both lake and stream anglers have benefited.
Several strains of steelhead are stocked, including Skamania, Chambers Creek and Arlee. The good news for stream anglers is the different strains tend to run up river at different times, extending the fishing season.
The state attempts to stock 500,000 steelhead in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan each year but fell about 60,000 fish short in 2009, according to Department of Natural Resources records. Although no fish are stocked directly in Oak Creek, fish stocked in the Milwaukee harbor find their way up all area tributaries.
The presence of fish and the fishing action is highly dependent on the water conditions in the streams. Snow melt and rain cause the streams to rise and draw fish in from the lake. But anglers often must wait days for a given stream to drop and become "fishable."
Hegyi, Scardino and I had been watching area streams for the last couple weeks. Milwaukee-area residents are fortunate to have three streams - the Milwaukee and Menomonee rivers and Oak Creek - that provide steelhead opportunities, usually at different times.
Oak Creek is the smallest of the three and was in very good shape last weekend. By drifting spawn sacs and tube jigs through deep runs, we caught eight steelhead and two brown trout one day and six steelhead the next.
All of the steelhead were fresh from the lake; a couple of hens were especially handsome, bearing the characteristic pink blush on cheek and side. The fish ranged from 25 to 33 inches in length. All were released.
Although we fished bait, flies also work well at times.
"There are no rules down here," is how Scardino puts it.
This is the banter of anglers. Hyperbole rules. But there is a kernel of truth in all of it.
One of Scardino's favored tactics is fishing a tiny ice fishing jig beneath a float. He sweetens the jig with a wax worm.
Hegyi and Scardino are avid practitioners of catch-and-release.
"These fish don't pull off natural reproduction in this water," said Hegyi. "Some guys say, why release them? But they will bite again. So I say help out another angler and release them."
The message is one of versatility, flexibility. Real estate agents are fond of saying: "Location, location, location."
When it comes to steelhead fishing, timing is just as important as location.
"As the water falls, the fishing will drop off, too," Hegyi said. "Then it might be time for the bigger rivers. That's the challenge and the joy of it."
Send e-mail to psmith@journalsentinel.com
