Steelhead Fishing
With over 70 documented Steelhead streams Prince of Wales Island is a Steelheader's paradise. Realistically there are about 8 major drainages that you have access to by road. With those streams and their tributaries you have about 15 different options that are easy to access. Most of those streams are accessed via the road system and a short walk. The spring season runs from mid-April through early June depending on the weather. May is prime time for these magnificent fish.
The Steelhead fishing on Prince of Wales Island is catch and release. Just like any other great fishing destination they work to protect their native runs of Steelhead. Our favorite techniques include flies, bobber and jig, and spinners. We recommend barbless hooks to lower the mortality rate of the fish caught.
The Steelhead on the island average 6 to 10 pounds, with some fish reaching over 20 pounds. The your fishing gear has to be strong enough to handle these strong native fish. We recommend using no less then 10 pound test monofilament and strong hooks in size 1 or larger. We prefer to use heavier line and larger hooks but that is personal preference.
Example:
1. Our standard spinner setup is a medium-heavy casting rod with a casting reel loaded with 12 pound monofilament. On the end of the line we use a swivel to connect to a size 4 spinner with a 1/0 siwash hook. Trust me on the siwash, I have spent a lot of time researching and keeping data on the subject.
2. Our standard fly setup is a 9 or 10 foot, 7 wt. fly rod and large arbor reel loaded with 7 wt. weight-forward fly line. We don't use factory sink tip lines because most of them are too long for most situations on the island. We use a long leader with a heavily weighted fly, or a loop-in after market sink tip with a short leader to an unweighted fly, size 2 or larger.
3. Our standard jig setup is a med-light to medium action 9 foot
spinning rod. A size 2500 spinning reel loaded with 20 or 30 pound braided line, or 10 pound monofilament. The bobber is set on the main line 18 to 30 inches above the jig. If you use a braided main line you must use a swivel and monofilament leader so you can avoid cutting the fish with the braided line. We use at least 12 pound mono leader, sometime as high as 20 pound. Remember these fish are not line shy. The reason we don't use heavier mono when the mono is the main line is because the mono is much thicker than the braided line. The thicker mono creates a lot of resistance and tends to drag the bobber and jig making it harder to fish effectively. Most of the jigs we use are 1/8 or 1/4 oz on a sharp 2/0 hook.
Good quality hooks such as Owner or Gamakatsu are hardened and chemically sharpened and are well worth the extra expense. You will need strong hooks for these incredibly strong fish.
For those of you that are willing to hike there are endless
possibilities. There are times during the season that we find
ourselves fishing to native Steelhead that have never seen a fly or
lure before. It is the purest form of fishing I have ever experienced.
Packages include: Private suites which sleeps 4 adults and has a private kitchen and bathroom. Each package comes with a Crewcab Pickup to use during your stay to explore the island.
1-866-434-8855