Summer Skamania Washington strain steelhead were introduced to the Great Lakes by Indiana in the 1970’s. They are an amazing 3 -salt steelhead and grow to large 20 pound plus sizes. They are the most beautiful chrome steelhead on the planet and leap more than any game fish on the planet. They are like silver bullet freight trains when hooked. They run the rivers from June through September on any cold front system and thunderstorm rains- my Steelhead Dreams book fully explains their lifestyle and fishing opportunities.
My guiding for summer steelhead takes place on the St Joseph River in southern Michigan, the Big Manistee and the White Rivers. The last few years we have been getting a wild and stray run of summer steelhead on the Muskegon River below Croton as client is pictured with here. This is the prime time to swing flies west coast style using Scandi floating lines and traditional spey and tube flies.
Over the years I have experimented with summer steelhead and have gotten them to take waking dry flies, terrestrials and large scud /prawn patterns. Swinging flies in good oxygenated faster current waters is perhaps the most exciting.