Root River Steelhead Report : Early March 2010

Finally, it is here. I got up to Racine and onto the Root by sunrise this past Sunday to do a little breaking in of my new St. Croix 8 weight accompanied by my Hatch 7+. This morning was fruitful in sun, scenery, and isolation on the water. I did not manage to tango with any Steelhead though. I think I may have been too ambitious as I got after some deep runs that I hoped would be holding early steelhead jockying for position on the beds just upstream. I should have stuck to slow drifting through the deepest of holes... but that just isn't my style.

Photographs are forthcoming but I'm on lunch at work at the moment and don't have the files here.

I took a ride to a spot downstream where I met some friends to do some ice fishing on the deep slow areas of the river directly preceding the harbor. The action was steady, although landed fish were few. Here is a photo of Keith and I with the first Steelhead of the season from the Root River. Thanks to Dan for the photo from his cell phone we snapped just before releasing this chrome male Steelhead.


Steelhead are staging in Lake Michigan and in Harbors directly below our tributaries now. We should expect to see substantial pushes of fish into the systems over the next week as air temps flirt with fifty all week and ice thins as meltoff exudes from the banks. Next weekend is a good bet for getting your first river Steelhead of the year.