Rainbow trout / steelhead
Know your fish
Rainbow trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss
Typical size:25–55 cm, 0.3–2.5 kg
- Pink-red band along the side; small black spots on back, sides and whole tail
- No red jaw slash; white mouth
- Steelhead is the sea-run form, bright silver, over 50 cm
Looks like: Cutthroat has the red jaw slash; brown trout has red spots with halos and no spots on the tail.
0255075100125150
cm
OK to keep
- Provincial rules; many BC lakes allow 2 to 4, some are catch-and-release or single barbless
- Wild steelhead: release everywhere in BC
Must release
- Check the provincial synopsis for the lake; when in doubt, release
Best months
April, May, June, July, August, September, October
Fishing licences across Canada
Rig to tie
- 1Fly line 6 wt floating or intermediate line
- 2Leader 9 ft tapered leader to 8 lb tippet
- 3Fly Clouser Minnow olive/white size 4–6, Rolled Muddler, or epoxy sand lance; barbless
- 4Spin alternative Ultralight rod, 6 lb mono straight through
- 5Lure 1/8 oz Gibbs Croc, size 1 Mepps, or 1/8 oz pink jig for coho
How to tie and fish it
Tie it:Loop-to-loop the leader to the fly line. Tie the fly with a non-slip loop knot.
Fish it:Walk the beach on the first half of the flood at dawn. Cast along the drop-off and strip fast with pauses. Fish move with the tide, so keep walking.