By Mark Romanack
It’s hard to imagine anything more beautiful than a Michigan steelhead stream in the winter. There’s something surreal about fishing flowing water while a gentle snowfall blankets the ground.
Michigan is blessed with more quality “steelhead” streams than the rest of the Great Lakes region combined. In part, Michigan offers abundant stream steelhead fishing opportunities because of its natural habitat. Streams, including the Big and Little Manistee, Pere Marquette, Betsie and AuSable, conjure images of clear running waters, endless gravel flats and countless dark holes where steelhead can hide. Add in the St. Joe, Kalamazoo, Grand and the mighty Muskegon, and it’s clear that Michigan rests smack in the middle of steelhead fishing nirvana.
In addition to habitat, Michigan is blessed with abundant supplemental steelhead stocking efforts. While natural reproduction occurs in many Michigan streams, supplemental stocking is required to keep steelhead abundant and fishing success high. The Manistee River strain of steelhead is widely considered one of North America’s premier game fish. These fish grow fast, they grow large. At the end of a fishing line, nothing is more exciting than these cartwheeling silver bullets.
Steelhead are targeted using a host of different fishing presentations, but when it comes to efficiency it’s tough to beat back-trolling using several rods equipped with wobbling plugs. There is something magical about watching a rod tip vibrate from the wobbling action of a plug, only to see the rod hammer down and a steelhead explode on the surface. It doesn’t hurt that drifting slowly downstream with the current pleases the soul at a primal level.
UNDERSTANDING BACK-TROLLING
Back-trolling in rivers is a fairly complicated fishing presentation that allows anglers to present multiple plugs, all wobbling and running downstream of the boat. A lot of things are happening when a boat is back-trolling. The boat is controlled in a number of ways to dictate the downstream drift. When the boat drift is slowed or paused momentarily, the current pushing against the plugs causes them to dive and wobble violently. When the boat is allowed to drift naturally with the current, the plugs stop diving, float to the surface and drift downstream with the boat.
Some anglers control the boat using oars, others lift and drag an anchor, and others use an electric motor to slow the drift or pause the boat. Typically, the boat is positioned upstream of a run or deeper hole, with the transom pointed downstream.
The boat is anchored or held in place as the plugs are let out downstream. The further the plug is positioned downstream, the deeper it will dive. In most cases, the plug is positioned 40 to 60 feet downstream of the boat. Each rod is, in turn, positioned in a saddle-style rod holder near the boat’s transom. The idea is to spread the lures to create a “wall” of wobbling plugs just above the bottom and slowly backing downstream. When a fish strikes, the angler can simply lift the rod straight up and out of the rod holder, coming tight on the fish in one smooth motion.
Depending on the size and type of boat used, four, five, or even six rods/lures can typically be fished at the same time. It’s easy to see why back-trolling plugs is so effective. By mixing up different plugs, sizes, and colors, an angler can efficiently present a wealth of lures in short order.
As the boat slowly backs downstream, the wobbling plugs efficiently cover water. When a steelhead can no longer contain itself, the strike is nothing short of spectacular. Typically, a steelhead hammers a plug like it’s in a street fight! The rod bucks violently, and seconds later, the fish is in the air, doing its best to shake the hook. Steelhead are so powerful that only about half of the fish hooked end up in a landing net. Losing fish is part of the game when you target steelhead in rivers.
POPULAR STEELHEAD PLUGS
Not all crankbaits are suited for back-trolling for steelhead. The most popular baits tend to be compact in size and feature a wide wobbling action. Historically speaking, baits, including the Storm Hot ‘N Tot and Wiggle Wart, became legendary for their ability to trigger savage strikes from steelhead. Ironically, these baits have largely been replaced by modern plugs, including the Yakima Bait Mag Lip and the Luhr-Jensen Kwikfish. Both of these plugs feature a banana shape that generates a wide wobble, noisy rattles and, in the case of the Mag Lip, a hunting or skip-beat action.
The skip-beat action is a built-in instability in the plug that causes it to lose its bite and dart to one side or the other in a completely unpredictable manner. It’s incredible how well this plug action triggers strikes from steelhead that can otherwise be amazingly difficult to catch. The 3.0 and 3.5 Mag Lip sizes are the most popular, and these lures come in more than 50 stock colors, with countless other custom color patterns sold at participating tackle shops.
RODS/REELS/LINES FOR BACK-TROLLING
The rods used in back-trolling are typically eight to 10 feet long baitcasting models with a medium/light to medium action. A soft tip is required to monitor the vibrating action of the plug effectively. The accompanying reel should be a baitcasting reel loaded with a 10- to 17-pound test monofilament line. Some anglers favor braided lines (20- to 40-pound test) for plug fishing because these low-stretch lines telegraph the action of the lure so well that it’s possible to detect when the plug has become fouled with a leaf or other bottom debris.
If the braided line is used, a 6-foot leader of fluorocarbon is advised to have an invisible lure-to-line connection. The fluorocarbon leader also provides a bit of a shock leader that helps prevent these powerful fish from breaking off on the initial strike and line-peeling run. The downside to super braid lines is they absorb water and tend to freeze fairly quickly in cold conditions.
TIMING MATTERS
The best back-trolling action starts in late fall and extends through the winter months. Often, the best fishing is associated with a warming trend that melts the snowpack and creates some stained runoff waters. Plug fishing is almost always more effective when the water is stained or off-color. Also, runoff helps raise the water temperature. Even modest changes in water temperature can trigger a mid-winter plug bite that is amazing to behold.
MORE ABOUT STEELHEAD BOATS
Back-trolling is a presentation that got started with a unique style known as drift boats. These double-ended dory-style skiffs are designed for rowing and are typically held in place with an anchor. While purists still routinely use drift boats for back-trolling, the masses have adopted a different fishing platform known as the jet sled.
Jet sleds are flat-bottomed aluminum skiffs powered by a jet drive outboard. The advantage of jet sleds is that these boats are larger, more spacious, and can cover much more water than drift boats. Jet boats can also navigate shallower waters than boats equipped with traditional outboards.
A third category of steelhead skiffs is gaining popularity thanks to StealthCraft, a Baldwin-based manufacturer specializing in custom-built boats. Besides being built to the customer’s needs, these boats are hybrids that combine some of the features of a jet sled with those of a drift boat to create a boat that can be rowed and anchored like a traditional drift boat but also powered with a jet outboard to increase mobility. This unique hybrid is called a StealthDrifter, and it’s a boat that handles a lot of chores on the steelhead river.
Drift boats, jet sleds and custom hybrid crafts all serve the avid steelhead angler well. Which boat an angler decides on depends on their budget, how often they fish and how passionate
they are about steelhead fishing. Guides tend to favor jet sleds and hybrid boats, but there are still some purists who believe the traditional drift boat is the best option for back-trolling plugs.
A lot of avid anglers also convert readily available Mod V hulls, commonly thought of as duck boats, for stream steelhead fishing applications. These boats range from 14 feet up to 20-plus feet, making them ideal for anglers on a budget.
A Mod V hull should be equipped with a jet-drive outboard as the main power and an auto-pilot style electric motor on the bow for controlling the boat while back-trolling. The beauty of this setup is the angler can use the electric motor in “anchor” mode while setting out plugs, then use the electric motor in the “jog” mode that allows the boat to be moved left, right or downstream in small increments.
Using the auto-pilot electric motor to control the boat eliminates the need for physical anchoring and gives the angler almost unlimited control of the boat. Using a key fob, the electric motor can be controlled from the back of the boat, where the angler(s) are more closely positioned near the rods. This setup provides a comfortable fishing experience and allows the boat to be positioned to take advantage of submerged cover much better than boats that are physically anchored.
PLUG FISHING REFINEMENTS
Like other salmonid family members, steelhead have a highly developed sense of smell. These fish use this super-powered sniffer to navigate to natal spawning areas as well as finding and analyzing food.
Using natural scent products like Pro Cure Super Gels is an excellent way to create an attractive scent stream in the water. Because Super Gel is made with natural ingredients, the scent created is something fish often smell in their everyday lives.
A few of the most popular Super Gel formulas include salmon egg, smelt, alewife and bloody tuna. These scents are an oily paste that stays on plugs and other lures very well, delivering a long-lasting scent release system.
When using scent products, cleaning the lures at the end of the day using an unscented dish soap and scrub brush is necessary. This step helps prevent unnatural odors from adhering to the baits and keeps the lures clean, odor-free and ready for the next fishing trip.
Many anglers also modify their favorite plugs to make them less likely to snag and help land powerful fish.
Removing the belly hook on wobbling plugs helps to reduce snags, especially when fishing in waters laden with submerged wood. By the same token, replacing the tail hook with one size larger will help to hold a higher percentage of the fish that bite.
Consider adding an extra split ring to the tail treble hook to prevent powerful fish from rolling and tearing the hook free. This simple step gives the hook more freedom to rotate. Other anglers swear by replacing the metal split ring with a loop of super braid line that prevents the fish from leveraging against the hook and tearing free.
When attaching plugs to the main line, it’s best not to tie directly to the pull point but rather to tie a cross-lok-style snap to the terminal end of the fishing line.
The cross-lok snap can, in turn, be attached to the split ring or snap that comes on most snaps.
While this rigging may seem redundant, it allows the lure more freedom of movement, delivering a more life-like action that helps trigger more strikes.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Back-trolling plugs got a foothold in the Great Lakes region in the 1970s when steelhead stocking efforts first took hold. While the boat types and lures used in back-trolling have evolved, this iconic fishing presentation remains one of the best ways to trigger savage strikes from steelhead.
Anyone who has witnessed a steelhead smashing a wobbling plug will testify.
This style of fishing is not only effective, it’s one of the most exciting ways of tangling with a raging steelhead. It doesn’t hurt that the beauty of a Michigan steelhead stream makes for the perfect winter setting to match wits with North America’s ultimate sport fish.
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