Smoked Lake Erie Steelhead Trout: Finely got to get out and do a little steelhead fishing in a local river here in NE Ohio on Thursday. 1st day I used 2/5th's oz little cleo's...

forrest r Loc: NE ohio

Finely got to get out and do a little steelhead fishing in a local river here in NE Ohio on Thursday. 1st day I used 2/5th's oz little cleo's (nickel/orange) on a 8' ul rod with 8# braid. The fish are extremely testy this time of year making for excellent fishing battling the fish. It's nothing to have jumping going on along with 3/4/5 solid runs that take up to 10 minutes to land the steelhead. Lost 1 that was huge, no jumping no breaking water, just a rod almost bent in 2 & the second run was so strong with violent tugs that that 8# braid didn't stand a chance. They get up to 10#+ and will find any flaws in the ul equipment. The limit is you can keep 2 steelhead this time of year, ended up with 2 steelhead that were 23" & 24".

Went back out on Friday & switched to a 1/2oz KO Wobbler (nickel/orange) and it didn't take long for the fight to be on. Fantastic fishing, long battles bringing them in that take 10 minutes+ to wear them out to be able to net them. Lost another fish this time due to bottom of a aluminum dock cutting the line that I was fishing next to. After a 10+ minute battle I thought I had the steelhead in/wore down enough to net. Sure enough that fish had to do 1 last run darting sideways and under the dock. Ended up with another 2 steelhead that were 22" & 23".

These steelhead trout were fresh, just in from the lake. 1st day I was 1 mile from the mouth of the harbor. It was just after 3 days of heavy cold rains that will bring the fish up river a long way fast. The 2nd day I fished 1/4 mile from the mouth of the harbor, the current from the rains slowed down. You can tell by the red streaking on there gill plates and down there bodies. Or more importantly, the lack of the red streaking. A steelhead with a lot of red down the whole length of the body tastes a lot different then when they are all silver bodied. If you look closely you can see that the gill plates on the steelhead/1st day of fishing are just starting to turn red (1 mile up river). The 2nd day (22"/23" fish) were caught at the mouth of the river, no red on the fish/extremely fresh mild taste.

Cleaning the trout is caveman simple, cut the heads off, take the guts out and then cut them into +/- 4" chunks. Take them in & rinse them off and clean the junk out under the skin next to the backbone in the stomach cavity. I put the chunks of steelhead in water and salt them letting them sit over night. Others use complex brines letting them sit for up to 4 days.

For small batches of steelhead I like to use the small round upright smokers. I refer to them as R2 D2 smokers, it's a star wars thing. I like to use apple wood to smoke the steelhead, just an incredible combination/taste. Actually a couple weeks ago I was given a small apple tree and ended up with a rick of apple wood for next years hog roasts and steelhead. Anyway some like a heavy smoke where I prefer a lite smoke on the steelhead, mine come out a golden oak color. A heavier smoke tends to mask the taste of the fish where a lite smoke accents the taste.

I like to smoke the steelhead at +/- 220* taking 3 to 4 hours to smoke them. I watch the meat around the backbone & the backbone itself. Water will bubble/drip out of the backbone at 1st. When that stops I pay attention to the meat around the backbone. That meat will start to shrink and I shut the smoker off when that meat shrinks around 1/4". At this point the steelhead are a beautiful golden color from the apple wood smoke and still have a lot of juice/moisture in them. The low heat/low smoke/high moisture combo makes the steelhead have a soft texture to them simply because the moisture absorbs back into the meat as it cools. The steelhead will have an even soft/most texture thru out the whole chunk of fish. A too heavy of a smoke or too long and the steelhead will be dry when cool or the thick backbone will be moist and the the thinning meat down to the ribs will be dry/hard. I let them rest until cool enough to handle with my bare hands. Then it's put the chunks of fish in a pan and bag them up.

I give most of my smoked steelhead away to my friends. The 1st run (this run) I give them the smoked chunks. After that I make smoked trout/cream cheese/wine Pate' along with giving the best/sweetest chunks of the smoked steelhead away. I'm just so thankful to be able to go out and enjoy not only quality of fishing catching these steelhead bring to the table. It allows me to share them with others at their tables.

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

forrest r wrote:

Finely got to get out and do a little steelhead fishing in a local river here in NE Ohio on Thursday. 1st day I used 2/5th's oz little cleo's (nickel/orange) on a 8' ul rod with 8# braid. The fish are extremely testy this time of year making for excellent fishing battling the fish. It's nothing to have jumping going on along with 3/4/5 solid runs that take up to 10 minutes to land the steelhead. Lost 1 that was huge, no jumping no breaking water, just a rod almost bent in 2 & the second run was so strong with violent tugs that that 8# braid didn't stand a chance. They get up to 10#+ and will find any flaws in the ul equipment. The limit is you can keep 2 steelhead this time of year, ended up with 2 steelhead that were 23" & 24".

Went back out on Friday & switched to a 1/2oz KO Wobbler (nickel/orange) and it didn't take long for the fight to be on. Fantastic fishing, long battles bringing them in that take 10 minutes+ to wear them out to be able to net them. Lost another fish this time due to bottom of a aluminum dock cutting the line that I was fishing next to. After a 10+ minute battle I thought I had the steelhead in/wore down enough to net. Sure enough that fish had to do 1 last run darting sideways and under the dock. Ended up with another 2 steelhead that were 22" & 23".

These steelhead trout were fresh, just in from the lake. 1st day I was 1 mile from the mouth of the harbor. It was just after 3 days of heavy cold rains that will bring the fish up river a long way fast. The 2nd day I fished 1/4 mile from the mouth of the harbor, the current from the rains slowed down. You can tell by the red streaking on there gill plates and down there bodies. Or more importantly, the lack of the red streaking. A steelhead with a lot of red down the whole length of the body tastes a lot different then when they are all silver bodied. If you look closely you can see that the gill plates on the steelhead/1st day of fishing are just starting to turn red (1 mile up river). The 2nd day (22"/23" fish) were caught at the mouth of the river, no red on the fish/extremely fresh mild taste.

Cleaning the trout is caveman simple, cut the heads off, take the guts out and then cut them into +/- 4" chunks. Take them in & rinse them off and clean the junk out under the skin next to the backbone in the stomach cavity. I put the chunks of steelhead in water and salt them letting them sit over night. Others use complex brines letting them sit for up to 4 days.

For small batches of steelhead I like to use the small round upright smokers. I refer to them as R2 D2 smokers, it's a star wars thing. I like to use apple wood to smoke the steelhead, just an incredible combination/taste. Actually a couple weeks ago I was given a small apple tree and ended up with a rick of apple wood for next years hog roasts and steelhead. Anyway some like a heavy smoke where I prefer a lite smoke on the steelhead, mine come out a golden oak color. A heavier smoke tends to mask the taste of the fish where a lite smoke accents the taste.

I like to smoke the steelhead at +/- 220* taking 3 to 4 hours to smoke them. I watch the meat around the backbone & the backbone itself. Water will bubble/drip out of the backbone at 1st. When that stops I pay attention to the meat around the backbone. That meat will start to shrink and I shut the smoker off when that meat shrinks around 1/4". At this point the steelhead are a beautiful golden color from the apple wood smoke and still have a lot of juice/moisture in them. The low heat/low smoke/high moisture combo makes the steelhead have a soft texture to them simply because the moisture absorbs back into the meat as it cools. The steelhead will have an even soft/most texture thru out the whole chunk of fish. A too heavy of a smoke or too long and the steelhead will be dry when cool or the thick backbone will be moist and the the thinning meat down to the ribs will be dry/hard. I let them rest until cool enough to handle with my bare hands. Then it's put the chunks of fish in a pan and bag them up.

I give most of my smoked steelhead away to my friends. The 1st run (this run) I give them the smoked chunks. After that I make smoked trout/cream cheese/wine Pate' along with giving the best/sweetest chunks of the smoked steelhead away. I'm just so thankful to be able to go out and enjoy not only quality of fishing catching these steelhead bring to the table. It allows me to share them with others at their tables.

Finely got to get out and do a little steelhead fi... (show quote)

They look exceptional Forrest, you’re making my mouth water like Pavlov’s dogs.

Flytier Loc: Wilmington Delaware

This probably one of the best posts I've read here. Very detailed..

Whitey Loc: Southeast ohio

forrest r wrote:

Finely got to get out and do a little steelhead fishing in a local river here in NE Ohio on Thursday. 1st day I used 2/5th's oz little cleo's (nickel/orange) on a 8' ul rod with 8# braid. The fish are extremely testy this time of year making for excellent fishing battling the fish. It's nothing to have jumping going on along with 3/4/5 solid runs that take up to 10 minutes to land the steelhead. Lost 1 that was huge, no jumping no breaking water, just a rod almost bent in 2 & the second run was so strong with violent tugs that that 8# braid didn't stand a chance. They get up to 10#+ and will find any flaws in the ul equipment. The limit is you can keep 2 steelhead this time of year, ended up with 2 steelhead that were 23" & 24".

Went back out on Friday & switched to a 1/2oz KO Wobbler (nickel/orange) and it didn't take long for the fight to be on. Fantastic fishing, long battles bringing them in that take 10 minutes+ to wear them out to be able to net them. Lost another fish this time due to bottom of a aluminum dock cutting the line that I was fishing next to. After a 10+ minute battle I thought I had the steelhead in/wore down enough to net. Sure enough that fish had to do 1 last run darting sideways and under the dock. Ended up with another 2 steelhead that were 22" & 23".

These steelhead trout were fresh, just in from the lake. 1st day I was 1 mile from the mouth of the harbor. It was just after 3 days of heavy cold rains that will bring the fish up river a long way fast. The 2nd day I fished 1/4 mile from the mouth of the harbor, the current from the rains slowed down. You can tell by the red streaking on there gill plates and down there bodies. Or more importantly, the lack of the red streaking. A steelhead with a lot of red down the whole length of the body tastes a lot different then when they are all silver bodied. If you look closely you can see that the gill plates on the steelhead/1st day of fishing are just starting to turn red (1 mile up river). The 2nd day (22"/23" fish) were caught at the mouth of the river, no red on the fish/extremely fresh mild taste.

Cleaning the trout is caveman simple, cut the heads off, take the guts out and then cut them into +/- 4" chunks. Take them in & rinse them off and clean the junk out under the skin next to the backbone in the stomach cavity. I put the chunks of steelhead in water and salt them letting them sit over night. Others use complex brines letting them sit for up to 4 days.

For small batches of steelhead I like to use the small round upright smokers. I refer to them as R2 D2 smokers, it's a star wars thing. I like to use apple wood to smoke the steelhead, just an incredible combination/taste. Actually a couple weeks ago I was given a small apple tree and ended up with a rick of apple wood for next years hog roasts and steelhead. Anyway some like a heavy smoke where I prefer a lite smoke on the steelhead, mine come out a golden oak color. A heavier smoke tends to mask the taste of the fish where a lite smoke accents the taste.

I like to smoke the steelhead at +/- 220* taking 3 to 4 hours to smoke them. I watch the meat around the backbone & the backbone itself. Water will bubble/drip out of the backbone at 1st. When that stops I pay attention to the meat around the backbone. That meat will start to shrink and I shut the smoker off when that meat shrinks around 1/4". At this point the steelhead are a beautiful golden color from the apple wood smoke and still have a lot of juice/moisture in them. The low heat/low smoke/high moisture combo makes the steelhead have a soft texture to them simply because the moisture absorbs back into the meat as it cools. The steelhead will have an even soft/most texture thru out the whole chunk of fish. A too heavy of a smoke or too long and the steelhead will be dry when cool or the thick backbone will be moist and the the thinning meat down to the ribs will be dry/hard. I let them rest until cool enough to handle with my bare hands. Then it's put the chunks of fish in a pan and bag them up.

I give most of my smoked steelhead away to my friends. The 1st run (this run) I give them the smoked chunks. After that I make smoked trout/cream cheese/wine Pate' along with giving the best/sweetest chunks of the smoked steelhead away. I'm just so thankful to be able to go out and enjoy not only quality of fishing catching these steelhead bring to the table. It allows me to share them with others at their tables.

Finely got to get out and do a little steelhead fi... (show quote)

Nice catch Forest. I've never fished for steelhead personally sounds like a lot of fun and your gear had better be up for the task. I might have to try that. Thanks for the info on the Is cleaning and smoking. Sounds awesome I like cooking with Apple wood

E.pa.al Loc: Martin's Creek

that looks awesome, thanks for sharing!!

J in Cleveland Loc: Cleveland, Ohio

Awesome post thanks for all the info!! I plan to emulate your smoking technique when I finally get a couple.

Grand River? Just a guessing going by your description of where they where caught. I grew up in Perry.

Pixiedog456005 Loc: Maryland

Nice posting job.
Congrats on the fish.
Were you wade fishing and running after them when they made their runs?

mistred64 Loc: Grayslake, illinois

Well now I'm hungry for smoked fish but already went shopping today.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Great post! Catching steelhead and the whole process of smoking them in detail! They look delicious, and it's hard to be a small custom batch that you do yourself! I like your lure selections too...great hardware for this time of season! Glad that you are having success!

hacksaw Loc: Pasadena, Texas

forrest r wrote:

Finely got to get out and do a little steelhead fishing in a local river here in NE Ohio on Thursday. 1st day I used 2/5th's oz little cleo's (nickel/orange) on a 8' ul rod with 8# braid. The fish are extremely testy this time of year making for excellent fishing battling the fish. It's nothing to have jumping going on along with 3/4/5 solid runs that take up to 10 minutes to land the steelhead. Lost 1 that was huge, no jumping no breaking water, just a rod almost bent in 2 & the second run was so strong with violent tugs that that 8# braid didn't stand a chance. They get up to 10#+ and will find any flaws in the ul equipment. The limit is you can keep 2 steelhead this time of year, ended up with 2 steelhead that were 23" & 24".

Went back out on Friday & switched to a 1/2oz KO Wobbler (nickel/orange) and it didn't take long for the fight to be on. Fantastic fishing, long battles bringing them in that take 10 minutes+ to wear them out to be able to net them. Lost another fish this time due to bottom of a aluminum dock cutting the line that I was fishing next to. After a 10+ minute battle I thought I had the steelhead in/wore down enough to net. Sure enough that fish had to do 1 last run darting sideways and under the dock. Ended up with another 2 steelhead that were 22" & 23".

These steelhead trout were fresh, just in from the lake. 1st day I was 1 mile from the mouth of the harbor. It was just after 3 days of heavy cold rains that will bring the fish up river a long way fast. The 2nd day I fished 1/4 mile from the mouth of the harbor, the current from the rains slowed down. You can tell by the red streaking on there gill plates and down there bodies. Or more importantly, the lack of the red streaking. A steelhead with a lot of red down the whole length of the body tastes a lot different then when they are all silver bodied. If you look closely you can see that the gill plates on the steelhead/1st day of fishing are just starting to turn red (1 mile up river). The 2nd day (22"/23" fish) were caught at the mouth of the river, no red on the fish/extremely fresh mild taste.

Cleaning the trout is caveman simple, cut the heads off, take the guts out and then cut them into +/- 4" chunks. Take them in & rinse them off and clean the junk out under the skin next to the backbone in the stomach cavity. I put the chunks of steelhead in water and salt them letting them sit over night. Others use complex brines letting them sit for up to 4 days.

For small batches of steelhead I like to use the small round upright smokers. I refer to them as R2 D2 smokers, it's a star wars thing. I like to use apple wood to smoke the steelhead, just an incredible combination/taste. Actually a couple weeks ago I was given a small apple tree and ended up with a rick of apple wood for next years hog roasts and steelhead. Anyway some like a heavy smoke where I prefer a lite smoke on the steelhead, mine come out a golden oak color. A heavier smoke tends to mask the taste of the fish where a lite smoke accents the taste.

I like to smoke the steelhead at +/- 220* taking 3 to 4 hours to smoke them. I watch the meat around the backbone & the backbone itself. Water will bubble/drip out of the backbone at 1st. When that stops I pay attention to the meat around the backbone. That meat will start to shrink and I shut the smoker off when that meat shrinks around 1/4". At this point the steelhead are a beautiful golden color from the apple wood smoke and still have a lot of juice/moisture in them. The low heat/low smoke/high moisture combo makes the steelhead have a soft texture to them simply because the moisture absorbs back into the meat as it cools. The steelhead will have an even soft/most texture thru out the whole chunk of fish. A too heavy of a smoke or too long and the steelhead will be dry when cool or the thick backbone will be moist and the the thinning meat down to the ribs will be dry/hard. I let them rest until cool enough to handle with my bare hands. Then it's put the chunks of fish in a pan and bag them up.

I give most of my smoked steelhead away to my friends. The 1st run (this run) I give them the smoked chunks. After that I make smoked trout/cream cheese/wine Pate' along with giving the best/sweetest chunks of the smoked steelhead away. I'm just so thankful to be able to go out and enjoy not only quality of fishing catching these steelhead bring to the table. It allows me to share them with others at their tables.

Finely got to get out and do a little steelhead fi... (show quote)

Nice catching Forest. Thanks for the detailed post. By the time I finished reading it I was hungry all over again. Thank you.
Hack 🇺🇸🍺🍺

forrest r Loc: NE ohio

Thank you to everyone who posted, just wanted to share what it's about to fish for steelhead in the rivers in NE Ohio.

Was fishing the Ashtabula river, ARU boat club docks and then in front of the lift bridge.

Was bank fishing, when the fish run they work the reel's drag pretty hard. There's no chasing after them. The hard part is they run under docks or people stack up 10/12 yds apart so it turns into a cat & mouse game of each individual fish gets played differently. Have to use small lite lines and these are powerful fish.

The hardest runs are when they fight with repeated tugs then run strait at you, stop & then reverse with a huge jolt as they fight back out. Even a drag set lite has a hard time with this. By lite I mean you are trying to bring in 4#+ fish with 8# test so I typically have the drags set to 5/6#.

SEPC1958 Loc: College Park, MD

What great photos ! Must have been fun !

Dakoda Loc: Cle Elum, WA

I’m ready, lets go. Good job posting your story, thank you