2011 the year of the Steehead

Wow what a year for steelhead that was if you live in Southern Ontario!
Everyone raved about how great the spring run was with all the high river levels we had in April/May.  Then October rolled around and we had more water in that month than all spring levels combined.  It sure set up the rivers for phenomenal fishing from mid October right thru to the close of the extended fall season yesterday.  Huron rivers saw the largest returns of steelhead but it was up straight across the board on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie systems too.
The Saugeen was just teeming with fresh runs from early October and steady into late November before it tapered off a little.

I personally view the large returns should be attributed to the high number of baitfish that came in to spawn in the spring.  Some Huron rivers saw their first smelt run in 25 years or more, and in good numbers.
I can remember the last smelt I netted upriver was in the mid 80's, and yet I caught a large hen in early December about 30kms from the lake and she was gorged with live juvenile smelts!  So the first smelt run in years produced a brand new fall forage for roe deprived steelhead.  Sounds like a win-win for fish and anglers to me.  Not to mention that the average size steelhead was up 2-3lbs over previous years.
Mothernature is definitely smiling down on us Ontario steelheaders right now!

Lots more news on this, the Saugeen River and a year in review with pics to come!