CENTRAL VALLEY

WHERE AND WHEN TO CATCH STEELHEAD IN THE SACRAMENTO AND SAN JOAQUIN WATERSHEDS

MICHAEL WIER

CENTRAL VALLEY STEELHEAD WERE AT ONE TIME AMONG THE MOST PROLIFIC RUNS OF SALMONIDS ON PLANET EARTH. THESE FISH HAD GREATER VARIANCE IN LIFE HISTORY STRATEGIES THAN JUST ABOUT ANY OTHER FISH. HISTORICALLY, THEY HAD THE WIDEST DIVERSITY OF HABITATS WHERE RAINBOW TROUT (ONCORHYNCHUS MYKISS) LIVE, AND NUMEROUS OPTIONS IN HOW THEY EXPRESS THEIR LIFE STRATEGY THROUGHOUT THESE VARIED HABITAT TYPES. Today, Central Valley steelhead are classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to low numbers compared to historical abundance. In the past 170 years we have thrown just about every obstacle imaginable at these fish. This includes the loss of more than 95 percent of their historically accessible habitat due to dams, levies, other barriers, and highly altered hydrographs in just about every Central Valley river. Humans…

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Fly Fisherman (Digital) - 1 Issue, April/May 2025

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