By Dr. Derrick MacFabe

Located within a seven hour drive of Southern Ontario, at the hub of the upper Great Lakes, lies what might be the best fly fishing for migratory salmonoids east of their indigenous Pacific native waters. The impressive St. Mary's Rapids, located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, funnels all of mighty Lake Superior's clean cold water into a half km wide series of granite and sandstone rapids that drops over 7 m in less than one kilometer. Once an historic native Ojibway fishing ground teeming with whitefish, the introduction of steelhead in the late nineteenth century resulted in a fishery that made Ernest Hemingway write in 1920 that "At present the best rainbow trout fishing in the world is in the rapids at the Canadian Soo ... It is a wild and nerve-frazzling sport".

Partial harnessing of the river by the hydro electric and lock systems have inadvertently improved the reproductive potential of the Rapids, providing consistently cold, gin clear stable water levels devoid of the silting problems and summer dry-ups plaguing most of our Ontario streams. The river is a veritable aquatic insect factory, with mayflies, stoneflies and caddis all thriving, the latter being the most dominant. Although there is no closed season, the river is only accessible from the Canadian side, and the Rapid's power make some sections unwadable, resulting in some naturally secluded spawning sanctuaries. A two fish limit sometime in the near future can only help this.

All this results in the area being a magnet for big migratory rainbows. Wandering sub-populations of fish planted from all over Lakes Michigan and Huron have found their way to the river with fish spawning from March to July. However, with the surface water from Superior being slow to warm, peak fishing occurs from mid May to June, somewhat later than most Great Lakes spawning streams. The fish at the Sault are larger, with eight to ten pounds being average and fifteen to eighteen not uncommon. This may be because of the plentiful forage, or because the heavy current and coarse spawning gravel selects for the largest spawners, those able to dig redds. Although I may be biased, I feel these factors combine to make the St. Mary's steelhead behave more like their native Pacific cousins than their Southern Ontario stocked counterparts.

Fly fishing the Soo demands some modification of the techniques used in some of our smaller Great lakes tributaries, and is somewhat different from the more traditional West Coast steelhead methods.

At first glance the river seems quite intimidating but it can be broken down into two major sections, bisected lengthwise by a cement dike 150 feet from the Canadian shore. Inside the dike is quiet wadable water cascading down to a series of gravel riffles below. The dike is an ingenious device, designed to provide stable spawning areas on the north shore. Wading to the dike wall brings you right to the main rapids, a fly fisherman's heaven of countless channels, runs and rapids interconnecting three deep large pools. The area is wadable but felt soles, neoprenes and wading staffs are strongly recommended. The current is strong and water near the pools can go from two to fifteen feet deep within one or two steps, so I suggest the latter only for experienced waders or neophytes with gills or a death wish. A personal floatation device would be a good companion. However, most steelhead are caught by fishing on either side of the dike, which is quite safe.

Sight or pocket fishing, using dead drift nymphing techniques with floating line, split shot and a strike indicator, catches most fish. A seven or eight weight 9 1/2 foot rod coupled with a large capacity reel with a good drag and exposed spool will do nicely. The former helps with casting in the region's often-strong winds (If you don't like the weather in Northern Ontario, wait five minutes) and assists in turning large fish heading for Lake Huron. A good reel is very necessary as these hyper fish coupled with the powerful current demand good backing and well-tied knots. Leaders 7 to 12 feet long with a 6 lb tippet are standard fare. Abrasion resistant line like Maxima is commonly used because these fish seem to be experts at cutting your line on the boulder-strewn bottom, particularly at the last minute. The newer fluorocarbon leader material may become just the ticket because of its abrasion resistance and low visibility.

Presentation seems to be more important than fly choice. The key is to get the fly down to the bottom, dead drift, and to detect strikes which can vary from imperceptible nudges to arm jarring slashes that take you half way through your backing in a couple of seconds. Line control during the drift can be a problem because of the countless contrasting current tongues, but can be accomplished by keeping your casts short with either a reach cast or immediate upstream mending. Long casts often produce drag despite your best intentions, and may spook fish in the clear water. Hook-ups can be tripled by using a highly visible fly line, which also helps with mending, or by using an adjustable strike indicator. One or two small split shot, two feet above the fly, seem to be far superior to sink tip fly line at getting your fly down to the fish. However, in the deeper pools, which I often fish as a last resort, dredging Davie Jones' locker with conventional sink tips or high-density shooting tapers are often necessary. 

Fly choice doesn't have to be fancy, and easily-tied patterns that frequently are lost to snags or become the property of a victorious rainbow are the norm. The old standby egg patterns, or stone and mayfly patterns in sizes 6 to 12, are worth mass-producing at your bench. A collection of hare's ear nymphs in black, brown and olive will do just fine. Patterns imitating the numerous bright green caddis larvae, or the old fashioned small simple soft hackles (olive dubbing body with one turn of partridge hackle on a 14 hook), which probably represent emerging caddis, can be deadly. It always pays to vary the size of the offering, and large ugly critters such as woolly-buggers and sculpin patterns in sizes 2 to 6 are worth a try, particularly in the large pools. Many anglers tie an extra fly on a dropper, one big and one small, or one bright and one subtle, to let the steelhead comparison shop, , it pays to experiment. I received a pleasant surprise last July when fishing for the region's Atlantic salmon and the water exploded when a silvery ten pound steelie intercepted a Spey fly, fished in the surface film (next year I'm trying dry flies!). If you want the latest killer patterns or fishing tips, simply contact Oerst Witiw at the Soo's Western Tire Store, where he carries many killer patterns tied by Professor Jay Passmore, one of our most esteemed local tiers. Oerst can also hook you up with two of the best guides in the area, Karl Vogel or John Giuliani, if you wish.

Ultra clear water demands a stealthy approach, and cold water means many fish conserve energy by staying near obstructions, tail outs, or surprisingly close to shore or the dike. In fact, I've found that many an angler (including myself) spooks scores of near-invisible fish, particularly in early morning, by wading prematurely and not fishing water at one's feet. Polarized glasses are a real asset, and for those of us not adept at spotting steelies, the 3M Scientific Angler video by steelhead bum Jim Teeny is a great primer for winter nights and can teach you how to tell a fish from a rock.

So now you're prepared for wading to, finding and hooking a St. Mary's steelhead. Let me tell you, hooking these fish is one thing, LANDING THEM IS ANOTHER. Consider this; you're in the middle of a powerful set of rapids trying to chase after a rather irritated fish, who is using one of the most powerful currents in the province as a springboard. Your screaming fly reel's handle is performing surgery on your knuckles while you precariously balance yourself on slippery boulders covered with what the locals affectionately call "moose snot". You then try to engage your finned adversary on a race downstream, preferably with you remaining the one ABOVE the water line. Although, with a little practice, you will undoubtedly hook more fish than you would on an outing in our southern waters, very few land more.

The keys to landing these fish are patience, concentrating on getting yourself in one piece to the shore or the dike, trying to get downstream of the fish, using the current to your advantage (easier said than done) working the fish into one of the calmer pools. It also pays to keep a high rod position to try to prevent your opponent from cutting your line on the bottom or diving under one of the giant boulders at the last minute.

Lastly, if you ever get to land one of these fellows, it pays to avoid the spawners and practice catch and release. Although this steelhead population is quite stable, these fish are at a very vulnerable stage in their life cycle and should be treated as such. Some biologists feel that the majority of usable spawning gravel may only be situated near the dike on the Canadian side. This is a truly unique and amazing fishery and should be preserved. If you do keep a fish for the table, there are local biologists prowling the rapids who are more than pleased to collect the milt or spawn for the municipal fish hatchery.

So, that concludes my primer on the tremendous steelhead fishing in Sault Ste. Marie. However, that's not all this region has to offer. The St. Mary's also has runs of pink, coho, chinook and Atlantic salmon, fall steelhead and resident populations of brown, rainbow and brook trout. Within an hour's drive lie pristine Superior North Shore steelhead rivers, and fantastic river and lake fly fishing for monster brookies and lakers. Why not give the Soo a try? Who knows, after exhausting yourself while fighting one of their monster steelhead, you may find yourself carrying on a lengthy conversation with Hemingway's ghost.