By Russ Maddin:
November means browns and steelhead. At this point in the season, the river temps are starting to drop into the mid to low 50’s and 40’s depending on the river and can be great for stripping steamers for post spawn browns and steels. With a lower number of eggs available, the bite will turn to larger food sources both to gather strength after the spawn for browns and leading into winter for the steelhead. Contrary to popular belief both browns and steelhead will chase streamers even with water temps into the mid-30s. With the way this fall has been, I would expect great fishing the month of November for migratory browns and steelhead on many of the west side rivers. With the many rivers having doubled their salmon runs from 2015 I remain hopeful that the other migratory fish will have strong runs as well. Along with steelhead, anglers can catch fair numbers of lake trout in the lower stretches of rivers along with lake and round whitefish. Check the regulations on trout and please release the large spawners. Lake trout can provide some pretty fun fly fishing opportunities when conditions are right. Get out and enjoy the fall.
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