Fishing guides like Lantz are hoping for another summer just like the one we had in 2004. "We had a great summer run last year," he said. "It was probably the best summer run of steelhead that we've had on the St. Joe in six or seven years, easily. We had mild temperatures all summer long, and we had good rainfall."

Those are the two main factors for good summer steelhead fishing. The rainfall brings the fish into the river, and the cooler temps keep them moving around. Of course, that doesn't happen every year, but if we get a weather pattern this summer like we had last year, the steelhead fishing will be excellent.

OTHER SMALL CREEKS
The St. Joseph River is not the only place to catch inland steelhead in the summertime. Some of our smaller creeks provide very good action, too. Trail Creek in Michigan City gets an excellent summer Skamania run every year. It's easy to see why, since Trail Creek is one of the annual steelhead stocking sites for the DNR.

The Little Calumet River is one of the other spots that are stocked with steelhead every year, so it also receives large numbers of returning steelhead. The Little Calumet (also called Burns Waterway where it enters Lake Michigan) breaks into smaller creeks as you travel upstream, and some of these provide good steelhead fishing, too. Salt Creek is one of those feeder creeks; Coffee Creek is another.

For steelhead anglers who enjoy the small stream experience, these smaller creeks are the way to go. There is no room for a lot of anglers at each hole, and there certainly is not room for boats in most of these areas. But the solitude and good fishing make these spots unforgettable.

Small creeks do offer a distinct challenge for fishermen. If you hook a Skamania-strain steelhead in these small tributaries, it is often very difficult to land the fish. Most stretches of water are littered with logs, submerged timber and fallen trees. Logjams and tree roots are everywhere. As soon as a fish is hooked, it usually heads straight for the nearest logjam and swims underneath it. Broken lines and lost lures are the rule, not the exception. But that's all part of the fun!

Creek and river fishermen use a wide variety of baits to catch steelhead in the summer. Anglers who prefer artificial lures often use in-line spinners as their go-to bait. Spinners with fluorescent orange blades are among the most popular colors, but silver, gold and chartreuse are good, too. Small crankbaits are also productive. Flyfishermen will use a broad assortment of streamers, nymphs and other flies to hook their share of steelhead.

Live-bait anglers will use a mixed bag of natural baits to tempt their quarry. Small spawn sacs, night crawlers, minnows and raw shrimp are just a few of the natural baits that catch Skamania-strain steelhead every summer.

LAKE MICHIGAN
Although stream and river fishing appeals to many anglers, it is not for everyone. Some people, especially boat owners, would rather launch their boat on Lake Michigan and troll for steelhead. Luckily for them, trolling action for summer-run Skamania is often excellent.

Two of the most productive areas to troll for July steelhead out on the main lake are the mouth of Burns Waterway (the Little Calumet River) in Portage and the mouth of Trail Creek at Michigan City. Since both of these Lake Michigan tributaries are stocked annually with steelhead, large numbers of fish gather at these areas prior to making their actual spawning runs.

A small rocky breakwater on an otherwise sandy shoreline marks the mouth of Burns Waterway. Trolling anglers will work the area right in front of the mouth in the hopes of catching steelhead that are milling about and staging there. They'll also troll either east or west along the shallow beach areas.