Of course beetles, June bugs, butterflies and ever imaginable insect will be in their stomachs, along with small baby alewives or minnows of some sort. Surface Supreme Selection s Spoons, spoons and more spoons dominate today's off shore Steelhead Fishery. Stick baits can and will take fish to this day. However, breakage and hook screws pulling out are a problem due to the ferocity of the Steelhead's initial strike. Best colors have been in the red and orange spectrums, with greens rating a honorable mention.
Cloudy days mean gold plate, out produces sliver as a rule.
Lures like Stingers, DW's and Streaks are my main stay. As a interesting side note to the history of the charter fleet, off shore Steelhead fishing kept many charter operators in business during the early 90's when the much over publicized Salmon crash of 1988 got planted into the fishing public's mind. I know for a fact it helped me maintain my charter business. With the resurgence and the rebounding of the King or Chinook Salmon June has taken a back seat to July and August as far as my bookings go. Bud Raskey and Jack Crawford where the first to find it.