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Bead n Float — Canadian-made soft beads for steelhead & salmon.
//Steelhead

Steelhead

The fish of a thousand casts — a sea-run rainbow, not a salmon.

Quick IDWhite mouth; fine spots on back and whole tail; chrome with a pink cheek/stripe.

The fish

Steelhead are the ocean-going form of the rainbow trout — the same species, but where a rainbow lives its whole life in freshwater, a steelhead migrates to sea, grows large on the ocean's abundance, and returns to spawn. Because they don't necessarily die after spawning (many, mostly females, return to the ocean and spawn again in later years, living up to about nine years), they occupy a special place for river anglers: a wild, sea-bright, hard-running fish that rewards patience more than any salmon. In BC's Lower Mainland they are the natural next step for anglers who cut their teeth on the fall salmon runs, and the winter steelhead fishery has its own quieter, more committed culture.

Beads that bite back — hand-poured in BC

How to identify

fresh chrome steelhead held over water, showing silver flank and small spotting
  • Ocean-fresh fish are brilliant chrome-silver, often so fresh they still carry sea lice — a sign of a fish only days out of the salt.
  • Small black spots radiate across the back and over both lobes of the tail.
  • White mouth and gums — not the black mouth of a chinook.
  • As they hold in the river and mature, they colour up: a rosy-pink cheek and a pink-to-red band along the lateral line, the body darkening to a gunmetal green-grey.
  • Adipose fin: a clipped adipose (a healed scar where the small fin between dorsal and tail should be) marks a hatchery fish, which may be retained in some fisheries — always the key thing to check before keeping one.

Lifecycle & migration

Fry emerge in late spring and rear one to two years in cool, fast, well-oxygenated water before smolting and heading to sea. After one to several ocean years they return to their natal river. Uniquely, run timing is governed largely by a single genetic region, producing two distinct types that can share the same river.

Run timing & conditions (BC)

  • Winter-run enter rivers roughly November–May and spawn soon after (late April–May). This is the classic Lower Mainland fishery.
  • Summer-run return April–October and hold in the river through summer, spawning the following spring — the Thompson's famous fish over 25 lb are summer-runs.
  • On the Chilliwack/Vedder, the fishery runs December into April/May. The first fish trickle in late November to early December, the first real push arrives around January 10–20, and fresh fish keep arriving through February, March, and April, with late stragglers into May. Fish often move up from the Fraser on the big tides around a full moon.
  • Best conditions: the falling limb after a freshet, when the river drops back into "steelie green" (roughly 18–24 inches of visibility). Fresh fish and dropping, clearing water is the prime window. Late in the season, pressured fish get "trouty" — picky and light-biting — so cover water and downsize.

Best BeadnFloat beads

  • Low & clear: 8mm (6–10mm), natural / translucent / mottled / pale pink — spooky, pressured fish want realism; run a longer leader.
  • Green & dropping (prime): 12mm (10–14mm), bright pink / cerise / orange-roe — the largest bead you're confident with; bright draws reactive strikes.
  • High & coloured: 16mm (14–19mm), bright pink / orange / red — a visible attraction beacon.
  • Blown out: 19mm, bright / red — only below a clearwater tributary; otherwise wait for the drop.

When steelhead run

Updated for 2026

Winter steelhead enter the Vedder, Harrison and Squamish from late November, but the real push doesn't arrive until early-to-mid January. Peak fishing runs January through April, with the biggest fish of the season often showing in the later part of that window, before tapering to stragglers in May.

Jan
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EarlyPeak

Beads that match

Tap any condition to open the full tool.

Low & clear8mm (6–10mm)

Spooky, pressured clear-water fish key on realism. Downsize and run a longer leader with subtle, natural colours.

Open tool
Green & dropping · prime12mm (10–14mm)

Fresh fish and ~18–24in visibility — the money window. Fish the largest bead you're confident with; bright draws reactive strikes.

Open tool
Check live river conditions before you go — level, flow and the bead that matches today's water.View rivers →
Tapering

Fished on: Vedder River · Harrison River · Squamish River

When do steelhead run in BC?
Winter steelhead enter Fraser Valley rivers from late November, but the real push arrives in early-to-mid January. Peak fishing runs January through April, tapering to late stragglers in May.
What months are best for Vedder steelhead?
January through April is the prime window on the Vedder, with the first significant push typically arriving January 10–20 and fresh fish — often the biggest of the season — still showing into April.
High & coloured16mm (14–19mm)

Low visibility — go big and bright; the bead is an attraction beacon the fish has to find.

Open tool
Blown out19mm (16–19mm)

High and muddy. Fish big and bright below a clearwater tributary, or wait for the drop.

Open tool
Open Bead Match for Steelhead →
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2026