Summer-run steelhead are nomadic creatures. Once they've been stocked, one never knows if, where or exactly when they'll show up. Steelhead spend much of their time roaming the wide-open expanses of Lake Michigan, siphoning bugs and baitfish off the surface over hundreds of feet of water in the middle of nowhere.

These same steelies will suddenly make a beeline for the shallows in the middle of the summer -- long before typical winter-run fish are even considering it. The one thing that's for sure is when they do show up off natal pierheads and river mouths, it doesn't take long for the word to get out and for "Skamania Mania" to set in.

The roots of the Great Lakes' summer-run steelhead program can be traced to stockings made by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) back in 1975. Initial stockings were the Skamania strain of summer-run steelhead, which migrate into streams during the summer and early fall months. Today, Indiana stocks upward of 275,000 Skamania steelhead, with the St. Joseph River getting the bulk of these fish.

Michigan initially experimented with four strains of summer-run steelheads during the early stages of its summer-run steelhead-stocking program. Originally, Michigan's DNR planted Rogue, Siletz and Umpqua strains, in addition to the Skamania, but the stockings resulted in poor returns and success. Currently, Michigan's entire Skamania stocking contains some 33,000 fish in total. These fish go into the Big Manistee River.

While Wisconsin stocks several strains of steelhead, the Skamania is the only true summer-run strain. Wisconsin dumps between 150,000 and 160,000 Skamania into their streams annually and targets their larger-class ones in rivers that offer consistent water conditions. Illinois lacks any suitable rivers to attract or receive Skamania stockings, but the state's Great Lakes anglers benefit from the plants of other states. Today, the summer steelhead of choice is the Skamania. These rainbows grow up to 25 pounds and provide more bang for the hatchery's and the angler's buck.

The shallows of southern Lake Michigan can get fairly tepid during the summer. If the lake is too warm, the steelhead may just shoot up the river to find cool water or retreat back into the lake. Ideal conditions occur when strong offshore winds push warm surface water offshore, which allows cool water near the bottom to well up near the surface. Big rain events that cool the water and increase the river flow can jump-start steelies, too. Rainbows usually respond accordingly then and make a mad rush to the pierheads where anglers have a ball trying to corral the rambunctious rainbows.

Pier anglers are usually the first to discover that the steelheads are in. Many a perch angler has watched as his reel sings as a sleek Skamania grabs the rig, or the rod suddenly gets yanked off the break wall by a cruising silver bullet. Anglers armed for battle with the big rainbows do well with a jumbo shrimp suspended below a slip bobber. Fishermen who have mastered the art of cast netting catch live alewives and fish them under a bobber or anchor them with a pyramid sinker for steelies. The alewives can be caught using plain gold hooks as well.

Another option is hardware. Spoons and spinners draw the wrath of ornery steelheads. Lures that feature hot red or orange seem to work the best during daylight hours. Glow-in-the-dark versions excel during low-light hours in the morning and evening.

Heavy 2/3-ounce models of Cleos, Kastmasters and K.O. Wobblers are proven producers. Hardware users need to experiment with their retrieves until they hit on the right combination. Some days you'll want to burn the lure just under the surface; other days you might want to let it flutter enticingly toward the bottom. Let the steelheads tell you which action they prefer. Go spooled with a high-quality line in the 10- to 15-pound category and a reel that has a good, smooth drag.

"In-line boards are the No. 1 tool for targeting Skamania when they're schooled near the pierheads," said Four Seasons charter Captain Bill Doak. "Divers would be a close second."