Credit River steelhead, today
Steelhead start entering the Credit in late September behind the Chinook run and keep coming through winter into late April. Peak fishing is March and April, when fish push upriver on rising spring temperatures. The lower river below Hwy 403 stays open all year. Unlike Chinook, steelhead get the whole river — they swim as far as the Streetsville dam, then Credit River Anglers Association volunteers lift them through the fishway and truck them 30 km north past Norval. When CRAA rebuilt the ladder entrance in 1997, the share of steelhead finding it went from 10–20% to 99.5%.
How to fish it
In fall, swing large streamers or run float rigs with roe through the deeper pools. Spring fish are more willing to take nymphs dead-drifted through feeding lanes. Before 9am is consistently the most productive window on bright days.
Streetsville Road Allowances is deliberately not listed: part of that reach is below the Britannia Road bridge, inside the Hwy 403–Britannia sanctuary closed August 15 to December 31 — which covers most of the fall steelhead run. Erindale Park is downstream of Hwy 403 and open year-round. Confirm the current rules in the Ontario fishing regulations for Zone 16 before you fish.
Access points
- Erindale Park — Mississauga, ON
- Credit River Mouth — Port Credit, ON
Read next
For the river as a whole — the three sections, the two dams, and why which stretch you pick matters more here than anywhere — see fishing the Credit River. Timing for every Ontario river is in the river-by-river salmon run guide, and for the drift itself, three float fishing tips.