They'll hit the smaller stuff. I ran into an old guy at Tokul a couple days back who was targeting whitefish with a small green caddis nyph pattern. He told me that he had a day a week or so earlier where he and his buddy took TWELVE winter steelhead from the mouth of Tokul on whitefish gear! This was a small green caddis larva, about size 10. Don't know if he was BS'ing or not.

I've taken steelhead on black stonefly nypmphs in spring summer and fall, but not in winter. I don't use fly gear too much in the depths of winter however.

My preferred fly for steelies? Why, a Silver Hilton, of course...