How to steelhead

[gordy28]

Hey there

With all of the steelhead reports on here in the fall and the spring its got me thinking

I live a 5 minute walk from a well known river in Mississauga that gets a spring and fall steelhead (and salmon I think)

For years I have sporadically fished it with spinners, kwik fish and roe on a 11 foot spinning rod. I have 10 lb flouo mainline with a 4 lb floor leader

I have yet to catch anything but I know it's not for lack of fish! Especially the last time I fished it when I caught 0 fish in an hour and another angler who was fully rigged (float rod, waders, vest etc) asked if he could share the drift and caught a 4 lb trout in 5 minutes

So...

Am I just useless? Wrong set up? Is a float rod with roe mandatory?

Help is appreciated- since my little one was born heading north to fish for a day is tough to do but running to the river for a few hours isn't. will also try for smallest this year further south of my place. Never tried that either but fished small mouths in the Maitland river for years so I'm a bit more familiar with techniques

Cheers

Gordy

[alexmedic]

Hey there

With all of the steelhead reports on here in the fall and the spring its got me thinking

I live a 5 minute walk from a well known river in Mississauga that gets a spring and fall steelhead (and salmon I think)

For years I have sporadically fished it with spinners, kwik fish and roe on a 11 foot spinning rod. I have 10 lb flouo mainline with a 4 lb floor leader

I have yet to catch anything but I know it's not for lack of fish! Especially the last time I fished it when I caught 0 fish in an hour and another angler who was fully rigged (float rod, waders, vest etc) asked if he could share the drift and caught a 4 lb trout in 5 minutes

So...

Am I just useless? Wrong set up? Is a float rod with roe mandatory?

Help is appreciated- since my little one was born heading north to fish for a day is tough to do but running to the river for a few hours isn't. will also try for smallest this year further south of my place. Never tried that either but fished small mouths in the Maitland river for years so I'm a bit more familiar with techniques

Cheers

Gordy

 

Come fall, through a dew worm on a hook in, you'll be surprised. Also, be mindfull of how you approach the river, being stealth reaqlly does help.

 

My 2 cents

[esoxansteel]

Sounds like you have a decent setup, no you dont need a float reel, but the 11 ft rod, should absorb the shock on a hookset, and should load when fighting a fish like a float rod, which im assuming yours is, watch what others are doing around you who are catching fish, especially their sinker (shot) placement, if its a deep fast run you need to bulk shot to get down into productive water in the run faster, which is placing your shot together, 12 to 18 inches from the hook, and not spread out like they will show in books, the river you are talking about gets fantastic runs of both steelhead and salmon, dont be afraid to free drift the river without a float as well, your rod should easily do that as well with the spinning reel, the masses are using floats, but it was the way we steelhead fished before the carlyle floats first appeared in the late 70s, usually with a 8wt fly rod and reel, spinners and quickfish as you mentioned also work, when the river clears go for a walk and see the runs and holding areas etc and keep a mental note of those areas for when the fish return in the fall. Hope this helps

[Ralph Field]

Hang in there Gordy and eventually you will catch them. It is hard to tell why you are not catching them without seeing the way that you are fishing your spinners , kiwkfish, and roe. Don't be afraid to ask anglers you encounter on the river if they can spot anything wrong with your set up or the way that you are presenting your offerings. Most anglers are nice enough to take the time to help you out. If you encounter the other type of angler don't get discouraged and remember that you don't want to get to know that person anyways. Seeking advice from more knowledgeable anglers could lead to new friendships and fishing partners. The most common mistake made with kiwkfish and spinners is retrieving them to quickly.

[bushart]

1st always post the names of the rivers you fish and where exactly the fish are

 

2nd when you catch one---an ABSOLUTE must is take a pic with your float reel submerged and the fish needs at least 20% to be covered in mud

 

3rd--give the names of the fellow OFC steelheaders you meet on the river and the river name and what they were using

 

 

Of course---just kiddin

 

Once you've asked at your local tackle store---(Indy preferred---Cdn Tire guys likely not interested)----just keep trying new things----and watch whats working with others when your out there.

 

Hey---I never would have thought a small countdown Rapala would have worked had I not seen someone else use it and work

[Christopheraaron]

Fishing with the perfect drift guide company was a very helpful, Graham tought me a very important method which was nymphing, take a small float (smallest you can see) and tie on a couple of nymphs and float it all the way down the river, also put on the absolute minimum shot. Use this only in the spring because that is when the steelhead re feeding on small aquatic insects in the fall they feed on eggs.

[spinnerdoc]

I am in the same boat as you are. I am relatively new to steelheading and am busy with the daddy duties as well, so tend to restrict my steelheading locally. It can be a little confusing with all the shinanigans that go with it. The set up that you have is pretty good and you don't need a float rod to catch them. A spinning gear is just as good and you could float fish with it as well.

 

Hardware can be just as deadly. I would look back at Solopaddlers post on this topic. I tried spinners and they worked well for me. The smaller black furies and panther martins I like. The black and yellow is my favorite. I cast straight across the river or a little off downstream and be mindful of getting snagged on the bottom, I controll this by the retrieve and pointing the rod tip up. With other lures I have yet to catch one but I know they work as I've seen others catch them on it, and these are agressive takes.

 

On the float they are a blast as well. Roe is a good start and when you get more confident, flies do some damage as well. On a spinning gear line tend to twist with this set up, so a small swivel above the float, would reduce if not illiminate this. The split shots below, you would have to experement on how the are spaced in order to get the float to noodle right, check out blackbird or raven's site they have topics on this. Once you get your float to ride nicely, your good to go and keep in mind you can adjust them, float included to target the depth you want anf according to the flow of water.

 

Lastly, reading the water, It's one that is gonna take some time. You gotta be patient, don't let the "NUMBERS" that other guys get take away the fun of your experience. Learning can be fun and rewarding. I am sure there are lots of topics on this so I'll just give one, seams, I like fishing them, it's the part where fast and slow water meet if you could get your float in that sweet spot, they usually hang there waiting for food to pass by and they don't expend much energy swimming against current....

 

Have fun on the learning curve, don't worry you'll get one, till then have fun putting it together

Edited June 2, 2012 by spinnerdoc

[BillM]

Half the 'numbers' guys post up are Bull anyway... Some guy catches 10-15 fish and he think he's put 30 to the bank, lol! Most guys on the river are extremely easy to talk to and willing to give you a hand.. Sitting there drift after drift with no fish requires a change, whether that's over all rig length, bait, etc etc. Expecting fish to show up and take your offering after it's been down the same run a dozen times is the definition of insanity Switch it up!

[gordy28]

Thanks everyone for the very helpful tips - will definitely check out the post on using spinners and will definitely switch it up per the feedback

Ideally I will have some steel pics this fall!

Gordy

[Musky or Specks]

Takes time, when I first started zero fish days were the norm. Hooked up with someone knowledgeable and started to catch the odd. 8 years later I knew I could always get at least one and hung up the float rod for musky fishing.

[MJL]

Reading the water is 75% of the game. Getting your bait/lure down into the strike zone and keeping it there is 20%. The other 5% involves catching fish

 

Once you figure out where steelhead hold in the river during specific conditions (involving water temperature, water clarity, water level, time of the year, etc), you’ll have no problems catching fish (and that doesn’t mean just catching steelhead either – it applies to pretty much all fish that live in or migrate up rivers).

 

Spend a day with an experienced river angler (maybe even hook up with a guide). The knowledge you'll get from at least one day of instruction will last you a lifetime.

[Garnet]

The shorts route is to get your money out.......pay the person.

 

More likely is to enjoy the process of trying make adjustments, try make adjustments, get 1 success then 2 then 3.

[Canuck2fan]

The most important tip is you want to lucky rather than good. I have seen 3 people using the exact same setup, bait from the same container and only one will be catching fish. I have also fished with many "experts" who came up dry when I was with them. Even though they claim they could catch tons of fish on any given day. Catching chrome is sometimes a game of millimeters, adjust weights, floats, colors and baits constantly until something happens. BE a spy watch how the people catching fish are rigged up. Why? So many times I just watch what the daily expert is doing and soon I am catching fish too.

 

One time I was pier fishing with a pal who had given me some roe two days before. I had, had 3 fish on and he hadn't had a sniff. He demanded to see my setup since he knew we had the same roe, I was bottom fishing with a leader about foot longer than he was using. He rerigged, cast and before he could open his bail and wrap the line around his pill bottle a fish pulled his rod, the bucket it was in the holder of right in to the lake. I guess he finally had the right setup LOL. Don't worry though I caught his rod with the fish on it about 2 hrs later.