Northwest Fishing Reports

Salmon-check
Trout-check
Steelhead-tba

That says it all, I've never caught a steelhead in my 2 years of salmon and steelhead fishing. I know the rivers they run, stilly, cow, sky, cascade, pilchuck. Problem is hooking and landing one. Maybe it's just me and I'm never supposed to get one lol. Basically wondering if there's anyone who has tips to share, not like secret holes or anything but normal tips. I'm not a snagged or flosser, I catch all fish legal, I just need help with theae damn steelies.

Are you a float, hardware, or drift fisherman? And what time of day do you fish? Also, how is your rod set up?

I've tried all 3 methods and to no avail. I fish for steel early morning, are you asking how big of rod I have and what reel and line?

First off, jigs and eggs can be a deadly way to catch steelhead. I'm sure you probably know that though. One thing that can make a difference is line. Lighter tackle can sometimes catch more fish. In winter i use 10lb main and 8lb leaders. Summer i use 8 and 6 or 4. Catching steelhead can be all about timing or where you go. If you really want to catch a steelhead go to a river that plants alot of steelhead smolts. The bogachiel, skookumchuck, and cow have really good returns. For techniques, no effictive way is really better than the other. Though i like drifting pearl pink corkies and boraxed cured eggs, and float and jigs in pink, peach, nightmare, pink and white, red, or black the best. I do pretty good on small pink vibrax spinners aswell. Hope that helps. Also thats assuming you want to catch hatchery fish.

Danny,
Don't despair. It took me three winter seasons before I hooked my first, so maybe this will be your year. Blake gave good advice and I'll follow it by saying pick one presentation and stick with it until it produces. I recommend float and jig. But any of the three will produce if you keep at it. Essentially, master one and the rest will follow.
If you're just looking to hook your first, start at the popular holes. Watch what the successful people are fishing and where they're fishing, then copy it. Don't be afraid to ask what colors are working and don't let jerks turn you off from asking. You might have to come back a couple times to either get to the location on a good day or to get a spot in the good area, but eventually it'll pay out.
Sometimes it's simply switching colors that will do it. I had a day where I hooked two in quick succession when those around me where not having a lot of luck. I was the only one fishing the black/light pink combo jig, so may have been that color combo was the ticket that day. Size of the presentation also can play a role. Nothing you probably haven't been told already.
Keep trying and good luck.

BlakeP and Bentrod pretty much summed it up. And yes I'm asking what length your rod is and it's rating. Early mornings or sunset are when these fish are more active, so you'll get one eventually.

I would say stick to one of the three methods that I mentioned earlier. Perfect it then go to the other too. Where have you been fishing lately?

You're a Skagit system guy right? Cascade would be one of your best bets. Its a really small river unlike the cow. The fish are more concentrated and often times, when the water is clear you can watch them hit your eggs, jig, whatever. You can see what the fish want and don't want. And FYI the Cascade is pretty much an egg show. If you do something different with your presentation it will add up to more fish. Just the littlest things that people aren't doing WILL get you to out fish them. Now lets wait for fishenfreak to chime in here.

Oh and last thing, think pink in clear water, and nightmare patterns in murky water.

I personally think one of the easiest ways to catch your first steelhead is on a spoon. Ever since I started fishing spoons, this is what I usually set my novice buddies up with if they have never caught one. I have managed to put two different guys that I work with on their first chromer with spoons. I prefer rvrfshr spoons in gold or silver. Sometimes I'll set them up so that I have two stacked on top of each other so that they stay down better. That's just my .02 cents. If you want someone to show you how to fish a spoon let me know, I'm always looking for fishing buddies. The skykomish is my usual haunt.

I would reccomend bobber and eggs, that`s how I caught my first. But make sure you have some good home-cured eggs on hand.If you don`t, order them from sunrise bait in Oregon and cure them yourself. Try either the Cascade or Reiter(they love to hang out behind the big rock when the river has good flow ) if you don`t want to drive halfway across the state.

We shall see when the time comes, I've written everything down in my fishing journal

Here are some basic tips for drifting & covering water. Take it with a grain of salt as there is too much to add to this post.

"Look for a good drift" and start covering water from top to bottom. Adjust your weight so it ticks once every few feet or so. Stay out of the water at first and follow the shoreline down making shorter to longer casts til you are out as far as you can cast. If no takes, go back to the head of the drift and start wading (if safe), covering the water you could not reach with your first run through.

Or hit the hatchery & talk with people fishing next to you.

Keep it simple. There are a lot of techniques and they all produce, but what I did was start with one technique and perfected (as much as anyone can 'perfect' anything) it. My first time out I fished off the side of the road on the Bogachiel. I decided that I would use a bobber and jig so, after hooking up a pink marabou jig, three feet or so of leader and a thill slip float I made a couple test runs and got the jig set just off bottom. A few casts later I had a an 18 pound wild buck. That experience (the simplicity of the method and the results) convinced me to use bobber and jigs as my go-to and it has been very consistent for me.

Fish where the steelhead are, when they are there. Simple as that. It's a numbers game. Salmon run in big schools, and outnumber steelhead 25:1 in the rivers they run. Steelhead, on the other hand, will eat just about anything. But they are spread out more in the river. When the water is clear, go small and light, if it's muddy, go big and bold. Spoons and spinners will catch fish, but they're also loud. If they don't bite it after a few minutes, they're not in the mood to be aggressive. Make sure you're fishing the bottom, and that you're not scaring the fish. That may mean dropping your leader down in diameter, moving your hook away from your weight. And unless you're fishing at the hatchery, cover water. When the water is up, fish high, when the water is down, fish throughout and cover water. If you haven't found a willing player in a half hour at a hole, you're just sitting and waiting for a fish to move in, or for the bite to start. Fish with what you're comfortable with. If you've caught most of your salmon on a float, then do that, because odds are you're good at it. Same for drift fishing, etc. They're gonna bite the same things that salmon do.

Fish where the fish are. Fish the hatchery holes, there are always fish there, and they'll bite. And fish on the bottom and right above it. And when they do bite, set the hook hard and take your time getting it in, they've got hard mouths, and you don't want to forget your first.

Nailing one is the hardest to do. After you hook the 1st one, it gets alot easier. Just keep at it, your day will come.

rcthepirate wrote:I personally think one of the easiest ways to catch your first steelhead is on a spoon. Ever since I started fishing spoons, this is what I usually set my novice buddies up with if they have never caught one. I have managed to put two different guys that I work with on their first chromer with spoons. I prefer rvrfshr spoons in gold or silver. Sometimes I'll set them up so that I have two stacked on top of each other so that they stay down better. That's just my .02 cents. If you want someone to show you how to fish a spoon let me know, I'm always looking for fishing buddies. The skykomish is my usual haunt.

Quick question, have you noticed that you noticed that double stacking them makes them fishing slower or faster? My usal water is the sky too. I am trying to get my spoon game on point this yr! Pm me if ya wish.. or answer here!
Thanks

if you want to KILL it at steelheading, use a snap swivel, piece of lead according to river flow, 4 foot leader, and a tiny red corkie, and a small hook,(presentation needs to be smaller than your pinky nail), stick a toothpick inside the corkie and cut it so you cant see it, but make sure the corkie is pegged right above the hook, put some sandshrimp STANK on that ****, and drift, i nail em almost everytime, and i atually have to get my pliers and dig the hook out of their throat THEY EAT DAT **** UP DAWG and you can use some live sandshrimp if you please aswell.

the corkie has to be ROCKET RED. the steelhead get so pissed and gobble that up like its thanksgiving stuffing,

Thanks guys! I feel more confident than ever about landing one now. Might even have to hire Nate or danny for a day haha

With all this wonderful information there is one thing to remember.... Time on the water and learing to read it is more valuable than any information anyone can tell you. Time on the water! Keep that in mind. Too many people become internet fisherman without ever having put in the time, while many, including myself, are willing to help you need to help yourself. Read the escapement reports for WDFW, they are updated weekly and will give you an idea when rivers are getting fish into the hatchery. Go to USGS water data survey keeping in mind that water levels change how fish act. Going to the river with one type of lure or bait is like only having one arrow in your quiver. It's good to have backups and be able to be versatile while fishing, especially for steelhead. You have caught fish so telling you to set the hook or to mend your line isn't going to help. Feel free to ask for imput anytime but make sure to get out there do for yourself as well.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wa/nwis/rt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://wdfw.wa.gov/hatcheries/escapement/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

cascade river is getting better and better, just pick a day in december and go there with jigs, corkies and spoons, find a spot and start casting, key is to keep fishing cause you never know when the bite will turn on, this morning literally we were getting nothing where I was fishing then all of a sudden boom 3 fish landed inside of 10 minutes, crazy. If every one around you is fishing eggs fish jigs, if they are using that too then goo with corky and yarn and stick to what you know will work like basic colors of pink, orange, and red.

luisdabeast206 wrote:Nailing one is the hardest to do. After you hook the 1st one, it gets alot easier. Just keep at it, your day will come.

rcthepirate wrote:I personally think one of the easiest ways to catch your first steelhead is on a spoon. Ever since I started fishing spoons, this is what I usually set my novice buddies up with if they have never caught one. I have managed to put two different guys that I work with on their first chromer with spoons. I prefer rvrfshr spoons in gold or silver. Sometimes I'll set them up so that I have two stacked on top of each other so that they stay down better. That's just my .02 cents. If you want someone to show you how to fish a spoon let me know, I'm always looking for fishing buddies. The skykomish is my usual haunt.

Quick question, have you noticed that you noticed that double stacking them makes them fishing slower or faster? My usal water is the sky too. I am trying to get my spoon game on point this yr! Pm me if ya wish.. or answer here!
Thanks

It definitely slows it down. It will allow you to maintain a good wobble (as opposed to a spin) in faster water than a single spoon would. However, the action isn't as good in water that is too slow, so you have to retrieve a little bit of line to get it wobbling correctly.

Did some minor shopping tonight, got some pink beau macs marabou steelhead jigs. They are a hook size 2 and weight 1/8oz. Then I got some danielson salmon/steelhead drift rigs that have 2 small pink beads, red corker, orange and yellow yarn that's tied together with a red hook. Hope someone has good news that these will work with some sand shrimp