Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => Fishing Reports => Members' Fishing Reports => Topic started by: fishingbuddha on December 08, 2005, 01:52:49 AM
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well, i have a couple of steelhead reports from some friends. unfortunately i wasn't able to partake on these trips and i am really jealous that i didn't get to go.
anyways last week, some steelheading buddies went up to my favourite fishing spot...thompson river, and fished for two days. pressure was low because of the colder temperatures but they reported that they hooked two each on the thursday. one was long lined released and snapped the leader. the others were landed. then on friday they didn't get anything until they hit this one hole where one buddy hooked and landed five in a matter of an hour and a half.
all fish were caught drift fishing with a corkie, wool and shrimp. 16-18 inch leader.
interestingly, some of the fish were again caught slowly trolling along the bottom of slower water/backwater.
also last week, other friends of mine report that they caught four steelhead between the two of them. they also hooked into a lot of trout in the two pound range.
the only problem with these days were the weather. as low as 10 below and windy on most of those days makes for a long and cold fishing trip. on trips like these, de-icing the guides, reel's acting up, cold fingers (too cold to tie on leaders/bait) and beer partially freezing in the car can be problematic. on the other hand, catching a wild thompson steelie in beautiful country out weighs any negatives.
hopefully the next report you get will be from me.
any other steelhead reports out there. come on guys share.
how about the nahatlatch river? any steelhead caught in this system during this time of the year or do you have to wait until feb/march?
what about the squamish/cheakamus? what about other fraser river tributaries? i am really interested in other smaller systems that hold steelhead.
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i got me a hatchery 16 lbs doe from chilliwack yesterday mornin... chrome bullet.. and fiesty..
50/50 gold silver french blade.... steelhead killer!!
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Way to early for steelhead on the squampton....was there last week only raindows , dollies and lots of coho there... im goin to be drift boat fishing the stamp on the 18th........ so they must be lots of steelies there .... also this weekend im goin to one of my favorete litte tributaries on the fraser only 5 min walk from my house..........there should be lots of nice big cutties in by now plus the odd steelhead........
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I like you fishingbuddah you write a good report and arent afraid to mention the system because ALL of the beaks in lowermainland are gona read it and somehow fish the exact some hole. ::) I like how you mentioned how they were caught too, yah sure some may say i just cant catch a steelhead with my own methods , so great getting the news on what works best will make me improve. ;D Very nice report keem em comming.
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I like you fishingbuddah you write a good report and arent afraid to mention the system because ALL of the beaks in lowermainland are gona read it and somehow fish the exact some hole. ::) I like how you mentioned how they were caught too, yah sure some may say i just cant catch a steelhead with my own methods , so great getting the news on what works best will make me improve. ;D Very nice report keem em comming.
Steelhead are dumb. If you can find them you should catch them. The problem is finding them ;D Going to be trying some new jigs this year which are supposed to be just killer....
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good report, Do you have any Pictures from the trip?
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I like you fishingbuddah you write a good report and arent afraid to mention the system because ALL of the beaks in lowermainland are gona read it and somehow fish the exact some hole. ::) I like how you mentioned how they were caught too, yah sure some may say i just cant catch a steelhead with my own methods , so great getting the news on what works best will make me improve. ;D Very nice report keem em comming.
Steelhead are dumb. If you can find them you should catch them. The problem is finding them ;D Going to be trying some new jigs this year which are supposed to be just killer....
Jigs are my fav artifical bait so far. I was getting pinks just about every cast this year.
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nice to hear people catching steel! Must get first one this year :D Hey Eddie99 could you tell me exactly where to fish and what to use ?? ;) Im sOOOO joking :D
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nice to hear people catching steel! Must get first one this year :D Hey Eddie99 could you tell me exactly where to fish and what to use ?? ;) Im sOOOO joking :D
Fish the lower fraser with roe ;D
Actually when I was just a young lad my dad and I would barfish the lower fraser in October/November. I bet we would catch 12 steelies a year barfishing the lower fraser every year. Rarely ever see that anymore. We did see one get caught this year on the bar rod just past Dewdney Launch on a bar just upriver.
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nice report. :)
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Actually, pretty much everyone does mention the system fished. Just not the exact spot, and for good reason.
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I like you fishingbuddah you write a good report and arent afraid to mention the system because ALL of the beaks in lowermainland are gona read it and somehow fish the exact some hole. ::) I like how you mentioned how they were caught too, yah sure some may say i just cant catch a steelhead with my own methods , so great getting the news on what works best will make me improve. ;D Very nice report keem em comming.
Steelhead are dumb. If you can find them you should catch them. The problem is finding them ;D Going to be trying some new jigs this year which are supposed to be just killer....
Steelhead are not dumb dude. Steelhead are alot smarter than any salmon.
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like others who have commented before. i believe steelhead in the thompson river and other larger systems are very aggressive and protective of their area. thats why they hit hard. to find these fish you have to. 1) fish the system lots 2) learn from experienced fishermen in the area 3) work areas hard..start casting close to shore and let your line come right back to shore and even let it sit for a few secs. then cast a little further and so on 4) be confident in whatever you are using. 5) most importantly have your line in the water. the more your line is in the water the more you are fishing. the mistake most steelheaders have are wasting time tying gear, fixing birds nests, 6) think like a fish. hit the areas hard that look like fish might be hanging out.
for me a good reel and rod is important especially when you are drift fishing because you have to feel the difference between rocks and bites. most of the time the steelhead i catch only lightly bite the bait (hard to tell whether its a trout bite or a steelhead sometimes) as for a reel. many a time my reel has acted up on real cold days. this causes some casting and drag issues. but a real good reel isn't as problematic.
in smaller systems like the vedder i like to use smaller presentation. (single eggs, roe, wool, shrimp with a small corkie and wool) i usually float fish this system because the bottom is not conducive to drift fishing in most places. smaller hooks, smaller leader.
on larger systems my steelhead leaders are 10lb-12lb-12-15 lbs main.with a number 2/0 hook. on the smaller systems i go down to about a size 2 hook with 8-10lbs leader-10-12 lb main.
oh yeah. one more tip. i truly believe it you are not loosing a lot of gear then perhaps you are not fishing hard enough (dependant on where you fish)
hopefully some of this info helps. feel free to share any other steelheading spots with me and i would gladly share some hot spots that have guaranteed me steelhead over the years.
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as far as pictures go. i am in the process of organizing some of my fishing pics. the problem is that a lot of them are taken using a regular camera. also i don't always takes pics of my fish. depends on how cold it is and if someone is around to give me a hand.
fishing buddha. actually i do have a few steelhead pics on my computer from a digital. i just don't know how to put it onto a reply like i have seen others do. any tips for a computer rookie?
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FB, please check your private message box re: picture posting.
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I like you fishingbuddah you write a good report and arent afraid to mention the system because ALL of the beaks in lowermainland are gona read it and somehow fish the exact some hole. ::) I like how you mentioned how they were caught too, yah sure some may say i just cant catch a steelhead with my own methods , so great getting the news on what works best will make me improve. ;D Very nice report keem em comming.
Steelhead are dumb. If you can find them you should catch them. The problem is finding them ;D Going to be trying some new jigs this year which are supposed to be just killer....
Steelhead are not dumb dude. Steelhead are alot smarter than any salmon.
Steelhead are very aggressive fish. The reason you dont catch as many steelhead is because they are not in numbers like salmon. The smaller systems get a couple hundred fish a year. How easy is it it find them? If you find them and you have the gear you will catch them.
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im planing on heading out for my first steelhead adventure.. what bait is the most consistant
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i personally think ghost shrimp are the best. but... time has been precious for me and i am getting a little lazy. i mostly use shrimp bought from the steveston docks and i always take a little roe in case of back up.
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I dont think their is one bait that is more consistant than another. It really depends on the water conditions. When the water is high and coloured I use nothing but pink worms. When its low and clear well I bring a bit of everything. During the low and clear conditions if I had to pick something I would say hardened eggs in a sac. I would never just bring that though.
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i agree somewhat with the notion that it doesn't really matter. as long as your are confident in what you are using. however, over the many years of steelheading i have fished with everything from shrimp-ghost shrimp-roe-lures-spinners-plastics(including worms) and the most success i have had has been on ghost shrimp and shrimp. when fishing with these baits i often get a lot of bites/hits from other species and trout but when i fish the same areas with the plastics you don't get the same response from the fish. with plastics i just find that you get one or you don't but there isn't a lot of attraction from other fish. the only plastic that i found that compared to shrimp/roe/ghost shrimp are the single jensen eggs with a little wool.
however the bottom line is that you have to be confident in what you use. and as mentioned before, these fish are generally aggressive and its really more about finding the fish than it is catching them.
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I have fished steelhead for some 18 years and crazy as it sounds, this is my first season fishing the Thompson for steelhead. I was with 3 guys who grew up fishing the river and know the likely haunts for the fish this time of year. Due to the temperature of the water I think the fish this time of year might tend to be a little less aggessive as far as pursuing an offering but once hooked , holy crap, no steelhead i've ever hooked fought like the ones i hooked last week. I have been on a mission to refine my spoon fishing technique and my friends put me onto water that was "spoon" water. All the hits i had on spoons were solid takes, followed by bursting runs right off the bat. gonna be leaving tonite for another couple days on the river ;)
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You're not the only one Thomas. I've been steelheading since the Leafs last won the Stanley Cup ;D and I've yet to make a trip to the Thompson. :(