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[Steelhawk]

Arrived at the river past the morning rush. Saw a lot of fishermen at a good lower run. Only saw one fish. Looks like a slow morning. But there is feeling that there should be fish around. The other side of the run is deep and treed. No one was fishing there. The fish, if any in the run, should be making up on that side untouched. Decide to fish above this large run in a small run above where no one was fishing. There was a fishy slow seam behind some obstruction. Put on a #5 Colorado blade and first drift the float went down. I was taken back and quite literally not prepared for the hook set as I was still reeling in loose line. But anyhow, the hook set was done solidly if a bit late, and wham a steelie was jumping out and dashing around like a mad dog. But the slower hook set was actually great because the fish must have inhaled the whole thing and the hook sticked firmly. Soon, I was on my way home with a chrome steelie buck (about 11 lb). It was so chrome and fresh that there is no even red tint to it. Yummy yummy sashimi tonight.    The river is very low and it has 3ft visibility in lower, but it was colouring up slowly with the rain. Hope it will hold so you guys can have a great day tomorrow. Tight line.

[chris gadsden]

How did that fish get by me today. It most likely the one that I missed, smashed up my roe bag but would not come back. Thats the 4th time in the last few days I have missed a fish although Lew got the first one that I missed 3 times.

 The Master says I am using too small a hook.

Nice clean steelhead Steelhawk as well as a good report to make a number on this forum envious.

[Steelhawk]

Thanks Chris. Hmmm.. You may be right. That steelie must be filled already by sucking all your roe bags all day. So it prefers my blade.  Time to consider the blade in your steelhead arsenal besides the roe bags.    While steelies just mouth the roe, they attack the blade with force. Just have to be late in hook set to make sure they inhale the metal.    I guess we older guys are natural when it comes to being slow in hook setting. 

[rollin]

great looking fish, nothing like the adrenalin of landing a chromer.

[ever_hopefull]

Finally, Saturday was the end of my drought.  I hit the lower part of the river in the morning hitting some known fish areas eventually running into Chris and Gwin. They kindly gave me some pointers on their methods and showed me some of their key holes  , thanks guys - it was nice to see how the pro's do it.  However no love, or respect, was shown to any of us by the old ironheads.  I was wet, cold, and ready for a coffee break (this being a union shop and all) so off I went to the upper part of the river. 

The first stop was the run just below Tamahi across from the turnoff to the camping area.  Water was nice, but again did not feel the love.  I got back to the truck and tried to leave, but my tires did not like the very slight incline away from the road when it is covered in snow.  They spun away putting about 2kms on my odometer but not moving the truck 2"s.  I found some sand across the street to put down under the tires but that only resulted in the inside of my drivers door getting covered in mud as I peered out while watching my tires spin.    After 20 minutes of fruitless effort, another fisherman came back to his truck, gave me a side glance and drove away - thanks for the help mate!  I cleared the snow away only to find about 3-4 inches of solid ice between the snow and the ground - hence no grip.  I remembered I had a machete in the back of the truck that I use for clearing brush, so it became my ice sculpting tool.  An hour later after hacking the ice away down to the underlying dirt, off I went, cursing my cheap friggin' tires.

Snooped around a few sites to see what was happening, and ended up near the hatchery.  After watching one guy hook into and loose a fish I cracked out the rod one more time.  Within 30 minutes the guy next to me hooked into and lost 4 fish.  He either hit a honey hole, or maybe it was the fact that he had 5-6 feet between his float and weight, and another 3-4 feet of leader and was dredging the bottom.  That was certainly not my technique, with 2.5 - 3 feet between float and weight and less than 12" of leader.  However after about 1 hour of casting in gin clear water, and about 4 feet off shore, I was finally rewarded with my float literally disappeared from sight.  I was watching it one moment, then it not only went under - it totally disappeared (remember gin clear water and only 4 feet from shore).  I hauled back and off it went.  After some nice runs, and a couple of aerial spins, a small wild doe very reluctantly came to shore.  Out came the black tube, and off to the hatchery it went to bring forth some very large offspring.

It is probably the smallest doe in the hatchery - but it broke my drought.  The day was full of misadventures but finally turned around.  More than I can say for the Canucks 

[Every Day]

Were you at the limit hole? Also I know what you mean about the snow and ice me and my grandpa got stuck for a half an hour in his van last weekends on a small slope... hopefully my drought comes to an end, I've only hooked 1 fish in the last 2 or 3 weeks and havn't landed any this year  . Any one have any tips on what I should do, I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. So far I do 2-3 feet from float to weight, about a 1 foot leader. I've tried everything from bronze/gold/silver colorados, Pinks worms, Jensenegg with white or peach wool, pink wool, and pretty much everything else I have. I also know that I'm in the right spots since I always watch other ppl catch fish  . I guess it might have somthing to do with experience, only my 2nd year out ever for Steelies. Any thing any 1 could suggest 2 me would be helpful, thanks!

[firstlight]

2-3 feet between your float is good if your in 2-3 ft of water.
Make sure you are on/near the bottom but makining sure that it is just touching here and there.
Keep a little tension on your float to ensure the bait is being prented first and not the weight.
From what you have tried it certainly sounds like you know what you are doing and sometimes even the best rods have there slumps.
Keep at it and move around and remember those spots where you have seen fish pulled out of.
Remember,Steelhead fishing is more like hunting and if you can find them you will get them.
Good luck.

[hotrod]

I would suggest having a leader that is 18-20" long and always keep your presentation at least 12"-18" off the bottom. Try and keepp your float straight up and down for a more natural drift. I have found in the past that when I started losing fish that I was setting the hook way to hard. If your float goes under all it's going to take for you is to lift your rod quickly but ever so lightly and you should get a way better hook set. Fast and hard and you lose a lot of fish as the hook is half way out of its mouth and much easier to unbuttom itself. After all your not trying to hook a shark!
When lifting your rod for a hook set should be a calm 1 second count. Trust me I've lost a lot of fish due to this problem and have seen my buddies do the same and have given them the same advice and they all have better landing % now too.

Also a couple of years back I lost a lot of fish on #2 Gammies and switched up to a #1 and the rest is history. I think what will be really key to your success will be discoverinig what works for you and your style of fishing. That's where the real success is in discovering yourself on your steelhead journey.

Does that make sense?


    Hotrod

[kingpin]

this year ive made hard hooksets on every fish I have hooked except one, ive landed all of them but the one i didnt drive hard.. but to each his own, i wire that #1 hook as hard and deep as i can

[Colorado Grinner]

this year Ive made hard hooksets on every fish I have hooked except one, Ive landed all of them but the one i didn't drive hard.. but to each his own, i wire that #1 hook as hard and deep as i can

Same here.I believe that alot of those ones that got away were from insufficient hooksets.
I guess the fishing gods  only know the real truth?

[Every Day]

Thanks guys, Ive been told that about the hook set before, just to pull up slowly on the rod tip when your float goes down, the problem is I'm not even getting to the part where my float goes down  . Any suggestions on what type of bait to use (besides roe, I hate playing around with that stuff)? And I've been doing a lot of fishing in deep, slower moving parts of the river where I have seen other fish caught, right on the edge of the fast and slower water, and also on the edge of deeper and shallower water, is that right or should I be moving into different areas? All the log jams I've fished all year haven't given me any and fishing behind rocks at Tamahi hasn't worked for me either this year, which is where I caught my 1st Steely ever last year. Hopefully some 1 can help me out, maybe show me around sometime I guess I'll learn from mistakes and from experience, I cant expect to be as good as you guys in my 2nd year I guess...

[kingpin]

if you dont like roe, fish roe bags..you can buy them already tied at most stores.. also buy prawn rings and add a little rock salt and your good to go.

[Steelhawk]

For the first nighter steelies (those which had just come up from river mouth the night before), they bite anything. That day, after I caught my steelie on blade, I saw two other steelies caught, one on single Jensen egg, the other on a small spin & glow. I have also seen 3 steelies caught last week all on prawn tails in lower river. So the important thing for these fish is finding them, not as much what you use. A fishing friend related to me this story to illustrate the point. He is a c/r specialist so he does not stop after landing a steelie. So one time he was in a canal section and late in the afternoon he hit a school of steelies just coming up with the tide. He hit them one after another. At some point, he intentionally tried out different things in his arsenal and it didn't matter. Those fresh steelies hit them all. That tells you the fresh steelies are very aggressive and hit anything thrown at them.

On the other hand, those steelies which had been hooked or had seen enough of stuffs thrown at them can be picky. The water clarity in upper Vedder can really affect Steelies biting. If you hit them at first night, they may bite easier then during afternoon.  I think if you are in an upper run/pool fishing with others, try to use something no one has used and that may increase your odds and use everything smaller in gin clear water. A single egg on 6-8 lb leader will do better with a big glob of roe or gooey bob with a 15lb leader. Saying that, you still have to be lucky to catch a steelhead any day.    No top rods can escape the infamous 'skunked' trips. It comes with the most challenging aspect of this crazy hobby called winter steelheading.  

[Every Day]

I hate roe because it's a sticky mess, Fishing for springs, pinks, sockeye, chum, and coho I have found wool to be just as good sometimes better than roe so I have no use for it, I pretty much only fish wool and spoons. I also love to fly fish for coho and trout in the summer and have also caught 6 sockeye on the vedder on my fly-rod fishing for trout, every time I put on a little blue fly I seem to hook one (how says they don't bite), but since they are trout hooks most of them snap when you hook into a fish bigger than something like 3 pounds ( probably because I dont tie flies and get cheap Wal-Mart flies )

[chris gadsden]

Finally, Saturday was the end of my drought.  I hit the lower part of the river in the morning hitting some known fish areas eventually running into Chris and Gwin. They kindly gave me some pointers on their methods and showed me some of their key holes  , thanks guys - it was nice to see how the pro's do it.  However no love, or respect, was shown to any of us by the old ironheads.  I was wet, cold, and ready for a coffee break (this being a union shop and all) so off I went to the upper part of the river. 

The first stop was the run just below Tamahi across from the turnoff to the camping area.  Water was nice, but again did not feel the love.  I got back to the truck and tried to leave, but my tires did not like the very slight incline away from the road when it is covered in snow.  They spun away putting about 2kms on my odometer but not moving the truck 2"s.  I found some sand across the street to put down under the tires but that only resulted in the inside of my drivers door getting covered in mud as I peered out while watching my tires spin.    After 20 minutes of fruitless effort, another fisherman came back to his truck, gave me a side glance and drove away - thanks for the help mate!  I cleared the snow away only to find about 3-4 inches of solid ice between the snow and the ground - hence no grip.  I remembered I had a machete in the back of the truck that I use for clearing brush, so it became my ice sculpting tool.  An hour later after hacking the ice away down to the underlying dirt, off I went, cursing my cheap friggin' tires.

Snooped around a few sites to see what was happening, and ended up near the hatchery.  After watching one guy hook into and loose a fish I cracked out the rod one more time.  Within 30 minutes the guy next to me hooked into and lost 4 fish.  He either hit a honey hole, or maybe it was the fact that he had 5-6 feet between his float and weight, and another 3-4 feet of leader and was dredging the bottom.  That was certainly not my technique, with 2.5 - 3 feet between float and weight and less than 12" of leader.  However after about 1 hour of casting in gin clear water, and about 4 feet off shore, I was finally rewarded with my float literally disappeared from sight.  I was watching it one moment, then it not only went under - it totally disappeared (remember gin clear water and only 4 feet from shore).  I hauled back and off it went.  After some nice runs, and a couple of aerial spins, a small wild doe very reluctantly came to shore.  Out came the black tube, and off to the hatchery it went to bring forth some very large offspring.

It is probably the smallest doe in the hatchery - but it broke my drought.  The day was full of misadventures but finally turned around.  More than I can say for the Canucks 

Glad you got into a fish, I guess just being near us helped you get one. It always make one feel good when they can contribute to the brood stock program so there is fish for the future for those that like to take a fish home once and a while.

More fish will be coming your way soon.