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Total take down

Tap and hesitation then take down

Slight tap

Multiple taps and hesitation

Non of the above

[Fish or cut bait.]

question, so balancing the float with the proper amount of weight is an important issues right. if you have on a dink float, that is sticking 4" out of the water. its swaying back and forth as it drifts down the seam. you wont see that soft bite as you would with lets say a stealth float rigged just so the color tip is above the surface floating true and proper?

Correct,  I know there's a lot of newbies who've probably missed their chance at their first fish 'cuz they couldn't tell they had a strike.
moved on, and left the fish for someone else.
A lot of Fish will mouth and spit,  you gotta strike when it's in the mouth

[steelie-slayer]

today i was fishing cement slab fishing dew worms and i wasnt paying attention and talking to someone and i had it just dangling underneth the cement slab and looked down and saw a nice little 6 lb hatchery buck chomping on my worm lol float never even went down lol

[jon5hill]

Topic is a bit contrived.

You will know when a steelhead strikes.

[bigblue]

I was fising the Vedder yesterday and saw this most unusual float action.

I cast the bait into a real fishy place along a rock bank and got distracted so could not mend the line.
The float was like "very fast and light tap 3 times" -- short pause  -- again "very fast and light tap 3 times"
As I was not ready to set the hook, I just watched in amazement. LOL
When I retrieved the hook, the bait was gone.
It was the only hit I got yesterday in a full day of fishing under the rain. LOL

I am just curious, what kind of action by a steelhead would cause such a float action?

[Driftpin]

I was fising the Vedder yesterday and saw this most unusual float action.

I cast the bait into a real fishy place along a rock bank and got distracted so could not mend the line.
The float was like "very fast and light tap 3 times" -- short pause  -- again "very fast and light tap 3 times"
As I was not ready to set the hook, I just watched in amazement. LOL
When I retrieved the hook, the bait was gone.
It was the only hit I got yesterday in a full day of fishing under the rain. LOL

I am just curious, what kind of action by a steelhead would cause such a float action?

Where you using roe? Sometimes when you get fast light taps it's a small trout hitting the eggs.   

[bigblue]

You are right DP, it could have been a small trout hitting my natural bait.
Kind of like a pecking action.

[hue-nut]

Topic is a bit contrived.

You will know when a steelhead strikes.

yah, for everyone who is thinking "maybe I've just been missing them................thats why I have not hooked one yet this year, just need to be setting the hook at every dip and tap"

you will know

[bigblue]

yah, for everyone who is thinking "maybe I've just been missing them................thats why I have not hooked one yet this year, just need to be setting the hook at every dip and tap"

you will know

Well, I am not quite sure it is that simple.

I have gotten to know an old timer at Vedder who has fished the river for 53 years and has given me many good pointers to follow this season.
According to him, many new commers miss strikes at Vedder as float indication is sometimes very suttle, especially when pressured with many anglers.
He told me that he would fish a same run with other anglers and he will many times see them miss a strike because they did not recognise the suttle indications of a strike.
A slight slow down in the speed of the drift with no vertical movement of float may mean fish is on or slight lateral movement of float will also indicate a strike depending on the flow.
Sometimes he will tell them they just missed a fish and when told they will mostly be dumbfounded as they had no idea. He will ask them to recast exactly as before and set the hook when told. Sure enough he had them hooked on a steelhead on the next cast.

I guess the moral of the story is that reading a float well takes a lot of experience and learning.
 
Advice I got was observe very carefully how the float behaves on the first cast down and if different on the next drift, be ready to set the hook.
Sounds easy, but as river contour changes with each drift (unless going over exact same spot), it is not that straight forward.

[hue-nut]

Well, I am not quite sure it is that simple.

I have gotten to know an older timer at Vedder who has fished the river for 53 years and has given me many good pointers to follow this season.
According to him, many new commers miss strikes at Vedder as float indication is sometimes very suttle, especially when pressured with many anglers.
He told me that he would fish a same run with other anglers and he will many times see them miss a strike because they did not recognise the suttle indications of a strike.
A slight slow down in the speed of the drift with no vertical movement of float may mean fish is on or slight lateral movement of float will also indicate a strike depending on the flow.
Sometimes he will tell them they just missed a fish and when told they will mostly be dumbfounded as they had no idea.
He will ask them to recast exactly as before and set the hook when told. Sure enough he had them hooked on a steelhead on the next cast.


thanks, some interesting food for thought.
I guess the moral of the story is that reading a float well takes a lot of experience and learning.
 
Advice I got was observe very carefully how the float behaves on the first cast down and if different on the next drift, be ready to set the hook.
Sounds easy, but as river contour changes with each drift (unless going over exact same spot), it is not that straight forward.