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[Spawn Sack]

Whew...thanks for all the tips guys! I need to hit the sack soon but will give all of them a more cafreful read over tomorrow and write a more detailed response.

Knnn, last winter I did take a steelheading course It was 1/2 day clasroom 1/2 day on the river. The classroom content was AWESOME and I learned a lot about what works well in different water. Soon I'm going to review the thick handout we all got and my notes as there is a ton of good info. Unfortunately the course didn't dive too deep into what I really wanted to learn more of - strategies for hunting s/h. Overall it was a good course though and I'm glad I took it.

I think another stumbling block for me is there are a lot of choices of what to fish with. Jigs, blades, spoons, roe, roe sacks, prawns, rubber eggs, rubber worms, spin-n-glows, corkies, wool, combos of these, etc. For SALMON I know what I like to fish and what works for me through a lot of trial, error, and success. My #1 go to lure is a jig. I just love fishing them and do well on them for all salmon. However with s/h I haven't had much luck on anything, so I often struggle with what to tie on. I'll go through phases steelheading where I'll fish mainly jigs, and others where I'm trying everything in my vest and spend as much time farting with my gear as fishing. I don't doubt that at times the right lure/bait will make a difference, but I've heard from many guys that as long as what you're fishing is appropriate for the water, pretty much anything will elicit a strike if there is a fish there and it's presented properly. 

Anyway....again appreciate the tips guys and I'll have more to say tomorrow.

[swimmingwiththefishes]

Use what u know from books and advice on this forum but in the end dont overthink it.Just keep your head down and fish any and all water and that is especially the case with the vedder as those fish can be anywhere due to the pressure they get.

[Geff_t]

I agree although I disagree at the same time lol. Fishing the same spot over and over will teach you where fish hold in certain conditions in that spot. It's best to have a circuit of spots to fish, I prefer to fish a stretch that has multiple types of water ranging from big deep pools to wide runs and everything in between.

Yup that is exactly what I do. I almost always do a circuit and from time for to time I will go and fish other areas where I know there has been fish taken there. This has worked quite well for me.

[MoeJKU]

For me steelhead fishing has been the most productive after exploring a lot. I found 12 or so spots that i know hold fish, and varied in depth, speed and lenght. I then looked through the spots and noticed that on some days the water conditions were the same at certain runs, and completely different in others. From there i made  2 different circuits with a mixture of different runs. Most days i only do one circuit, however if i don't yield any fish and still have time i will go to select spots on the other circuit that i feel will hold fish.

Like others have said i have found certain rocks to cast to that almost always hold fish, as well as little pockets. Once  you find these spots in your runs then you are golden.

I put a lot of miles on my boots over the years it just takes time and persistence. I usually only fish over a run once, unless i get a hit or i see a fish. I usually make a short cast out to around and then cast 3 feet further until i am across the river or as far as i see fit. Then move down five or so paces and repeat all the way down the run. If i go back to the top i switch out my colors and try again.

[Spawn Sack]

Alright, just had a chance to read over all posts again. A lot of great info appreciate it all I like the idea brought up by Steely and Knnn of getting out early season and exploring, possibly finding some "new" water, getting ideas for "circuts" etc. I think I'll do a some of this soon so by the time the fishing starts to pick I'm not still out there exploring, but rather have a good selection of runs I like and circuts to fish depending on how much time I have on a given outing. Also like the idea of taking notes of where I see a fish caught, if I catch a s/h what I was using and what the conditions were like, etc.

I said before that as far as I can tell my tackle set up is pretty solid. If anyoen has any critiques of what I use please tell me:

Rod: I have a few I rotate through. My fav for s/h is a 10"6 12-20LB line rating Convergence. Nice and light and balances well with my lighter reels. I also have the same rod in 12-25LB line rating and an 11"6 Technium in 12-25. For casting/carring all day I prefer the 1st rod.

Reel: I have 3 baitcasters. My fav overall is the Currado 301E which I'll fish on the two 10"6 rods. Too light for the 11"6 though. Then I'll switch to the Cardiff 401.

Mainline: 15 or 17LB on the smaller reels. 20 on the Cardiff. I use Maxima UG or Pline CXX-Xtra Strong.

Leader: Usually 10, 12, or 15LB mono depending on water conditions.

Float: DNE 20-35g depending on how much weight is needed for the water conditions. Normally use the 25g. I don't really buy into clear floats and I've had a few crack while fishing then I gotta re-rig

Weight: Pencil lead 2-3 inches (1/4 gauge) threaded on mainline. I carry diff sizes of split shot for fine tuning if necessary, but generally just a piece of p/l. I used to use a plastic bead above the swivel knot but found sometimes it would break. Now I just put a dab of UV knot glue on the knot and IMO it protects the knot fine and will not crack and fall of like the bead.

Swivel: Roller swivel normally #10 (I think)

Leader length: Depends on conditions, but typically shorter than I would fish for salmon. With jigs usually quite short 12-18 inches. Same with roe/roe sacks. For rubber worms and blades I'll go a bit longer in the 24inch range as IMO such lures work better with a longer leader so they can flutter/wiggle more.

Hooks: Octupus style in #2 - 1/0 depending on water. I like the good ol' gammies in gunmetal.

Other: Most of the time I'm short floating trying to get the fish to look up and see what I'm throwing down. If feel my lead dragging on bottom I normally reel in right away and shorten up a bit. I don't snag up too often but sometimes it happens.

The only real variation I'll make to this set up is with pre-tied rigs like rubber worms where I want the leader length to stay the same, but if I cut and retie, then want to tie the worm back on, each time I lose a few inches of the worm leader, and soon it is too short! I've tried re-threading them with a new leader but find most of the time the worm gets wrecked. A sollution to this I learned from one of the guys at Sea Run : Tie a duo-lock to the end of your worm leader and clip it to the end of your barrel swivel. If you want to change rigs, just unclip and put on a leader board. Next time you want to use it just clip back on!

With worms I like this method. However with pretty much everything else I just tie the leader right to the swivel, and if I re-tie that jig or whatever later I just cut a new piece of leader line. I prefer this as IMO the duo-lock is just one more thing for the fish to see and possibly spook from, and one more thing to possibly fail/break. Also I like having a fresh leader on with a fresh lure. However, with the threaded worm the leader getting shorter and shorter sucks, and this seems to solve the problem. I'll attach a pic in case my explaination doesn't make sense.

[liketofish]

With some 20 years behind my s/h fishing, I will just add a few pointers to help the newer s/h rods, hopefully to catch more steelhead this season:

1) If you can be there at first light, pick spots where the first nighters are going to sit. First nighters are those steelies which just enter the river the night before and they are the most aggressive ones. Try to fish from Peach and down all the way to the canal and pick different spots to start at different trips. Keep a keen eye at where the fish are mostly hooked at different water level and clarity. Gradually, you will form a mental map of where these first nighters are mostly hooked at a certain water level and clarity. This is an experience building thing and you need to spend the time to get this mental map (unless you go with someone who has already got some idea of this).

2) In the early morning, short float with roe at slow and shallow tail out of these 'hotter' spots. Stay back and start casting to near shore area first, then progressively work your way deeper.
3) When you are done with roe, then perhaps switch to metal. Some fish don't react to food but they (particularly the aggressive buck) will attack flashes due to territorial aggression instinct. I once dug up a 14lb buck after 4 groups of fishermen already fish a hot section with nothing and I noticed they all use the orangy stuff. So I pull out the metal and promptly hooked that buck. You can change up to smaller set up such as a single jensen egg on light leader, or a small spin and glow etc. This is just in case the water is low and clear and fish prefer smaller presentation.

4) If you fish towards noon or afternoon, try to fish above a long stretch of unfishable or unaccessable section, because fish staying in that section in the morning will be unhooked and unspooked in travelling through that section until they get to your spot in the afternoon.

5) Towards the end of day, focus on the top end of large runs/pools as fish are likely to move up there ready to charge up the shallow when light dims. You actually see this happening during the salmon season. Close to 4 to 5PM, load of fish will leave their pools/runs to move up. Likewise for steelhead.

6) Sometimes this top end can be shallow and fast, try to do top-down presentation, or even do true bottom bouncing (2-3 ft leader on 3-4" pencil lead and a small spin & glo) to slow it down for steelhead holding there to bite. You never know sometimes can be a few steelhead there. If a hot run has many fish hooked up during morning and tons of things thrown at the remain fish afterwards, fish can sometimes just move up to these top end section of the run to avoid the chaos at the lower section of the run. So once you see a run with hot hot action, you can focus on the top section later the day.

7) When the river floods and then a cold spell follows, the river can be loaded with steelies all over the river, not just the lower pools. This is the best time to go out and you may have multiple fish per day. If the main channel is still quite high, switch your attention to the side channels with slower flow. At high water, slow edges are a must to try. You can also pick pockets at mid river as most fish can make up there unhooked during the high water. Nothing beat pocket water pin-point accurate steelhead fishing. They are most aggressive and if you find them in a pocket in highly oxgenated water, you have them. Whether you can land them is another story, LOL.

Fish the tide if all else fails. You may want to try target newest arrivals at the lower canal. They bite anything given the right condition, especially those real early or late high tides. If you are lucky to hit a school, you can do really well. I have once heard a guy failing to hook anything during the day, and then as a last stop try lower canal before heading home and he hit jackpot with 7 steelies. He said after promptly hitting a few fish, he just tested out with different things in his steelhead arsenal and they bite them all. LOL.

There are many more steelhead pointers other more experienced steelheaders may add to mine. There are no one with all the answers. Lets share some points to help out the newbies or relative newbies without naming the actual spots. We all know how hard it can be for us during our first few years. Tight line and good luck to all and lets hope this is a great steelhead year just like the coho.

[zap brannigan]

i use snaps on all my leaders so i can swap out baits real quick.

[Knnn]

Thank you liketofish, great info there.

I like a snap swivel at the bottom of my main line and a plain swivel at the top of my leader for a quick change and have multiple ladder boards to store them all on.  One board has short leaders, in heavier gauge line (15 lbs) for high coloured water, with a selection of baits, usually egg loops for roe, couple of No. 4 silver hamered colorados, and 6 inches pink worms (different colours).  Then I also have a board with longer leaders, 20-24 inches for low and clear water with smaller blades, single jensen or mad river eggs ()sometimes with a touch of white wool and small washed out 4 inch worms in pale pink or pale purple all on 8-10 lbs leader (preferably Flouro). In total I think I carry about 20 pre-made leaders with different baits, but with duplicates of my favorites.

[CoastRider]

Duolocks are a great thing to use. I have never felt that a fish passed up my offering due to the duolock being there. But i have noticed that I spend much less time with my numb hands trying to tie onto a swivel. I find im more willing to try two different rigs through a run when its easier to change up as well.

Two things i have done differently than you (mainly personal preference) but that i have found to be much more confident in:

I use seaguar fluorocarbon. Sometimes i'm sure it has no effect, but with clearwater conditions i feel like it is an edge. Diameter is much smaller and invisible under water. I find that it also seems to have a higher breaking strength. I used to use UG for all my leaders but now i use nothing but seaguar.

Split Shots. I think they allow you to control your bait more efficiently, with 4 split shots a couple inches apart, holding back on the float allows your bait to lift in a more gradual way, instead of stopping it like it does with pencil lead. I feel that it makes a curve from float to weight like a J instead of a straight shift like an L

Just my personal preferences, everyone has their own little things that happened to work once and they decided to stick with, ALL about confidence

[Brian the fisherman]

I forgot to add the best tip ever. Don't over complicate everything. If you are a well attuned salmon fisherman and have hooked into fish. you know how to trick them. just adapt to frozen fingers and the fishes lack of energy to move and like others have said, really learn the run you chose to fish. even if it takes a half hour of dicking around to get the right depth. but dont get too overwhelmed with the details. I have caught more steelhead when screwing up or " sleeping at the wheel" while drifting. so as long as your presentation is acceptable they are an easy fish to entice. but hard to find.

[MoeJKU]

IF you like fishing jigs use them. I almost exclusively use jigs for steelhead. Sometimes a little metal in there as well to spark aggression. For jigs i like using cherise, always a good choice, as well as the nightmare jig. I have also found that drilling out red plastic beads and slipping them on just after the jig head works well. 1 or two beads. my main colors are red, purple, blue, black, pink when tying jigs. Sometimes i even tie a little white on with a pink worm or grub on the hook.  I have had great success with jigs though, marabou for slower water, and a mix of rabbit and marabou for faster. It seems to hold a wider more full presentation in faster water with rabbit.

[GENERAL-SHERMAN]

Find a good fishing buddy that knows what they are doing and watch how they cover water and what they use. A good steelhead fisherman can show you how long to spend in certain water in different times of the year. Learning to cover water quickly and efficiently is the key to success. If u don't have a buddy fish behind some experienced anglers. Often times u can analyze there fishing abilities and even see something they missed. Sometimes you can even learn where the good spots are by how quickly they fish and where they slow down. Bottom line is you need to get out there as much as possible no book is going to make you a complete angler you have to fish many different conditions and water types and make mistakes and learn from them...

[leapin' tyee]

Bottom line is you need to get out there as much as possible no book is going to make you a complete angler you have to fish many different conditions and water types and make mistakes and learn from them...

x2 ...  Just get out and enjoy a day...Tight line.

[Spawn Sack]

Liketofish: Wow man thanks a LOT a ton of good info there. I'll be re-reading that again and making a few notes for sure. Really impressed with that posting - good on ya!

Just two quick questions I can think of. 1- What is a "top down" presentation? Of course I'm famaliar with short floating, etc., but not this one. 2- For fishing the tide, am I correct that one looks up high-tide in NWM, and then add 3hrs? Or is it 4? And does it matter where one fishes as far as timing goes? The spots/runs I'm famaliar with are between the Old Train Bridge and the KW bridge. I know a few spots below the Hwy1 bridge but rarely go that far down river as I have had better luck elsewhere.

Knnn: In that pic I took of my lead + duo-lock I just realized that I don't rig it up quite that way. I actually tie the duo-lock directly to my mainline (wide end on bottom) and then with the leaders have a barrel swivel at the top of each. I don't think it matters which one you have one top really. IMO duo-locks are stronger than snap swivels, and snap swivel + extra swivel on the leader = 2 barrel swivels on the set up which is unnecessary. But hey, if it works why change it?

Also I like your idea of organizing your leader boards by water type. I normally have all worms on one l/b ranging from 6" bright pink to 4" pale pink etc for clearer water. And the same for wool leaders, etc. I think I'll switch that up so each board is suited more to a paticular water type, then I can keep just the one board in my jacket pocket.

Coastrider: I love S/G flouro for still waters I mainly use their 4.8lb tippet for trout (some 5+ pounds) and have never had a fish snap me off. The stuff is so micro thin but strong like cable! However for the river I determined I don't like it. I went through a 25yd spool of the Blue Label in 12lb this year for coho and I'm positive I was snapped off way more often than if I was using 12lb UG or even 10lb. I was extra careful to tie good well lubed knots and still had many fish snap me off at the knot. Anyway for me I just have limited confidence in it for river fishing. Plus is crazy expensive! As for split shot I use them sometimes if I'm trying to be as stealthy as possible in low/clear water. However I find after a while they start to slide a bit and I have to keep farting around with them. I agree you liley get a better drift if holding back on your float but cost/benifet wise overall I presently prefer fishing p/l. Perhaps I need to learn a better way to crimp them on. I use the open gap in my leatherman pliers so the shot is being pinched all around instead of being squished like if you use needle nose pliers. Also I try to get the line in the middle of the shot, not the back of the opening. Still they slide on me!

MoeJKU: Thanks for the jig tips! I'll be tying up some new jigs soon:)

Thanks to all others that offered tips as well

[Ambassador]

Great info on this thread, guys! I have never fished for Steelhead but am looking forward to picking up a baitcasting reel this weekend and heading out soon to do some pre-season scouting of locations over the next few weeks. As SpawnSac said "another stumbling block for me is there are a lot of choices of what to fish with. Jigs, blades, spoons, roe, roe sacks, prawns, rubber eggs, rubber worms, spin-n-glows, corkies, wool, combos of these, etc." x2 on that one. While I'm sure it makes me look a little green, I usually pack a small tackle box with me as I explore new rivers as I don't know exactly what to throw on until I get there. Spend less time on the computer and more on the river, right!
I'll check the regs and the rest of this site to confirm, but off hand, does anyone know if the Vedder is the only river that Steelhead can be retained in the Lower Mainland? I know Capilano Steelhead are C&R only, but wondering where else they run in local systems. I'm not a strict meat fisherman, but love coming home with an edible trophy whenever I can.