Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Steelhead fishing questions

I'm fairly new to steelhead fishing and am trying to learn their habits. I've been pulling a mag lip 3.0 or hot shot type plug behind my house most evenings and some mornings, using a side planer. Running them right down the seams and on either side of the seams of the fast and slower current with 15-18' between the planer and the plug. Just tonight I got my first two solid hits, but no good hookup. Same exact spot about 15' off the bank the first time using a silver with red bill mag lip, the second using a copper color hot shot. After getting the first hit I walked the plug down and back up, in then out, and tried to cover all the water within 60' or so. Not until I came back an hour later was I able to get strike #2.

So what do they do after a brief hookup like this, do they boogie out of a hole or just hit the bottom and lay tight? Should I have switched plugs immediately after the first strike?

wow, 60'

fwiw
Am fishing much shallower water here in michigan. In the fall we scrub holes/runs with plugs or spawn as they come up. When they are interested or they want to be there perhaps, they seem to hang right in there. If you hook them and lose them they move down. It may have been the same fish, it may have been another. They do school...

that's down, as in downstream....here

15' would be a deep hole on the water I know...:)

I should clarify depth wasn't 60'. I ran all over the river within 60' wondering where the fish may have went. I've been told to fish 7-12' deep here for them.

Don't personally fish gear (flies here), but they will often come back immediately if not stung. I typically step back upriver about 5 yds and start back through after an unsuccessful hit. Switch to another lure or pattern and repeat it they don't come back.

Do commit to memory the precise spot that one gets a hit. There are very specific locations where those fish like to hold, and acres of water where one will never get a touch. Work seams between fast and slow, in front of and behind big boulders, slick spots that do not move in fast water (indicative of a depression in the bottom where they can duck out of current), same for standing waves in fast water (there's something down there that's affecting flow), throats and tail outs of big pools (somewhere there's usually a current speed and depth where they will frequently hold). Make ones first efforts with only a rod length of line out. I have hooked and landed 3 fish over the years that took my fly while I was wading in with the leader in my hand (fish were within 5 to 6 feet as I stepped in). They seem to like water flowing in a consistent direction. Rarely take anything in large swirling pools.

If one gets several hits in a run, fish it a second time as that typically means there's a good number of fish there. Excessively high water will often move fish into shallow water nearer the bank. A run of salmon will often move steelhead out of their typical slots. I find fish in as little as 18" of water early and late in the day (shaded water).

After one gets to know a good stretch, move quickly between hot spots, and skip non productive water. Last, discretely watch old white headed folks as they work the river. They may have 40 years of experience and rarely waste time, because they don't have much left. NEVER step in downstream of another angler. If getting in above, ask permission, as one may be working it short on the first pass with intentions of going long on a second.

Indications are Oregon's runs will be in the toilet this season, so don't get too depressed if things are slow. Good luck,

Fantastic 1 minute, thank you for that great tutorial. Thanks to any and all for your help!!!

We have a guide friend that offered to take my wife and I out Saturday. Kind of a thank you for us letting him use our rv this coming archery season. He's been helpful too. Guy knows more about fish than I could ever hope to.

That's a lot of junk to be putting out there. My preference is nothing but a spoon at the end of my fishing line. With the treble hook removed of course, and a single hook in it's place. Make sure that hook is crazy sharp.

I have ZERO desire to use treble hooks for 99% of my fishing and for 100% of steelhead fishing.


Don't underestimate a leadhead jig/plastic grub combo.

I like shiet simple, I don't want 40 things dangling from the end of my line.

I never fished them out of a boat and was always wading in a river. I fished either spawn sacks, fly's or sponge that looked like spawn sacks. The advice given above is good and is the way I see it.

I've had very good luck with spoons especially the silver and blue little cleo on much smaller water. The Rogue is a good sized river and getting a spoon to the fish isn't possible in some spots. I agree with you Scott that I would love to flip spinners or spoons. When in Rome. The Applegate is the perfect size stream for any kind of steelhead spinners.

I can tell by the lip on my plug that it's riding the bottom, which is good right?

Is there a predictable pattern to when a steelhead will rise to hit and when they will lie on bottom tight? Conditions or times?

Tough fishing when water is rising. Picks up when stable or falling. I keep records of the bite on extended trips and then download stream flow graphs when I get home. The bite also slows when water temps get below 40 degrees, but I've taken a few when it's been around 34.

You can try wrapping your plugs with something like a sand shrimp. That gives you the smell and a little texture. That combined will the sharpest hooks you can get will increase your hook ups.

With regard to the fish staying in the hole... there is no guarantee but following up a miss on a plug by boondogging or side drifting the hole has put a lot of fish to the boat.

Round here - boat fishing for steel is either CC or converted cruisers in 100 - 300+ feet of water 3-18 miles off shore.

River fishing - usually I float glowbugs on fly gear and if they miss a hit, they tend to just sit right there and swim in place. They don't spook way off. I re-cast and let er drift on by again.
If people are gear fishing the river - they float spawn sacs under a slip bobber and just keep letting it dredge the same hole over and over. Don't know what the fish are doing in that situation as the holes are too deep for me to see the bottom. Fly wise - I'm sight fishing.

There are still others that fish for them near short via kayak. Once watched a guy with his 3 lines out hook up on all 3 at basically the same time. Friken rodeo. 2 mid sized kings and a steelie. He lost one. We're allowed 3 lines per fisherperson here. Most are simply paddle trolling with a single spoon and a SHARP single hook. I don't know of anyone using anything other than spoons/flys/sacs for them. Not locally anyway.

Guided trip today was a bust for fish, but learned alot from the guide about their habits. Came home and ran a side planer with plugs right here and had one quick strike and one pretty good takedown, but missed the hookup. I've got one small spot figured out so far. Thanks for all the advice, I'm enjoying the knowledge. I bought some fake egg clusters today to play with and am going to try to Google up some bobber fishing videos. There are a few salmon in the river, and very few steelhead, but they're coming.

550' of water down 60' with a spoon last week

Beautiful chrome...

A boat landed one right across the river from me this morning. )(^%%$##!(T%@^&(

Yes. I hate it when another angler walks up to socialize and hooks up in a slot I've worked for 20 minutes.

Fish finally arrived. Landed one salmon and one steelhead today, Just missed scooping up a second salmon before he rolled and spit the hook. Probably fished 100 hours in front of the house this summer w/o a fish. Now that they're here hopefully I can put some in the freezer.

I

Which river system were you on?
Ha!, Just looked at your post date..... it’s January now.

The Umpqua is seeing some fish, along with other short coastal streams.
The Rogue has fish in the lower reaches. Gonna be a while before we see much in the GP
Area and above, where I like to target them.

Learned how to bobberdog (drift fishing on the bottom with a slip float) and float fish (suspended bait, jig, whatever) and my success ratio soared 🎣🎣

It reads like you are missing some strikes. Guys have mentioned sharp hooks, but lots of guys think that a new hook must be a very sharp one. Not so in all cases. They need to be sticky sharp and if they don't stop and dig in on your finger nail, they need more work. Years ago without much else to do I put on my scuba stuff and went diving in a northern trout stream. I knew that the pool on the down stream side of a rapids held some trout, so I wanted to see for myself what was happening under water. Not only did a stream trout live in that pool, it lived in a very specific spot in a very specific riffle next to a very specific stick. I'd spook a fish out from where it was and back off and a minute later it would be right back exactly where it was before. I could never figure out how an otter could catch a trout, but they face directly up stream and you can darn near grab them by the tail from behind.

A little yarn will allow you to feel the pickup longer, gets hung on teeth. Using a slip bobber or strike indicator is a big help also.

Will see if I still got the touch going to Yakutat to fish the Situk late April.

Supposedly some fish coming any time now. They were a few miles downriver last weekend. I can't tell if I am fishing when the fish aren't here or if I just can't catch them! I catch one once in a while, and a few trout. This river turns on and off like no river I've ever seen. Some days nothing. I am fishing plugs under a sideplaner quite a lot, worms and a corkie, and sometimes spoons. Nothing sophisticated.

I hear other guys talking about how frustrated they are. Throwing everything they've got at it and coming up empty. I think I might even be outfishing some! I'll work on the sharp hooks, and youtube some videos on other techniques.

One question I've had is, will the steelhead run the trout out of a hole? When I'm catching trout does that say anything about whether there are steelhead present? Also, we have river otters that frequent the area. Any effect on steelhead?

If the crowds aren't scoring (especially the old timers), they are pretty much not there. Same for you. If the "cinch hole" and "for sure rock" are not producing, they are not around. Lastly, I have horrid luck with rising flows. Stable and or declining flows, and it picks up.

On the otter: I think their presence is simply a momentary deal. Fish just move out of the way as opposed to clearing the horizon. Once had 5 otter come up through about a 100 yd run just before I started from the top. I actually thought about boating on down, but decided what the hell. Landed 3 fish and lost 2 others in the next hour. Fish go through life ducking predators all the time. It's no big deal. Same with big and small game. Once the threat is out of sight, it's out of mind.

Get a chrome and blue Little Cleo, Krockodile, or K.O. Wobbler , around 3/4 oz. Remove the treble, and put a good eagle claw single hood on and cast it out and reel it in. Been using these 3 baits for years and catching steelies every time out.

Those Little Cleo's in blue and chrome, and gold are killers in the small river near here. I've done ok with the gold one letting it sink to the bottom and jigging it up and down as it bumps along the bottom. Surprisingly effective that way.

Looks like we have fish at long last. Hooked a good one probably 8 lbs, on the far side of the river using a sideplaner and plug. Got him all the way across to within 15' and the line wrapped around the end of the rod. He got off as I was trying to deal with that. Nice fish.