Your favorite way to catch steelhead

There are a lot of methods out there. Drifting corkies, yarn, yarn balls, etc.
Using floats with things like jigs, roe, pink worms, etc
Using spinners, spoons, flys, and many other tactics to get fish to bite.

I know there are a lot of variables but my favorites are,
In water 4-8 feet and with a slight current i use a float with a 1/8 oz jig head and a 2.5 inch pink worm or pink and white jig.
If the water is stained i will use black and red flake jigs.
If the water is 2-6 feet i like little cleos and my home made blue fox look alike spinners.
I drift fish pegged corkies with a chunk of yarn when no other option works for me.

I know weather, water depth, clarity, and tempature all effect how you attack the water, but this is my plan on a normal day. So how do you prepare for a river the night before?

I always seem to start with spoons,cleos for deeper holes,steelies for the shallower holes,then its onto jigs then corkies

lures all the way!!!!! foxes and spoons!!!!!

Snagged in the tail! They fight pretty hard!

nwkiller said:

lures all the way!!!!! foxes and spoons!!!!!

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I always looked down on lures, until i tried everything else and started catching 4 times more fish on lures, lol. Now i love them.
It just seemed like when i walked up to a crowded hole and started casting a blue fox people gave me that " what are you doin loser " kinda look.
The reality is is easy to put 8 lures in your pocket, hit the river and fish. No multiple rods, tying leaders and changing gear, carying around a tacklebox, and you know what? THEY CATCH a lot OF FISH!!

Amen

On My Flyrod,
then spoons,
then drifting crawdad meat with peach yarn-

drift fishing with next to no lead on a stream that during most times of the year hardly has any water at all in it and having to hurdle logs rocks stumps ect as I chase a toad trying not to get spooled....... again.....

watermelon corky with a shrimp sented mad river curly tail pink worm. I also add some "special " sauce, but I wont tell what that is

eggs said:

Snagged in the tail! They fight pretty hard!

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I sngged a 42 inch sturgeon by the tail and kept telling my fishing buddies i got a 7 footer on, boy did i feel stupid. Lol

I've always drift fished cause that was the way I was taught and I've become very confident in it. This winter my goal is to change that up a bit and give spinners a bit more time in the water, tryin to perfect that method of catchin

I have been steelhead fishing for two years now and have yet to catch one so have no favorites yet.
KiltedBob

before i started fly fishing i hooked 3 steelhead on spinners and caught a really small one ( about 18 inches) on the north santiam so that was my favorite, ive only hooked one on the fly so far and it was nymphing a dropper stetup with a glo bug and stonefly nymph

I'll take them any way they are willing to get on the end of my line! :lol:

Lamzy said:

I have been steelhead fishing for two years now and have yet to catch one so have no favorites yet.
KiltedBob

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That sucks. Sounds like my dad.
He is very impatient though. I could catch 3 fish on a watermelon corkie and he still wouldnt put one on and stick with it. He changes his setup every 10 minutes. Lol
Less time in the water= less fish.

fly pole for sure, after that spinner cause i like feeling them hit it