1st steelhead attempt

[bigd610]

I just got my completely new spin set up from Oregon Bait and tackle and am looking forward to breaking it in on the Mckenzie river tomorow. We are going to try for some steelhead however if that does not work we are gonna try for some good trout out there. Does any one have any good spots or advice they would want to share with us to help us find the steelhead this time of year. We plan on hitting the dam area and tossing some spinners there for a while. However if that proves to be a bad idea we want to head downstream and try some of the spots on deerhorn. Has anybody has any luck with spinners on this river any advice would help
Dan

 

[rippin fish lips]

Deerhorn road will have some fishy lookin water, less steelhead. More trout (hatchery) with some nates in there. Probably will be slow for trout. If you want to trout fish go camp creek road or lower deerhorn road. Hendricks bridge and lower will have good trout opportunities right now if the wheather conditions don't throw the bite off.

Look for slower tailouts with a broken surface. I have been focussing my efforts on tailouts that are just a little bit slower then walking speed.

Go dark colors on days like today. (purple body silver blade) Blue body silver blade... Black body silver blade... Red body silver blade if conditions are really dark in the water (red stands out in the darkest conditions)

A size 15 panther martin (brass or copper blade with red bodie) is a good choice in low light conditons. Anything rainbow colored in the dark might get a fish to bite. Or a size 15 with brass blade black body with yellow dots.

I would stick with #3 and #4 spinners for your trout. And if up at leaberg if water is up and high fish #4s for steelhead, if water is low and clear start #3 and go up as u need too. If you toss a spinner with purple or blue on it, you got a good chance at a hook up.

Remember... when fishing for steelhead up there. Bait is closed, but (scent is not considered bait) and does help on slow days!

 

[hobster]

I thought bait was allowed from Hendricks up to Leaburg until Dec. 31. I know the rest of the river is closed for bait, i'd better go check it out. Nice detailed answer there Tanner, and good advice.

 

[rippin fish lips]

I thought bait was allowed from Hendricks up to Leaburg until Dec. 31.

This is Correct! Thanks for correcting my mistake!

 

[bran_man]

you are both correct. To my knowledge (correct me if I'm wrong): from below the dam to hendricks, bait is open until dec. 31st also is for retention of 5 planter (adipose fin clipped) trout (most everywhere else in oregon closes oct. 31 i believe) All wild trout must be released regardless of type. Unless you catch one over 24" which is then considered a "wild steelhead" which can be TAGGED on the mckenzie. I would highly advise not to do this though as it will most likely be a native redside. As Tanner (rippin fish lips) can back me up on this, there are native redsides out there in that size range. would be great to let fish like that conitinue their journey/gene pool and make more amazing fish like that! ha ha

As for spots: GIVE UP! There's no fish in the river anymore! ha ha jk there's definitely trout and steelhead in there still! Most of the steelies are re-runs but there are still a couple "freshies" coming in. If you are fishing for keeps or for steelies, below the dam is probably your best bet. there are TONS of great spots out there! fishing has been kinda hit and miss out there, but if you fish it really hard, you'll still have a decent chance of hooking up even on a slow day. spinners work great, but this time of year I feel that bait is the way to go! I think spinners work better earlier in the year when they are fresh, but they will still def hit them if you can fish them correctly. I usually try a bunch of different stuff, but if you strictly want to use spinners/spoons they should still work!

 

[bran_man]

Oh and greenwood is usually pretty bomb for trout as well

 

[hobster]

Hey guys, just checked the regs and its actually Hayden bridge to Leaburg dam where bait is allowed, not Hendricks.

 

[rippin fish lips]

Hey guys, just checked the regs and its actually Hayden bridge to Leaburg dam where bait is allowed, not Hendricks.

Until the YEAR of 2013! Then it will be from hendricks bridge upstream to leaberg damn,

 

[bran_man]

Yeah they just changed the regs mid season this year

 

[bigd610]

Thanks for the help and the tip it is always appreciated. Wneto oiut and sad to report I did not get my Steelhead however I did limit on trout so it was not all that bad.

 

[rippin fish lips]

Did you end up fishing Leaberg?? or go loweR? How was the trout fishing? Was it a bait or lure day for you?

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

I would use egg imitations up there this time of year. You have salmon that were spawning not to long ago and there are a lot of eggs floating down the river. Last time up there we hooked 15 steelhead using egg yarn patterns and beads. Roe works good too but I would not waist good bait on the fish up there this time of year.

 

[bigd610]

Did you end up fishing Leaberg?? or go loweR? How was the trout fishing? Was it a bait or lure day for you?

We hit Leaburg for some steelhead with some spinners Mike at Oregon Bait and Tackle made for us for Steelhead. This was truly our first steelhead fishing try and we had fun but no fish. Then we went down to Deerhorn and hit some of the holes down therre are used some small spinners we had for them and hit a couple of good holes. I was told in advance that spinners aren't the way to go for steelhead (but its the funnest and I wanted to try out our new gear) and I have not learned how to use the bobber and egg method yet. I have not had too much luck fishing around here but I will get the hang of it.

 

[bigd610]

Will try that is the next thing I need to learn. I am not too quick on the uptake on some of these set ups and your videos online have been a large help. However there is only so much you can learn from a video I need to get in some good river time

 

[rippin fish lips]

Half of my steelhead are takin on spinners every year on this river and half of the 40 somethin summer runs i hooked this year, were hooked on spinners. I say 40 because i stopped counting after losing 30 this year. out of all those steelhead i only banked 12 this year! lol. it was a big fish year for me while tossing spinners.

 

[bigd610]

I keep hearing that sand shrimp or salmon eggs are the way to go but I love to toss spinners ( I am still trying to catch my first Steelhead) So what do I know. Id love to be in the position to say I caught 40 Im still working with an empty tag. Ill get there though. Practice makes perfect. Hell even if it doesn't it sure is un to just sit back on the river

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

Steelhead and water temps determine what you should fish with. The water is warmer in the summer so they are more willing to hit spinners. The winter is another animal, they will hit them but it has to be the right temp and the presentation is different. Float fishing is easier to get your first fish with probably but drift fishing can be very effective once mastered. I caught my very first steelhead drift fishing but now I float fish probably 90% of the time.

 

[ChezJfrey]

Out of curiosity, what would you say coldest temp for spinners to be effective would be?

For my anecdote, my first steelhead caught was on a spinner this last February when the water was about 41 degrees, fairly low water and near crystal clear visibility. Most of my other steelhead have been caught on a spoon and all my winters were when the water was in a range of 44-50.

 

[ChezJfrey]

Half of my steelhead are takin on spinners every year on this river and half of the 40 somethin summer runs i hooked this year, were hooked on spinners. I say 40 because i stopped counting after losing 30 this year. out of all those steelhead i only banked 12 this year! lol. it was a big fish year for me while tossing spinners.

Ouch...every time I see your summer story this year, I shed a tear for you. Have you figured out a likely cause for your losses? Is it a case of the river sections just containing too many rocks/obstacles that break you off, they shake the hook, light line test and the fish just runs you around a bend you can't get to, something else?

 

[rippin fish lips]

It would have to do with, fishing with a 7'6" light action okuma with no back bone, The river sections, 6lb test, dull hooks, broken hooks, snapped line cuz fish landed on it. This year i was very undersized for the size of fish i was getting into 10lbers easy (in beggining of year) may-july. 6lb test, a rod with no back bone in high water... makes it tuff!

And i tend to fish little pockets above fast shoots, most of the time if u hook a fish in these spots it has no choice but to go down stream!
I guess the steelies did work on me this year lol