Early morning 101

[bran_man]

If you're an active steelheader, then I'm pretty sure you have woken up at some ungodly early hours in order to get on some prime real estate water or your favorite spot.this is very common for our sport. So for those who do,I will give some basic advice. It seems like a no brainer, but apparently still needs to be said. Early morning fishing, usually occurs before sunrise, which means usually requiring some sort of flash light of some type. PLEASE DO NOT FLASH YOUR LIGHT ALL OVER THE WATER to look it over when you get to "your spot" all that does is spook any fish right out of the hole you just looked over. Fish can be very sensitive to that. I know it can be tempting to do this cause you just want to check things out. Multiple times already this year, I have been waiting at my favorite spot, and have had others come up on me and shine their lights right in front of me.I'm always polite about it, but I will give you a lecture if you do that to me. It's a simple concept that can be the difference of getting into some fish first thing, and not...

 

[hobster]

Man you get there early! I live a ways away so I usually get up at 4:00 and hit the river by 5:00 but its light then. no one has been there before me except once this year, but the fishing has sucked so there are way fewer people. Couple of weeks ago I hooked 2 and had 1 on the bank before anyone else showed up - I LOVE being able to get the 1st crack at em and fish it alone for a while. Haven't used a flashlight since the winter, but yeah, what are they thinking? That's just wrong to do if someone is there before you - you have a right to be pissed. Especially with the low water, you need every advantage you can get.

 

[Throbbit _Shane]

The unwritten rules of combat fishing.... lol

You kind of got to expect that type of stuff to happen when fishing very popular fishing holes.

 

[Yogidabear]

Depending on the depth i'm sure it could happened, but being a scuba diver in 7 to 10 ten feet of water it's not easy seeing anything that goes on above you. so is skipping rocks is off limits too? jk

I use to get up at the crack of dawn but it really didn't make much of a difference to me, most all of my fish have come at the 10 o'clock bite , at least that's what I call it.

 

[HereFishy]

I've been known to leave my house at 3:30 a.m. to claim prime real estate.. Another helpful hint: Don't don your waders until you can see what you're doing.. Learned that lesson the hard way.. I went to get over a fell tree, about waist high.. Tried to straddle it and scoot over it on my butt.. About halfway across I heard that tiny, faint, unmistakable tearing sound that anyone who has had a day of walking a river RUINED can identify.. One more helpful tidbit: Don't try to dig through your tackle until you can see what you're doing.. I lost a pair of lead weight pliers and a box of terminal tackle that way.. Both were fairly inexpensive mistakes.. C'est la vie... Anyone can learn from their own mistakes. A truly smart individual will learn from other people's mistakes... Hope these pearls help....

Happy Fishing,
Kyle

 

[steelhead_slayer]

When I fish the other side of the mountain I get up at 1 or 2 a lot of the time

 

[bran_man]

Oh yes I get up EARLY!!! Not going to say when though cause then you will all know what time you can beat me lol. And this post is not meant to complain or anything, just merely to inform... Just fyi

Yogi: personally I do not fish those deep salmon holes in the summer. Unless you can get into them decently early, they're just dark stinkies by the time they get down to us from the falls. Most of the bankie spots are pretty low around in the 3 feet down to inches levels. Can't tell you how many times I've been just walking to the spot, see a steelhead sitting in calm water and it senses me over fifteen feet away on the bank and spooks off. Even these Hatchery clones can be very sensitive at times...

 

[halibuthitman]

shining light on the water has absolutely no effect on steelhead..or trout, Ive night fished hundreds of hours wearing a headlamp often shining it on a mouse pattern and had crushing takes.. ive also fished steelhead where it is legal at night and had coleman lanterns burning right next to the river.. even seen fish swim right up and hold in the light.. and salmon will actually come up to the light and stack.. But if I ever do see you on the water at 4:am yell out that its bran-man from the forum and I will shut my dual lensed led light show off your you.. I don't wish to be brash-

 

[jamisonace]

We floated by three guys in Tuckers Eddy at about 7am on the Mac the other day. They had their sleeping bags and cots on the bank where they slept and anchored in their hole at first legal I'm sure. I'm not sure you'll ever find me sleeping on the bank for a hole.

Oh yes I get up EARLY!!! Not going to say when though cause then you will all know what time you can beat me lol. And this post is not meant to complain or anything, just merely to inform... Just fyi

Yogi: personally I do not fish those deep salmon holes in the summer. Unless you can get into them decently early, they're just dark stinkies by the time they get down to us from the falls. Most of the bankie spots are pretty low around in the 3 feet down to inches levels. Can't tell you how many times I've been just walking to the spot, see a steelhead sitting in calm water and it senses me over fifteen feet away on the bank and spooks off. Even these Hatchery clones can be very sensitive at times...

 

[jamisonace]

I've tried that for browns on the Provo at night but my light wasn't bright enough. I had to settle for setting everytime I heard a slurp which was about every 15 seconds and almost never on my fly.

shining light on the water has absolutely no effect on steelhead..or trout, Ive night fished hundreds of hours wearing a headlamp often shining it on a mouse pattern and had crushing takes.. ive also fished steelhead where it is legal at night and had coleman lanterns burning right next to the river.. even seen fish swim right up and hold in the light.. and salmon will actually come up to the light and stack.. But if I ever do see you on the water at 4:am yell out that its bran-man from the forum and I will shut my dual lensed led light show off your you.. I don't wish to be brash-

 

[steelhead_slayer]

I've tried that for browns on the Provo at night but my light wasn't bright enough. I had to settle for setting everytime I heard a slurp which was about every 15 seconds and almost never on my fly.

Night fishing shas always sounded awesome to me. Chasing some monster browns in the dark. I got to make that happen sometime

 

[Throbbit _Shane]

Only two lakes in the state you can chase browns at legally after night time. Lake of the Woods in Southern Oregon, and Miller Lake.

I think it would be a blast to troll some plugs in the dark for browns.

 

[bran_man]

shining light on the water has absolutely no effect on steelhead..or trout, Ive night fished hundreds of hours wearing a headlamp often shining it on a mouse pattern and had crushing takes.. ive also fished steelhead where it is legal at night and had coleman lanterns burning right next to the river.. even seen fish swim right up and hold in the light.. and salmon will actually come up to the light and stack.. But if I ever do see you on the water at 4:am yell out that its bran-man from the forum and I will shut my dual lensed led light show off your you.. I don't wish to be brash-

I have seen it happen in person myself. My rivers get really low and clear. Have literally watched steel swim away from lights multiple times. "Absolutely no effect?" Highly inaccurate.. Agree to disagree then

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

I think its kind of like boats on the water. A lot of people think it spooks steelhead but I have friends that fish the Rogue and jet boats will race over holding water and they will hook up right after. Daniel was on the McKenzie a few weeks ago and a boat ran through the narrow section below the waterfall like an idiot. Daniel then hooked three steelhlead after not getting any love for an hour or so. The fish might swim away when seeing light but they will be back in 5 minutes and will bite the same way they would have before the light was on the water. We fish the bridge hole on the alsea a lot and guys will shine lights on the water before daylight and I even do it sometimes to see if I can see any fish holding. After that it only takes about 10 casts to hook a fish! I would be more worried about the 700 corkies swinging by their face at daylight. :lol: Or better yet, block the entrance to the hatchery so no one can get down to the water.

 

[hobster]

I think its kind of like boats on the water. A lot of people think it spooks steelhead but I have friends that fish the Rogue and jet boats will race over holding water and they will hook up right after. Daniel was on the McKenzie a few weeks ago and a boat ran through the narrow section below the waterfall like an idiot. Daniel then hooked three steelhlead after not getting any love for an hour or so. The fish might swim away when seeing light but they will be back in 5 minutes and will bite the same way they would have before the light was on the water. We fish the bridge hole on the alsea a lot and guys will shine lights on the water before daylight and I even do it sometimes to see if I can see any fish holding. After that it only takes about 10 casts to hook a fish! I would be more worried about the 700 corkies swinging by their face at daylight. :lol: Or better yet, block the entrance to the hatchery so no one can get down to the water.

I've always thought the fish get spooked by the sonic booms underwater when aluminum drift boats hit boulders, not the boat itself. They probably look at boats like they are big logs or something floating by above.

 

[HereFishy]

I've always wondered, "is any fish REALLY capable of thought?". Do they think to themselves "why is that worm hanging directly under that thing that looks suspiciously man made? The last thing that drifted through here that looked like that made Hank disappear, there's nothing in nature that looks like that (bass spinners, skirted jigs, and buzz baits)"? Or is it more along the lines of, "feed, feed, that looks safe, feed, spawn, danger, danger, feed"? Science tells me that, no they are not capable of rational thought. But after 2 weeks strait of getting skunked, I'm more likely to tell myself 'those crafty *expletives*', on an empty-handed drive home..

They're messing with me.. They're consciously messing with me!!

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

I think they can be conditioned in areas where there is heavy pressure. They see the same things all day long and after a while they just ignore most everything. I think they get very good at seeing line in the water and will shut down no matter what you are using. Light line in the summer is very effective but also very challenging to get fish to the bank!

 

[fishinshawn]

Funny thing I always used to complain about the crowds and what not. This last season I only hit the water 1 or 2x before daylight, most of the time I didn't hit the water till 11 or so. Often had the place to myself, even hatchery holes. Funny thing is though everytime I did get there before daylight it wasn't long till this great big flashlight appeared in the sky.....

 

[Yogidabear]

Do they really know what line is ? If you showed line to a two year old human would he be able to put that thought together? who lives in a pinapple under the sea ?

 

[Throbbit _Shane]

I doubt Salmon like line. As they see it constantly being ripped through the holes their are staying in.