Skunked...again...

[CurtisP87]

My fishin buddy and I spent about 8-9 hours on the lower deschutes yesterday, covered maybe 4-5 miles from the mouth upstream on the east side. My friend caught one small trout, maybe 7-8 inches, and that was the highlight of the day....
We used spinners that I constructed myself, in different patterns of brass and black oxide, sizes 2-4.
We fished the deep fast water, the deep slower water, we fished where we saw whitecaps, we fished all around any protruding boulder we could get our lures to, we fished the eddys on the side of the currents....
Since I've moved here I've been out 8-9 times on 3 different rivers, and I'm beginning to think the steelies don't like me very much...

 

[osmosis]

What is the total weight of your spinners, Perhaps you aren't gettin down.
Any reason you didn't try a float and jig or drift fishing something like a spin glo?

Black and Black, and Brass with green on the blade are my best colors for there. #4 and #5 mainly.

Don't forget how well casting wiggle wart or hot shots can work also.

 

[CurtisP87]

As to the weight of my spinners, I'm not positive, but I can say that through the course of the day I got snagged on the bottom my fair share of times. Was able to recover a lot of em, but lost 5 of the 12 lures I took, so I feel like I was do wn towards the bottom at least sometimes...

As to other methods, I'm still learning how to fish these kinds of waters for these kinds of fish. Just about all the information I've read stresses presentation, and because of this recommends sticking to one method until you learn it properly. Since I've yet to catch a fish, I'd say I haven't learned spinners properly. :lol: Im familiar with the basics of driftfishing, never tried it though. Maybe I need to expand my arsenal of tricks to be more productive.

 

[osmosis]

Of all of the systems, slip float and jig is likely the easiest to get good at and be fishing appropriately right from the start. You will loose less tackle and spend more of the day being effective in the water.
Now it does target it's own set of water types and structure, but there is tons of overlap in productive gear choice per water type (multiple things working in the same spot).

Spinner fishing is of course an excellent choice also:
Once you learn to swing a spinner well, the jump over to drift fishing will already have many nuances built into your muscle memory.

With spinners when you're learning loosing 5 out of 12 is totally expected. I have clients loose more than a dozen a day quite frequently. If you're not burnin up tackle chances are you aren't fishing.

 

[steelhead_slayer]

spoons work good too. I don't know what research or experience you have with spinners, but you might want to check out some spinner books.

 

[CurtisP87]

I have "Spinner fishing for steelhead, salmon, and trout" by Jed Davis. Its the only specialized spiner book I could find. I love expanding my bookshelf if anyone knows of any other spinning books out there I should look into.

Thanks for all the input, much appreciated.