Here's my 'secret.' You drift, so fish the spoon like drift gear...oddly, I catch a minority on drift setups, but then again, I don't do it as often either. Cast the spoon slightly upstream, let it drop near the bottom; I like to feel a slight tick right about when it is perpendicular to me. Then, lift slightly and with some slack line (I usually keep a slight droop in the line), let it dead drift. The slight slack means that the spoon action is created by merely drifting in the current; any sort of tension creates too much action and it seems the steelhead really like hardly any action. You will get a fair number of 'hits' mid-drift. But often those hits are just the line stops moving, or just a slight jar in the line, or a slight bit of tensioning of the slack you have...set the hook.
In case of nothing, I let out line (with a baitcaster, freespool a bit, or in my case of a spinning reel, I have the auto-reverse switched and I back-reel). At some point, you will start dredging the bottom, so I stop backing it down, flip my auto-reverse, allow a bit of line tension to build, then start lowering my rod tip downriver to again slow the action as much as possible, even though the current and tension has built enough that by now, there is more wobble/action. Just as it starts to swing is when a majority of the hits will come and these are usually more prominent; a tug-tug or in some cases a full-on freight train/rod doubling kind. I think the very slow waft of the initial drift probably got their attention, but the lateral movement, slight rise and greater wobble that starts at the begin of the swing perks the fish and gets them to commit.
Then, if still nothing, allow the swing all the way to shore, with the rod held out over the water but low to the surface, and let it hang to a count of two or three...that will also get hit a fair number of times.
That's how I mostly do it. In some cases, I actually have to cast way up river, and reel/thread it through the obstacles, but that takes more practice to get the feel/mojo to not hang up. I've tried to demonstrate that to a couple people, but it's difficult to articulate how I can do it without jamming into the riverbed while their initial attempts all land in the rocks on the bottom, resulting in broken OFF lures...go figure. But in any case, I get a fair number that way where the spoon stops moving as I'm reeling it down, just about current speed and the spoon stops moving and I feel the rod load up.
That said, the slight upstream/drift cast accounts for most fish and is the best way I can describe what I do...and I do alright with spoons
Oh, and forgot to add, sometimes the fish hits a fraction of a second after hitting the water, so be ready! And one more thing, if the spot I'm casting to is fairly deep, with some current, I tend to cast UP so that when it hits the water, it has some speed and will drop right in...that's when you have to be ready for the insta-hit fish because as soon as it hits the water and is dropping down, you have to be reeling in much of that slack so that you don't crash into the rock-bottom, aware of any fish hitting...but not too much that you don't allow the spoon to get down...hmmm, that sounds complicated, but hopefully you get the idea that you still want it down, but not too much that you snag...slack is good to get it down, then just tend to slack/no-slack as warranted by whether you're hitting bottom during the drift portion.
Sheesh, rereading that is a jumble of contradiction...hehehehe. Hopefully you all get the gist.
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