# Steelies On BIG Worm/Jig Heads



## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Stumbled into some interesting videos on utube where the guys are floating some worms or cuttings of worms(yeah, mostly in the NW states) for ocean run steelies, but steelies are "steelies" in my book!(Not talking those "skinny-minnie" worms on tiny jig heads either-these were"bass sized" bubblegum colored 6-7" rigged "wacky", and cut in half-worms rigged length-wise on 1/4 and 3/8 oz heads with what appeared to be #2 or 1/0 hooks!) There were no addl. split shot on the line but they used a good-sized inline weight just under the float(which seemed to be used to balance the float, also as a bobber stop). One other rig was a 2-3" chunk of brightly colored worm cut and threaded onto a larger jig head and fished 'neat'(no float). Anyone doing anything like that "locally"? Thinking of trying some variations of this next trip up.


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

CJ,,, FWIW,,,

This time of year,,,, up till spring spawn, friend Joe uses nothing but worms or dead salted emeralds. So I would imagine a chunk of (pink) Gulp worm might fool 'em too.

He's usually Dragging the bottom, free drifting or with small float, depending on the bottom snags.
Last week, he landed his largest ever,,,,, like a 14.5#er.
FOR HIM, 10 to 20 'on' is a normal day!
Normally, he doesn't use spawn till later on,,,,, Feb, March.
He's up camp right now. (he LIVES up there,,,, it's his 2nd home)

Sometimes, 1/2" of worm tail on a small black hair jig under a float, works better than Maggots.
I'm Drifting Conn & Bula Rivers, & I always try to take both.
In spring, a gob of free floating red worms works great for me,,,, until the suckers show up. ;>)


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Thx for that info Jerry! I've been fishing the tribs since the hatchery rainbow days(pre Manistee strain), always thinking "outside the box" and trying 'new' techniques, so this one intrigued me. The "silence" on this thread tells me some guys are either killing them on bright, scented soft plastic worms(or pieces) and not commenting, or being 'respectful' by not saying this is the "biggest load of BS they ever read"!! I'll report on here if this works for me.


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

I know what you're talking about CJ. Seems pretty sweet. I've caught them on the 4" ones like shown below...but really haven't ventured too far yonder past 4" to catch them nor trying them wacky style with the bead. I've had days catching plenty of fish on worms and it is fun. Just punch a jig head on there nice and flat and float the bottom. Pretty cool seeing a piece of bubble gum sticking out of their mouth.


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## steelhead sniper 860 (Nov 6, 2013)

If you go to a busy river and look at what others are using you rarely see worms. Not saying it wont work because I think it would under right circumstances. I just think the silence is bc people don’t use them around here very much. Most are either fly fishing, throwing hardware spinners cranks spoons, or float fishing bait or jigs.


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## hailtothethief (Jan 18, 2017)

Steelhead have been full of shad lately.


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## kernal83 (Mar 25, 2005)

People catch them on pink worms. I’ve seen pics and heard stories. I Had a guy tell me he watched someone slam them on a 7 inch pink bass worm one day. Now he always carries them on principle haha. I’ve tried a few different trout worms and I can’t seem to catch one on on them. I also fish it last after the egg/bead/jig bite slows. That might be my issue. The squirmy wormy slays stocked rainbows and they can’t be that different lol.


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## Fish Commish (Sep 8, 2006)

Great tips and discussions. In the past year, I or people fishing for walleye with me have caught steelhead on just about any bait or lure we use on walleye.

Crawler harnesses with pro-quality 6” Canadian night crawlers have caught the most; 
followed by a 5/8 oz. to 1/2 oz, jigs with twister tail grubs and/or minnow, even Wyandotte worms; (soft plastic mostly used on Detroit River) 
next stinger spoons;
Lastly the hair jig usually red, 1/8 oz or less.

Nothing like a steelhead to wake you up on a long boring troll on Lake Erie with acrobatics and aerials, mix it up and see if it helps!


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## TRIPLE-J (Sep 18, 2006)

in the old days there was no info on fishing steel around here...you had to read sports afield, field and stream or fishing facts to get any info on fishing for steel and all the info came from the west coast.... they have always used worms on the west coast espiecially pink and white just never really caught on here...the style out there back then was to bottom bounce or hardware, they rarely used floats... i started out bottom bouncing and have done it ever since. i do use a float at times but prefer the bottom by far.


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## bustedrod (May 13, 2015)

my go to trout bait was always night crawler or memps black fury untill i moved to ohio. its a fish named trout hahahahahah


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## westbranchbob (Jan 1, 2011)

They have an interesting float fishing style out there know as bobber dogging...I would think it work for center pin rods..not sure never used one....but it also seems suited best for fast deep water...thought about maybe modified version for our streams...might give it a go this year which knows..but anyway look it up, some interesting videos.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Read about those west good pink worms a few years back. Never did me any good though, still have a pack of 'em.


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## TRIPLE-J (Sep 18, 2006)

some things work in certain areas and dont in others...prime example is a glow in the dark spoons.... in new york i catch steelhead on them all night long...ive tried them dozens of times here and have never had a bite...not saying you cant catch them on them here just sayin ive tried a bunch of times and have never even had a bite.. funny how that works..


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

My 1st steelhead was caught on a small unpainted jighead with half a nightcrawler attached at the tip. Caught it drifting a current seam for smallmouth in the fall. 

On heavily pressured stream sections, I think it's good to change it up and do something different than others are doing.


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## Osmerus (Dec 5, 2012)

Big pink baits work great on the west coast because those are saltwater steelies. They eat totally diff critters in the ocean than in the great lakes. There are tons of crazy looking marine worms and invertebrates like squid that can resemble those big pink worms. Thats why they also use big flashy pink and orange intruder flies. Imitation flesh flies that resemble decaying salmon meat are also popular out there. 

All that aside i have seen guys catch steelies on those here. The smaller ones seem to work better than the big ones.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

hailtothethief said:


> Steelhead have been full of shad lately.


Goodness knows there's a bazillion shad in Erie. Steelies have to eat them! Many guys don't know they are the No.1 "preferred" food source for Walleye in Erie.(ODNR stated, not me!) Shad have more oil/fat content that walleye need to make it thru the harsh Winter. Hmm, I have some plastic "dead ringer" shad swimbaits I should try on a black jighead!! I'll try to post a pic of some brightly colored worm/jig combos I've made up to try next time up for steelies. They look pretty good(to me!)


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## A-5 (Apr 9, 2017)

I use 6.5” zoom trick worms 20 in a pack. I cut them at the joint. It gives me actually 40 jig worms. Lol. One side is like a Ned rig. The other side of the tail is longer and floppy. Cut to desired length and run under a float. It works in Ny.


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