# To those in search of steelhead without much luck...Look Here!!



## KSUFLASH

I have been reading alot of posts lately about some of our newest steelhead fisherman hunting for their first steelhead, and not having alot of luck. I would like to help all of you out by giving some more tips and tricks to you all. 

Lets face it....we are now in full swing winter....the river temps are now down to the point that anything that swims is gonna be lethargic to say the least. Below are some tips to hopefully help you in your search for steelhead.

1. Now more than ever the saying "90% of the fish are in 10% of the rivers" holds true. If you not catching fish, your either in the wrong spot or read tip #2

2. Tis the season to put the bait on the tip of the steelheads nose. No really, you need to make sure your bait is either bouncing off bottom or within about 6" of the bottom. Steelhead don't tend to chase after your offering this time of year. They usually only bite on those baits that are presented on the tip of their nose.

3. Check the web for the flow gauge readings prior to departing for your local stream. If you don't know what the optimal readings are, you need to find them out. Both flow and clarity are key to having any chance at a successful day of steelhead fishing. For example, I fish the Chagrin. Flow at 300cfs and I am going to fish a certain stretch, 250cfs I will fish another, and anything above 350cfs I prefer to head to another river. 

4. Jig/maggot or spawn????? This question gets asked alot. Both what to use and how to use them......Here are some tips for you on the topic.....If you don't have FRESH spawn, when I say fresh, I don't mean store bought from those little jars at Gander or Dicks, then your wasting your time with spawn...You need to get eggs from either a fresh fish, or get them from sometwhere like Erie Outfitters that gets fresh spawn in.....If you have no access to fresh spawn, you need to use jig/maggot....

I see alot of posts asking what color of jig.....thats like asking what color to use when bass fishing or crappie fishing....everyone has their go to color that they have confidence in, but that doesn't mean the fish will hit it that day. You need a variety of jigs in differant colors.....switch up the color every 15 minutes if you get no hits. The maggots you put on are just for scent....Hence when the maggots look faded, put on fresh maggots.

5. It doesn't matter if you use jig/maggot or spawn sacks....If your not in the right spot or your not fishing the right depth, refer back to Tip #2.

6. Some have asked how you know how deep to fish.....You need be approx. 6" or closer to the bottom of the river bed....How do you know how deep that is??? You NEED a float with a stem on the top of it....NOT a float that is styrafoam with the lead weight....You are going to need to learn what that stem is telling you as it is drifting down the river....I will give you some pointers.

A. If the stem of your float is pointed downstream...a.k.a. It is pointed in the direction of the current.....You presentation is dragging the bottom of the river bed. "You float is set too deep"

B. If the stem of your float is pointed upstream....a.k.a. It is pointed opposite the direction of the flow....Your presentation is leading your float...."This can be both good and bad depending on how your fishing" I suggest you adjust the ammount of weight you have approx. 12" from your presentation...making it heavier, hence putting the presentation closer to the bottom of the river bed.

C. If the sem of your float appears to be pointed straight up/down....your presentation isn't on the bottom of the river bed. Now realize that the river bottom is ever changing...lots of humps, pockets, holes, etc....So as your bait floats it may tick the bottom every once in a while of which you can tell by that stem on your float.....

The trick to getting the right float height takes practice. You should be adjusting your float every single cast until such time that you are convinced that your bait is somewhere around 6" to just on bottom. If you don't care to do this, then stay home your wasting your time.....

Watch how deep others are fishing and start there. Other tactic is to start by adjusting your float about 4' deep, cast upstream and drift....watch that float...what is it doing...if the stem is pointed downstream, then your too deep...if not, adjust your float.

Learning exactly what your float is telling you is key and what you should focus on. If you don't know where your bait is in the water column, then your not going to catch fish.

7. How to tie and use spawn sacks.....There has been many questions about spawn and what it is all about....There are differant types of eggs that we tie up into tiny sized sacks...

A. Steelhead
B. Brown Trout
C. King Salmon

Each egg looks a bit differant and in many cases is a differant size egg. Some Eggs are singular and others are bulked together by connective tissue. Then there is the cure vs. non-cured....to each their own....If you get your hands on spawn that is fresh or freshly cured, your much better off than the clear jars of it from the store.

I have had the best luck with spawn sacks tied up pretty small with single eggs. I put 3 eggs into 1 sack and use a small size 10 egg hook. 

Colors of mesh for the spawn sack have been questioned. Each person has their go to color. The fish change their mood so have 3 basic colors tied up. White, Pink, and Floro Green has been my choices.

8. So the keys to success are location, depth of presentation, fresh spawn or jig/maggot.

9. How to find the right spot to fish? You need to see if you can hookup with someone that knows of some fishing holes that are holding fish....As unless you know where they are holding your wasting your time, or you can do some research and find the public access spots to the river you wish to fish, go to it and learn from those that are fishing there, but the better option in the long run is to try and do some scouting in the spring/summer time and wade the rivers and find some nice holes that can produce in the winter.

Trying to get hooked up with steelhead in the winter is hard in itself due to their temperment. Not having confidence in your location doesn't help the matter, nor does not knowing how deep to fish, not knowing how to read that float, not having fresh spawn, etc.....

flash-----------------------------------------------out


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## Fishaholic69

thanks for all the help ksuflash. I am sure it will help alot of people catch there 1st steelie! I however on the other hand can use only half your tips because I fly fish instead. I just refuse to use the spincast. even if it is a way better method to catch um. guess I will just keep trying the fly. For some reason I rather not catch any than use a spincast rod. sorry I am not dissing spincast. its just my choice of what to use. hope everyone gets lucky and gets there 1st steelies! including me.


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## freyedknot

thanx for the bobber explanation. i have some of the blackbirds,but did not know why i was supposed to use them instead of the foam bobbers. now i know thanx.


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## KSUFLASH

Fishaholic69,

I am not into the fly fishing for them yet, but I can say I have seen quite a few fly guys around when I am spin fishing. They seem to catch their fair share of steelies. It's gotta be the fish are in 10&#37; of the river thing. And they got their dept set with a corkie...I think thats what they call their float.

Also, 

for the spin guys....the bigger the stem on the top of your float, the better you can see whats going on underneath it....some of the floats have a little nip on the top rather than a long stem....I prefer a longer top stem so that I can get a good eyeball on it when it is a bit further away from me.


flash----------------------------out


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## KSUFLASH

Below is a photo of some floats with tiny tops....I don't recommend these right off the bat when your new....though they will work....











Below are some better options










Below are some good options as well...Notice the long bottom stem...that allows the float to be a bit more stable and track with the current...when your fishing the seams in a river, these floats will track right along the seam where the slack water meets the moving water.










Below are very sensitive, very good, yet very expensive....Just another pic to give you guys an idea of long top stems....Lots of these floats the centerpin guys use..










Blackbird floats work well, they just have a small top stem...so you gotta really have good eyes, or already know how deep you need to be in the portion of the stream your fishing...


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## KSUFLASH

Below is a very good illustration...I do not take credit for making it, only linking it for you all...











These spawn sacks below not a good choice....you need fresh...










You need fresh!!!!










And these are single eggs from brown trout...mmmmm good stuff....


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## Mepps3

I like the Raven FM floats in 6.2 gram, 5 gram and 4.2 gram. FM stands for "fast medium". 
Here is a Raven float:










Here is a link to shotting patterns (you want the bait ahead of your float by the way so the fish does'nt get spooked by your rig):

http://www.anglersinternational.com/Shotting Patterns.pdf

Here is a link to "Split Shot Size Conversion" for the gram float you use:

http://www.questoutdoors.net/gear/articles/shot-size-conversion/


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## KSUFLASH

thanks for the links Mepps....guess the moral of the story is a stem on the float is a good thing.. 

I think your link to the shot pattern covers it all, and has awesome photos to show how to line the shot up on your line....

flash------------------------out


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## peple of the perch

Once again KSUFlash comes to the rescue. Thanks for the info, very helpful.


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## seapro

Thanks for the info !!! I had some basic knowledge but I'm sure I will be putting some of this information to use. Appreciate the help!


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## steelheader007

Holy cow you deserve a medal, commendation, or an extra week of vacation. I hope everyone sees what a great thing you just did by helping those who are not as fortunate as others to understand the hows of steelhead feeshing!


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## Fishaholic69

thanks for the tips ksu.


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## Brian.Smith

All I can say is you ROCK..


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## TRIPLE-J

flash, nice post, good info for alot of the newbee's. Man how many bobbers you got!!! By the way those eggs in the skein look excellent, what a difference it makes when you bleed out a fish, no blood at all in those.
One more point for the newbee's is to try to make your presentation as natural as possible. What I mean is to keep your line out of the water as much as possible to your bobber, if you don't the line catching the side currents will drag your presentation around at different speeds than what the natural stream flow would. I see so many guys trying to fish the slak water next to some faster current and they have 100 ft of line in the fast current ripping their presentation through the slack water area, dragging their presentation way to fast for the current they're trying to fish. And then wondering why they're not getting any bites. So watch your lines and your speed. 
Another thing for the new guys is that the steelhead won't always pull your float under, sometimes the float will just stop for a second. That one second my be all the time you get on that hit. Over time you'll learn to tell the difference between a hit and your bait hitting an obstruction, AND YOU WILL LOOSE RIGS, But be patient. I've also found when float fishing that when you set your hook with a side pull instead of an upward pull you get more hook-ups. Not sure why but I noticed a long time ago that my hook-up percentage went up much higher with a side pull.
TRIPLE-J


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## GaryV311

Wow. Just when I was about to throw in the towel, you guys have sparked my interest again. Glad to know I didn't waste a ton of money on the waders and other winter stuff I bought.....


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## corndawg

Nice job Flash. This thread would make a great sticky


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## SteelinaTrout

great info!!! that must have taken hours to put together almost like some sort of presentation...haha well again thanks!


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## Fishaholic69

gribble u should be nicer to us new folk. after all we b trying to step on yer turf and take yer honey hole over yonder. lol.


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## steelheader007

O I could be grumpy if you want..lol...


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## Mepps3

TRIPLE-J said:


> By the way those eggs in the skein look excellent, what a difference it makes when you bleed out a fish, no blood at all in those.
> TRIPLE-J



IMHO P.A. mutt steelhead have darker eggs. Ohio Manistee steelhead eggs are lighter in color regardless of bleeding the fish. Why would the eggs change color if you bleed the fish  ? The only blood near the eggs is some veins on the skin that holds them.


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## coolerzfull

great read KSU! i read your K.I.S.S thread also and this falls right in line. great job mepps on that link also. it helped allot. ty both 

oh, anyone want to buy 3 jars of gander mnt. eggs? lol


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## freyedknot

very informative post. i never knew that float fishing for steelhead was so scientific? hard for me to remember it all ,but i get the overall pic.thanx.


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