# Drifting setup help



## TheFishWhisperer (Nov 13, 2007)

Im trying to catch my first steel, and im not having any luck. my questions are on presentation with a side note on technique, judging river for best possibilties. i have a 9" daiwa noodle with a spinner. 6lb mono main, tied to super tiny swivel, with 4lb flouro leader. ive tried fresh sacs from friendly fly fisherman (so cool), and mainly black mini foo's tipped with maggots, wax worms, both real and fake. the two floats ive used are cigar shaped Comal weighted 3' orange/green , and just got natural wood colored floats from RM shoppe that have no brand but are in line. i think they are supposed to lay flat and pop up when hit(i couldnt figure out how else it could work). sorry ive never used bobbers too much. both have been placed anywhere from 2-3 feet or so from hook. ive used split shots in between and as a stopper/added weight. am i not settin up right? as far as judging the river, ive pretty much been wading in the rock, casting as far upstream as i can, trying to drift down to seemingly deeper slower water. any help would be damn cool.


----------



## steelheader007 (Apr 8, 2004)

Go purchase some drennans at gander mtn 7grm 8 grm they need to float perpindicular..... Not flat! You need to make sure the bait is barely bouncing on the bottom! Sounds good other than that! Finding the fish is hard !


----------



## steelheadBob (Jul 6, 2004)

try my madness...... If your fishing med currant in lets say a 4 foot hole, make your leader 6' foot long. 4 feet from float to shot and 2 feet from shot to sack. use enough weight to get it down but not enough to snag... you want the shot bouncing off the bottom.... Try it it works....... ask fishnbula. and you dont have to make your bait have the same drag as the currant, try to slow it down, try cross pulling it and and if that dont work, stop your line and let the sack rise up and release your line and let it float back.....75% of the fish i catch was messing around with the currant and flow rates!!! let me know how it works.


----------



## steelheadBob (Jul 6, 2004)

steelheader007 said:


> Go purchase some drennans at gander mtn 7grm 8 grm they need to float perpindicular..... Not flat! You need to make sure the bait is barely bouncing on the bottom! Sounds good other than that! Finding the fish is hard !


finding the fish is not that hard..... try to fish both heads and tails of pulls befor someone else hits hit, look for cover along the bank(dead falls,bridge pillars) if you find a nice deep pool of water with some flow and u notice some breakage of the water, fish it, theres somthing there and 99&#37; of the time there will be a fish there, look for bends with a rocky shorline or that has a nice dark color to it, that means its deeper and prob has a good undercut up under the back, steelhead love the undercuts for protection and shade... Being new to steelies, the best thing for u to do is dont be afraid to walk, and learn as you go, if you walk into a hole and three guys are fishing it, one using minnows, one useing sacks and one using jig and mag but not tearing them up, throw on something they dont have, single egg pat. or sucker spawn flie... Good luck to you. oh, and try to stand above the hole your fishing, throw 45 deg. up and let it float down past you, for one u can get snags out better without scaring to much fish and two, you can control your line and float better.


----------



## y-town (Dec 25, 2004)

Steelhead bob you got some good info for me to use, I dont have much luck either. Last year I could see the fish and they wouldn't touch my bait,took off the bobber and bam, fish on!! I'm still fish less for this year.


----------



## steelheadBob (Jul 6, 2004)

thats what im here for.


----------



## Steelheadquarters (Aug 29, 2006)

steelheadBob said:


> finding the fish is not that hard..... try to fish both heads and tails of pulls befor someone else hits hit, look for cover along the bank(dead falls,bridge pillars) if you find a nice deep pool of water with some flow and u notice some breakage of the water, fish it, theres somthing there and 99% of the time there will be a fish there, look for bends with a rocky shorline or that has a nice dark color to it, that means its deeper and prob has a good undercut up under the back, steelhead love the undercuts for protection and shade... Being new to steelies, the best thing for u to do is dont be afraid to walk, and learn as you go, if you walk into a hole and three guys are fishing it, one using minnows, one useing sacks and one using jig and mag but not tearing them up, throw on something they dont have, single egg pat. or sucker spawn flie... Good luck to you. oh, and try to stand above the hole your fishing, throw 45 deg. up and let it float down past you, for one u can get snags out better without scaring to much fish and two, you can control your line and float better.



Good info SBob! Here is my take on the drift setup....








keep your bait at least 2ft from the first split shot, then 2 more equally spaced then your float, but keep the float adjustable so you can change the depth.


----------



## erieflyguy (Dec 6, 2007)

You're probably not getting down far enough. Use a little more weight. Your setup sounds fine, actually, it's on the light side. You don't have to use 4 lbs. flouro for your leader- unless the water is very low and clear. I usually use a 10 lbs. flouro main line and a 6 lbs. leader for most all conditions. 

The rest that was said is good advice. I find 1 or 2 BB sized split-shots work for most coniditions, unless you're fishing really fast sections.


----------



## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

There are several books that cover the behavior of steelhead during different time periods of the run and also are very descriptive of tackle, setup and technique. Some very good video also.


----------



## boonecreek (Dec 28, 2006)

thanks for the info, hop,in i can put it to use some time. one ?, dose the mad river have steelhead, or is it just a rumor.


----------



## erieflyguy (Dec 6, 2007)

I don't think the Mad would have steelhead.


----------



## flytyer (Jan 3, 2005)

No, the Mad does not have steelhead in it. A steelhead is either a lake run rainbow or an ocean run rainbow. There are a few rainbows in the Mad but mostly browns.


----------



## John S (Nov 8, 2007)

Hello! I'm quite new to catching the steelies myself but I got a few this year and only fished two days. As mentioned earlier switch up what your using depending on the water conditions. For clearer water I would use the mini foos and for muddy water use spawn sacks (fresh, pink or yellow neting) or a black foo from what I hear. 

I agree that your line sounds kinda light but oh well, use it. Just adjust your drag and prepare to fight him a little more. Remember to set the hook, I found out that you do not "finess" them like most other fish, I whale that thing in pretty good then keep constant pressure on but don't haul them in like a mad man, give and take.

I got all mine on spawn sacks but this is right as the river was starting to clear up from being really muddy. A good set up is a stick bober :G with line after it just as deep as the bottom of the hole you are fishing with a split shot there then a line to your hook. Many people say to put a micro-swivel right a few inches before the split shot and leave around 12-18" after the split shot of line. I personally set mine up with no swivel and only 3-4" inches of line after the split shot to the sack. This was in a shallower river though 3-4'.

You want your bober :G standing up and not moving real fast along the top of the water, you should see it kinda get caught up then bounce free, get caught, then bounce, ect. YOU NEED IT ON THE BOTTOM. Also, remember the top of the water moves faster than the bottom. Cast a good distance before the hole, let it drag through then retrieve creating as little fluster as you can. It looks like the bober goes under when it gets caught up, you will learn to notice this, when a fish bites that baby will bob directly down fast!:B 

I find once you throw in a bunch you should move to a few different spots then return after they settle back there (Of course, this is unless your in a bigger river where you are not spooking the fish eg. Rocky, Vermillion)

I would recommend starting in a very small stream, one you can practically jump over. Even though its like shooting fish in your bath tub, you learn to read the river, bober, set up, ect. Then you can apply this to the bigger river! Just a thought.
Hope this helps! -JOHN


----------

