Columbia steelhead 101

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

OK guys here is the skinny on the fish in the big river, dont take this as the only way to do things but it has always worked well for me to the tune ofover 200 steelhead a summer.....    The steelhead in the columbia typically run  in 10-20 ft of water, personally I look for 10-15.. thats my favorite zone, anywhere you find this depth you can find steelhead. However in some parts of the river there may be many paths thats are of that depth, thus spreading out the numbers of fish. I try to locate areas that have these depths  close to shore. Steelhead are a bank hugging fish by nature and when you can isolate travel lanes in a huge body of water.... the fishing can be good!! River mouths are great areas in the big river, the mouth of the cowlitz and lewis are the two best IMO.. I tend to fish the gorge below the dam, it has everything I look for, and it is also where I grew up bank fishing for summer steelhead. if your a bank guy, below bonny and around cathlamet are the best areas to hook into good numbers of steelies from shore.   

The gear- from the boat or the bank my gear does not really change.... I like  a rod at least 8.5.... I use 9ft lami  classic glass rods from both boat and shore, they have a great action, and a good back bone. I like the longer rods in the boat so I can spread out the lines just that much more, running 6 rods in heavy current can get tricky. from the boat I use 30lb power pro main with 15lb maxima leader, I use Okuma reels but any salmon/steelhead baitcaster will be just fine. From shore I use 20lb main and 15 lb leader.. both mono.   

Set up- I use small swivles for the dropper and main line, I use 2-3 large beads to seperate the 2. The dropper is from 1.5-3 ft depending on the depth and current   



from that I use a 4-6 ft leader with either a small spin/glo or small orange spinner, I use a double  2/0 owner hook set up with about 1 in between the hooks.   


 The key to this fishery is sizing down the baits and more importantly the bait/scent itself..... bait is the key IMO... 2 years ago on the bank myself and 3 buddies landed 26 steelhead.... 3 of us were using bait, one was not, we all fished the exact same part of the water and the 3 of us that had bait landed 23 of those fish..... thats about as much proof as I need. The bait I use is a red/pink coon prawn.... I cure my own but the store bought works just as well... I also use a variety of scents, I rarely ever put one in the water without scent on it, but they do work without it as well. I start by taking the back hook through the top of the back 

  Then I begin to wrap the bait and lay the front hook facing up o the head of the prawn, I then wrap back to the tail and make sure the bait is laying flat on the hooks..


 

then toss it out and wait until the rod goes down!!   Here are a few of my fav scents I like to use and  a pic of my sled..... hope this helps and hopefully I can get some of you guys out for this great fishery!!   

[tlbradford]

Great write up.  Thanks for sharing your tactics.  I hope it helps out some members on here to land some steelies.

[huntnphool]

Outstanding write-up and detailed picks Paul Good luck guys, make sure you take cameras with you and let us know how you do with this info.

[tlbradford]

Have you ever tried a three way swivel at the first point and then come off with a dropper, a bait hook, and a plug as the upper bait.  I have used that set-up when plunking or using a planar on the Cowlitz.  That was always a winter run set-up though.  If the current is too strong you need a huge weight to keep it in place.  That is the downside.

[jackelope]

are they anchored on the bottom? so you just cast and let it sit?

good stuff.

[buckhorn2]

Thanks for explaining and showing the set up it was nice you had time to do it. I have to go to rasbos barbeque and then out tuna fishing but if I have time I would like to make a trip with you. Hope they keep coming all summer for you.

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

are they anchored on the bottom? so you just cast and let it sit?

good stuff.

yes the weight needs to be sitting on the bottom, otherwise your not fishing effectively.

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

Have you ever tried a three way swivel at the first point and then come off with a dropper, a bait hook, and a plug as the upper bait.  I have used that set-up when plunking or using a planar on the Cowlitz.  That was always a winter run set-up though.  If the current is too strong you need a huge weight to keep it in place.  That is the downside.

I have not tried that, the current is always very fast, its almost to fast to even get a K8 to fish right.

[fishcrazy]

Good write up. That should be all a guy needs to get started. That same set up can be used to troll or back troll. I have seen several ways of putting the hooks in them and getting different rolls.They have their places. Those shrimp have really turned the fishing world upside down the last few years. I love how a guy can cure them up and soak them in yer fav stuff and they soak it up so well.


Kris

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

You are right the set up for trolling spinners is the same, thats great in the mouth of the cowlitz

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

Nice write up paul... I like to use just the tail and i run just a single hook. I use the 80-100 count shrimp or the rays, in pink. I like to use the smaller baits, i take my egg loop and wrap it under the prawn tail to hold it to the hook, i used to use elastic thread but it is now a waste. Just use the egg loop.

At the dam i run bright S-N-G's in green or orange Mylar wings.
Down river i run blue with mylar but this year Orange tiger with Black wings has been my go to. I have taken home a fish every trip this year.

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

I love the tiger with black wings, or the black/white clown, Its all about the bait IMO.... if thats good I dont think it matter what color you have..... just my 

[h2ofowlr]

Good write up.  I use a very close set up to what you showed.  It works good.  I think I had 1/0 hooks the last set up.  Fishing the Lewis or Cowlitz I down sized the hooks to a #1 or 2.

[mossback91]

are you sure that really works hoyt?

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

ya I think so