Pulling Plugs

[brichards44]

I just got a drift boat and have been trying to learn to pull plugs. I've been floating the Sky between High Bridge and Sultan and Sultan to Ben Howard. Since I still SUCK and am learning, I am getting the feeling that I am doing something wrong. The last few times I spent the whole drift backing my plugs down each body from the head to the tailout going very slow. I'm running all the same set ups and same distances. Switching between hot shot 35's and Tallypods. My rowing is getting better and getting better at finding the seams. If I'm missing anything please let me know.

Here is my hang up. As the river changes speeds faster slower I pull on the oars either faster or slower, but there are a lot of times that it seems like no matter what I do the plugs are just not getting down to where they need to be which makes it seem like I'm just going for a nice boat ride for a majority of the drift.

Do you have to back steelhead down to get them to strike?
Should I be anchoring at all?
Is it dumb to pull plugs through the entire drift?

[h20hunter]

You may want to run a diver about 6 feet up your mainline. Also, watch you plug "tuning". Some may run good when the water is one speed but do nothing but spin and make a mess when the water picks up.

[hawk eyes]

i watch the end of my pole to see the action on my plugs if there rolling over and popping up it could be they need tuned to dive properly and stay down.dropem in the water beside the boat and pull them pretty hard if they go to one side turn or bend the eye on the plug the opposite way just a tinny bit and try again they must pull straight or they won't catch fish.and if you use bait wrapped kwik fish for salmon you have to check it everytime you rewrap it cause the wrap will change the tunning maybe the problem,if this isn't the problem watch that tip on the pole and try to keep a steady action

[Button Nubbs]

Plugs won't always work. Try somethin different.

[jackelope]

You gotta put the plugs close to the bottom...so if you're not, put a diver as was mentioned. You can use another plug or a small jet diver. I like another plug tied on dropper style without hooks.
What color plugs are you running?
Do you know what water to fish? Do you know how to read the water?
It's not dumb to fish the whole run if you're fishing the right water.
Lastly, they're steelhead. They're reallly hard to catch, especially this time of year on the Sky.
There are some real good runs in all that water.

[brichards44]

I've been running pink, pink/black bill, silver/orange, silver/green, gold.

I think I'm getting the grasp on what water to fish. I am usually finding myself fishing the seam on the outside bend of the river where the river is usually pushing the boat and I'll fish it to the tailout trying to find any obstacles in the water that fish would hide behind. Not quite sure if this is correct and not quite sure what to do when the river gets wide and deep. 

[jackelope]

Fish will be in front of stuff too. I didn't believe it till I saw it. There's a break in the current right in front rocks. The fish will sit there and almost not have to use any energy at all.
Seams are good, and structure is good.
Tail outs are good.
Rowing skills come first, then pulling plugs will come too....but the important thing is the rowing skills.

[Houndhunter]

i dont really like pulling plugs, to slow and i like fast pace fishing. but i fish with guys that do, 2 things i would say are always check and tune your plugs before you run them. and when your pulling plugs if you slip or pull out of the seam the fish will shoot past them before you get back in, so make sure your constantly infornt of them all the way through the drift.
good luck though, seems like plugs arent as popular now but they doe catch fish. atelast it will get your upper body in good shape right

[OSCAR1987]

brichards

I am not familiar with the water you are fishing, but I spent a decade fishing the Kenai up in Alaska with my driftboat and can give some few pointers that took me several years to figure out.
First, the guys have already given you good tips- especially the jet- divers about 6 foot up to keep the lures running near the bottom there are different divers available for different dive depths. The plug tuning is an absolute MUST DO every time. Some lures just seem to fish better as well even though they are identical so don't be shy about switching out a plug with another just like it if other guys get hits on a particular color.
The fish seemed to hold in their chosen pools and if they are pushed, they will make a defensive strike. The idea is to start at the top of the pool gently sweeping side to side rowing the boat and slowly backing down through the pool. As you near the point where the hole starts to get a little shallower at the end the fish lash out at the lure and go past back to their chosen spot. That is when I got most of my hook-ups.
Most important- keep experimenting around until you hit on something good!

[klickriverchromer]

If you like pulling plugs you should try some K-9x or k-11x in chrome w/orange stripe,or chrome w/pink stripe other colors work well also.  They are killer on steelies. Also as stated by the others, divers are key to keeping bait down while backtrolling though not needed for the x plugs by quikfish. 

[Wanttohuntmore]

Good thread.  My goal this winter is to figure out pulling plugs or bait divers out of my db.  I want to get my 6 yr old into some steel, so figured this would be the easiest way to fish with him.  Over the last 8 yrs with the DB though, haven't pulled plugs much, but have seen their effectiveness when passing other boats and have actually witnessed 2 different takedowns as I was passing...  That convinced me to give it a try.

[KNOPHISH]

Head to the coast, there are no fish in the sky.  Tads work well in the slower water. try a little off the seam on the slow side. put all the plugs out the same distance & put a different one on each rod in 4-8 feet of water 30-40 feet back. I use smelly jelly on em too. Try to keep quiet in the boat & on the oars.

[Skyvalhunter]

Try another river and see if you have better luck

[wildmanoutdoors]

Head to the coast, there are no fish in the sky.  Tads work well in the slower water. try a little off the seam on the slow side. put all the plugs out the same distance & put a different one on each rod in 4-8 feet of water 30-40 feet back. I use smelly jelly on em too. Try to keep quiet in the boat & on the oars.

Exactly!!!!!! Fish a river with fish is key. Guided for a few years in Forks and man we knocked the poop out of em with plugs. Ran Tad's at 50' for almost everything. I marked my lines at 50 with a sharpie so clients don't have to figure it out. Tads work great even in the rocks so don't worry about being too deep. I have tads and Quickies with the bills worn to nothing and so many teeth marks its crazy!

A Tad will have a hard time getting down to the bottom in 8 feet with 30 to 40 imo. Not saying it wont catch fish but...

And IMO Hot shots suck. Too hard to find a good running one. They get too temperamental when the current picks up. Tads are all ya need.

I have never run a diver with a Tad. If your doing it right and the water ain't too deep, your golden at 50 with a Tad.

Also, anybody ever notice how hatchery brats really dont respond as good as the real fish? They'll eat divers with bait out front, but not too keen on the plugs?

[jackelope]

50' ??

There's not a spot on the Sky anywhere that's 50' deep.

IMO the best thing to catch fish on the Sky is floats and jigs. It's easier on the arms too.