Steelhead fishing the Sky

[chongo469]

Yeah  , the river will probably be out of shape by monday and wont be back in shape for a week or so if we dont get a lot of rain..............River fishing for salmon or steelhead can be frustrating to the non experienced but the best way to learn is to go out and do it and start by a better known area so you can watch how people are doing it and what they are using.....If you are drifting( casting slightly upstream and letting it slowly drift with current ) then you need to use enough weight to bounce bottom every 3-4 seconds or so...If you are not ticking bottom every so often , your presentation is not where the fish are at...YOU WILL lose gear so expect to buy some gear and lose it.....Plunking ( spin and glow and bait , weighted down with enough to keep it in place on the bottom of the river) is a lot like lake fishing but you are using 2-6 0z of lead to keep your presentation in 1 place.......Good luck and no matter what, be prepared to lose some gear and be frustrated at first but once you get the hang of it , you will have another addiction to feed.......

[Heartsblood]

Thanks everyone for all the help. In a way I kinda feel like I have so many options that it can be a bit much to take in all at once. But, I WILL NOT BE DISCOURAGED (today  )!

Well, I'm off to buy some gear and do some scouting. I will have my license and gear in case it becomes apparent that I should be fishing rather than driving around.

Thanks again all. And, if any of y'all are thinking about heading out to do some bank fishing sometime and don't mind a noob tagging along who asks alot of questions, please, let me know and we'll meet up.

[WSU]

Go to the first place I told you, and do be afraid to fish only a couple feet past the bushes.  Also, bring waders.  There WILL be fish there to be caught.

[Ripper]

you've already gotten a lot of new info so I won't add anymore to confuse you even further. The only thing I'll say is yes there are a lot of options out there. Pick one technique at a time and try to master that instead of trying to half ass a lot of different things. I think you'll be more successful that way. Good luck

[Heartsblood]

Good advice. It looks like I'm settling on float fishing for starters, while I try to learn and understand river conditions and which species are fishable at what times etc. I may do a bit of drift fishing as it seems appropriate. Yesterday I went and scouted several of the spots folks have mentioned to me and located most of 'em. The river was high. I did see people fishing but no fish caught where I was.

I'm pretty determined to understand what's going on in that river. And on down into the Snohomish as well. Looks like the promise of a fun summer, fall and onward.

[Wingin it]

Just keep in mind that patience is key. It will take some time to figure things out. Pay attention to guys that are having success and try to see what they may be doing different. Have fun with it and one of these days it will happen for you.

[Button Nubbs]

pay attention to EXACTLY what successful fisherman around you are using/doing. Sometimes the smallest detail can make the biggest difference.

[Swannytheswan]

WSU can you send me that same noob PM not to threadjack but I am from TN and used to bass fishing but I live right next to the tolt and snoqualmie and I wanna get in on these steelhead too but I don't know much about it (studying as I type this)