Best lure/bait for Steelhead...

[luv2fish]

I beg to differ. It really all depend on how, and where you are fishing, but between about 3-5 of us on the Clackamas, eggs out fish everyone else. Handily. Granted, corkies, and yarn do get just about every Sewer Trout to at least flare it gills out of aggression if it happens to enter it "kill zone" for the day, but over the last 12-14 winters, Myself, and another buddy, have gone about 6 to 1, eggs over straight corkies, or corkie/yarn. The ratio seems to be un-changed, river to river. Minus the super salty, lower tidal rivers. Then spinners, or straight yarn for the steel is our ticket to limits. I have a friend, who always wants so bad to hook-up a bunch of fish with us, but he just can't during Coho season. Let alone takin this guy out for Springers! He is one who just eats the skunkiest foods, beef jerkey, or worse, smoked salmon while he is fishing! But we load him up with eggs, for Steel, and he hangs with the rest of us. His first Coho, Chum, Hump, and Steelhead, were all on eggs with me. He is able to produce when with us, but by himself, and weilding only corkies or yarn, and Blue Foxes, he skunks out Steelheadin! Long story short, once you get your cure down right, it will change the way corkie tossers fish. Has for my dad, his friends, and 3-6 people i see, or fish with regularly during the winter Steelhead returns...When you hook, and fight, let alone retain a double digit percentage of the fish the Hatchery counts, both Dog, and Eagle Creek... Then you start to build confidence in your bait especially, or whatever you are murdering fish on.

Hey AA...i know that you get lot more with eggs but everyone else doesn't...most of the people don't even know cures....and its a natural animal instinct...steelhead is a much more finickier fish than any other salmonid.....and i actually talked to this fish culturist...and she's quite a slayer when it comes to fishing...she admitted that eggs are overtaken by corkies and so much "other corky like stuff"...also the other day some gentleman here said that cofo are not line shy......"WRONG" they are very very line shy....and the reason they get foul hooked and all is cuz they have tendency to sit in small holes......( this is another interesting fact about them)....as compared to other salmonids..cofo prefer smaller areas....with lot of encroachment...
Getting back to steelhead...WA alone kicks out leaving the total number of OR anglers far behind...( i'm not advocating WA, I live here in OR) and on an average over 75% of people fish corkies in that state.
I know the ethics get involved and evrything but like good eggs are the key to catch fish consistently, so is the finicky and curious nature of steelhead that makes it bite to any intrusive object if its in the range of fish.

And last but not least, its a constructive arguement and i hope i will learn some more from you.

 

[fish_on!!!]

My vote wouldn't count for I have yet to bank 1 but I'm hopin eggs r because that's what I'll b usen next my next trip then bait spinners jigs.

 

[fish_4_all]

That's an interesting discussion because the area which is fished also has a lot to do with what "seems" to work better.

The last winter for instance, I have a Friend who fishes a local river every single day for winters. This last year, he saw a very large proportion taken on bobber and eggs. Corkies and even cheaters were dead last as far as catch rate. 3 years ago, it was corkies and cheaters out fishing everything else.

What the difference was? Could be that the first few fish were caught using them and everyone switched to them pushing the ratio higher for whatever was used that year.

Over in the Puget sound area, where most of the surveys are taken, it is corkies and yarn or just corkies that everyone uses. The same people come out here on the coast and can't catch a fish more often than not. When we go out to the Puget sound the same stuff we use out here works fine and often times we out fish the locals, eggs on a bobber and cheaters.

Is it shear numbers of people that fish that makes the difference? Maybe technique, confidence level, experience or something else. Who knows. I know I can catch winter steelhead on a cheater so I use them. Summers I catch on eggs and jigs.

I would definitely say that a high majority of steelhead taken here are taken on eggs for winters and jigs for summers. No ifs, ands or butts about it. I see at least 7/10 winters taken on eggs and 9/10 summers on jigs. Is the way we fish for them here and the methods out fish any other almost every day. What does this mean as far as fact, I can't say because no one who knows these rivers uses much of anything else. What is the ratio of catch when you have 48/50 anglers using eggs and catching 100 fish when the other 2 using corkies and yarn catch one fish between them? It isn't statistically measurable because the eggs are used by so many more.

Here is what I think if all methods were evenly used, out of 100 winter run steelhead caught the ratio would be like this:
28 eggs
25 cheaters, corkies, corkies and yarn assuming they are presented right
22 live bait
18 spinners, plugs, spoons, quick fish
7 on the ugly whatever that someone gets lucky on.

The point is if you are confident in using something, use it right and know what you are doing then you will catch fish in the situations that suite the way you fish.

I can catch fish on a bar hook with nothing on it if I fish it right and at the right time. It means nothing more than it can be done by me.

As for line shyness of any fish, I don't know about down there but I know 3 people who plunk the Wynoochie river here and use 60lb. Braided Power pro. This stuff sticks out like a sore thumb. They catch summers, winters, Coho, Chinook and even trout using it. They catch fish on it in water that is absolutely crystal clear. Those fish aren't line shy! The same guys throw spinners here in tidal water using the same line and catch Coho just as well as anyone else.

Confidence in your skill and what you are using outweighs anything as far as I am concerned. Scent, line shy, lure type, colors whatever variable. The only variable I see that effects fishing here is store bought vs. home made lures. Is this to do with tuning and shotty manufacturing practices, I don't know but home made lures, corkies, cheaters, jigs, spinners, etc. out fish store bought by about 3:1 here. But there again, those that know what they are doing are making the stuff and catch fish. So is it actually meaningful? Only a relevant survey will ever tell and I don't think that most fisherman are willing to give up their favorite techniques to satisfy a survey and let others know what works and what doesn't. :naughty:

One classic example:
Went fishing for Winter runs, car broke down, spend 2 hours with my hands in the engine helping fix it. Greasy and nasty to beat all hell, all 3 of us were. Got to the river, took out our gear and in 3 hours we all limitted out. Gas, deisel, grease, dirt, gunk and all that other junk wiped off with nothing more than a dirty shop rag. What does it mean? Nothing more than the fish we put our lures in front of that day didn't care and were hungry! All our fish were caught on home made cheaters that day without any bait or scent.

 

[yellowjacket]

Mystery Spoon

Mystery Spoon

Hmm...No votes for spoons.:think: I never have liked to use them in a river. Maybe I just havent been exposed to enough success with them. What are those little spoon things that look like a little trout or somethin'? I have about 15 of em different sizes and finishes.

Are Either of these the lure in question? And for what has gotten the Steelies I've hooked up in my short time back has been night crawler - actually 1/2 nightcrawler. Probably because its the 1st thing I cast so as not to potentially spook fish, then I'll go to spoon or spinner usually in that order. All in small water.

 

[Fishtopher]

Right on...fishers, or catchers?

Right on...fishers, or catchers?

For sure man! Positive ID'd.
Now anybody fish 'em before? Are those yours yellowjacket?
None of the ones I have are stamped on the back, except for a few that are faded and worn.

 

[yellowjacket]

Al's Gold Fish & Acme Tackle Phoebe

Al's Gold Fish & Acme Tackle Phoebe

For sure man! Positive ID'd.
Now anybody fish 'em before? Are those yours yellowjacket?
None of the ones I have are stamped on the back, except for a few that are faded and worn.

Yep those are mine. I've had those 15-20 yrs from when I was back in Ct. The first weekend I was back in Or. on my move from Fl. was 7-14 & I camped at LAVA Lake. I had a goldfish that the plate wore down to the copper. After catching a small Kokanee on worm I went to the Goldfish & landed a 16" wild bow. That lava is a lure eater so after a bit longer I hit a ledge & that got that lure. I did toss a Phoebe a bit & got a hook-up but it shook off b4 I got it to the ledge I was fishing from. Acme makes KO Wobblers & I have 1 that has been pretty consistent getting me nice Cutts. But to my misery Weyco will be locking up the tree farm till next hunting season so what has been my go to creek is now basically inaccessable except Bike or Hike.

Acme Lures are the top producers in general fresh or salt in the NE & when I've used them here I gotten fish too. Pretty sure I've seen the Phoebes @ Joes. Acme Little Cleos for sure. Have one or 2 of those too but haven't used them here yet. Pic of cutt with the KO follows

 

[GTKelvinK]

Happy Fishing

Happy Fishing

Have a great day Chuck see u tonight!!

 

[Raincatcher]

Welcome

Welcome

Have a great day Chuck see u tonight!!

Welcome aboard,GTKelvinK. If you are hanging with THE Chuck,you can't go wrong,you are in good hands. Good fishing & good luck.
Barb

 

[Troutski]

Wecome to the site...

Wecome to the site...

Have a great day Chuck see u tonight!!

Nice to see you on here, finely.... as far as see you tonight, well probably but no guarantees
Welcome to OFF and don't be a stranger - I suppose this means you want a sticker now.

Chuck

 

[Fishtopher]

Nice to see you on here, finely.... as far as see you tonight, well probably but no guarantees
Welcome to OFF and don't be a stranger - I suppose this means you want a sticker now.

Chuck

Chuck who is the mystery poster? Sounds like a relative maybe?

Welcome to OFF GTKelvinK!

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

Well since YJ let the cat out o rthe bag about Goldfish, I'll have to tell you guys that it was one of my go-to lures, when the Kokanee weren't eating things like mini worm chunks, or cheetos, or, or... I used to just cast it into a pod Kokes in the fall when they were up higher in the column. Worlked like a champ, and I could get about a half dozen hook-ups before the school dispereed, or I hooked a 3 pounder that spooked everything around. I was gonna keep my mini-spoon Kokanee tricks to myself, at least until our super derby this summer! Bah, oh well. YellowJacket, those pups are in crazy good condition, hold on to those little mobsters for as long as you can!

 

[Troutski]

Work....

Work....

Chuck who is the mystery poster? Sounds like a relative maybe?

Welcome to OFF GTKelvinK!

We work together....same company. My secret is out in the open now, can't be calling in sick and then posting about a great day of fishing

Chuck

 

[Dichrofisher]

Well my favorite is the spinner, but I have caught the majority of my 10or so steelhead on a corkie drift style.

 

[Fishtopher]

We work together....same company. My secret is out in the open now, can't be calling in sick and then posting about a great day of fishing

Chuck

Sorry Chuck....:lol:

 

[luv2fish]

take a look at the pole up there.....where it shows percentage...that " other" is corky and yarn...lol....believe me or not.....it is the =1 lure or bvait or whatever category it falls in.....canadian fshing guys...most of 'em...including my friend....joseph....he lives on fraser.....and is quite a seasoned fisherman....and is my encyclopaedia ..lol....sounds funny...anyways....he said that most of the people who fish with him...very rarely somebody carries eggs ...otherwise..its just corky and bead fishing....

now there's a twist here....i'm not advocating it...but the truth should come out ...aftre all this poll is bout that.....right.....

everybody have ther own fav....

 

[fish_4_all]

Anyone ever catch a steelhead on one of those Alvin egg things? You know the ones, they have the hallow egg head with the curly tail.

 

[Dichrofisher]

Anyone here use the pink plastic worm?

 

[fish_4_all]

Used em, never caught anything on them but have seen 2 fish caught with them. Not the best results but I have seen them work.

 

[Fishtopher]

luv2fish, I'd be willing to bet, that not all those "others" are corky and yarn! Like Dichro mentioned above, there is the infamous pink worm, rags, and plugs to name a few. The guys that run boats in our local rivers will account for a lot of the "other" votes im guessin', as all boat guys I know personally (only 5:lol fish plugs exclusively for Steelhead.

 

[Fishtopher]

Shoot, we've all neglected one of the most effective methods of Steelie Snipe-ing...

The Jig!​

Well who knows, maybe not neglect, could be that the jig takes up a chunk of the other vote as well, :think: maybe the voter just didn't post about it...

Edit: Plus one of the "other" votes was a vote for eggs by Osmosis...Poll should read 3 spinners, 0 spoons, 8 live bait, 7 "other" and 7 eggs...