Do I have the one pole that the fish won't bite on?

[orygunfan55]

a lot of the frustration is not knowing if i'm fishing for steelhead right, growing up in Oregon I did lots of trout fishing but never any fishing for the big guys. I know eventually I will get one and you are right "Chezjfrey" keep going at em and eventually it will pay off. Thanks for everyones input. Going out fishing today hopefully we will have some good luck. Happy Independence day all.

I'm going to reply to this,, because this describes everything...this was me. Last year I decided to tackle steelhead. I tried everything, jigs/float, drifting corkie, sandshrimp, prawns, spinners, spoons, you name it...but perseverance eventually won out; stick to a method and figured some stuff out; Last year I was 0-3 on steelhead and this year I'm 13-22. I'm telling you, going a whole year is frustrating as h*ll, but if you want it all, you gotta just suck up and put in the time to learn. And eventually, it comes...

 

[18406ej]

For Some Reason This Forum Has Become A Hotbed Of Emotions, And Scared A lot Of People Away...Including Me.

Thanks,

I think that we have had some rough patches, but the last contentious communications were a long time ago. At present the only "hotbed of emotions" that I am aware of is upstairs in my bedroom.

I hope that those "scared away" will eventually return like you did.

EJ

 

[ChezJfrey]

a lot of the frustration is not knowing if i'm fishing for steelhead right, growing up in Oregon I did lots of trout fishing but never any fishing for the big guys. I know eventually I will get one and you are right "Chezjfrey" keep going at em and eventually it will pay off. Thanks for everyones input. Going out fishing today hopefully we will have some good luck. Happy Independence day all.

And trust me...eventually, the advice of, "just keep trying, you'll get it..." wore on me too. After awhile, I hated it! LOL

But, the thing that worked for me, was to read everything, absorb a bunch of advice, and stick to one or two methods that I felt most comfortable and 'in tune' with. For me, it was spinners/spoons. I stuck with that, read as much about technique, fishable water and target fish as I could. And not just for spinners/spoons. In addition to Herzog's Spoon Fishing and Davis' Spinner Fishing, I read Shewey's Fly Fishing, several of Haugen's, Larison's Fly Fishing, etc. I got tidbits from posts by steelhead_stalker, Halibut Hitman, mad dog, inspiration from Throbbit Shane and NWKiller (two avid spoon throwers), and many more (sorry if I left your name out guys/gals, but trust me that you're in my thoughts ).

Combined with hitting a bunch of different water, walking, hiking, different rivers, different conditions, and eventually, pieces come together about where in the river system, time of year, what type of water, levels, color, etc., technique for getting the presentation in the zone, figuring out the bite (found out that I was probably missing a few..they don't always 'slam', many are very subtle and imperceivable, so watch for 'weirdness' in your line movement), and finally hooking those sought fish.

So, like the many before me, I'm OFFering that hated advice that is really the only sure way: Keep at it and don't give up!

 

[Throbbit _Shane]

Nothing beats time on the water. Watch what other people are doing and ask them what they're catching fish on.

Makes feel good I inspired you ChezJfrey! We should meet up some day and throw some spoons at the fish!

 

[igquick]

Going to throw out an assumption but, maybe your counterparts are using less ammunition on their set ups such as lighter line, lighter floaters, smaller hooks, etc...I've learned this year that 1 baited hook is better than 2 for some odd reason...bigger fish spook easier from lots of crap you on your line,...even the diameter and color of your fishing line suprisingly makes a huge difference