Sandy River winter steelhead challenge!

halibuthitman said:
Its quite labor intensive to pull plugs with a raft or a toon-

Agreed.
 
It's not exactly low-effort pulling them in a driftboat, either (if you're on the sticks, anyway). Not in a big heavy pig guide model, anyway.

I couldn't even imaging doing it in a raft.

Seems like a nicely set up toon could slow down enough to do it, but I'll defer to those with experience. Sounds like from Steelmon, that it can be done if you've got some arms and endurance.
 
Well, being between 15-19 helped. It was an excuse to expel some of my energy. It definently got tiring though.

At 22 I can pull plugs all day out of our 16ft Aluminum. Not sure I could on the toons anymore.. Damn, I'm getting lazy.

I volunteer at a Salmon Disease lab and a worker there tells me he pulls plugs with great success out of his kayak. Sounds like he might be on to something there.

In conclusion: It can be done with success, but not ideal for long periods of time.
 
i'm guessing you would just row against the current and let the plug work right in front of you?
 
SteelmonKiller20 said:
Well, being between 15-19 helped. It was an excuse to expel some of my energy. It definently got tiring though.

At 22 I can pull plugs all day out of our 16ft Aluminum. Not sure I could on the toons anymore.. Damn, I'm getting lazy.

I volunteer at a Salmon Disease lab and a worker there tells me he pulls plugs with great success out of his kayak. Sounds like he might be on to something there.

In conclusion: It can be done with success, but not ideal for long periods of time.

fishing kayaks are great for trolling any sort of gear....and there are all sorts of kayaks designed for different kinds of water...
 
champmclean570 said:
i'm guessing you would just row against the current and let the plug work right in front of you?

Yup, let it back 40 or so feet. Bring your offering to them and let 'em make the decision whether to hammer it or not.
 
rogerdodger said:
fishing kayaks are great for trolling any sort of gear....and there are all sorts of kayaks designed for different kinds of water...

I agree. Just have NEVER seen one "Back" trolling in rivers. See it's getting pretty popular trolling for Salmon in Bays, lower Willamette etc. On some of the tighter coastal rivers where DB's can't properly navigate this seems it could be deadly.
 
I think i catch 80% of my fish trolling. Pretty comfortable with that technique. I caught some trout this year bank drifting but no steels. Still learning the basics.
 
champmclean570 said:
i'm guessing you would just row against the current and let the plug work right in front of you?

Exactly. Also helps to tack side to side as you slowly slide down (depending on the run you're in).

A line counter reel helps a bunch (I'm guessing even more so if by yourself, but you can always mark your line, or calculate how much line come off with one pass across the levelwind). We usually go out 65 feet, figuring the farther from the occasionally-noisy DB the better, but generally most go 50-75 (or 40, apparently).

Opinions vary wildly on plugs, but we usually run K11 Kwikfish in the winter/spring. The solid orange, and... I don't know all the cutsy names, but I believe it's a "pirate" in green or blue (pink head, blue/green body) seem to do the best. I know there's Tadpolly and Hotshot fans out there. People rant and rave about the Maglips, but never caught a steelie on one (in fairness, if it doesn't inspire confidence, it gets swapped out, so maybe they just need a better chance).

If you've got the energy to do it, plug fishing is a hoot. I'm just about always a passenger, so I crack a brew, light a smoke, and watch the rods. Ridiculously violent takedowns on plugs.

The disadvantage to running solo, I suppose, is you can't run the Wall of Death, with multiple plugs spread across the river.
 
I will be there in December to show Bhaley85 a few tricks to nailing steelies in the Sandy
 
Can i join in on the challenge ?
 
freedrifter, welcome to the forum!

How did you do on Veteran's day and any other action at the bridge? I pulled the plug and did some stuff at home after striking out for 5 hours. Might have had one take down, but a weak one right around the time Steve's kid got that jack.

Best,
 
freedrifter said:
Can i join in on the challenge ?

Sure! But you wont be here till late december.. Good luck. :hi:
 
DrTheopolis said:
People rant and rave about the Maglips, but never caught a steelie on one (in fairness, if it doesn't inspire confidence, it gets swapped out)

I agree. Use what you have confidence in..

I highly recommend giving the Mag lips some more water time. I can't even tell you how many vicious takedowns we had last December-March on 'em..
 
Just hit up the rowing machine at the gym. Come December, I wont even need a shuttle service... I'll just row back up-river.
 
SteelmonKiller20 said:
I highly recommend giving the Mag lips some more water time. I can't even tell you how many vicious takedowns we had last December-March on 'em..

Do you recommend the 3.5 size for tribs like the Clack? Similar to a K11 in size, I believe.

While trolling Nehalem Bay last Seprember, hooked a gigantic cutthroat on a Maglip 4.5. Unfortunaterly, the rear hook got into his gill, so I kept it... I only ever keep mortally wounded SRCs. Didn't measure it, but was around 20"... beast of a cuttie. Only fish I ever caught on a Maglip.
 
I found it to be a bit of a pain in the ass to troll with kayaks. It's harder to watch your line. With the pontoon you can watch your line and rod tip much easier. I still caught fish on the kayak but I would give the nod to the fish cat when it comes to trolling.
 
I've tried it up on the John Day (lake umatilla) once. I was trying for steelhead with wigglers but the water was really warm. I switched to smallies and had some luck.
 
DrTheopolis said:
Do you recommend the 3.5 size for tribs like the Clack? Similar to a K11 in size, I believe.

While trolling Nehalem Bay last Seprember, hooked a gigantic cutthroat on a Maglip 4.5. Unfortunaterly, the rear hook got into his gill, so I kept it... I only ever keep mortally wounded SRCs. Didn't measure it, but was around 20"... beast of a cuttie. Only fish I ever caught on a Maglip.

Nice. 3.5's exclusively..I think I read about a 3.0 coming out. That'll be a killer. Just make sure they are tuned!!
 
steelhead_slayer said:
I highly recommend Ed Fast

I agree 100% I went on a few trips with Ed when I first started just to hone my skills and learn some new tricks. It was by far the best thing I did to cut the learning curve down. Plus, Ed is a super fun guy to fish with! And the scenery and raft float he does is incredible.
 

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