Steelhead beginner

[mgdguy]

Barton Park today

Barton Park today

I'm prepping to give Steelheading a try this weekend with mgdguy. I just wanted to say thanks for all the pointers in this thread. It's a wealth of info.

Anyfish and I hit Barton park all morning today. Water was little on the fast side (still), but not too bad. No action, but we did get to try our hands at drift fishing, applying the things we've learned from this thread and others. Drifting coon shrimp, corkie and yarn, and spinner fishing. Seemed like we were doing it right. Just...no fish :think:

We did see a big fish downstream from us doing all sorts of acrobatics for a few minutes. Jumped full force straight up and out of the water at least half a dozen times! It looked like a steelhead except that is was dark with some red in it.

Do steelhead kelts turn red on their way back to the ocean? Or was this a springer??

 

[Anyfishisfine]

That jumping fish was cool, I've never seen anything like that. He probably traveled 100 yards downstream just by jumping over and over. He was a rusty red color. Nice sized fish too.

 

[polarbeer]

I have a Daiwa low profile baitcasting reel and mostly fish the coastal rivers and have been using Maxima ultra green last winter. I was reading some posts on braid and mono lines and was curious if anyone had any tips on line. I'm thinking that the ultra green is mostly good for higher waters and i'm really wanting a good line for this summer and or a better one for all around summer and winter.

 

[Raincatcher]

Spin Fishing holds the key

Spin Fishing holds the key

I have a Daiwa low profile baitcasting reel and mostly fish the coastal rivers and have been using Maxima ultra green last winter. I was reading some posts on braid and mono lines and was curious if anyone had any tips on line. I'm thinking that the ultra green is mostly good for higher waters and i'm really wanting a good line for this summer and or a better one for all around summer and winter.

polarbeer;
Welcome to our "little" family fishing forum. Hope you enjoy your stay. You have definitely come to the right place to ask/answer questions. For a bunch of answers to your question,check out the posts under "Spin Fishing". There are some very helpful answers there. Again,welcome.
Be safe.
Barb

 

[Kodiak]

Polar bear welcome to OFF! I highly suggest loading the braid into some sort of explosive projectile and launching that garbage at whoever manufactures it. It will wear out your rod eyelets and reel very fast. I use UG for EVERYTHING. 8# main and 6# leader for steelies and late springers, and 25# main and 20# leader for fall chinook.

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

Polar bear welcome to OFF! I highly suggest loading the braid into some sort of explosive projectile and launching that garbage at whoever manufactures it. It will wear out your rod eyelets and reel very fast.

Braid will only wear out the cheapest guides and even then it is rare. The guides used on the latest rods are so ridiculously hard, its to a point where it is over kill, even the cheaper guides are impossible to create grooves in. Same thing with the reels, it is harder on reels but they are built to withstand abuse. All of my reels are over $100 dollars and many over $200 but even some of the $70-$80 dollar shimanos will hold up very well weather you use braid, braid hybrid or mono. There are pluses and minuses of both and I suggest you try out both to figure out which one suits your style of fishing. If you ever get into float fishing the briad or similar type of line is a must though if you want to be successful at it!

 

[metalmania]

Hey SS, you ever try p-line hydrofloat. I've been using it for awhile but I rarely float fish so I was hoping for a better opinion on it.

 

[ninja2010]

Hey SS, you ever try p-line hydrofloat. I've been using it for awhile but I rarely float fish so I was hoping for a better opinion on it.

hey metal... i tried the hydrofloat, and here's my 2 pesos, for what it's worth.

it's a great floating line. very smooth to cast and very easy to mend. it doesn't soak water, so it stays bouyant and light.

the only downside i experienced was the knot strength. broke off twice at the swivel - lost my floats and all. the line i had on was rated 30lb and the leader i was using was 8lb ug. palomar knot both times.

 

[metalmania]

hey metal... i tried the hydrofloat, and here's my 2 pesos, for what it's worth.

it's a great floating line. very smooth to cast and very easy to mend. it doesn't soak water, so it stays bouyant and light.

the only downside i experienced was the knot strength. broke off twice at the swivel - lost my floats and all. the line i had on was rated 30lb and the leader i was using was 8lb ug. palomar knot both times.

Ya I really liked the mendability and was very easy to see. It also casts quite well when i'm using the 9 1/2, especially with the heavier rated floats, and I can get over 40 yards out of it. I never had a problem with the line breaking, And I was using the 20lb line with 12 leader. Maybe you got a bad batch. I got one spool of 15 flouro p-line and it broke at about 14 to 15, but the next spool I bought broke at 8lb max. I've heard others having similar problems with p-line.

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

Sounds like you might have had a bad batch. The thing about hydrofloat compared to other lines like braid is that the hydrofloat breaks right at its rated line test and other braids break much higher than even their rating. But with 6 lb that shouldn't have happened. I have switched all of my float rods to the fireline crystal as it floats just as high as the hydrofloat and has better knot strength. You can also use it for drift fishing without having to worry about bright yellow line floating around down there with the steelhead

 

[Fishtopher]

We did see a big fish downstream from us doing all sorts of acrobatics for a few minutes. Jumped full force straight up and out of the water at least half a dozen times! It looked like a steelhead except that is was dark with some red in it.

Do steelhead kelts turn red on their way back to the ocean? Or was this a springer??

Ive seen some pretty ugly colored up Winters lately. I'd say steelhead figurin' the time of year and all. Far as I know, it's a little early to see boot springers flyin' around. Couldnt be certain without a picture of you holding up the boot.

 

[dude young]

Question on leader length...

Question on leader length...

How long is your flouro leader? Are you tying swivel to your main line, then just 18" or so of flouro? Or do you tie some lenght of flouro to your mainline then a swivel, then more leader and terminal tackle?

Do you run a leader when pitching spoons/spinners? Or tie directly to main line?

Thanks.

I think I will try the Fireline on my rods. Thanks for that tip.

 

[ninja2010]

yeah, it's probably a bad batch if you guys don't have the same issues with the hydrofloats... just my luck, bah!

anyhoo... i quit spooling up on that coz i didn't want to carry another pole just for floating.

dudeyoung:

my leaders vary between 18" and 36" depending on water conditions... and i tie a swivel to mainline when i'm floating - to keep the float on the main. i tie a snap swivel between main and leader so i can hang some weight off of the snap. but on my hardware pole, i tie a long leader to my main with either the albright or j-knot for shock absorption.