What entices a salmon/steelhead to strike... input please

[ninja2010]

i was sitting at the tying station ready to engineer some more gnarly intruders when the thought crept into my head.

so i figured i'd ask the experts here. and i want to hear your opinion, either based on experience, scientific data or just pure farting out of your rear end...

why does a steelhead or salmon take your offering?

i know they do not have a need to feed when they return from the ocean, and i know sometimes it's to defend territory (especially closer to spawning), and i know they sometimes hit out of instinct. what do you think?

DISCLAIMER: unless you're a salmon or steelhead who can type on a keyboard, there's probably not going to be an ultimate right or wrong answer... so be nice.

thank you in advance, for reading and contributing.

 

[TimberTodd]

I believe that it is more aggression once they get higher into the rivers. Of course this answer is coming from my backside because I am definitely not a scientist or an expert.

 

[Mad dog]

Instinct...Curiousity...Aggression....in that order!

 

[OnTheFly]

That's a great question. I wonder if both fish react the same. I kinda thought steelhead, unlike salmon, still enjoyed eating up river.

 

[Moe]

Yeah I think steelies keep feeding

 

[waco]

Instinct...Curiousity...Aggression....in that order!

X2

 

[JeannaJigs]

That's a great question. I wonder if both fish react the same. I kinda thought steelhead, unlike salmon, still enjoyed eating up river.

Mad dog nailed it about salmon, but steelhead do still eat. I find all kinds of crap in their stomachs, they're quite pigs actually.

 

[HereFishy]

If anyone is interested in seeing what DOESN'T work, I can take pictures of everything in all 3 of my tackle bags..

 

[ninja2010]

If anyone is interested in seeing what DOESN'T work, I can take pictures of everything in all 3 of my tackle bags..

yeah, i feel ya...

i could show you all the flies i've drowned, with no takes.

so far... it looks like i can still tie and throw my nasty looking, sexy undulating intruders to trigger some kinda instinctive, curios aggression, right?

i know the steelhead swines do feed because their stomachs do not shut down, BUT they don't have to, or need to. are they still hitting because of the same 3 factors mentioned so far? INSTINCT, CURIOSITY and AGGRESSION? after all, spinners don't imitate any aquatic life form, and yarn... well it's a knitting component.

 

[OnTheFly]

Come to think of it, all three f those descriptions could easily be associated with the sexual drive a fish may have during spawning time. Maybe a little lipstick on those intruders might do the trick.

 

[ninja2010]

Come to think of it, all three f those descriptions could easily be associated with the sexual drive a fish may have during spawning time. Maybe a little lipstick on those intruders might do the trick.

...maybe a shorter skirt and lower collar???... and forget the tinsel wrap on the body, just leave it totally bare???... "git 'er dun."