by Uncle Wes, December 23, 2004

The Basics of Steelhead Fishing




I am going to dedicate my next few columns to steelhead angling, as there are so many different methods and tactics to cover. I will give you a crash course on the basics... here we go.

There is no replacement for time spent on the water no matter how much you read about it. The steelhead is probably the most difficult to catch and the most sought after during the winter months throughout the Northwest. I will guarantee that once you catch your first one, you will be hooked. You will have to contend with so many factors and adjustments such as water color, weather, and the ever-changing conditions on the river. Learning your river and how to read the water is the first step on your education to steelhead angling.

There are three basic parts to a run: you have the headwaters, the hole itself, and the tail out. The headwaters are the shallow, faster moving waters that flows into the hole. The hole itself will will pool out to be deeper and flow much easier. The tail out is the shallow, faster moving waters at the end of the hole. The hole itself can vary a great deal in size-it can be a slot three feet wide and twenty feet wide or much wider, longer, narrower or shorter. Put all of these together and you have a run.

Now, there are several different opinions on how to work a run but I'm just going to tell you what works best for me. Working a run from the bank is much different than working it from a drift boat.

Knowing that the fish face into the flow, I like to start at the tail out. When I'm approaching the tail out, I do not walk beside the river-bank from the top of the run to the tail out. believe it or not, the fish can see you to. I will walk out away from the bank and then move into position and start working the tail out, without creating a disturbance at the beginning of the run. No matter what I'm using-if it's a corky and yarn set-up, spoons, spinners, float and jig - I always work the run basically the same way.

My first cast will be up stream a bit and on the edge of the tail out. My next cast will be out just a little bit further into the tail out and so on, until I have worked it all the way across. I will then move up stream three to four feet and repeat the process. I will continue this until I have worked the whole run in this manner.

Something else to keep in mind is if you don't have to stand in the water, then stay out of it! Why create a disturbance if you don't have to?

I'd like to talk a little bit about learning your river or a portion of it anyway. Everyone knows about the three or four familiar runs, especially when you drive by them and see elbow to elbow anglers and a little parking area that looks like a car lot. There are quite a few more runs to fish if you just get out and look for them, and most often they will be just as productive as the old reliable. Take the time to do a little scouting and I think you will be very surprised at what you will find.

Also, I would like to say as far as learning to read water for beginners, take a little trip to one of the local creeks and start there. This will help get you started and then it will become much easier to read the smaller rivers and eventually the bigger waters.

Next week I will cover the basics about the different methods and set-ups used for steelhead. But as I said, as with anything there are different opinions, these are just my preferred methods and tactics.

So until next time may the fish at the end of your line be the one of your dreams.