by Jason Brooks, January 04, 2015

Sitting comfortably in the front seat and drinking a cup of coffee while watching the scenery go by I hear the oars slapping the water every so often as Ted Schuman slows the drift boat down. “This is the way to fish” I tell myself as the propane heater at my feet warms my legs and body. My fingers aren’t frozen as the hot coffee keep s them thawed. It’s hard to keep focusing on the rod tips but luckily Ted is always watching them, or “reading” them to make sure the plugs are working. Just then the right rod dips down and pops back up then buries again, “Fish on”.

This is plug fishing for winter steelhead and for me it is one of the most relaxing ways to fish. Unlike side drifting, float fishing or spoon fishing where the angler is always active making cast or trying to decipher a bite from a rock on the bottom plug fishing is a “hands off” technique. But it takes the proper equipment as well as basic knowledge of fish behavior and a person who knows how to set up and maneuver the boat to target the fish. Here are the basics on this effective technique.

Starting with rods, reels, and line as this is the foundation of plug fishing. A casting or trolling rod that has a heavy backbone, or “power” as well as a sensitive tip or “fast action” is necessary. The length of the rod isn’t as important but most plug rods are shorter than drift fishing rods because there is no need to cast light weights and the shorter rod allows more power as well as being able to position multiple rods in the boat without worry of entanglement. For winter steelhead fishing I like to use a rod that is between 7 ½ and 8 ½ feet with a line rating of 10 to 20 pounds or 15 to 25 pounds, otherwise known as a “heavy” rod but the action must also be” fast” or “extra fast”. This means the last foot or so of the rod is light so you can read what the plug is doing. A cork handle is most common but graphite or rubber coated handles make getting the rod out of the rod holder a lot easier. Sometimes I will use shrink wrap on my cork handles to achieve easier removal from the rod holders.

Reels should be able to handle a lot of line but still keep the rod balanced well. Line counter reels are most common but aren’t always necessary. I prefer to reel with my left hand while holding the rod in my right hand so most of my reels are left handed models. However I do have a few right handed reels so when I have others on my boat, who reel right handed, they can fight the fish comfortably. Most important for the reel is the drag system and line release. You won’t use free spool like in a bass pitching reel or casting reel so trolling reels are more suited for plug fishing. One last note is that a high retrieve rate most often used for those that throw spinners or spoons isn’t a good thing for plug fishing in rivers. Since the current is always pushing the plug if you reel too fast it will cause line twist as well as entangling the plug. Then there is the danger of reeling in a plug too fast and as it breaks free from the water it will project back towards you and could hit you in the face. It’s important to reel slow and drop the rod tip as the plug breaks the surface. Quick retrieve reels can become a dangerous thing if one person is fighting a fish and the other is trying to get the other rods in fast and the next thing you know you have treble hooks flying back at your face.

Line is almost as important as the plug itself. I like to use braid, specifically Izorline’s spectra, in 30# as the diameter is small enough that it cuts through the water allowing the plug to dive deep and has little drag. However others argue that since braid doesn’t stretch like monofilament and since there is a time delay in grabbing the rod, mono almost acts like a rubber snubber often used by kokanee fisherman. It also has enough drag that if a plug was slightly out of tune mono would keep it in line. However the downfall with monofilament is that it can get nicks easily and also doesn’t allow the plug to dive as deep so a larger plug is needed. One nice thing about fishing heavier poundage lines is that you rarely lose your plug instead you will bend your hooks out and when you have a proven plug that has caught dozens of fish you really don’t want to lose it to a sunken log. If using a hi-viz braid taking a black sharpie marker and coloring the last 5 feet will make it harder for the fish to see. Instead I like to use a 4 bead chain swivel and 5 feet of 25# monofilament like Izorline fluorocarbon to a duo-lock snap.

Now that you have the rod, reel, and line it’s time to start talking plugs. Since there are so many on the market it’s important to know how a plug works and how to tune them. Remember that we are fishing for winter steelhead and even though most of the fish will be 10 pounds or heavier this doesn’t mean plugs that you used for fall Chinook will work. The theory most often associated with using plugs for steelhead is that the bite is defensive or out of irritation. If a steelhead is faced with a giant plug it will more likely try to flee from it than to strike at it. Steelhead plugs are most common in sizes from 2 ½ inches to 4 ½ inches. Water conditions should dictate the size of the plug you use, not size of fish. If the water is low and clear then you should use a smaller plug as it will dive shallower and won’t be as intimidating. For high and off colored water then larger plugs will be needed to dive deeper and be more visible.

Back to plug design. A deep lip plug such as the Mag-Lip, Hot Shot, or Wiggle Wart will dive deep even when the plug is small. A more traditional banana style plug like the Kwikfish or Flatfish dives shallower even in the larger sizes. They are also the best suited plugs for bait wraps or scent pads which I will discuss in a bit. The rocker style plugs like the Lindy River Rocker or traditional Tadpolly plugs use a small bill and rounder body which allows for medium diving depth with a smaller plug. It’s important to experiment with what plugs you like to use and don’t get stuck on one style or brand as water conditions change from day to day and even hole to hole.

Once you have an array of plugs and know what depths they dive too it’s time to go fishing. After a while you will notice which ones produce and which ones don’t. Like all other fishing it is important to keep a log or notes on what to use and where to use it but for plug fishing this is especially true. When you have a few proven fish catchers on board you are more confident in fishing them. Certain tweaks to the plugs can make all the difference. First is tuning. Let some line out and drag the plug next to the boat. If the plug pulls one way or the other then turn the eyelet of the plug until it runs true. Keep in mind that the plug is designed to either wiggle, skip beat, dart side to side, or all of these so make sure you don’t tune a plug just because it dives on way for a split second but instead pulls steadily in one direction.

Plug color is a much debated topic and even a few secrets, like those with secret egg cures, will never be mentioned by those that have altered their plugs. Plus it is a lot of fun to add a few extras to your plugs and make them your own but keep in mind that companies that make the plugs have already done extensive testing on colors as well as design. The most common altering of plugs is by using a sharpie pen and either add dots or lines or color the bill of the plug in a contrasting color, mostly black. I have found a few new neon colors offered by Sharpie that glow in black light, meaning they are UV enhanced. The other most common alteration of plugs is the hooks. Most are OK to fish right out of the package but once you lose a fish to a weak hook or the fish doesn’t stick as the hooks aren’t sharp then it’s time to get serious about changing them out. If I am fishing a river that has a lot of hatchery fish I like to stay with treble hooks. In the past I would put a barrel swivel on the last eyelet and then the treble hook allowing the hook to spin freely if a steelhead grabs hold and decides to jump and twist out of the water. Recently though I began using Tru-turn hooks that have a swivel built in. It’s important to keep the hook size relatively close to those that the manufacture originally put on them as this helps balance the plug. For a river where I am targeting big wild fish in early spring I will switch out the treble hook to a siwash hook with a barrel swivel. This keeps mortality low and a very sharp siwash has no problem sticking in a big steelhead’s jaw.

Scents are an important part of fishing including plug fishing. Most of the time when we think about wrapping plugs we are talking about large banana style plugs with a herring or anchovy wrap for fall Chinook. Not as common for winter steelhead but for me is just as important is to scent the plugs I use. I believe this does a couple of important things. First the fish could smell the plug coming before they see it, causing them to close the distance to the plug, and in off colored water, where the fish is expecting something that smells good all of a sudden an erratic plug is in its face and it strikes. The other argument is that it helps cover human scent as well as when a fish is presented with a plug in its face it smells like something it is supposed to bite. I like to fish sand shrimp for winter steelhead and started wrapping plugs using a stretchy thread and the sand shrimp heads that I normally tossed into the river while drift fishing the tails. One nice thing about sand shrimp bodies is that they soak up other scents and I will often marinate them in oils or in my jar of cured eggs. If you don’t have fresh baits then adding oils or liquid scents need to be applied often as the slick non-porous bodies of the plugs don’t hold scent well.

Here are two more tips to use for better scent applications to your plugs. First is to take a small strip of Velcro and put it on the plug. I use the plastic hook side of the Velcro instead of the soft carpet side. Use the Velcro that has adhesive on the back and it sticks to the plug like tape. At the end of the day simply peal the Velcro strip off and wash the plug in soapy warm water. The Velcro is easy to use and foolproof for adding scents as long as you use a small enough piece that it doesn’t affect the action of the plug. The second tip is to secure a bead, like a Hevi-Bead, about 6 inches in front of the plug on the line. I like using the Hevi-Bead specifically because these beads are made of either glass or ceramic and are heavier than the plastic ones. I believe this bead actually helps the action of the plug as it helps deflect things like leaves or debris from the front of the plug plus its heavier weight keeps the plug from going out of tune by adding a small amount of drag on the line right in front of the plug. How this helps in adding scent is by filing the middle of the bead with your scent it leaks out and then hits the front of the plug which agitates it in the water. Since Hevi-Beads uses a rubber band piece to secure it to the line it won’t weaken the leader and it is adjustable. If you want to slow the action of the plug down put the bead closer to it, if you want to increase the plugs action move it further away. You can also use a bead in a contrasting color.

Primary water to fish plugs are the same places you will drift fish or bobber dog. The long runs with a cut bank and a few boulders for cover along the way. Start by slowing the boat or hold it in place at the top of the run and let out the plugs an equal distance. If you aren’t using line counter reels then a simple way to do this is to add a bobber stop knot on the mainline. I usually put my plugs out between 40 and 50 feet depending on the size of the water and depth I need the plugs to run. I have a bobber stop knot already placed 50 feet up my mainline. If I want the plugs out 50 feet I make sure the knot is at the rod’s tip, if I want them out 40 feet I put them out to where the knot is at the reel and then crank it once. By having the plugs out at the same distance this creates a “wall” of plugs.

Ideally fishing three rods is best but two works out well for “pulling plugs”. As you slowly drift down the river the fish are pushed by the plugs approaching them. They will either slowly back down the river or try to evade the plug by swimming to one side. Knowing where the fish lie in the run’s is very important as you want to try and put the plugs in the fish’s face and have a plug on either side of the fish or at least to where it will turn and run into another plug. This causes the irritation or frustration of the fish and makes it strike at the plug. It is very important to keep the plugs out all the way to the tailout as this is where the fish is at a “point of no return” if it has been backing down the river to avoid the plug in its face. Most of the fish I have caught on plugs have been when we were nearing the tailout.

Don’t overlook other parts of the river to fish plugs. Boulder gardens are places often passed by when fishing plugs but if you can maneuver the plugs around the boulders and run along the seems that the rock break creates behind it you will be putting the plug right into holding fish. Often time’s more than one fish will be tucked in behind a boulder and each one is competing for the softest spot to rest and when a plug comes along to already irritated fish it doesn’t take much for them to strike at it.

One last bit about plug fishing for winter steelhead. I started off this article about how it’s a “hands off” technique and one of the most relaxing ways to fish. By anchoring at the top of a run or in an area known as a “travel lane” like on the edge of a seam you have put yourself in an ideal spot to intercept fish. Put the plugs out and sit back on anchor. This is a great way to target moving fish during a freshet and also a way to keep fishing during a break time, like eating lunch or tying up more leaders for the float to the takeout. As the fish move up river there is your wall of plugs in their way keeping them from moving on, so they strike at them and it’s “Fish on”!