Winter Steelhead With my new found love of twitching jigs for Coho, I really wanted to put it to the test with the square tails. Early January was a bust for me, especially because I was exploring new areas and I wasn’t able to get out too much, but the time I did manage to get out of the river, I saw a few fish caught by the same few guys and also managed to get stuck in some mud! So here is a nice reminder to be careful of where you walk.
Now here is something you don't see every day, duck caught on a worm!
As February rolled around, I managed to get my first on a big prawn. A nice 8-10 pound hatchery doe in some pocket water behind a boulder. Being the first fish of the year, I set her free. With a pretty dismal February, I wasn’t able to dial into the fish due to lack of time on the river. With February almost over, I decided I would make my last trip of the month and maybe hook up. As I approached the run, a fellow angler that frequented the river had already bonked his fish and was getting ready to leave, mentioning that he had hooked several on roe bags in the tail out. As he was leaving, his cleardrift float fell out of his vest and I managed to pick it up and run over to his car to give it to him. He told me to keep it, might bring me some luck this year. Well, as I walked back to the run, I put on some roe and started drifting it. Switched through every bait I had and couldn’t get a sniff. I was just about to pack it in, but knowing that there are some fish in the run kept me casting. I decided to take off my float rig and tie my favourite twitching jig on. With no spinning rod on me, I tied it directly to my 15 pound mainline. Seeing that spooky coho react very well to twitched jigs time and time again, I really wanted to see how steelhead would take to a well presented jig. First cast, a little short, not down deep enough and out of the zone. Second cast, perfect, 5-6 twitches and my rod almost yanked out of my hand. One of the most aggressive takes I have ever experienced. Out came my second hatchery fish of the year and on my favourite method. Nice thick tail on this fish, making a very great fight.
As the year progressed and I was able to get out to the rivers a lot in March (especially over spring break) and really key into where fish were sitting. Averaged about 2-3 fish on each trip in March, and had several 5+ fish days, with my best being a nice 8 fish day. Nothing like fresh, crisp Fraser Valley mornings with the river to your disposal. A lot of my fish came on fresh boraxed steelhead roe with a handful on blades. But the real killer was blue and black or black and red twitching jigs. Could not count how many times I hooked fish behind guys that have been pounding runs float fishing just by twitching jigs. The reaction that steelhead would have to an aggressive bait like a jig was truly amazing. A lot of spey guys used to tell me how steelhead sometimes snap their tippets on the initial take, and after experiencing some takes on these jigs, I was a firm believer of that.
Another thing that really worked will for me, especially later in the season when fish would were seeing a lot of the standard baits was silver colorado blades. I would always carry my spinning rod and my pin. At first light, I would run a blade or spinner on my spinning rod through a run before drifting any roe and most of the time managed a fish or two within the first 10 casts. Like coho, the steelhead liked to chase and reacted well to a more aggressive bait when they didn’t want roe, especially when the weather was warming up.
For anyone looking to get into twitching or a good spinning set up for salmon or steelhead in general, I would run 10-pound PowerPro braid directly connected to a 5-foot section of 8-pound mono. Rod length really helps detect those initial pick ups when twitching. I used to miss a lot of fish or be really late on the hook set because I couldn’t feel that initial bump when they hit it on the drop. It wasn’t until I picked up again that I could feel the fish. I recently bought a 9’ Trophy Tackle Coho Special spinning rod and you can really tell the difference with the extra length. In terms of jigs, I like blue and black (go to for coho and a good steelhead jig) or a red and black “nightmare” jig (killer for steelhead). I usually tie them on ¼ bent rods lead heads. Strong hooks with heads that can take a beating.
Highlight of the season had to be about an 18-pound wild buck on a blade. Hooked it in a weird part of the river and had to pass the rod back and fourth with a buddy around trees about a half kilometer down river. But in all honesty, I was more than surprised how well steelhead responded to twitched jigs and it will be one of my main choices for this coming season. Here are a few pictures of a couple from the steelhead season.
This girl got chewed up pretty bad
Here is another on a twitched jig
Here is my favourite fish of the year, sight fished with an awesome picture at the end
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Topic: Year in Review (Read 8307 times)