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[Spawn Sack]

This winter will be my 4th season river fishing and steelheading. The 1st I had no idea what I was doing, and each successive year I've gotten better and better. I do fairly well with salmon now; although still lots to learn and I'm always looking to learn something new. I have learned a lot from this website, several fishing shows I now PRV, BC Outdoors magazine, etc.

I won't disclose my actual steelhead #'s, but let's just say I'd really like to up my game. Last season I "got serious" and bought several books on the topic, read a lot online, etc., and was sure I'd get into some s/h, but no luck. Often I go out by myself or with my g/f. I am hoping to fill some information gaps that I can pass onto her and other anglers in the future.

The big question I usually ponder the night before going out steelheading is "where should I go?" I normally go to places that I know to be productive steelehad runs (ie. Lickman run) and fish it from head to tail out, trying to "grid" the water and cover all that looks fishy.

When I get to the end of the run I'm usually stuck with the dilemma...should I keep moving down river...or walk back up to the head of this run and fish it again? Normally I keep moving down river as I believe covering the most water possible = best chance of a hook up. I'm not really sure if there is ever a time when one would want to stay on a "good spot" and just wait for one/some to come through.

So, in other words, I have a lot to learn when it comes to finding/hunting steelhead. I'm lacking strategy, I typically move or don't move haphazzardly and hope that my hook will cross paths with an unsuspecting steelhead. I want to learn to steelhead smarter, not harder. I believe my water reading skills are decent and my choice of lure/bait are likely to entice a steelhead, but it's possible this could use some tweaking as well.

I'd appreciate any tips anyone has to offer on this site. In the event any of you seasoned steelheaders would like to pass on some on the river knowledge to an eager angler, I go out fairly often and given my shift work schedule, I have a fair bit of time off. Right now I only s/h on the Vedder (I live in Sardis). My home email is kcp@alumni.sfu.ca

[zap brannigan]

heading to the same run over and over may yeild a few fish from time to time but your not learning anything new or learning new steelhead lies, you got to get past going to familiar runs and explore NEW water, keep a journal or mental notes on conditions of new runs, times of day and what types of water you fish/encounter and what baits you try.

learning to read water comes with fishing lots of different types of runs and structure, explore and be rewarded.

[brad7]

I am in the exact same position as you. I found a really good article called: Run and Gun Steelhead, on the fishonbc.com website. I will be putting this method to use this steelhead season. Hopefully this can help u out.

[Johnny Canuck]

heading to the same run over and over may yeild a few fish from time to time but your not learning anything new or learning new steelhead lies, you got to get past going to familiar runs and explore NEW water, keep a journal or mental notes on conditions of new runs, times of day and what types of water you fish/encounter and what baits you try.

learning to read water comes with fishing lots of different types of runs and structure, explore and be rewarded.

I agree although I disagree at the same time lol. Fishing the same spot over and over will teach you where fish hold in certain conditions in that spot. It's best to have a circuit of spots to fish, I prefer to fish a stretch that has multiple types of water ranging from big deep pools to wide runs and everything in between.

[Spawn Sack]

heading to the same run over and over may yeild a few fish from time to time but your not learning anything new or learning new steelhead lies, you got to get past going to familiar runs and explore NEW water, keep a journal or mental notes on conditions of new runs, times of day and what types of water you fish/encounter and what baits you try.

learning to read water comes with fishing lots of different types of runs and structure, explore and be rewarded.

I hear what you're saying. With salmon fishing I've upped my game big time in the last couple years. I've learned a lot about where certain types of salmon are likely to be depending on the water conditions, time of day, run timing, etc. I've also worked hard on fishing different types of lures/bait/etc and figured out many things that work well and many that don't. I've also explored a lot of new water and discovered many nice runs. I don't have any written notes, but tons of mental notes

With steelheading however 99% of the time it's tried X, no fish. Switched to Y, no fish. Fished all the way from A to B, no fish. So I have yet to find what works, draw conclusions, etc. I believe I need to learn more regarding how to "hunt" steelhead, when to stay, when to move, etc. With salmon I often find a nice run and just hammer it all day. I know with s/h this isn't the best strategy.

The last 2 seasons I started out super gung-ho, exploring lots of new water, bushwacking, etc. However by February or so, especially after hearing of all the fish being caught at Lickman, etc (and sometime SEEING guys with s/h while walking my dog by these runs ) I eventually have found myself gravitating towards the "established runs." I would prefer to explore more any fish water with few or no other anglers on it. It's just hard, as one writer put it on another thread, to get past the "mental barrier" of fishing all day for and staying motivated and confident in what you are offering up.

[Spawn Sack]

I am in the exact same position as you. I found a really good article called: Run and Gun Steelhead, on the fishonbc.com website. I will be putting this method to use this steelhead season. Hopefully this can help u out.

Sweet thanks I'll check it out for sure!

[Spawn Sack]

I agree although I disagree at the same time lol. Fishing the same spot over and over will teach you where fish hold in certain conditions in that spot. It's best to have a circuit of spots to fish, I prefer to fish a stretch that has multiple types of water ranging from big deep pools to wide runs and everything in between.

This is more what I have been leaning towards. One day I was chatting with a guy on the river who is a known accomplished steelheader. I was telling him how I had covered miles of river today with no results. His response was something to the effect of "pick a handful of runs you like and LEARN them. Learn where the honey holes are, why the fish lie there, etc."

I discovered a few new runs this year salmon fishing that IMO will be awesome steelhead runs. My plan is to work them head to tail and really pay attention to the water and try to up my water reading skills.

[Steely]

Here's my approach to the vedder. Be super impatient lol! But seriously that was the key for me to finding fish more consistently over the past few years. Head out early season and cover as much water as you can, make a note of where you hook a fish, see a fish, see an angler catch a fish ect. Then as the season goes on visit them frequently! I had a rock last year which I saw another angler catch a fish at, I most likely would have not even fished it as it didn't look very fishy. However because I saw someone get a fish there I came back the next day and got one myself, this one rock gave me 6 fish last year, not every trip but consistently enough to keep coming back. I also had a piece of water about 150 yards long which I saw an angler hook a fish in about mid-late December. I came back a week later and pulled a fish out. My buddy and I had our best day steel heading ever last year in that stretch of river as well. Anyways to get consistent hookups be sure to note where you see fish holding throughout the year, they will sit there again. The only time I will fish through a run more then once is if I get a hit or know that a fish is in the run. Even the most fishy looking spots sometimes just don't hold fish. So covering lots of water is key, knowing the conditions which will dictate which spots will hold fish is as well but to really find the fish on a heavy pressure flow like the vedder is to watch others as most of the time they can do the work for you.

[Brian the fisherman]

I recommend to keep a journal for records.
When i explore new water i wont remember all the goodies. Books help.

[brad7]

Last year I had that same attitude, tried to stay away from the crowds. I would come up with a game plan in the morning of what 3 or 4 runs I d wanna fish for the day, but i d show up and see 3 or 4 other guys fishing the same spot so I would just walk right past the run. But soon I found myself doin more walking then fishing. I ended up fishing with a friend and he pointed something out to me. 80 percent of the guys fishing for steelhead on the river don't know Wut they re doin. They stake down in one spot and fish the same section of the run for hours, don't get me wrong some of these guys catch fish, but I think it's mostly luck of the draw. So I started just fishing around these guys. I start above them work down the run then ask if they mind if I fish below them and keep moving down. Don't let the crowds push you away from a run. Be a lowermainland fisherman means you have to learn to deal with sharing the river.

[HOOK]

If I'm gear fishing I will go through a run twice using 2 presentations from almost opposite ends of the spectrum. I do my best with an orange rubber egg with a small tuft of white wool. scented or unscented doesn't seem to matter

[Knnn]

I would like to suggest a steelhead course.  I took one with Pacific and I think it would go a long way to confirming what you know is good and maybe identifying some things that are not so good.

Covering the water in a grid is a good general technique, however, there are portions of the grid at the head, gut and tail of a run that have a higher likelihood of holding a fish and those locations (just like salmon) will change depending on water conditions. Therefore, there are certain grids that you would want to cover more frequently than others.

Once you have fished head to tail and had no action, you may wish to consider a different presentation.  I will often put three different baits through a run, if that does not work I conclude that either there are no fish there, they have been spooked or more likely my skillz are still less than l33t. 

It's my understanding that Steels are fairly aggressive and if they have recently entered the river or moved due to fresh water they will typically strike at many different presentations.  There is the obvious caveat about water conditions, because they will more likely hit a single Jensen egg under low and clear water than a 6 inch bright pink worm.  In coloured water then anything big and bright will probably work.  Saying that though, I have been on the river where everyone seemed to be fishing big gobs or roe or roe bags with little success, which prompted me to try a hammered silver blade which has then be successful in water that numerous anglers have already fished through.

So going back to your quandary about staying on a run or moving on, my suggestion would be to find a number of runs you like (because you have caught fish there before or seen others, etc.) then fish each run with a number of different presentations, such as roe, worm, blade or single egg to fit the conditions.  If that does not yield results, then move on to your next run and repeat.  However make sure to cover all bits of the water, particularly if it's coloured, even within a couple feet of the bank.

I think that standing on one spot (I thinks it's called fence posting, right?) can yield results, however changing presentations and locations once you have covered the water properly will give you better results.

Please note I am a novice steelheader like you, therefore take this advice with that proviso.  However I feel confident in the above approach, which you may also find useful.

Hope this helps and good luck.  May see you out there.

[Dennis.t]

Here's my approach to the vedder. Be super impatient lol! But seriously that was the key for me to finding fish more consistently over the past few years. Head out early season and cover as much water as you can, make a note of where you hook a fish, see a fish, see an angler catch a fish ect. Then as the season goes on visit them frequently! I had a rock last year which I saw another angler catch a fish at, I most likely would have not even fished it as it didn't look very fishy. However because I saw someone get a fish there I came back the next day and got one myself, this one rock gave me 6 fish last year, not every trip but consistently enough to keep coming back. I also had a piece of water about 150 yards long which I saw an angler hook a fish in about mid-late December. I came back a week later and pulled a fish out. My buddy and I had our best day steel heading ever last year in that stretch of river as well. Anyways to get consistent hookups be sure to note where you see fish holding throughout the year, they will sit there again. The only time I will fish through a run more then once is if I get a hit or know that a fish is in the run. Even the most fishy looking spots sometimes just don't hold fish. So covering lots of water is key, knowing the conditions which will dictate which spots will hold fish is as well but to really find the fish on a heavy pressure flow like the vedder is to watch others as most of the time they can do the work for you.

I hate it when people see me catch fish in my sweet spots...

[Fish Assassin]

As someone has already noted, pick a few runs and fish it and learn the nuances of that run, where fish sit etc.

[ribolovac02]

Fish hard, NEVER give up, don't dought your self, it's hard to learn enything that way, pick one presentation to start and again fish it hard, everything else is a learning curve, the more you fish more you will learn and stealhead will be on your hook eventually.
That's where the break will happen you will want a nother one and you'll just learn faster :-)

Cheers