1. I don't have much experience as a small stream steelheader. I was surprised to read that you catch fish you can see. Do you typically retreat "out of sight" before fishing to visible fish, or just stand there and cast? I would have thought that the fish would shy away or get lockjaw if they can see you.
It really depends on the day and the situation. A lot of the times we see steelhead, it's simply because I know where to look within a run before we even get close to it. Often times the steelhead are also in large water (more than 50-60 feet away) and aren't super spooky.
Really though, it changes river to river and even day to day on each river. Some days after a cast you can't even let your braid line hit the water after a cast - you need to do a high stick reel in method. Other days you have to cast way ahead of them and wait for them to move around and then reel your spoon in off bottom. Some days you most definitely need to hide. Other days they are suicidal and really don't care about you or what gear you throw.
2. From your descriptions, you are climbing in and out of some hairy canyons. I do have some experience on rock walls, and studded felt boots aren't ideal footwear. What do you recommend? Any other climbing safety tips? (e.g. tying temporary ropes to help you get down/up, rod transport tips to keep both hands free, glove choices?)
In all honesty, we do a lot of sketchy climbs and the like that we probably shouldn't do, and a lot of these places will be inaccessible in the future when we aren't "young" anymore. I've also learnt to control my balance point really well, so I tend to do some things that other people wouldn't dare follow (steep slopes, etc). Figuring out your balance point can really help you "stick" to things. Confidence is also key. I rarely do anything that I look at and have a bad initial feeling about.
We just use our felt bottom boots, and yes, it has gotten us into trouble a few times both this year (especially with the snow) and in the past. The thing we do use is A LOT of rope. One of my close fishing buddies is a commercial fisherman, so we get all the ground line that we want. We tie big chunks in a bunch of places and do an overhand loop knot every 3 or so feet (or however often it's needed) as good holds. IMO a bunch of rope with good holds and taking your time is really all you need.
3. Line/leader setups for those clear rivers, FC vs. mono. I'm guessing 8-10lb Ultragreen would be the standard, but curious as to what you're using.
I always use flourocarbon. Seaguar - either red label (my preferred) or STS (more expensive so it's my second option). We run 10 pound almost exclusively for drift fishing and fly fishing. Spoon tossing I'll often go to 15 pound flouro as well, as we have had numerous fish break us off on hits with 10 pound. On smaller rivers I'll stay with 10 pound on the spoon rods too though. At times, in very low clear conditions we will go to 6 pound flouro too.
4. Given that some of your target rivers are small and have modest runs, do you voluntarily limit your catch and leave'em biting some days?
Again, it totally depends on the day. If fish are absolutely stacked in a run, we will often leave em alone after the first few aggressive ones bite and go search out more aggressive fish/new water. I'm more about seeing lots of water than flogging a spot and catching every fish in it.
I would say though, overall, that no - we don't really quit after a certain number on any given day. Most of our high number days happen on larger systems with fairly large runs. I limit my catch more so by only going to particular rivers once or a few times in a season. We didn't return to any river this year more than 3 times throughout the full winter season. One of the reasons for the quest actually was to have more options for the future so that I can spread out my angling efforts on a variety of systems to limit my impact (and also to have options when I can't fish as much in the future).
PS Wholly agree with the philosophy of "lots of how" and "not a lot of where" in these reports. Also concur that rivers need friends, or in this case, VI needs (steelhead) friends as a voice to protect the resource. There are plenty of posters on other forums who would lead a casual reader (like me) to conclude that there are only three rivers left with any fish, and those are mostly hatcheries. So very encouraging to read that there are at least 30 smaller systems that have a few fish.
Exactly. A lot of people really don't want others to know that there are smaller gems out there still, in fear that people might look and actually find them. My reasoning though, as stated above, is that hopefully when people find these rivers on their own, they will protect them and cherish them. Simply putting up a background picture will in no way draw a person to a particular river unless they have been there before. One of the reasons I post blog posts, pictures, etc well after the fact without a date is to also throw people off on run timing. Run timing is a huge part of success on 90% of the island rivers we go to. That way, if I've had a good day as well, it will stop people from going there based on a report and slogging on the same fish over and over.
And yes, there are way more than 3 rivers with fish in them still. Over the past 6 years actually, I've landed steelhead out of over 40 different VI rivers. 8 of those rivers were newly added this winter season, so we are constantly finding new ones. There are another 15 or 20 that I haven't even made it to yet that I know for a fact have fish as well, and I'm sure I'll hear of more/find more accidentally.
It's all part of the fun to look at maps, figure out access points and then hike around for the day. Sometimes you have your arse handed to you (either by the river itself as far as access is concerned, or by the fish). Other days you're met with quite literally paradise and abundant fish, whether they be trout, salmon or steelhead.
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Topic: Winter Steelhead Blog Series - My Journal - The Quest for 20 (Read 10108 times)