Been a while....

[Evan B]

Short story: Steelheading used to be like 99.9% of my fishing. That changed around 2015/2016 when I both moved from living an hour NE of Seattle on down to Oregon, and our steelhead runs took a nosedive during the same time period. That move SHOULD have really improved my summer steelheading prospects... but that nosedive kind of ruined that and sent me on to new things. While I've caught a pile of winter fish since then, I have not actually caught a summer steelhead since 2016 (exception being some fall fish in the Rogue swinging the ol spray pole).

Got an invite to float with @DanielOcean yesterday, so took the opportunity to scratch the old itch.

And look at that! I broke the 7yr (pretty much to the month) streak! Nothing special about the fish itself, but was special to get one to hand again. And it was a red hot fish that gave me about a dozen full aerials and some surprisingly long runs. Much more of a battle than I remember the average one giving me back in the day.

 

[Josh]

Very nice!

What size/action rod do you use for that kind of fishing? Braid to mono or straight braid?

 

[Evan B]

Very nice!

What size/action rod do you use for that kind of fishing? Braid to mono or straight braid?

It's an 8.5' G Loomis GL3... Honestly, the specs beyond that aren't coming to my brain at the moment. I'll have to run out and look again. It's pretty light, though. Has a much stronger backbone than you'd expect.

I run braid to a small barrel swivel, then 10lb Maxima to the spoon.

 

[Rob Allen]

Short story: Steelheading used to be like 99.9% of my fishing. That changed around 2015/2016 when I both moved from living an hour NE of Seattle on down to Oregon, and our steelhead runs took a nosedive during the same time period. That move SHOULD have really improved my summer steelheading prospects... but that nosedive kind of ruined that and sent me on to new things. While I've caught a pile of winter fish since then, I have not actually caught a summer steelhead since 2016 (exception being some fall fish in the Rogue swinging the ol spray pole).

Got an invite to float with @DanielOcean yesterday, so took the opportunity to scratch the old itch.

And look at that! I broke the 7yr (pretty much to the month) streak! Nothing special about the fish itself, but was special to get one to hand again. And it was a red hot fish that gave me about a dozen full aerials and some surprisingly long runs. Much more of a battle than I remember the average one giving me back in the day.

View attachment 74160

Awesome!!!!

 

[Evan B]

Very nice!

What size/action rod do you use for that kind of fishing? Braid to mono or straight braid?

 

[Josh]

View attachment 74162

Seems like a bass rod with a longer handle.

 

[Evan B]

Seems like a bass rod with a longer handle.

An 8'6" bass rod?

 

[Paige]

The real question is...
did @DanielOcean land a steelhead?

 

[Evan B]

The real question is...
did @DanielOcean land a steelhead?

No but he put on a smolt, cutty, and chinook jack clinic. He also rowed and didn't fish even a quarter much as I did. So I had the advantage.

 

[Rob Allen]

Quite often a flashy piece of metal is deadly on west side summer runs. It's funny how they'll often ignore flies, bait, but all of a sudden chase a spoon or spinner clear across the pool.

 

[Evan B]

Quite often a flashy piece of metal is deadly on west side summer runs. It's funny how they'll often ignore flies, bait, but all of a sudden chase a spoon or spinner clear across the pool.

Spoons have been my favorite way to target steelhead for a long time. So much fun and hard to not have confidence in it.

 

[clarkman]

Spoons have been my favorite way to target steelhead for a long time. So much fun and hard to not have confidence in it.

Are you ripping it back or just a standard swing? Just curious in case a friend decides to take his spinning rod next time he targets them....

 

[Evan B]

Are you ripping it back or just a standard swing? Just curious in case a friend decides to take his spinning rod next time he targets them....

For starters, a spinning rod would technically get a spoon out there, but it is not a great tool for the job. A baitcaster setup is really the way to fish a spoon if your friend is going to give it a go.

And it really depends on the water. That's what's great about spoon: they can be fished a ton of different ways. You can swing them through classic runs, retrieve them through slow water, or even dead drift them along shelves (how I got this fish).

 

[clarkman]

For starters, a spinning rod would technically get a spoon out there, but it is not a great tool for the job. A baitcaster setup is really the way to fish a spoon if your friend is going to give it a go.

And it really depends on the water. That's what's great about spoon: they can be fished a ton of different ways. You can swing them through classic runs, retrieve them through slow water, or even dead drift them along shelves (how I got this fish).

I don't think this friend know how to cast a baitcaster... . I....I mean he doesn't even own one....

 

[Evan B]

I don't think this friend know how to cast a baitcaster... . I....I mean he doesn't even own one....

Well then he should use what he has.

It's difficult to articulate why a baitcaster is so much better for this job, but it's night and day.

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

It's difficult to articulate why a baitcaster is so much better for this job, but it's night and day.

I like being able to thumb the spool for starters. I guess you could kind of try the same thing on a spinning reel, but wouldn't be as accurate I don't think.

 

[Evan B]

I like being able to thumb the spool for starters. I guess you could kind of try the same thing on a spinning reel, but wouldn't be as accurate I don't think.

That and the way you can very subtly apply pressure to the spoon's drift while it drifts/swings. You can be so much more precise with the presentation in that regard. The spinning reel just doesn't have the same touch...

 

[Josh]

An 8'6" bass rod?

Some of us like to high stick our senkos and need the extra length.

 

[clarkman]

interesting, clearly I have no knowledge on these subtleties of various gear fishing.

 

[Rob Allen]

Well then he should use what he has.

It's difficult to articulate why a baitcaster is so much better for this job, but it's night and day.

This is soooo true. It boggles my mind how popular Spinning rods are for salmon and steelhead. They are inferior for just about everything, even bobber fishing..
I think it boils down to control of the presentation.