I've not had too much trouble with steelhead taking gear deep but I've had chinooks swallow both plugs and spinners. We troll size 6 cascade blades in Tillamook bay and routinely get slack line bites and these fish generally have inhaled it to the point that you have to look deep inside to see the blade.

As for steelhead, drift fishing with bait has never been a problem for me, even with my molasses fast reflexes. Bait divers are a whole different ballgame so I don't usually fish them anymore.

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