I'm disappointed this topic did not raise the same level of conversation of say, hook type or brand of mono. Some observations from the past 15 years of river fishing.....

I was always under the impression that steelhead wanted the bait presented in a natural drift. I have fished with some fishermen that were very good with salmon, but didn't have the same luck with steelhead. We used the same mainline, leader material, hooks, and bait, but their catch ratios were less. The only difference was the size of their weight. I used to tease them buy saying it looked like they were "Drift Plunking".

I would fish with those same guys for salmon and they consistently kick my butt. With this observation in mind it seems to me that salmon like a slower presentation and steelhead like something alittle more natural. One thing for sure is that the next time I'm drifting for salmon I will be sure to increase the size of the weight.

One last note......I cannot recall a single time that I have witnessed someone backbouncing for steelhead. Hope to hear some other perspectives on this issue.

Tight lines.