Hmmm.

Know thy enemy.


From what I've read, the steelhead in the Russian are winter run steelhead. As we all know, generally speaking, winter run fish tend to be less active and less likely to chase down baits/lure then a summer run fish, due to the colder water temps of the river. This means you, generally speaking, need to present offerings "right in their face" most of the time, as these winter runs will sulk/hide in the deeper/darker parts of the river.

If you've ever watched youtube videos of anglers swinging for steelhead on glorious fall days, on pristine long shallow, cobbly, runs, forget about it. You're not fishing on the Skeena for summer run steelhead.

With that in mind, I'd personally stick with more traditional methods of catching steelhead from the bank, as you didn't mention a boat. Jigs under a float. If bait is allowed, tip the jig with a small piece of cured prawn. Or, if bait is allowed, run a small piece of prawn, or cured eggs under a float, with our without a bait weight above the bait.

I'm not a bead guy, but bobberdogging beads is a very successful method of hooking steelhead, and your call if you want to use a center pin (trendy) or a traditional bait caster.

There is always the traditional applicaiton of swinging spinners or spoons, if the runs and water are optimal. You basically will need to almost bonk that fish on the nose with a spinner/spoon, but fun when you can get them to bite. Or, if you can get upstream of a pool, you can "double stack" spoons, let them out below you and "hold" them in place as they flutter in the pool. It's basically plunking for yuppies. The purist in me says that if you're not actively swinging a spoon or spinner, it's not different than plunking. It does work, though.

There is alwasy the old-school, drift fishing techniques. 2-4' leaders, with most around 3' or so. Some form of corky and yarn, or rubber egg, birdie drifter, oakie, pink worm, etc.

Lastly, from what I have seen and heard from there, is the good old fashioned Cowlitz Barrier Damn and Blue Creek method of fishing. Use a leader longer than 6', put anything really with a hook on the end of the line, and floss the fish. 10' leaders are preferred and be sure to let EVERYONE know how awesome of a fisherman you are after you floss your fish. From what I've seen of the salmon fishery, the Russian seems to be a flossery fishery.

I'm sure someone will chime in and attempt to chew my ass and state otherwise, but there are sure an awful lot of videos of the Russian up on Youtube that state otherwise. I know a flossery when I see one from a million miles away.

Start with a jig under a float. If you can't get a steelhead to bite that, well, might be a long season. I'd pass on the DickNite for Steelhead. Instead, use that for the coho/kings in the the fall. Just remember (generally speaking of course) - a DickNite hooked in the corner of the mouth was flossed. A DickNite hooked in the tip of the nose...legit bite. Like Large Edward, I have caught many a salmon on a #1 50/50 Dick Nite. Very fun technique to use when the fish are snappy. Just don't think I'd run one under a float.