OK so say your favorite river just wen't baitless. Your favorite method of fishing is drift fishing.
So what do you do now? Winter steelhead is just around the corner (believe it or not) so let's use that as an example.
corkies and yarn?
fake eggs?
others?
What are your favorites?
My favorite is a couple of 1 inch lengths of glo-bug yarn and maybe a small corkie
I have yet to get a fish on one of thoes pink worms but maybe i'll give them a shot this year.

Probably not what you're looking for but I like flies. A small egg pattern along the bottom seems to work fine. In fact I haven't caught a steelie any other way. I'm thinking of trying a spinner or spoon this year though although I don't know how well a winter fish will chase a spinner. -Old Chum

Even when I can use bait, I stick with float and jig.

Nearly 100% of my steelies are caught on artificials.....jigs, corky/yarn and worms...adapt or quit fishing..... :p

I lengthen my leader out (12 feet or so) and I rig my wieght sliding. I use a 3/0 hook with a teeny, tiny glass bead above it and maybe a little yarn in the bait loop...... Try to find where the fish are stacking and you'll never go back tousing bait again!

Sorry about that Robert Allen3.... I couldn't resist. Seriously, start using jigs..... They work just fine.

ZoZo no worries I can take a ribbing as well as anyone I'm opinionated and probably deserve it:)

Anyway. The reason I ask this question is not because I want ideas but because a local river just went to no bait and as a wild fish advocate i want guys out there catching the hatchery fish that are planted there. This river has no hatchery on it so all the hatchery fish that are not harvested will spawn in the river and i fear that the no bait rule will keep a lot of guys away. which is great for me personally but not great for the river. I almost never use bait anyway but i want guys to post as many ideas as they want so that people will read and hopefully be effective when they fish the river.

Colorado Blades under a float.

Gooey Bobs, Jensen Eggs

Beek thats an interesting idea the blade under a float thing. I remember as a kid standing on the Steelbridge on the washougal ( when it was steel) and throwing coins into the pods of steelhead and watching a fish or two make slashes at them. I bet the strikes on the method your talking about would be awsome!

I've been having a lot of fun on salmon this year with corkies.... i used shrimp once up on the skagit but it didnt make sense. why get my hands all smelly if i dont catch anything? Besides, I've seen more people with corkies catch fish then anyone else. Just what ive seen as an amateur

aerofly, no question, works well on nates and brats,drifted or behind diver, with or without bait

They absolutely hammer it. It's a good warm water tactic and you pick up the horny fish real quick. No need to even set the hook as the button themselves.

I gotta second the bobber and jig thing.

Steelhead, especially wild ones, have a real thing for marabou and a little lead head. They just hammer them.

Aaron

Rob All 3 ,,i know what river you are talking about and i dont get to fish it as much as i like, its a neat drift, only fished winter fish a few times but did real well on plugs and spinners, i prefer spinners.. drifting bait was how i was taught to catch fish, did it for years and that was it,, then came hot shots , bait divers and the damn bobber thing you just got to hate to love.. there is so many ways to catch a fish,,ten years ago i would have threw you outta the boat if you tied on a jig and bobber....this time of year i used to be bussier than a 3 legged cat covering up ****, fishing putting up eggs, fishing putting up eggs, my wife thought i was nuts..... I still fish of course but i only put 1/4 of the eggs up i used to, I just use to many other methods now...plus im alot lazyer,, i use the easiest way to catch a fish.......