As we are all in varying degrees of expertise, my question is this:

"How many fish are missed by the average beginner learning to steelhead or salmon fish?"

How amy of those bump bump bump's are Mr. Steelie?

Depends on what your using. My first steelie dang near jerked the pole right out of my hand(hard to miss that strike). I was using a spoon and they always hit those hard. Now if your bouncing bait its a different story. If your not set up right (too much weight for example) you'll probably never even feel the pickup most of the time.

I fished next to a guy on the Wynoochee that let some grabs get by him.

I said " Dude, when I yell at you, jerk back" About 20 minutes later he gets bit again....I hollered and he hooked up with a nice fish. After that, he knew what he was waiting to feel. He hooked and landed another with no assistance before we left. It was cool to see a guy get tuned in so quickly......I think he may have just been intimidated about setting the hook and not having a fish there.

There's no penalty for a whiff......but there's a stiff penalty if you don't set the hook on a pick-up. When it doubt, give it a jerk.

Lots of crackers out this salmon season using your philosophy Dan...

tap, tap, JERK... tap, tap, JERK... tap, tap JERK...

I figured that would come up.

I wasn't talking about fishing for fish stacked like cordwood. I was talking drift fishing for steelhead.

I am new to the salmon game (and this site) - so what does the bite feel like? I have caught kings in AK that just pick the bait and nudge it somedays and somedays they nail it hard.

I am sure that over the last couple weeks I have missed several bites but wasn't sure. I have only had one bite out here that I knew was a bite. I was plunkin eggs on the hoh last weekend...nibble, thump, thump, small set, then headshake - went to give the rod to my son and bye bye fishy...

What is the line between setting the hook on a bite and jerking the line thru the h2o trying to snag a fish? I am nervous about striking because I don't want people thinking I am trying to snag fish.

DanS, I knew you weren't but I just had to razz you...

sharp hooks, sharp hooks, sharp hooks...

If you dont know what to feel for... Use sharp friggen hooks and the fish show you what it feels like... as he rips the rod out of your hand as he swims off...

Bull,

It's probably very similar to the Alaska salmon. I couldn't tell you what a bite feels like all the time. It just feels different.

I find that a good compromise to setting the hook too often/not enough is to gently raise my rod tip if I'm not sure. If it was a rock, my gear slides over it and continues downstream. If it is a fish, you'll feel the spongy resistance, then feel free to cross his eyes!

Bullelkklr,

The best description I've heard of a steelhead taking your bait is about the same as the feel of plucking a very ripe grape from its stem. Rocks and almost all snags feel different than that.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

I've had opportunities to see fish strike my offerings in rivers. Sometimes they just slide over into it's path and open their mouths. A suspended spongy feeling. Not a bottom hangup. Other times, summer runs especially and some winters, I've had them zip all the way across the river and slam the crap out of it. I've even had summer runs hit the second my cast touched the water and before the slack is out of the line.

Okay - that all makes sense. I don't think that I have had very many bites out here.

When fishing with the spoons or spinners, do you let it roll on the bottom and gently lift every so often to keep it moving slowly?

When trout fishing I always keep the spinner moving by reeling. It looked to me last weekend that the spinner users were kind of plunking and lifting the spinners???

Rather than use a fixed piece of weight when plunking or lifting do any of you ever use a slip wieght like a lindy weight or slip sinker similiar to fishing for walleye?

It would make the bite much more noticable and more costly on the lost tackle too.

When learning how to drift fish, make sure you know what each type of bottom structure feels like when your leads taping bottom. So when there's any uncertain variation you can lay into em'! When using bait, the pickup may be an erratic tap.tap.tap like a small trout, or a slow tap or headshake, or they will simply pick up the offering not really telegraphing a bite.

If your not really sure if a fish has picked up your offering or its a rock, take a couple turns on your reel instead of snapping back hard. This will not distrupt the rest of your dirft and if it IS a fish you have set the tip of the hook and any further action from the fish will sink it home.

Hope they miss them all more for me j/k

When fishing spinners for salmon, my experience has been that you want to fish them as slow as you can while still keeping the blade turning over and not dragging the bottom. As for telling a bite from the bottom or a line bump from stacked fish. The bottom will be a tap or a dead stop, in heavy current sometimes those taps will feel pretty hard. Line bumps will be taps that have a little life or movement to them occasionally you will get tail slapped which may feel like an aggressive take with no hook up. When a fish takes it will vary from your bait stopping to a gentle pulsing tug that has life to it not dead like the bottom, and it will have a longer duration than the fraction of a second line bump. Sometimes you get lucky and and a fish will freight train it and pretty much set the hook for you.

Now, IMO the reason most inexperienced anglers ask 'what does the bite feel like?' is not because they have felt bites and didn't recognize them. Sometimes, especially for steelhead they are fishing the wrong water and then get discouraged when others are having success and they are not. Another common mistake I see is guys not maintaining contact (feel) with their bait. They cast too far upstream and allow slack and belly in their line and by the time they would feel a bite the fish has let go, and if they do feel it and set the hook they can't get the slack out to stick the fish. IMO you should try and cast as close to across current as you can, sometimes you have no choice, but I try not to cast more than 15 degrees upstream.

If you are not having success pay attention to those that are (make sure success= fish hooked in the mouth). Take notice of what they are using the characteristics of the water they are fishing and their presentation. Be patient when fishing crowded areas and fish with confidence.

I hope that helps.

I have found (and also heard it described as well) that when fishing a slinky, the bite is a very sharp tap or tap-tap or tap-tap-tap etc. etc. amongst the spongy feeling of a slinky along the bottom.

On the other hand, when fishing lead, the feeling of your lead ticking the bottom are very sharp tarps and when a fish picks up your offering, those sharp taps progress into spongey taps or pulls.

...but at the same time, this is coming from somewhen who has too many times over the years heard "Sparkey...SET the hook"

Given the many different excellent explainations, its no wonder why jig/float fishing has become so popular amongst all levels of expertise. The learning curve is so short relative to the bump bump bump gulp! But my original question remains! If a beginner goes out amongst more experienced successfull anglers, how many fish does he miss in a given trip? Given everything else is equal! Or, another way of asking the same question would be, how many fish does an experienced angler miss during a typical day?

Another thought, it stands to reason that given the subtle complexity of driftfishing, and given the relative low success rate occassional fisherman have with the technique, the next time you see someone trying to snag a fish, hand him a float and jig. ($3.00 investment) Take 5 minutes to educate him, it will mean more fish for everyone and much happy fisherman! Sorry, I will step off the mik crate now! Comments?

That's a very accurate way of explaining it. A rubbery, spongy resistance.

Thanks for translating it, 4S.

I am extremely new and i could actually feel 3 of the ones i missed yesterday (cause i forgot to set the hook). Its alot different from fishing downriggers or in a boat, the first time i drift fished i had no clue what was a rock and a bite (still dont have half a clue). Did manage to get my first one yesterday on the Carbon (it was a humpie but it is good to know i did something right).

4salts and Sparkeys definitions are very good

To me a bite feels close to when you hang up on someone's line in the water that has broken off. There is a slight resistance when your hook slides down the broken off line and also the broken off line pulses from the current almost like a bite.

I would say 3-1 or 75% miss factor sounds about right. Given the angler has good direction. In fact, just getting one your first day is a fine accomplishment!

Dont't feel bad about forgeting to set the hook. Yesderday I was fishing near Mt. St Helens when a big steelhead slamed my spinner and jumped out of the water. All I saw was a bright flash and was in such awe I froze up just looking at it, losing it. I don't think I have ever yelled the "f" word that loud in my life! I missed alot when I first started, and still miss some when staring off daydreaming. Factors like bad knots and dull hooks kept me from alot of fish.

I will always remember my one trip to blucreek.I went with my best fishin bud and a friend of his.Probably fifteen years ago.They jeffro caught 11,daryl caught 9,and greg got the big gooose egg.Casting the same birdie to the same spot.I shudder every time I think about how many times my [Bleeeeep!] was in a fishes mouth.

Now you know why my monicker is my favorite spoon I can't drift fish.

If you want to learn fast go to Alaska and fish a river loaded with fish. When you get 100 or more hook up and 2x the hits a day you learn real quick. Down here sensative rods and light lines will help you feel the bottom & structure vs. fish. Back in the old days you had to keep a finger on the line as the poles were as sensitive as a telephone pole.

I think alot has to do with the ratsnests i get, having to release all the excess line doesn't help when 3 fish pick up your lure and you are still releasing line. Tried again yesterday and to make a long story short, i need to get it re-spooled before i fish that reel again!

3:1 misses to takes? I would say the best advise so far was the Alaska trip. Muscle memory and repeated occurances are what is needed. I think the ratio is much higher! 10:1 easy~! I don't think that the occassional angler develops all the right skills as quickly as he could based on his number of hours and fish logged.

I agree with Chum Eater. The stud drift fisher outfishes the beginner 10:1 or more...


...at least that's the case with me

After fishing for humpers this season i have finally figured out what the bite feels like. I would say it does feel spongey. Now all i have to do is see if i can feel this "spongey" feeling on some steel head this winter.