Anyone ever drift fish a hole and never touch bottom once and catch fish. I have heard of people drift fishing all day, never letting their lead or slinky touch bottom and coming up with Steelhead. I have tried this a little on holes I knew contained fish that I could not catch with the tic, tic, tic method. Unfortunately I have had no success doing this but on the positive side I did not break off once.

Leadthrower, there is a reason why steelheads eyes are on the top of their head!! Given the right water temperature, steelhead will move good distances side to side, up or down river, and, yes, rising up in the river. You've identified one big advantage (no lost gear), a second advantage is a much more sensitive setup for feeling the bite. As water temperatures drop, the fish will be less apt to move so it's back to the tic tic tic. But, if you are hitting the bottom more than once every couple of feet, you may want to lighten your load.

Eddie

So would this more or less be a tactic used on summer runs rather then winter runs?

Like I said I have only experimented with it so far and have never caught a fish doing it but the thought of drift fishing through the middle of the water column intrigues me.

Kind of like you do for Shad but only with a Corky for Steelhead

When the fish are suspended and the water is low, I like to tie a hook to the end of my line and only use a split shot for weight. That way your bait/sandshrimp will take longer to sink and will stay off the bottom. It will look more natural going thru the water and you'll get more strikes. Remember, USE LIGHT LINE!!!! Another method is to use a small bobber with eggs or jigs. Either way, both are good on a spinning reel set up with 10lb test line. .