Well a freind called and gave me the ok that he can go to Forks. Anyways, I have a few questions I wanna tie up a bunch of jigs. Anybody have some reccomendations on hook sizes?? My other question is should I worry about bringing a bunch of different scents?? If so what kinds are popular? My last question is would it be worth it to bring out fresh roe?? Here in the Great Lakes in a lot of situations you gotta really finness the fish and fresh uncured roe is a huge plus. Sounds like natives are much more aggressive, so should I bother bringing it out or just leave it at home?? Thanks a lot, Chris.

ttt

Downtime,

It's all pretty good for nates...to be honest, if you find the fish, wild winter runs are not the most difficult fish to catch. They're pretty darned aggressive.

Generally speaking, jigs get bigger and brighter as the water gets darker.

When the water is low and clear, I tend to go with combos of white and pink, sometimes down to about a size 2. When there's good water conditions, which I define as about 18 to 24 inches of visibility with good green color, you can go up to pretty big jigs for nates, bigger than I'd go for hatchery brats, maybe up to 2/0.

I assume you'll be banking it, so standard drift gear, or float gear, or hardware is all good. It just depends on both the conditions you're in, the type of water you're in, and what you prefer to use.

Good luck!

Fish on...

Todd

I use 1/16 and 1/8 oz jigs on 1/0 hools mostly. I only have a few 1/4 oz jigs because I believe they are a little big but this may just be the fly fishermen in me since sometimes I use a size 12 hook in the summer. Purple, pink, black, and white are the best colors and combos of these. Throw in some red now and then along with Krystal Flash and Flashbou. And mostly I make jigs out of cross-cut rabbit strips. The hair moves better and keeps it's form in the water better than marabou.

Smelly Jelly Special Mix is a favorite as is Mike's Flourescent Shrimp Stink.

Almost every Steelheader has a "secret" cure for their eggs...

I'd leave the fresh roe home. If it's not cured it'll probably spoil on the trip out here. Pink rubber worms, marabou jigs, rags, spoons etc. all will work. The BIGGEST key in steelhead fishing out here is just finding some fish, the rest will take care of itself.

Good luck!

DT,
The west-end fish are definitely different than the Great Lakes steel. Those April days of super-spooky "sight-fishing" and spring-time downsizing don't happen in the PacNW (when pursuing things legally anyways). The other guys are right about how aggressive they are. If a native steelhead is present and in comfortable holding water (and in the mood), they'll eat a shoe.

I grew up fishing the midwest runs, moved to the PacNW for some time and recently moved back to the upper midwest. Both areas have their charms, but the west-end demands a reel with much better drag! Good luck,

fb

Thanks for the info guys, I will hopefully have some pics to post on my return. Really looking foward to coming out and expierencing different water and fish. If you see my face or three guys fishing center pins come by and shoot the [Bleeeeep!] with us for a while. Thanks again, Chris.