I am considering purchasing some of these and was wondering if anyone here on the board could give a "newbie" some advice on which ones work the best for both salmon and steelhead?

I am not looking to steal anyone secret's just looking for some help.

Also, if anyone would be willing to describe in detail just exactly how your fish these things as well.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

i like the 50/50 spoons

Have Rvrfshr pick when you order...they know!

so your going to purchase stuff and have no idea how fish a spinner or a spoon. i suggest you get 2 books first. a bill herzog book on spoon fishing. then the spinner book by jed davis. both offer very good how tos' on tossing hardware. heavy hardware can snag up pretty fast if tossed upriver to far. pretty expensive...

or unless you have the spoon popin' magic touch

Ah yes. The 50/50 spoon.

Half Gullible and Half Stupid.

As a salesmen to fishermen looking for the next best thing, Herzog ranks right up there with Buzz.

Todd's coming in pretty close with his hooks and RVRFSTR stuff.

A RVRPLNR would KICK ASS!

KK: Quit hijackin' the dude's thread!!



I bet KK can explain in detail how he uses the RVRFLCHR...

But don't forget...
RVRGTR: RiVeR-GoaTR

I think rvrfshr needs a slogan, like Rvrfshr- where eliteists are born

uh.. it's Rvrfstr.

What Brewer said. . .buy the books first. . .these things don't fish themselves.

Why all the smackdown on rvr anyways? Not sure how metal can be considered elitist. Tough crowd,

fb

pis·ca·to·ri·al (psk-tôr-l, -tr-) or pis·ca·to·ry (psk-tôr, -tr)
adj.
1. Of or relating to fish or fishing.
2. Involved in or dependent on fishing.

yo eliteist, didnt you say something in that chum-bashong thread bout leaving this site?

isnt there one dedicated to steelhead?

chasin chrome, just buy em, fish em and dont listen to the bitty old hags on here

GOOD LUCK!

I'm assuming your going to be fishing the Snoqualmie and Skykomish rivers.
As far as steelhead gear you cant go wrong with 2/5 oz 50/50 spoons.
Spinners #5 silver and gold, i mix and match some of mine.
Worms... Can't forget the worms....

For coho/chummlies: 1/2 oz 50/50 spoons
#5 silver spinners
Chartreuse/Pink worms are the shiaat aswell! And take both coho and chumlords drift fished.

I could go on for hours about how to fish these, but im gonna summarize.
Spinners low and slow, downstream cast and swing keeping close contact with the bottom, barely reeling, just enough to keep the blade moving/prevent getting hung up on the bottom. Cast the spinner out, let it sink accordingly. (could be you need to reel instantly, or you may need to let er sink for a few seconds), once it's sunk give a short up jerk on the rod to get the blade working, and reel slowwwww, next step should be a fish in the fish box....

Spoons: Straight across cast or slightly upstream. Allow to sink with the benefit of a levelwind reel (ability to freespool) to keep in constant contact within the strike zone, and let the spoon swing back towards you. Cast it out keep the spool open, and thumb the spool letting out line in short quick bursts. Watch your rod tip, and you should see it bouncing, if its not bouncing your spoon isn't working. Some water isn't meant for spoons, so learn whats good spoon water. (The Snoqualmie and Sky, both have very good spoon water.)
Be sure to cover the water column completely, preferably in a grid like fashion: Short cast followed by a longer, then a longer, step down and repeat until you cover the holding water.
It doesn't hurt to add alittle TBL into your presentation for both coho and steelhead. (TBL) Tumble, bang, lift...

Worms 5-10 ball 270-300 shot slinkies, with a 18-24 inch leader drifted through a logjam, freespool and hang on tight!

Anymore questions feel free to ask...Most here will help.
As "the brewer" mentioned, i would get ahold of the General (Bill herzogs) spoon fishing for steelhead book, and Jed Davis's spinner fishing for salmon/steelhead book. Both are great reads, and will shorten the learning curve.

Also due to contrary beleive: Spoons don't necessarily mean you will catch fish instantly. There is a learning curve, and chances are your gonna go through some serious money learning how to use them. However once you hook a salmon or steelhead on hardware, you wont want to use anything else...
Plus steelhead bite them worms pretty decently aswell... Still haven't seen one caught on the Chartreuse worm, even though the self proclaimed master himself: Mr. Ripley said he did indeed catch one..... (Pics or it didn't happen)

Dam one reason i shouldn't drink Monsters before bed.... I thought i typed a few sentences, and it turns out i wrote a short novel....

Rossiman...the king of name dropping

Dude. New Thor to me. Let's fish some rvrsmksmbwls. Or something.

Future custom title material right there.... I think i like it.

Gotta agree about the Herzog book. One of the best and most entertaining books ever written on steelhead.

Lets just say I found the Jed Davis book to be one of the worst books ever written on the subject. Any book that states that "Blue Fox spinners are too light and therefor are not a viable steelhead lure," is an idiot. Nuff said........

Pretty good write up from Rossi. Just a couple of more tips......

1st carry extra hooks or a good file as they will dull as they TBL on the rocks.

2nd if you hang up on the bottom let out a bunch of line creating a bow and then set the hook hard which will usualy pull the lure out from below. Then check the hooks sharpness.

Another plug for Bills book.

Buy what you would feel comfortable with.If you do not have confidence that it will catch fish it most likely will not.

Bills book was my bible as a young steelheader.I can still pick it up and realise that I have since learned something that Bill wrote about.By this I mean that there is still no replacement for time on the water.We can give you all the free advice in the world but until you experiance it on the water it is just what I called it...free advice.I read things over and over and over again.Until I experienced it on the river it never sunk in.

When I take somebody tossing shinythings for the first time,I always give them a choice.Which shinything do you like?They usally grab for the ltlcleos.

Wow........thanks for all the great info.....I am going to purchase those books and learn how to catch these fish.

I appreciate everyone's help and the banter was fun to read too!