With summer coming up, I have some questions. Has anyone ever used Perriwinkles for steelhead? How well do crawfish tails work? Or how about single egg drifts? I have used all these and would like to see if any one else has tried them.

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Just because I look big, dumb, and ugly, doesn't mean I am. It means I can stomp you for calling me it!

I've never used periwinkles for the simple fact they are too labor-intensive to gather and peel. If you figure 3-5 per hook it becomes alot of finding and peeling and little fishing. However, if your all alone with summer-runs all over the place and you run out of bait, it is a worthwhile proposition.

Crawdad tails are a great bait in late summer/fall when the fish need to see something different. I've done well with them in the past.

BUT.....If I have to choose 1 bait for summer-runs from the standpoint of sheer effectiveness, hands down it would be GOOD salmon/steelhead eggs. Shrimp would be a distant second.

Just my .02 worth.

1/16th oz black jig on 6lbs line tipped with 2 periwinkles(stripped from the shell) is killer on summer fish that are stacked in pools and won't hit anything else!

Believe me Summerruns WILL take pereis !!!!

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Tight Lines!!

Big Jim, The answers to your questions are: yes, great, and don't know. A bit more detail. I use several periwinkles on a #4 egg-type hook. I like to run the hook through the arse end, but some times that end is too soft and implodes when punctured. The other end is tougher, but I like to get all those eyes and legs waving in the steelie's face. If the crawdads are big enough, I peel the tail and bury my #4 in the meat. If there is room, hang a periwinkle on the barb for extra attraction. Small to medium crawdads work well under a float. I usually remove both pinchers when fishing whole crawdads, regardless of their size. One drawback to using the periwinkles is the small trout and smolts really go for them. Catching and releasing these little guys/gals is just plain unhealthy for them.

Fresh crawdad tail meat works great. Also try it with some egg. I can't wait for the summers to come in. Just a couple of months away.

I've hit summers on periwinkles and nightcrawlers (about half inch of the tail threaded on the hook behind a size 14 mettalic red corkie). Another odd ball bait you might try are meal worms. I use these odd balls when I know fish are sitting in the hole, but have been pounded into not opening their mouths.

If you're dealing with fresh fish, you can't beat your basic sandshrimp for summer runs. In my experience, I've found shrimp work better early in the run (May-July), and eggs work later (October). Bring both though, I was on the Kalama once in May, and bunch of hatchery fish were pounding on eggs and completely ignored shrimp (I had the shrimp). Also hear eggs outperform shrimp on the Cowlitz (is this a Columbia basin thing?).

Like the 500 corkies you carry in your vest, I guess variety is the key.

Hey Obsessed, You must be someone I know if you know how many corkies I have. The nightcrawler I use but I tread it up the leader. I had a nice one on the Skookcumchuck one year with that rig. Till I was cast acrossed and lost the fish. Real idjit that guy. Oh well, can't land them all. The meal worms I never thought of. I wonder how trout chow would work. They eat that all thier "jailed" lives.

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Just because I look big, dumb, and ugly, doesn't mean I am. It means I can stomp you for calling me it!

There are a lot of little bait grabbers in the summer. Use a piece of raw prawn. The hardest bait to strip and a small piece gives lot's of scent and a natural drift.

Berkley power worms, the package say's "fish bite and won't let go" well it's not false advertising. Steelies love the power worm. I have had many double digit days with pink bubblegum worms, and you don't go home smelling like a cleaning table in August.

All the aboved mentioned baits work.
Ive even tried berkley pwer nuggets on summer and had good results. Another thing you may want to try is those little red anise flavoerd marshmellows, they work. I know it sounds stupid but they work. Just add one or 2 behind a #14 corkie. Or if the fish are in a deep pool with little flow just plunk it.