Was surfing the Zog blog & liked this part on following boats down a drift & a changeup presentation.


Think of a big steelhead laying up underneath a maze of downed trees, branches and the like as a big dog in the yard, laying inside his doghouse. Comfortable and safe, he’s not moving for that succulent little doggy treat you threw 10 feet from him. Yeah, he’d eat it for sure if it was right close by, but not right now. That dog biscuit represents a small bait, jig or drift bobber.

Tempting, but not very exciting.

Now throw a twirling, hissing cat into the yard, legs flailing rapidly. Fido blasts out of his lair in a nanosecond and grips the overly unwelcome Sylvester firmly in his jaws. Think of a spoon as that cat.

That extra imparted action, side-to-side wobble and most importantly flash brings them out of their hiding spot nine times out of ten. Also, one has to believe that a fish being tucked inside the trees away from the open water quite frankly was too far away to see a subtle presentation of drift bobber, jig, or everyone’s favorite now, the pink plastic nightcrawler. Great terminal offerings that would get the attention of any steelhead under identical conditions, but remember the spoon’s flash - that is what the fish sees up under his woody lair, and the flash is what brings it out to strike.

This also is my main theory behind why larger male steelhead strike spoons … but that’s coming up in Reason Five. Many times, hell, the majority of the time spoons are not the most effective lure for the conditions, but they are the most effective for that place and situation on the river. Heavily pressured fish, either from increased angler activity or boats will find downed trees for safety"


Yep.

c/22

That happened to me last weekend 2 guys fishing a spot that produces a lot of steelhead throwing jigs and drifting bait. Once they left ran a spoon bam maybe second cast next to the root wad a low teen fish. Them things are Crazy i love throwing spoons think I prefur spoons over bait fishing. Some of the best steelhead I have seen where off spoons.

After years of fishing just spinners for winter steelhead, I started using spoons in January. I wish I'd started a long time ago. I'm no great fisherman, but I've been pleased by how aggressively steelies attack the "intruder." The strike is often visible too. I was able to land a 17-to-18 pound buck on a spoon while bank fishing a week ago. For me, it was memorable fish.

9 times out of 10 eh? I wonder how that statistic's accuracy was measured

Good stuff all the same.

A spoon on a tight line is definitely still my favorite way to catch a steelhead. Nothing else really comes close as far as the take is concerned.

I've caught a few on spoons, and look forward to catching a few more as time goes by.

Fish on...

Todd

So many techniques...so little time.. Remember working 6-8 summers in the gin clear water of August on a small stream many years ago. Out of the pod of fish, there was one 3 salt buck hanging off to the side. Had one 1/8 hammered nickel, first cast not one fish moved, second cast - the big buck had enough and grabbed spoon. This has played out numerous times for me, not only with a spoon but large narly looking jigs work, and the good ol pink worm has same effect for your "reaction" grabs..

Spoons obviously work for pressured fish, but don't forget stagnant fish that are holed up, cold/clear water, and when salmon and steelhead are in the same vicinity.

smelt, thats pretty dang cool.

Prepare yourself as I go all Phoenix77 on you w/ my cut & paste Herzog....


In a canyon stretch of one West Coast trophy river, my partners and I have been privileged to observe some crazy steelhead behavior, at least we interpreted these actions as bizarre until they continued to repeat themselves over the years. Whenever a large buck was laying in the tail section, establishing territory, and a smaller male steelhead would move within a few feet of its lair, the larger male would, without exception, angrily charge and either aggressively bite the intruder or simply swiftly chase it off while popping its jaws.

Whenever we would back down a spoon toward these large male fish, at the instant the lure became visible to the fish it would immediately begin a side-to-side sway while slowly backing down, each fin erect. Within a few seconds, the steelhead would swing out a few feet from the direct path of the lure then bolt upstream, violently attacking the intruder at a 45-degree angle, always biting the lure from the side. We watched this dozens of times with huge, male steelhead, and the results were always the same.




Sounds like a tactical view of a plug take to me. Same killer response.




c/22

Makes me think of just one thing..... HANGBACK!

Thanks, c/22. That's an interesting and cool observation.

i'll try to push him out with a plug first

awesomefantasyworld

I tried throwing a spoon through a few holes at the Skook yesterday. Not really sure how to fish these from the bank. Can you guys give me some idea?

Bay Wolf: I too was interested in getting started with spoons and knew I'd be bank fishing most of the time. I bought a copy of Bill Herzog's classic book "Spoon Fishing for Steelhead" before I bought my first spoon components. (It's cheaper to assemble your own spoons than to buy ready-made ones and they are much easier to make than spinners since no wire-bending is involved.) The book will tell you everything you need to know and it's only $13 from Amazon. RVRFSHR sells 10-packs of spoon components (all the parts you'll need). Get some split-ring pliers if you wind up assembling your own spoons.

Here's the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Spoon-Fishing-Steelhead-Bill-Herzog/dp/1878175300

I'm certainly no "metal god", but here's the quick scoop:

Choose the right spoon. Slow water, you want a teardrop shape (Steelie), fast water you want a more streamlined one (oval, little Cleo, BC Steel, Rvrfshr, etc... I like 2/5 oz...)

Cast straight out or slightly downstream. Let spoon hit bottom, then pick up slack and give it a slight twitch so you can feel it pulsing... You want a good 1.5 pulse/sec speed. If it's pulsing too fast it will spin, which you generally don't want. Goal is to swing the spoon through the hole near the bottom. You should be ticking the bottom every once in awhile.. To lower spoon drop your rod tip and/or point rod tip downstream. Do the opposite to raise the spoon.

Swing the spoon all the way through the hole and keep on it until the spoon stops swinging below you... then slo--ooow--ly reel back in. Be ready for a strike on the retrieve (it happens)...

Final tip. If you get hung up on the bottom don't just yank. Let out a dozen feet of line or so, and then give a quick pull. That loop of line pulls from below, and you'll rarely lose a spoon.

Hope that helps. Someone with more experience/knowledge may help you more, but I thought I'd share my limited info...
+1 on the suggestion to read Herzog's book!

Tight Lines!

Good pointers. In fast water when I want to get the spoon on the bottom quickly, I'll cast slightly upstream. I've been using a 2/5-ounce plain matte silver spoon, which has brought big strikes on a few occasions on the Sol Duc. I'm going to give some 2/3-ounce spoons a try in fast, deeper water, but the 2/5 ounce will by my basic spoon. Herzog recommends the matte silver finish in water with good visibility (3 to 6 feet, as I recall), and he's made me a believer. I've also just gotten a Pen-Tac spoon with a combination (half and half) shiny silver and gold finish, but they are quite expensive. I'll be giving them a sustained try on my next fishing trip. (I'll try not to cry when I lose one.) Also, Herzog says never to use less than 10-pound or 12-pound test line (I can't remember which) due to the ferocity of many strikes on a spoon. I've been using Izorline XXX 12-pound test on a spinning reel.

Dammit C/22 I tried to resist posting on this thread, but I'll take the bait.

As I told you the other day I've hooked most of my nates on metal this year (probably because that's what I've mostly used!). I think fishing a spoon well is harder than nearly any other kind of technique, save for maybe drift fishing (just my opinion).

Yes if you wanna be an open division bent metal dongler then buy Herzog's book. Not only is it a good read, but some of the photography is awesome.

Also, yes use heavy line, but not because they'll clean you out on the take. It's mainly because when you get a take you wanna set that hook bassmasterclassic HARD! Big hooks. . .set the hook now and as hard as you possibly can, and you'll land more of the fish that bite. Heavier line will have less stretch and help drive that hook home. Fresh off the spool 12 lb Max UG is the minimum for winter nates in my opinion. Also, steel will usually hit on the swing, but occasionally (especially in dark water) on the hang-down. Steel very rarely bite on the retrieve in my experience (but coho very very often do).

That's all I know about anything,

fb

Spincast reels, tveeechin rods and upstream casts are the only way to rock dem pun~tics

dont forget to get the new hot Berkely lines he endorses too..... especially the braided sh!t

Yeah, sigh.

Zog tends to get a mite bombastic, just sift through the over/burden to find the gold.




c/22

Bombastic. Great word. I think I will make it today's word of the day. Well played.

LOL...figured I'd pull you in.

Find your heavy line advice interesting. I like to run fresh 15 UG most winters, ran 12 this outing as the Calcutta 200 I swiped off SRoffe was pre-loaded w/ 12 UG.

Bit sketchy @ the get go ( as I was thinking this stuff is too LIGHT) and I was @ the Fishbadger minimum........ but, I started liking it as I worked down the 1st drift, the smaller line dia. let it slice into the run & the R&B 2/5 was pumping nicely.

Know Zog has ran a number of heavy mono's over the years & our own BFD likes 20 UG w/ hunting the big BC summer-runs.

BTW, been fishing the Gibbs Iron head spoon in the bigger water, love that thing it makes the new Sage 296 just throb in anticipation










c/22