I fished today with the worm and had one takedown. I lost the fish to the fact that I was upstream and never got the hook into the corner of the jaw. There were alot of fish were I was and they were visible from were I was fishing, each time that I would put on a different lure the fish would swim over and investigate but would not take I was watching the fish and they were not spooked, but would have nothing to do with my presentation. I was using a noodle rod and 6# Stren. someting was keeping those fish from biting

Anytime I am in a position where I can see the fish, I figure they can see me too. Whether using lures or bait, I downsize my offering. Spinners down to a size 1, very small plugs, or egg clusters about dime sized. Then I excersize a lot of patience. Sometimes it works sometimes not. Very frustrating when you can see them and they won't take.

Anytime I am in a position where I can see the fish, I figure they can see me too. Whether using lures or bait, I downsize my offering. Spinners down to a size 1, very small plugs, or egg clusters about dime sized. Then I excersize a lot of patience. Sometimes it works sometimes not. Very frustrating when you can see them and they won't take.

At ultra clear times, and in slow pools where they congregate, can be tricky. Slip floats with a small egg cluster on a small hook, seem to work, or small nymph patterns with ultra light line works well too. In the late winter months with low flow, I will avoid ultra light line, cause if you hook a nate and play it too long, you could exhaust it beyond the point of no return.--mike

[This message has been edited by KORE (edited 01-17-2000).]

I've seen this many times, and it's particularly frustrating when your fishing partner is hooking up on these spooky fish and you're not. In fact, it can lead to mayhem in the boat if there are any bear guns aboard . . . .

But you were alone, so that's another story (see below). I have two pieces of advice: (a) improve your eyewear by getting the best polarised glasses you can find in copper, brown and/or amber (I recently did so and am able to see the fish better, the drift gear better and, from time to time, have spotted fish taking that I would not have otherwise noticed as the line didn't move); (b) either cast with extreme precision and drift it into their mouths, or cast to some other (fishy looking) part of the run. A couple of times last year the steelies were laying nose-to-tail in a 3 foot deep seam. A perfect cast could get the cork and yarn within inches of their faces at the right speed. Eventually, someone would open up and 'fish on'. But I don't have the skill to swim a fly or drift bobber that close, and I was frustrated as all heck. I started hooking up when I went down to the tailout (ignored the fish in the line) and looked for some biters who had just moved up. I also made longer casts since I wasn't site fishing, so the fish I was aiming for weren't as spooky either.

If you have a companion who's hooking up, the clear message is to imitate exactly what the other guy is doing. Yeah, I know -- it's obvious. But if you fish with guys who like to take an edge, you might not take their word for it when they tell you they're using a 5 double-ought shot slinky (it might be a 7). Watch where they're casting and how their drifting their offerings too (assuming they're drift fishing). Up-and-down, angled, across or downstream? I know this is obvious, but I went fishless last year while my buddy hooked 5 in a row. I was going crazy -- so much so that after number 5 I said "Slick, where are you going to cast next?" and he said "A little downstream against those sweepers." "Out of my way!" I shouted and shouldered him aside. I cast exactly where he was pointing and hooked up. (True story.)

But I tell you, if Slick had yelled 'Whoppee! I'm on' one more time I would have left his body in the woods for the bears.

Ok, I can directly relate to this (as can pretty much anyone who does not fish alone regularly) Because I, 9 times out of 10 (for steelhead), will outfish my old fishing buddy... I don't really know what it is, or why, other than maybe a matter of patience...

however, I noticed that every time we would head out to the Calawah last summer, He would outfish me... Never landed one last summer out there, and he never left fishless! I would imitate exactly what he was doing, etc... And while making small light presentations, he would be throwing big gear (by my standards, for the water fished) so I switched, but he still outfished me!

Tom

I used to see people catching them in the slow stuff using no weight, no lure (bouyant or otherwise) just a piece of bait. I've never tried it myself though.

I've found that running 6 or 4 lbs line, a 1" cork float with a 1/16th oz black jig tipped with a small piece of prawn or crawdad meat usually catches fish. I've been able to steer this combo over the top of fish and leave it there and it would always eventually get bite. Patience is a real key to fishing this way!