Do sleds really hurt Steelhead bite?

Some folks have complained that sleds turn steelhead off the bite. If that is true, then how do you explain Blue Creek?

Just curious...

SA

I think exactly the opposite. I've found the steelhead bite just fine after a boat goes through. Got one today about 5 minutes after a boat went by on plane.

Explaining Blue Creek is simple..................
F__L___O___SS___I___N___G_________!

I think the boat going through can take a steelhead that was holding behind a rock and get em to adjust where they're sitting. Kinda pizz them off a little in the process and turn the bite on. But that's just my .02 worth.

Oh please!! Anyone who fishes steelies, anyways hatchery fish, knows a boat does little. If anything moves them into a different slot to BITE. If the fish are there then they will bite. Just keep throwing.

I have hooked numerous steelies right after a sled has passed through, dont really know what it is if its stirring them up or what but it seems to cause a fierce strike..at least some of the time


P.S. 500 POST !!!! Yes!

no, they just turn all the fishermen in the vicinity off

Fishing this summer below Blue Creek it seemed the boats would turn the fish off. We were glo balling and killing the fish until the sun came up and the boats came out, then the bite died. Could have been the sun, could have been the boats, not sure, but it sure was strange. And we were only using 3 to 4 ft leaders.

Fishing this summer below Blue Creek it seemed the boats would turn the fish off. We were glo balling and killing the fish until the sun came up and the boats came out, then the bite died. Could have been the sun, could have been the boats, not sure, but it sure was strange. And we were only using 3 to 4 ft leaders.

Sleds: I hate-em but I still want one. Explain that.

Sol_on_the_Duc........I second that one. Hate em, but want one!

YES definetly! especially in low water during the summer... why is it the sleds on the North Lewis catch all their fish early in the morning??

I am sorry but the fish absolutely scatter when i go even near them with my drifter and they NEVER bite once they have seen the boat i mean NEVER! scared fish do not bite!!

Rob, sure they scatter, but especially when the light isn't glaring, I think they'll bite fairly soon. Jim Teeny has done this for years, move a fish witha rock or a boat, and then catch it .

In clear water, yeah, the fish are spooky to any thing. Though I've caught more than a few within fifteen feet of the drift boat in gin clear water. In winter water, though, I think they get over it pretty quick.

It was either Datus Proper or Sawyer who had some observations to the effect that a trout forgets anything that has happened more than about 7 minutes ago. They fairly quickly accept any non changing feature of their environment, including a boat, noise from a trolling motor, or a pair of legs as part of their environment. This is how blue herons make their living.

Anyway, that's my theory.

Theres guys in my neck of the woods that will go run over a hole with their big motor if the springers arent biting and the get fish on it almost always on their second pass.

If ever there were a more difficult way to catch a steelhead it would IMHO be with a fly rod. But that's just me and I only hold that belief for steelhead. That said I have found steelhead holding with tight lips where you could see them. Cast a fly and mend right into the 'feeding line' and the fish would just move slightly to the side of the offering. Rest the hole a half hour, (about the time it takes to drink a beer!). Now ROCK the hole above and the side of the fish. Immediately after you ROCK the hole cast and do exatly what you did before and more often than not you'll hook a steelhead on the first drift through. I've done it, it has worked for me so I'm pretty sure the sled does the same thing.

Additionally I've run my sled up and down a hole where we just had a bite and pulled as many as three fish out on the next run through, not five minutes after we ran right by them.

I third hate'em but want one!

I 4th hate-em and won't own one in Washington, however I won't turn down a ride in one.

I'm kind of a hypocrite because in the summers, I use a sled in Alaska, but I balance that out with a drift boat. I think therefore I'm qualified to criticize. Even owning a sled doesn't change my opinion on them. I can't stand them and the people around me in them, but they're effective and in certain situations, a necessity (or maybe just a convenience)

Love 'em. Wish I had bought one sooner! After waiting 10 years, putting kids and my wife through school, I finally bought one two weeks ago.

BTW - Thanks to Steve and Brian at Three Rivers for making my dream come true. They did an awesome job putting it together. I'd recommend them to anyone looking to buy.

Captain

"rocking" pools, running over pools intentionally with the sled to stir fish up,, this is exactly why i hate fishing around other people..

Lots of guys rock the pools to get the chinook stirred up here on the Washougal, why??? because moving fish are easier to snag!!

If the fish aren't biting it's for a reason and you should leave them the hell alone!!!!

I've caught more steelhead floating over them in my sled then I have my drift boat.Go figure!!!.The drift boat is quiet and the sled is noisy????.I love my sled and I love my drift boat.They both have there time and places.If I had to choose between one or the other for some reason. I'd go with my drift boat in a heart beat.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Your definately right, we end up snagging springers in the gut after rocking up or sledding up a hole. maybe were flossing them though, because well the line is in their mouth but the hook is usually so far buried that we can't see it. Astethically it may not be pleasing, but in certain cases it it works dang good. Its like saying that people floss sockeyes with a flyrod, there for flyfishing is flossing .
best I can figure is that we should not even fish for salmon and steelhead as it may disturb them, and if you truly feel it necessary targeting the 1% that are sucide fish is the only ethical way to do it.

Why has it always got to be some external influence that turns the bite off? I fish all the time where there is no boat influence and the bite practically never lasts all day. Just last week on the river where I fish all the time, I fished from just light until 4 p.m. I had scattered bites until around 8 a.m., the the fish bit like crazy until 10 a.m., then they stopped cold. Changed what I was using two or three times - drifted, spooned, used spinners, covered the entire flats, but couldn't coax a bite. Then, about 2 p.m., it turned on again. No boats, no rocking the hole, just whatever light and temperature changes went on without me being able to discern. This happens often. The bite goes on, then the bite turns off. Why wouldn't this continue to hold true to a large extent if boats and other influences were present. I think whatever is going on in the water has more to do with it than what is going on on or around the water.

I see this happen again and again whether I'm the only person on the bank or one of several on the bank fishing the same water. If some external disturbance happened to coincide with the bite turning off, it would be easy to blame, but it happens all the time, even under ideal conditions.

My answer...it depends. I've caught fish that wouldn't bite until after being stirred up and had fish go off the bite after being stirred up. What sleds do that is known to be bad for fish is erode the banks. Sled goes by full blast the waves erode the banks and often times silt the holes. Anyone seen boat launches gouged out by sleds running up on the trailer? Every time they fire up on plane they are doing some damage to the river. Also, anything that can run in six or less inches of water at full throttle can't be all that great for the fish either. This is why they should be restricted to large rivers only imho. That said I too am a hypocrite and wouldn't turn down a free sled.

While a sled will erode the banks to some extent, nature does more in one high water event than any amount of sleds ever will.

They do, huh? Wow.

Maybe next time, someone should inform Stlhdr1 and I of this.

Is there a "sarcastic" graemlins? I need to insert about 50 of them in here now.....