Starvation Suggestions?

[BoatBallast]

This is usually prime time for "Starvation Steelheads"...a name I coined for them several years ago.  Water temps are getting just above 60 and the fish are active throughout the water column...including near the surface.  So you don't need downriggers or heavy weights to get into the fish.   

Ask 10 different anglers what is the best lure and you will get 10 different answers.  The truth is that it is harder to find something they won't hit than something they will.  Almost any tried and true spinner, spoon or crankbait will get some takers.  I kinda favor spinners in either gold or silver...with red or orange spots...sweetened with a bit of worm on the hooks.  But they will hit all kinds of lures, jigs and flies if you can find the concentrations of active fish.

The river arm above the bridge is always popular.  I fish Rabbit Gulch a lot from my float tube.  The area in the back channels of Indian Bay can be good too.  As can the upper part of the lake between where the inlet canal comes in at Knight Hollow and Saleratus Wash.  Almost always a good number of fish in this area.

I am attaching a PDF file writeup I put together on Starvy a few years ago...and have not made any recent updates.  But the basics haven't changed much.  Hope it helps.

Thanks TubeDude!  I appreciate your generosity with all the information you have!