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Ok all, I think I am about ready to do a little fall steelhead fishing. Been reading and browsing the internet, checking out different methods, learning what I need. But one thing that is troubling me is accurate fishing reports. It seems most of the guiding services have not really posted anything.
I have been reading about the numbers coming over the Bonneville damn but I dont fully understand that.
I am wanting to go out and spend my birthday fishing. Will their be steelhead in the river from Lewiston to Orofino September 20-22? Seems that the estimated fish crossing Bonneville will be at its peak right about then, but will there be fish here for me to catch?
Where are good places to check fish reports? I have been watching the Fish and Games report and so far 26 have been reported caught but is that in the past month or 2013 in general?
Just trying to decide if I want to try my lucky with the steelies or give them a little extra time to get up here and go chase Tiger Musky instead.
Thanks in advance all!
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I'm jealous. There will be fish there. Swinging spoons is pretty effective on the lower Clearwater that time of year from what I understand. I'd do it if I had the chance, no question about it. There are others who know more about it than me, and some that can probably join you for at outing. The will turn up here sooner or later, just be patient I know many of them are hunting currently.
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I was sort of hoping that during the fall the river wouldnt be too full of fishermen because of hunting. Give me a little time alone to try and catch something.
Anyone chime in on Spoons to use? I have a bunch of the silver BlueFox Pixies with a few different sizes and colors of plastic eggs on them. I know small trout love my yellow Daredevils with Black or red Diamonds but I havent seen any of those in steel head size.
Looks like Tiger Musky this weekend and Steelies next!
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Rvrfshr spoons are top notch but I would place your order asap. The teardrop shaped spoons in brass, gold, silver will work in the shallower water. Just remember to swing em, not cast and retrieve..........
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I have a friend that lives here in I.F. that owns a place on the North Fork at Orofino. He told me last week that they were averaging a fish every four hours in the North Fork, you know from the Clearwater all the way up to the dam.
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Check your regs also. I know it is C&R from Memorial Bridge upstream on the Clearwater. I know where I am going to be Oct 15th though.......... 
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Those spoons look pretty good, priced fairly too, just wish that I could buy them in lots of 2 and not 10. I want to get a few different colors and I cant afford to buy 3 different 10 packs. Anyone ever tried his sampler pack? Just curious what colors and sizes it had.
Yea It is C&R. Fine with me, thats what I do 95% of the time when I go fishing. Specially here in school its just to hard to store and cook fish...
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steelheadkid what do you mean when you say "Just remember to swing em, not cast and retrieve.......... " that blows my mind. I have always cast out as far as I could chuck it and then reeled it back in and let it angle in as it came to shore. I am very new to steelheading, please explain, yoda
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Here is an OK explanation.
http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/resou...rdware.htm
Never tried it but Ill have to give it a try. Sounds challenging though. [fishin]
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So I managed to confuse myself. What is the major difference in float fishing vs drift fishing.
I went and bought a couple snell holders and I figured I would just right up a bunch of different hooks each with their own bead color so if one color doesnt work I can quickly change to a new color, No messing around with leaders and hooks and beads and knott tying on the river.
But then I got  as to how do I fish Beads or Spin and Glows. Do I drift them, or float them?
What do you guys fish under a float and what do you drift? Is there any times you need yarn as well?
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The major difference is pretty major. Drift fishing is bouncing your presentation along the bottom with a sinker. Float fishing is slip-bobber fishing - hanging your presentation down from the surface. It usually requires a sinker too of course, but it's an entirely different principle.
Beads can be fished either under a bobber or drifted. Spin and glows are used primarily for plunking and backtrolling, but you can drift them too. Wouldn't really work under a bobber unless you wanted to really get out of the box.
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Ok that's what I thought. So how does one rig a float so that the float rides in the water and your beads or what ever drift at the level they are supposed to?
Could I put the float on my main line, then tie a swivel to the end, then run X ammount of leader with hook/bead. Put a couple small split shot on the leader, then back on the swivel attach another swivel with a slinky or some other weight to pull the float down into the water so that it rides like it is supposed to? Is there a better way?
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Inline sinkers from 1/4ounce to about 1 1/2 ounce are popular for slip floats. Smaller holes and pocket water you can get away with stagering split shot below small dink floats to a bead, yarnie, jig, or bait.
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So if it wasnt a small hole or pocket water, how do I get my gear to the bottom? Or do you really only fish floats when the water is like that?
Floats for calmer water drifting for faster water like spring run off?
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[quote STEELHEADKID]Inline sinkers from 1/4ounce to about 1 1/2 ounce are popular for slip floats.[/quote]
As the kid said, use inline sinkers - they have eyes or sometimes swivels on each end. Tie your main line (with your float and stoppers already on there) to one end of the sinker and your leader to the other end then put your jig/bait/whatever on the other end of your leader.
Stop in at camp cabin and home or one of the other local shops and they'll show you what to buy and how to rig it.
Good luck!
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Ii need to stop into CC&H my problem is I want to hit the road for fishing early enough in the morning that they aren't open but ill have to go later. Hopefully my spoons get here so I can go this weekend.
I have been making my own slinkies, dang things are spendy at the store.
Supposed to be cool so hopefully fishing is good! Ill be hapy with trout just wana catch somethin.
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Instead of making slinkies get yourself some heat shrink tubing and fill it with the desired amount of shot, apply a little heat, and your done. Or lube up your shot and fill rubber tubing with the desired amount. Personally I prefer the feel of lead over the above mentioned items.
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I actually could not find any shrinkwrap! The 2 local hardware stores were out and I didn't look elsewhere. I have a bunch of it at home so I will get some when I go back
EDIT: I didnt want to drop $80 on slinky shot I only got one size. Can a Slinky be too long or too short? If I were to do a 1 oz slinky it would be a tad bit over 5 inches and if I were to do a 1/8 or 1/4 slinky they would be in the 1 inch range. Should I try and find some smaller/larger shot to compensate so I keep my slinkies around 2-4 inches or just rock what I got? Im sure I can play around with split shot and make a few different slinkies, but thats stuffs a little spendy.
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I'm with the Kid on this one all the way. I have never understood the allure of slinkies. Can anyone tell me how or why folks use them over a continuous roll of 1/4" solid core lead wire (or even hollow core for that matter)?
To me its all cons:
- expensive
- pain in the butt to make
- pre-determined sizes preclude fine tuning your sinker weight for each hole/drift
- soften the feel of the rocks/bottom, making it more difficult to tell fish from the bottom
Sure the surgical tubing was a pain in the rear too, until I finally got smart and got me a pair of leadmasters. If anybody has a better system though, I am always open to suggestion.
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Cost wise for me slinkies were less. Maybe I could have gotten better prices elsewhere but locally:
4 lbs of slinky shot= $18 after tax
Slinky cord= unknown I have a 1000 foot spool of paracord that seems to work.
Straw and screw driver and leatherman to pack/close slinky- free
When I get home, shrink wrap = free
1 lb of hollow lead coil was 7.95 before tax.
But all anyone talked about online seemed to be slinkies and shrink wrap slinkies so that's what I got. Still easy enough to get some hollow wire but I have no clue how to rig it.
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