style="width:300;height:100;
background-color:white;
overflow:auto">
Good ideas usually have a humble beginning. My good friend Tracy and I have been asked to help the Whidbey Navy Recreation Department put on a few seminars and provide some basic fishing instruction for returning Vets. These Vets have been off to war for a year–maybe longer, leaving behind their wives and young children. The idea surfaced when some local kids were asked by a U.S. Navy Admiral what they did when dad was gone. The Admiral also asked these kids what they wanted to do when their dad got home.
Teaching these kids and their returning fathers how to fish or how to take their skills to a higher level is a great idea. We’re trying to keep this project safe for the kids, like fishing for trout in lakes or pink salmon (Humpies) off the beach. We’d also like to provide handouts and written guides for the returning vets. It’s our hope that they could learn to enjoy some great fishing experiences or add to what they already know about fishing.
So here’s the first rough handout, please examine it and give feed back on what I left out. I know it’s a large write-up and I suck at the writing but I have a wife to fix that for me. So please help us out by providing just the basic "what I missed or forgot". Thanks in advance.
Getting Started with Steelhead Fishing
It’s a cold winter’s morning; the dawn is just peaking above the Cascades. You toss your offering upstream of the swirl created by a large boulder hiding just beneath the surface. Then you count quietly to yourself, “one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three” as you feel your weight start to lift off the bottom as it enters the swirling water behind the bolder. You know from experience that large boulders, like this one, make a break in the current for a fish to rest behind on their journey upstream.
Suddenly you feel what seems like a hooked sponge. You instinctively pull up on the rod, not sure if you are hung up or wrapped around the bolder. All of a sudden your rod doubles over and your reel screams. Water from the wet line sprays from the spool as the flies through the air, it seems it will never stop. Downstream there’s a silver flash and it leaps high out of the water shaking its head violently, trying to shake the hook out of the side of its mouth. You have a steelhead on your line and you are in for the most electrifying experience of your life.
Many fishermen have panicked at this point, but you calm your nerves and tell yourself not to hurry. Don’t pull hard, let the drag do its job and bow your rod to the eye level leaps of the frantic fish. Let it run when it wants to run, but steer it out of the log pile across the river and keep it from going around your large bolder.
After several breath holding runs, you’re not sure who’s going tire first. But then as the sun breaks over the mountain, the silver shape starts to show just under the surface. You steer the tired fish towards the shallows but as you do, it decides to make one more short dash, pulling the drag and diving but soon it returns to the ankle deep water at the edge of the river. You pick the fish up and slide it farther up the bank to ensure its capture. With a lump in your throat, you suppress a smile and your inner voice screams at the top of its lungs. It took a lot of preparation and study to get to this point.
The above is written from the memory of multiple fish I have landed in my few short years of chasing steelhead. There is a special pride and everlasting fervor of the first fish, and for every fish after. It doesn’t matter if it was a 4 pound first-year hen or the 24 pound *3-salt buck, it always feels the same in the end. The only difference is the variety of the obstacles or tactics that the fish uses to try to escape and the number of times it goes airborne. Whether you’re on the river alone or with your favorite fishing buddy, who just might become one of those obstacles, the experience is memorable. Now let’s talk about steelheading. Steelheading takes a very special breed of angler if you’re going to be a successful. You’ve got to invest in some special equipment. The most important is a good set of waders and a warm foul weather jacket (bright colors are reserved for the lures and bait, dark or camouflaged colors are best). Fish return when it’s cold. So cold in fact, that you often have to dip your rod tip in the river water to melt the ice. This is done because the river water is slightly warmer and above freezing temperatures–so a quick swish of the rod in the river will melt the ice build-up and allow the line to run freely through the guides again.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas the hatchery fish start to return to the terminal areas at the mouths of the rivers and eventually to the holding and rearing tanks where the fish spent the first several months of their lives. Native wild steelhead start their run during the month of January, and will peak sometime in late February to mid March. The timing of the main push of fish up the river varies a little, but always seems to follow the rise and fall of the river level. The water flow and river levels vary depending on the amount of winter rain or snow and also the freezing levels in the mountains and temperature ranges. A sudden rise in temperatures with the accompanying higher freezing levels in the mountains can cause snow melt and a rise in river levels just like a heavy sustained rain. Angling equipment varies with the angler’s preference, but the basic gear includes a long 8 to10 foot, light to medium action rod (For either spinning or bait casting reels). Terminal tackle includes 8 to12 pound test line, a sinker system to get bait down, the use of hooks for a variety of bait, plugs, spoons or spinners. Some anglers use fly fishing gear with wet flies and sinking tippets, an 8 to10 weight fly rod or even a dry fly for summer run steelhead. Landing a steelhead with fly fishing equipment is an extra special event, not accomplished by the unskilled or faint of heart.
Getting back to the basic or standard equipment for steelhead fishing. Techniques include bottom-bouncing (also called drift fishing) corkies and eggs, just eggs, just corkies, corkies and yarn, a steelhead rag (A small piece of foam with yarn stuck through it), live or cured sand-shrimp, prawns chunks (fresh or cured), worms (plastic or real) or a float fishing with all of the above plus marabou or hair-tied jigs. Other than the baits, lures or jigs mentioned about, spoons, plugs and spinners are widely used.
A steelhead at birth hides from predators in the small gravel on the river’s bottom. The steelhead’s feeding habit is to lie and wait for food to drift overhead, where it can grab it and return to shelter. It is for this reason that the fish will seek out bigger rocks for protection as it grows. The winter fish are not usually active feeders, but still tend to strike because of instinct. Summer steelhead feed more actively for one obvious reason, they have to replenish energy due to a higher metabolism in the warmer river water. A steelhead does not die after spawning like a salmon. They return to the sea and come back to their native stream or river the next year a bigger, wiser and more successful contributor to the gene pool. Females (hens) return to the sea slowly dropping down from pool to pool after depositing there eggs. The males (bucks) will spawn with a multitude of hens, and sometimes look like battered warriors when caught late in the year. It’s this same aggressive behavior that tends to be the steelhead’s downfall. Once you’ve figured out where to find them the rest is not as hard as it seems. Our rivers here in the great northwest seem huge at times. Often, when we’re starting out, it seems very difficult to know how to “break them down”–or know which areas of the river to fish. I use the following guidelines. When I first started steelhead fishing I often studied maps. I also studied the rivers themselves looking for braids in the river (little side flows cutting through the woods creating short cuts for the water to flow through--but separate from the main flow). They are smaller, slower and easier to digest or learn. The fish use this “braids” because they are smaller with slower current. Often, they are also the shortest distance to their spawning areas.
Remember steelhead are always on the lookout for movement on the bank. They will flee from movements on the river’s edge due to land or air assaults from a number of predators including bears and eagles. Because of this particular survival trait of the steelhead, I sneak up on a pool (Also called a “run”) and look over the conditions. This is called reading the water.
Besides looking closely for the long gray shadowy shapes of steelhead laying in pool or run, I’m looking for certain water characteristics. Some of these characteristics are definitely preferred. I look for back eddies, dead slow water, shallow water, fast turbulent water, rapids, sandy bottom and boiling water. After I have mentally noted all the above, I know where not to fish.
Next, I begin to think like a steelhead. Look over the water and pick the path where it will be the easiest and safest for a fish to travel; this is where you will find fish. Then, look for places for the fish to hold (hide) for a quick rest between its exposed travels up river. Look for water between 4 and 10 feet in depth. Small choppy water that diffuses the penetration of the eye of any airborne predator is a good place. Steelhead anglers call this frog water. The under current is slow, but the fast surface water again defuses the predator’s eye. Logs or overhanging brush are also good places.
My favorite is a clay bank, where the water flow has washed the dirt out from under the grass making an overhang of grass sticking out from the bank. I also like a tree that has fallen away from the river with the root ball sticking up on the current side, often it will have a little deep pool of water under it. The soil under a root ball against the bank will be dark in color, which is an excellent spot during extreme cold water. It collects the sun and is slightly warmer then the main flow.
Rivers can present themselves with ideal or imperfect conditions. Therefore, “reading” the water is imperative. Imperfect conditions can sometimes produce excellent results. Small hiding places, in an otherwise imperfect setting tend to be the only refuge fish can find. One of my favorite spots was a very fast 40 yard drop (fast water on the down river end), that flattened out for about 10 yards then went into a smaller 20 yard up river rapid or drop. The upper end of this double drop was slanted down river on an angle, so the little 10-yard spot was also very narrow (maybe 8 or 9 yards). This spot was a magnet to hold fish while they used brute power to continue up river.
You would think a fish in this spot would be tired, but it’s the exact opposite. The fish would work itself up to a frenzy just to make it up the drop. The current break was small but not slow by any means. It was like hooking a fish that was pumping iron right before it bit. This spot also seemed to hold only big fish. The smaller, less experienced fish would tend to pick the shallow slower exposed side, skirting as fast as they could up that shallow side--presenting easy pickings for shore and air predators. The clarity of the river plays a big part. In dirty water the fish are comfortable and stay on the move and are often hard to catch except when you find a holding spot. These special spots might be in an area of clear water coming from a feeder stream or a fast drop they must climb. The fish will hold in these areas for some time preparing to make the dangerous run upstream. Make note of these special spots. Often, trip after trip, fish can be caught in these same areas (one of the reasons steelhead anglers often seem to be tight lipped on fishing spots). In gin-clear water, the fish are cautious or they are too spooked to keep traveling upstream. Many times it’s much easier to catch these fish if you use a stealthy approach. This helps to keep your presence from completely spooking them.
In gin-clear water, a fisherman who is new to steelheading might expect to see the fish clearly. But often, all you see is the gray back and maybe a little of the silver reflective side and belly of a steelhead. A steelhead can conceal itself right in front of you, so don’t wade in until you have “read” the water to make sure the easiest path upstream is not right at your feet.
One of the prime holding areas, especially for hatchery fish is the area just upstream from a side river or creek that’s pouring muddy water into the main river. An example of this is the Sauk River as it flows into the Skagit River. Hatchery fish often remain on the move for the journey upriver, but as soon as they move out of the muddy, comfortable water downstream of the Sauk into the gin clear water of the upper Skagit they panic and look for holding water to gain some confidence before continuing upstream. The first hole above where the Sauk River flows into the Skagit River is in front of the Howard Miller Steelhead Park. This is a great spot to pick up a few fish. Sometimes this scenario is reversed with the fish holding down river of a clear stream dumping clear water into the muddy main river. This isn’t a complete guide for steelhead fishing by any means but it will get you started. When you’re new to steelhead fishing it’s best to find another angler who is willing to share his experience, techniques, and locations with you. If possible hire a guide who will be familiar with the river and the fish.
If you must fish alone, talk to tackle store employees, local fishermen or even fishing club members. They will usually help you find locations where the rivers and streams are smaller and less dangerous. Never take risks when fishing new water. Fording (Wading across) a large river might look possible from the bank. But often, it’s not until someone is halfway across that they figure out it’s impossible. Then, with the strong current pushing you downstream its too late to turn back.
Learning this the hard way is at best a cold, wet experience. At worse, it’s a needless death of a angler. These sad drowning accidents can happen very quickly and the loss of life affects not only the family and loved ones who knew the fisherman, but all who enjoy the use of our great and beautiful rivers here in the northwest.
Do your homework, there is still a lot more on this subject, this is just a start. Solid basics and a little luck should pay off sooner rather than later
No comments:
Post a Comment