Q: Hello, Wanting to branch out for Salmon on some of the local rivers and have been doing some homework. Read your article on river levels and have the following question: Does it affect the fishing much if it is raining (like it does for trout) but the river levels and clarity are good? Or, posed another way, if I wake up and its raining should I wait for a break in the clouds? By the question you can probably tell that I have pretty much only fished for trout! Thanks for helping the rookie.

Kevin

A: Hi Kevin, As long as the rivers have the clarity and the flow is good, hit it! If you wait you might not get to fish. I've had some of the most productive days fishing in the rain.

One piece of advice, invest in some good quality raingear and waders! They'll pay HUGE dividends in the end. I almost plan on it raining while I'm fishing in the winter. If it doesn't, then it's just a bonus.

Good luck Kevin!

Terry

A: Hi Eric, The Kalama Canyon can definitely produce some fish and should be turning on pretty quick.

For salmon you're going to want to use bait. Preferably freshly cured roe and use scent! I like to have at least two different types of cured roe with different scents, usually an anise/shrimp mix and a salmon feast mix. Salmon are chemical junkies. Check out Steelhead University for a great cure.

They hold in the deeper pools, but that have some movement to them. The deeper frog water pools are more for silvers.

Steelhead will also hit bait so you'll have a good shot at either species, but they are not so dependent on chemicals.

As far as fishing for them at night... be careful. That Canyon can be quite tricky even in the daylight. Night fishing can be productive but the best way is to float your presentation so you don't end up snagging the fish. Use a "glow" float and something that "glows" with your eggs. Try to keep your presentation 1 to 2 feet off the bottom. Spin-n-glo's, lil corkies, cheaters, they all work but the glow presence will attract the salmon. Use a camera flash or there's some flashes made for "charging" the glow in most sporting goods stores. This is also where your scent will come into play. In order to draw an aggressive strike make sure your eggs are milking. When the float goes down... set da hook!

Make sure and check the regs before venturing out for any night closures and bait restrictions (there is a night closure beginning Sept 1 on the Kalama). Also make sure and release any wild fish.

Good luck and good fishing. Terry

A: Great Question Rory! My "go to" method, if I have to choose one, is float fishing. Whether it be a jig, eggs, shrimp, corkie, etc. under a float I believe I can achieve the most natural presentation under a float in most conditions. The main reason I choose to float fish is confidence.

Luckily though, I don't have to only choose one method. Since I mainly bank fish, or use a pontoon boat to float a river, I always have at least two rods with me, one being a float rod, the other a drift rod. Throughout a system there will be many holes which one method I might have more confidence in over the other.

If you can, be flexible in your methods, but above all be confident in the method you choose. Good fishin, Terry

A: Thanks for the email, Michael! Since steelhead don't typically hold very well in the tidal areas not many people target them there. An exception to this would be at times when rivers are extremely low and steelhead will wash in an out with the tides and won't venture very far upstream. Bait, spinners and spoons, plugs, and flyfishing will all take fish low in the river when the water is low.

Steelhead will typically enter the river on the high tide, but the best time to target them is on an outgoing tide or at low tide. The outgoing tide will force them to hold up and low tide will give you a better idea where to target them, as most tidal areas are bank full at high tide and fish can be just about anywhere. Sand shrimp and eggs work very well and under the right circumstances flyfishing can also be the ticket. Steelhead moving into the lower Situk River in Yakutat, Alaska at low tide, for instance, will hit a Polar Shrimp or General Practicioner quite well when they're fresh out of the salt. Hope that helps and thanks again for the email! Rob

Q: Hey Thanks for getting back to me so fast, I love your web page and check it often. I live in Challis ID and I’ve been guiding here on the Salmon River for the past 7 years. Just in the last few years I have mainly switch to back trolling with clients. I have been rowing a Hyde glass boat. I have only rowed an aluminum boat a few times, but not enough to get the feel of one. What I was wondering is it seems like some of the guys rowing aluminum boats aren’t working as hard as I am to back troll. My Hyde doesn’t seem to have the same curved design as say a Willies and most aluminum boats are wider. Does that have something to do with it or am I just getting old. Here is my thoughts: My Hyde was designed for flyfishing, which is comparable to side-drifting in the speed of the boat. My boat will get across the river quickly, but may be hard to slow down to back trolling speed because it moves side to side too much, so you have to work harder at keeping it straight, which in turn pushes you down river. Also without the curved design, more of the boat is in contact with the water or under water. The tracking or running straight of the aluminum boat is caused by the hard chine, which in turn you aren’t working to keep the boat as straight. Les strokes to straighten the boat and more on slowing the boat down, just few oar strokes. Also les boat in or under water and less push.

So am I way off here? Thanks again!

Q: Hello Rob, This may sound stupid, but I recently caught what I believe to be a steelhead (because of the 2nd picture shows the white gum line) and my father-in-law swears it is a Salmon. Can you view the attached photos and let me know what type of fish it is! I caught this (Steelhead) at Savage Rapids Dam on the Rogue River last month using a Hot Shot #35 flame red/orange. The fish absolutely slammed the plug so hard, it bit a piece of it off! Just the way it hit the plug and the way it faught and jumped, I knew it was a Steelhead. I would really appreciate it. I hope I am correct! Thank you, Garry B.

A: Thanks for the email, Garry! I hate to tell you this, but that fish is definitely a member of the salmon family and appears from the photos to be a king salmon. The spots, coloring, etc., are all indicative of a king salmon. Even though the outside of the gum line is white, a look inside the mouth probably would have revealed a black tongue and gill rakers. Congrats on a great fish, however! Hopefully you didn’t have any bets with the father-in-law on this one : ) Thanks again for the email and best of luck on the water! Rob

Q: I saw your boards out of Steelhead University, I thought I would ask a few questions. I have been reading avidly and trying to learn to catch steelhead in Alaska's Anchor river, on a recent trip I could see steelhead but couldn't get them to bite, have you got a back door secret for these type fish.

I was thinking of throwing a squid or shrimp imitation( this is fly only water) or a pink worm since the ocean is within 400 yards would they hit a shrimp imitation in fresh water? What about that worm I read allot about it, is there a worm out in the ocean they eat or is is just instinct to hit that I look under rocks and don't see worms here in Alaska so the river bed must not have any in it.

My other questions is on float fishing the Anchor river is about 50 feet wide and relatively slow moving about waist deep in most areas with big rocks and tons of white water runs into slack pools. I have been reading about jig fishing and dink floats there is a ton of rocks to hang up on would float fishing be better? How do you rig a dink float it has holes in it but I cant figure out how to rig it, is this a slip bobber operation with a bead and bobber stop or peg with a toothpick?

I grew up fishing for Catfish in water just like this in Oklahoma we drift spring frogs for big channel cats with bobbers, but the hang up problem the hooks get into the rocks, I was thinking of a break off rig with split shot crimped on the tag end of the line to bounce bottom and the jig up about 6-10 inches so if the weight snags a steady pull will remove it. And then re-crimp more lead.

All of the guys I encounter are fishing with fly rods and floating line and a flash salmon fly or leech pattern, I have one of these rigs and have caught a steelhead with a fly but it is slow and tough its tough to back cast with all the brush. I think a float even one of those old time balsa wood corks with the spring on the bottom of it rigged to break off ought to make things happen. I have note seen anyone float fishing, so I am kind of on my own.

Also I have been fishing the river upstream where it is narrower and choked full of brush and logs rocks and etc, what about the float up there, have any tips. I think the float will help float the jig in behind rocks in eddies leaving the jig hanging like a target for the steelhead.

Anyway thanks in advice for any tips you can give me. - Joe

A: The fish that you are encountering on the lower Anchor might have already been disturbed by your approach or by other anglers passing them before you. For starters, I would purchase a pair of polarized glasses and use them to spot steelhead before they spot you. Also remember that steelhead are usually pointed upstream, so if you approach them from downstream you’ll usually have a better shot at getting close to them before they spook. If the water is low and clear, which it sounds like it is, you’ll want to “hunt” for them and approach every pool like it’s got a fish in it. Shy away from brightly colored clothes and stalk the river like you’re hunting for whitetails back in Oklahoma.

A shrimp pattern or egg pattern will probably be the best way to get these fish to strike, but if you get to them before they spook they may very well hit just about anything. If the river is gin clear you’ll want to cast well upstream of them and either swing the shrimp pattern in front of them or nymph an egg pattern thru the area where they are holding. You’ll probably have to use a roll cast along those brush choked banks.

Since it’s flyfishing only water you’ll want to check the regs to make sure jig fishing with a float is legal. To be legal and ethical it’s probably best to stick with the fly gear! - Rob

A: Howdy, Brian! I’ll take a stab at a couple of your questions. Adding a swivel or bead chain between the hook and plug does two things, it moves the hook closer to the tail of the plug and it allows the fish to twist and turn without binding the hooks up against the plug. This is especially true with Kwikfish, as a king or silver doing the death roll in the middle of the river will invariably use the plug to pry the hooks loose. Since the plug has tension on it from the rod it won’t spin as readily with the fish and neither will the hooks, the end result being a lost fish.

There are a couple of problems with adding a bead chain to the plug, however, and that is that it adds weight to the plug that may effect it’s action and in very slow water the bead chain and hook will hang straight down from the plug and be somewhat out of the fishes strike zone. When this happens fish can get hooked in the side of the head, under the chin, etc., which increases the chance of a lost fish.

My advice would be to run swivels on both hooks and only run a bead chain on the belly hook when single hooks are required. The bead chain allows the Siwash hook to get far enough away from the plug to allow for a solid hookup without the plug getting in the way of the hook. Throw a single Siwash hook directly onto the belly eye of a Kwikfish and you’ll see what I mean.

On steelhead plugs like Wiggle Warts and Hot Shots the use of a bead chain on the belly eye (not the tail eye) get the hook far enough towards the tail of the plug for a solid hookup and like the Kwikfish setup allows a fish to twist without binding up the plug. On steelhead plugs, however, it’s important to not use too large of a bead chain, as the extra weight will usually hinder the performance of the plug. A light, yet strong, bead chain will get the job done.

Sorry to hear about the fish you lost on the Rapala. Rapalas typically come with very small hooks that really aren’t suited for salmon or steelhead. The hooks are only big enough to penetrate the skin and don’t usually get a good hold on any bone or cartilage in the fishes mouth, which is why they pull out so easily. My advice would be to use a swivel to attach Siwash hooks that are larger than the hooks supplied, without being so big that they hinder the action of the plug.

Thanks again and best of luck to you Brian! - Rob

Q: Hello- I was reading on your Steelhead University site the article on how to rig the pink worm. It's all very simple, I understand how to thread it. My question is, how long of a leader do you run.... and do you run an inline slinky? Also, what do you think the best size/brand of dink floats are for this application, or would you use the Steelhead Stalker? Thanks a lot! AWESOME SITE! -Eric

A: Thanks for the email, Eric! Since most worms float like a cork I’ll typically run an 18 to 24 inch leader to keep the worm in the strike zone. Even in clear water there is no need to run a longer leader than that, since they’re either going to hit the worm or they aren’t. For this reason worms are great for covering water, especially when there is some color in the water. You can use any weight system you want for the worms and if an inline slinky is what you’re comfortable with that will work great. As for floats, I will usually run a medium to large dink float, since it takes a bit of lead to get the extremely buoyant worms down in heavy current. Head Hunter worms use to make a sinking worm that worked great for floatfishing, but since we mostly side drift pink worms now I’m not sure if they still make them. I’ll reserve the Steelhead Stalker and low profile floats like similar to it for low water presentations. Hopefully I answered some of your questions, but if you have any more please feel free to email them to me. Thanks for visiting the site! Tom

Q: Tom & Rob, I was just checking out the website, but I think it may be even better to ask you directly. My question is regarding the use of a drift boat when fishing the local rivers for salmon and steelhead in Washington. But let me back up real quick first. Since I was little, I've spent countless hours fishing saltwater and continue to do so every year. Probably about 7 years ago I got into river fishing and have spent more and more time doing it as a compliment to the summer saltwater runs. The time I've spent, however, has been 95% going around to different bank spots and drift fishing the standard fare. Over the years, I've also been on several different drift boat trips, and to me it seems like this really allows you to cover more water and often times less pressured water; not to mention the relaxing aspect of it. So lately, I've been entertaining the idea what it would be like to own my own drift boat, new or used. The reason is, it seems like there a fair number of rivers that I've drifted down that don't seem extremely technical (while there are a couple I went on with guides that I wouldn't dare attempt myself unless I reached that expert status some day). But maybe that's where I'm mistaken. Maybe some of the rivers that appear to be straightforward drifts really are more technical than they seem. To me, and this might come from my time spent on the saltwater, safety comes first, then play. And knowing that ending up in the wrong situation in a river can be as extreme as any rough weather on the saltwater, I wonder if I'd be getting myself into something where I'd be in over my head. With all that being said, do you have any thoughts on having your own drift boat, the difficulty of learning how to use it, and the overal danger risk involved? Sorry for the long email, and I appreciate any comments or advice you might have. Thanks! Peter T

A: Hey Peter, I agree with you that "it seems like this really allows you to cover more water and often times less pressured water" and in reality driftboats really do help you reach more water. I would encourage you to invest in a driftboat especially the North River Drifter. One more thing to consider, if you've got concerns about your rowing skills hire a reputable guide for your intended river and let him "Show you the ropes". Driftboats are also great partner outfits as there's no motor and no fuel tank to be left dry... See if one of your fishing friends wants to go in on a driftboat with you! Good luck and good drifting! Tom

A: For steelhead rising water levels are the worst, especially if the water is coming up quickly. A little blip in flow isn’t usually too big a deal, but a big bump in flows definitely puts them off the bite and usually ends up in a day off for me. Plugs and bait divers are by far the two most effective methods we use up here when the waters up, mostly because you can hang them in a steely’s face for so long, giving them the opportunity to pick up the scent trail or at least see/hear the plug. I’ve heard great things about the Smith and Chetco and hope to get down there someday. Best of luck to you and don’t hesitate to email with questions. Rob

A: Hey, Jeff! I use either Ande or Izorline on my spinning reels, mostly because of the quantity of line that we go thru in a year. When it's necessary to use flourocarbon leader I'll use a blood knot to tie the two together. The best flourocarbon I've found is Yozuri or Seaguar, as they're both fairly abrasion resistant and have good knot strength. Hopefully that helps! Rob