Hours of joke telling and fishing lies followed by minutes of sheer panic and chaos.”  That’s how fellow fishing guide Rod Bush described backtrolling plugs for steelhead to me some 10 years ago and it couldn’t be closer to the truth.  Since then I’ve seen steelheaders throw cameras in the water and melt right out of their seats and onto the floor at the first sight of a steelhead doing its best to kill the plastic, wiggling, thing-a-me-jig that’s invaded its wheelhouse. 

Plugs do one thing and one thing only to a steelhead…piss them off!  Once they enter the river steelhead become territorial, meaning any fish or critter that invades their space generally gets run off.  By backtrolling plugs into likely holding areas we’re trying to work on the steelheads territorial instinct to run off intruders.  Whether that theory is correct or not, the fact remains that plugs are darned effective at taking steelhead in both the summer and winter months. 

Unlike most presentations that drift or swing thru steelhead holding areas, plugs remain in the steelies zone for an extended period of time, which makes them extremely effective when flows are up and visibility is reduced.  Having all that time to check out a plug gives a steelhead plenty of time to decide whether it’s intrusive or something that can pass on by without much thought. 

Most successful pluggers let out a specific amount of line on each rod at the beginning of a drift that looks fishy.  Depending on water conditions and how far away from the boat I want the plugs I have my customers pay out between 5 and 8 passes of the level wind across the face of the reel.  Since all the reels are the same, Shimano Bantam 50’s, and each pass is around 9 to 10 feet that puts the plugs between 50 and 80 feet from the boat.  The longer distances are usually reserved for crystal clear water where the sight of a boat may spook fish.  Superbraids like Tufline XP and Power Pro have made fishing these lengths much more feasible, as mono at those distances would often stretch too much to effectively set the hook on a striking steelhead.

Just about every successful plug fisherman will tell you to keep all your plugs right next to each other and in my boat it’s no different.  Having all the plugs next to each other does two things, it allows the person operating the boat to know precisely how close they can get to structure like timber and rocks and secondly, it creates a wall of plugs that effectively backs fish down and corners them.  Instead of swatting at the first plug that comes by many steelhead will slide back in the drift until they’re on the verge of the tailout or they’re cornered in some way against structure.  Corner those wary steelhead and your liable to get one to smash a plug! 

Depending on how hard a person wants to work plugs can be pulled in anything from raging fast water to “frog” water with little current.  As long as the boat can be slowed enough to get the plugs to dive and hold momentarily in front of a waiting steelhead they’ll catch fish.   Some of our largest steelhead over the years have been taken in waters that most steelheaders would pass right on by, which is exactly why trophy fish hold there to begin with.  In contrast, slow waters can also hold fish and as long as there’s enough juice to get the plugs to dive they can still be very effective.

There are many styles and opinions on how quickly to work plugs thru a run.  After spending literally hundreds of days running plugs, however, I’ve found it best to slip the boat downstream at ¼ to 1/3 the speed of the current, holding the plugs momentarily in locations along the way that are likely to hold a cantankerous steely.  Some runs may be over a hundred yards long but will contain several rocks, root wads, or other likely holding areas within the run.  Though an entire run may be good, it’s the structure within the run that will likely hold fish and these are the spots where holding the plugs back for a few extra seconds can pay off big.

Sizes, shapes, and colors are directly related to water conditions and time of year.  With perfect steelhead green water that has visibility between 3 and 5 feet Hot Shot 35’s and mid-size Tadpolly’s work excellent.  When the waters get low and clear, however, it’s often necessary to drop down to smaller Hot Shots like the 30 and 40 that are a little more subtle and less apt to spook fish.  In deep runs in excess of 12 feet another great choice is the Hot Shot SE, which will get you where you need to be.

I mentioned the time of year in the last paragraph because there seems to be a distinct difference between the summer and winter as to color preference.  While it isn’t etched in stone, steelhead in the winter seem to prefer brighter colors like orange, pink, and red and summer steelhead seem to key in on plug combos that include blue or green.  The blue or green pirate Hot Shots always seem to be outstanding plugs during the summer months and during the winter can also produce under low and clear conditions.  Silver, gold, and copper are good choices any time of year.

On the tackle end of things it’s best to run a rod that has plenty of backbone, yet a soft tip that allows the plug plenty of movement and action.  I personally use the Lamiglas Hot Shot Composite rated at 8 to 17 lb test, which is matched with either an Abu Garcia 5000 series or Shimano Bantam 50 baitcasting reel. 

In the past I’ve run 12 lb high-vis Izorline which I then blood knot a 12 lb Maxima Ultragreen leader to.  This winter I’ve had excellent success using 30 lb high-vis Power Pro mainline, however, which I then uni-knot a leader of 15 pound Maxima Ultragreen.  The knot allows a relatively seamless transition that my customers can reel right into the eyes of the rod and the high-vis line offers me the ability to see precisely where all my lines are at all times.  The 30 lb Power Pro offers a diameter equivalent to 8 lb mono, which allows the plugs to run a little deeper, and the extra strength is a plus when fish run into cover, which they often do.

How you operate your boat and present the plugs is perhaps the most crucial aspect of this technique.  Many of the things written above can be substituted to suit your preference, but there is one general RULE that you should always follow when backtrolling plugs.  Yes…this is a rule! 

You will hook 10 times more steelhead by backing your plugs directly downstream into a holding area than you will if you swing them across a holding area at an exaggerated angle.  I can count the number of steelhead we’ve caught with our plugs on the swing on one hand, yet dropping them straight downstream has accounted for literally a couple thousand takes.  How’s that for odds? 

Line up your target or likely holding area and then slowly back the plugs in a straight line downstream, hesitating occasionally in areas that just “have” to hold a fish.  I like to imagine my driftboat or jet boat on a set of railroad tracks as it drops thru a run, with very little side to side movement.  In longer runs lining up your boat at the top of the run and keeping it on the “tracks” thru the entire run will produce more strikes than sweeping the entire run from side to side.  I’ll sometimes leave the plugs in the water if we’re traversing a run to get to another holding area within the same run, but once we get there I’ll run the plugs straight thru the area I think a fish could be holding.

When fishing small pockets that are 25 to 50 feet long I’ll generally try to get the plugs in the water upstream of the pocket and then backtroll them straight downstream into the holding water.  Hold your plugs near a rootwad, log, or other structure in a piece of water like this and hang on!

Points to Remember:

-Let the plugs out equal distances

-Keep the boat on the "tracks" when in a fishy area

-Ease boat downstream at 1/4 to 1/3 speed of current

-Keep hooks sharp!

-Wait until the fish takes the rod all the way down before setting the hook

-Pay special attention to structure within a run

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