Bait

[steelheadstalker]

So, I've noticed that roe seems to work better on winter steelhead, than summers, or even fall fish for that matter. I fished the trinity in nor cal in late November and did not catch any fish on roe. Has anyone else noticed this, or have I just been unlucky with the roe?

 

[cammer]

after years and years of fishing, summer runs are the most voracious creatures in our rivers besides smolts/juveniles, Roe anywhere near these critters is slammed. Winters take roe very very readily but being winters, metabolism slows in cold waters and can slow the bite or make it go away completely. Salmon(fall) are a completely different scenario completely as they dont feed but react to roe mostly, so basically i ask, was it TOP QUALITY ROE you were using?? that could be your answer?

 

[searun]

Roe isn't the fish catch all some make it out to be. It's all about right time, right place with the right thing....and I've been fishing over top of plenty of steelhead with the best roe and caught zip, then changed to a pink worm for example and slammed them.

In fact, I remember when the pink worm craze started - because it was something different the fish preferred them over bait. We were so desperate for pink worms everyone started buying molds and making their own.

From my experience over the years one of the more important things to watch every time out is your presentation - which means placing your bait or lure in front of as many fish in a day as you can. Guys who plant roots rarely do well on the balance of times out fishing...yes there are times fish stack up, but most days out if you cover the water you will get more fish.

Same thing for how you present the lure - I find that generally smaller presentations work best unless the water is muddy.

 

[cammer]

roe works the best hands down, like everything out there, there will a few times where they turn off it and something completely stupid works?? But time and time again , best roes wins. Every steelheader worth his salt has a variety of lures and artificals for those weird spells, but bait boy with the gunked boraxed rod and waders carrys home the slab.

 

[steelheadstalker]

Well, I cure up my own roe and am very meticulous about it, but that doesn't mean that the way I do it is the best, but I have caught loads of winter steelhead and fall salmon on it. I use a bright red cure, and I've heard that more natural colors work well on steelhead. Do you think that could be part of the issue with the summer steelhead?

www.steelheadstalkers.com

 

[ChromeSweetChrome]

I agree, roe will out fish anything 9 out of 10 times. There are always going to be days that the fish are keying on other things and wont take it.

 

[Roe Bags]

Chunk, Bags and Bugs for this guy U don't see pink worm bans do ya?

Pass the Pack

 

[dohboy]

i am an ex steely guy, and when we fished i only put roe on my hook when my buddy out fished me, i can say i only put roe on a couple times, now before u say it , he is a good fisherman, good enough that he has been guiding out of terrace,
but too his defence i got to fish about 5 days a wk back then compared to his 2days
we fished the cow most of the time about 95%

i personally think it if you fish something u believe in you will always do better than someone who is unsure, u have to have patience and present your gear the right way or else u can chuck whatever u like in the flow

 

[Vince914]

roe is not the be all end all to catching fish it does however in my opinion help those less skilled into having a better chance to hook into fish. There have been days where roe had demolished other lures when it comes to numbers But there are also days that roe doesnt work at all Most rivers on this Island dont even allow roe there for I agree with what dohboy said

quote:if you fish something u believe in you will always do better than someone who is unsure, u have to have patience and present your gear the right way

and you will have sucess
I have about 4 jars of singles right now and I know for a fact 3 will go bad in the next 3 years as that is about the shelf life unfrozen

 

[Blackleech]

Nothing works better than a pink worm.

 

[searun]

I agree, its the guy behind the rod that catches the fish, not bait or gear they use. And, it definitely helps if you really believe what you are using is going to catch a fish. I've seen guys fishing the best gear never hook a single fish because they aren't presenting their bait or lure properly or fishing the right water. Case in point, I have seen guys with thousands of dollars in gear walk out into a run and literally stand on top of the fish, and when they walk out of the water after catching nothing, fish are hooked right where they were standing. So, bait isn't always the answer....but like any thing you fish with every dog has it's day.

 

[cammer]

like someone has said earlier, 9 out of 10 times> bait chucker> roe bags> shrimp boat> prawn tailer> bring home the bacon, steelehead are feeders in the systems and those tasty mosels presented anywhere near sniffing distance will result in bobber down, as stated earlier, there are 1 in 10 days that something different does the trick, so to those who dont believe in bait thanks for conserving our fish for 9 out of 10 days , we appreciate it

 

[steeliehead]

Back in the day when I fished worms for trout I would always use only a two to three inch piece of worm on a 6 Gami. I would thread the worm on the hook so the point is at the end of the worm and the rest is threaded up the line a bit. This gives the worm a bit of a roll. It takes a little fine tuning at first but you'll get the hang of it. Also you are more inclined to hook the fish as a result of no long tail it can pull off. And it uses less worms.

 

[steeliehead]

Cammer let me know what your numbers for winter steelhead are at the end of the season, caught on bait, on the lower Stamp of course. We'll see what works better. That is if you are a Van Islander.

 

[cammer]

im impossible to use as a baseline in a study, first of all, all i use is roe, that is until i run out which happens every year. I have a good source of frozen skeins but theyre nothing like the fresh prepared fall roe, as well im not an Islander which sucks as thats where id love to be. However, the Stamp is not the only choice over there, which is another time ill use non bait gear. Also your really close to Winter springs which is a real bonus over there and would seriously detract from steelheading

 

[steelheadstalker]

Have you tried using a double hook rig when trolling worms? I used to troll worms alot for walley and that is how we would rig them. You could tie up a double egg loop set up and that would pretty much be the same thing. If you do not know how to tie the double egg loop, we have a video on how to do it at www.steelheadstalkers.com good luck, hope that helps.

 

[steelheadstalker]

Has anyone tried roe bags under a float? and how would you compare it to using just roe?

 

[Haze]

When you run pink worms how long of a leader do use if you were drift fishing (sinker and a float with a swivel to the worm off the sinker)?
Is there a better way to fish rubber worms than that?

 

[steelheadstalker]

Try hooking your rubber worm wacky style under a float, that might work.

 

[coho_killer]

quote:Originally posted by steelheadstalker

Has anyone tried roe bags under a float? and how would you compare it to using just roe?

roe bags are great for fishing under a float! less messy with the same scent as roe! Once you learn to tie them properly they are a must have when fishing for most species of fish in our streams and rivers! steelhead love em!

CK