Steelhead fishing techniques for high water
How
to fish for steelhead in high and off colored water
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Steelhead fishing techniques for high water
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Steelhead fishing techniques for high water conditions: If you love to fish for steelhead
here in Oregon and Washington then you are
well aware that mother nature can ruin your fishing plans. That doesn't
have to be the case always. Most steelhead fishermen look for the
optimum river levels and flows but they also need to be flexible and
be able to fish high and sometimes muddy water.
01/13/2009
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Steelhead pages fishing trips and resources
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The same current seams
and pockets that you would fish aren't where you want to fish in high
water conditions. Steelhead will move out of the extremely fast water
and move to the edges of the current and in some cases will be only a
foot or two off of the bank. If the river is full of mud and sediment
they will also look for some water that isn't as full of debris to
hide in. Another thing to keep in mind is that the visibility isn't
good and you have to put your baits on the nose of the steelhead. When
pulling plug or using spoons or spinners you want to find the pockets
that steelhead are most likely to hide in to escape the heavy water
and put big bright obnoxious offering right in there face and try to
force them out of the resting spots. While most of the time you use
fairly small baits for steelhead fishing, when the river is high and
off color you want to use big and bright baits. Good colors are Orange
and chartreuse in larger sizes pinks and reds and darker colors wont
show up as good in brown water this is true in drift gear as well as
pulling plugs. Look for areas that are sheltered from the main
current, up tight against a bank pockets with somewhat clearer water
and don't be afraid to fish right under your feet, you just might be
surprised at what is swimming there. The steelhead fishing will still
be better when you have perfect conditions but don't wait for them or
you will miss the fishing because when the steelhead arrive in the
rivers in winter they are on a tight schedule and they aren't going to
wait for the rivers to be perfect. Use extreme caution while fishing
on rain swollen rivers they can be very dangerous especially in a boat
or wading.
