Steelhead Drift Fishing Technique

"-Steelhead Drift Fishing-"

-Video on how to Bait up Roe-

-Video on how to Rig up for Steelhead Drift Fishing-

-Video on how to Make Slinkies for Drift FIshing-

Drift fishing is one of the hardest Steelhead and Salmon techniques to master. It requires you to make a "natural" presentation and get a "feel" for the bite which is very hard to detect and most of the time it feels very similar to your weight bouncing off the bottom. The downside of drift fishing is losing gear on the bottom of the river and if your fishing in an area known for snags I would suggest float fishing.

I was very lucky in that I learned how to catch steelhead by drift fishing. I have since learned many other techniques for catching steelhead but the hardest technique to master is drift fishing. What makes drift fishing for steelhead so hard is detecting a bit. Steelhead are known to be light bitters and many times you cant tell the difference between a steelhead and a small trout. One of the most difficult things to learn when drift fishing for steelhead is when you have a bite! I like to describe it as having a piece of fishing line attached to your hook and when you pull up, it pulls back at you kind of like a spongy feeling. I like to periodically lift my rod tip to feel what the bottom is like and if there is any weight on the end of your line set the hook! You should use as sensitive rod as possible for steelhead drift fishing and use only as much weight as needed to get close to the bottom.

The most important part to getting a fish to strike is to make your presentation as natural as possible. You want your bait or lure to look like it is just floating down river with nothing attached to it. You need to ensure that you have enough weight to get your bait or lure close to the bottom but not so close that it stops or makes an unnatural presentation. It is better to have to little weight than to much as you will lose a lot of gear and spend most of your day re tying. Your goal is to have your bait move down the river at the same speed as the current and very close to the bottom. You also want your weight to hit the bottom every four to eight feet or so and give you a tic tic tic feedback in your rod.

I believe Steelhead are very sensitive to your leader, especially in low, cold and clear water. Most of the time on the river I use a fluorocarbon line in the 6-12 lb weight range. If the water is low, cold and clear I use 6 lb fluorocarbon and when the water comes up I will use 12 lb fluoro or 12 cxx line. Most fishermen use a leader length of 24-36 inches. I will use a 24 inch leader in higher water conditions and as the river clears and lowers I will lengthen my leader to 36 to 40 inches. Remember that water that has been pressured a lot will make the fish more picky and don't be afraid to try something different. Many times this can make the difference between going home with a skunk or a bright chrome steelhead!

After you have located a spot where steelhead are likely to hold or rest, figure out how you will fish the hole with the most success. Its a good idea to start fishing slightly above where you think the fish will be holding and then work your way down stream towards them. It is always a good idea to make a few casts to the water closest to you in the run or riffle. Many times steelhead will be holding on the inside seam or inside bend of a hole and if you walk out into the river you can spook fish holding close to the bank.

My favorite bait for drifting off the bottom is roe. Sand shrimp, night crawlers, prawns, and crayfish work very well on various rivers as well. I try to rig up my rods with a few different baits and if one doesn't work, you should be ready to use something else. There have been many times when I work a hole over with roe and just when I'm about to give up I try a sand shrimp and get a fish on the first cast. This can work with many different kinds of bait and I try to throw three different lures or baits at steelhead before I give up on nice holding water.

You want to be making your cast out and upstream at a 30-45 degree angle. Steelhead and Salmon travel at or near the bottom especially in cold winter conditions and this is were you need to have your bait when drifting off the bottom. Make sure that your weight is touching bottom on a regular basis. It translates into having your weight touch bottom every four to eight feet. If you do not feel the bottom you need to add more weight and if your dragging the bottom you need to take some weight off.

Once you hook a steelhead this is just the beginning of the fight. There are many good steelhead fisherman that only land a half to three quarters of the fish they hook. This is the beginning of a great fight that if you are lucky you might win! I hope this helps you get into more steelhead. Don't get discouraged me and Daniel went out five times and fished all day before either of us hooked or even knew what a steelhead felt like on the line. Put in the work and drift fishing will reward you with many fish in any steelhead river you fish.