Here’s a little video I shot to kinda get you started understanding how float fishing for salmon & steelhead works…

Plugging for steelies...the lost art???

Winter Chrome!

Okay, so without further adieu, let’s take a closer look at the nuts and bolts of backtrolling for steelhead.

The two most common questions I get asked about plug pulling are: What’s the best plug to use? And…How far do you run the lures ahead of the boat (or behind if you’re running a sled)? Let’s answer these and a few more and when we get done here, you should be ready to get out there and get bit.

Plug Selection

Let’s take a look at color first – then I’ll get into sizes and styles of lures. You can get really bogged down with choosing the right plug color because there are so many out there. Everybody’s got their favorites and some guys swear that subtle nuances like eye color or a random dot here or a barely-visible stripe there make all the difference. I’m more of a believer in good presentation and proper action, but agree that you have to be in the ballpark when it comes to color.

I’ve refined and edited my plug boxes over the years from having a couple of every color ever produced down to a basic lineup of proven producers. These days, I’ll start out using copper in almost every situation (except in off-color water). I can’t totally articulate why copper works so well, but it’s just a confidence thing. Over the years, it’s the color that always seems to produce. Of course, there are a million different variations of copper. Luhr Jensen’s copper is my favorite shade, though it’s tough to find Hot Shots in that color. It’s more of a light, almost silvery hue rather than the rich penny color you’ll see on other plugs.

Copper can vary in shade...I like the top version the best

Small bark, big bite: The #50 Hot Shot (top) and original Pee Wee Wart

Bagleys (top) and some of his craw buddies

Which one would you fish? Always go with the plug with no paint on it! That means it has the right wiggle and has been eating a bunch of times!

Technique

So, let’s answer the other big question. What’s the best distance to run the plugs? When you’ve got less than 2 feet of visibility, you can run them close – say 25 to 30 feet. In clear water, drop them back 45 to 50 feet. Don’t go any further, however, as too much line out will start to work against you. I like a slight bow in my line just above where it enters the water. Most of the time, I’ll see that straighten out before the rod even registers a bite.

You can keep tabs on how much line you have out by counting passes of the levelwind eye as it travels back and forth across the spool of your reel (some reels don’t have this feature) or placing fluorescent bobber stops on your line at a pre-measured spot. Unfortunately, most linecounter reels made today are too big for the majority of steelhead plugging applications, though you may take a look at Shimano’s Tekota 300LC.

It’s important to know exactly how much line you have out so you can tell right where your lures are. When running two plugs, I like to keep them the same distance from the boat. With three, I will run the “triangle offense” with the middle line a few feet further downstream than the two flanking ones. With four anglers on board, I’ll typically run the two middle lines at 50 feet and the two outside ones at 47 feet. By staggering the lines, you’re less likely to spend a bunch of time untangling gear.

Once you have the plugs in the water is the point at which old school and new school crash head long into one another. Conventional wisdom says that you should work down a run with a slow side-to-side sweeping motion. In other words, say you start backtrolling at the top of a run against the right bank. You’d slowly slip downstream – and towards the left-hand shore – at the same time. You’d continue that right-to-left tack until you got to the left bank and then you’d slowly work your way back to the right side again. And so on until you get to the bottom of the drift.

I’m here to tell you, however, that a straight path downstream through a run is the ticket. You’ll catch a lot more fish this way – trust me. I tried it the other way when I first started plugging and the results were lackluster at best. The catch rates when up dramatically when I started working in a straight line.

The rate which you move downstream while plugging will typically be less than half the current’s speed. In fast water, I want my lures digging the bottom (because that’s where the fish will be holding) so I’ll hold back a little more on the oars or kicker motor. On slower flats, I will allow the boat to slip downhill a little more quickly so that the lures run a little up off the bottom.

The Grab

As I noted earlier, the bite is what it’s all about in this game. To be a successful plugger, you really need to be patient and let a fish run with the lure before you set up on him. The best bet is to put the rods in the holders and wait until line’s burning off the reel before you pick it up. It’s almost impossible to wait long enough when you’re holding the rod in your hand – the bites are just so savage that instinct takes over and you’ll want to jerk too early.

Tackle

The right gear makes plug pulling that much more effective. Of course, a quality levelwind reel with a smooth drag is a must. You can run braided line (and it has lots of advantages) but mono is more forgiving when a steelhead decides it wants to try to atomize your lure. In most cases, 10- to 12-pound test is the way to go – any heavier and you start to inhibit the action of the lure.

In the rod department, a soft tip and stout lower section is what you need. With a slow tip section, the lure will run better and fish will hang onto the plug longer. My favorite for this has always been glass rods, but the old school models were always clunky and heavy. Luckily, rod companies have come out with new glass rods that are a lot lighter than the old versions. Check out Lamiglas’ XCF 802 (or in big water with huge fish, go with the XCF 803).

Final Thoughts

Plugging is one of those techniques that can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. With these basic tips, you should be well on the road to getting into some fish this winter. In the early stages, try not to over-think it. Start out with a lure that runs well and fish it straight. Keep the faith and don’t set that hook too soon!

Oh yea, one last tip. If you notice that most of the boats are drifting bait on a given day, you may want to hold off on the plug pulling. Clogging up a run that everybody else is side-drifting is a sure-fire way to become the least popular guy on the river.

Lately, my wife's been saying maybe I should have married yarn instead of her

Yarn Selection

For steelhead fishing, I like pinks and oranges, sometimes mixed with white and/or a little chartreuse. It’s going to be different everywhere you fish, so go ahead and experiment on your local creeks. Half the fun of making Yarnies is trying out new color combinations.

There are several yarn manufacturers out there and I mostly use the UV stuff put out by Steelhead Stalkers and Glo Bug Yarn by the Bug Shop in Anderson, CA. Overall, I think Steelhead Stalkers makes the better product, but I do like some of the colors the Bug Shop has, so I often mix and match. Anyway, I’ll show you the way I do it with each brand…

Tying a Yarnie

First off, you’ll need some bad-ass scissors for making yarnies. Most folks say to buy the fancy fly tying variety, but I really prefer this style. They’re sharp as hell, spring loaded and you don’t have to mash your fingers into the rings, which is a lot more comfortable in the long run. This pair is made by Fiskars and my wife buys them at the fabric store.

Save yourself a lot of trouble and drop $20 for a really good pair of scissors!

It doesn't take much Steelhead Stalkers yarn to make a yarnie

Next, stack it like a furry ice cream sandwich…

A little pinch between your cheek and gums...kidding of course!

Make sure the wraps are tight!!

While this would probably catch a fish, there's some trimming yet to be done!

Making the half circle...here's where the sharp scisssors come in handy!

Almost there...

A few last clips...

Glo Bug Yarn version

Before we get into rigging, here’s a quick version of how to tie a yarnie with Glo Bug or similar yarn…

Use at least 4 strands of Glo Bug Yarn because of its skinnier diameter

Wrap 10 tight ones with the thread in the middle

Same deal, cut the loose ends in a half-circle. But don't cut the other side!

Fluff all the loose ends out...

Use your thumb as a guide and trim, trim, trim until you get a nice round(ish) ball...

The only bummer is how much material is wasted with this method...

Rigging

Rigging a yarn ball is simple…you can add it to your bait loop if you’d like, but for drift fishing, I prefer to run the hook right through the center of the “bait,” and push it up tight against the hook’s eye. Next, add a small Fish Pill to the back end and you’re in business!

Where legal, add some scent and you’re really got an effective steelie weapon! Shy away from the sticky and gel-based ones and stick to oils or straight liquids. The night before I fish, I’ll throw my yarnies in a small Zip-Loc with a couple squirts of Mike’s Salmon Egg or Shrimp Glo Scent or Pro Cure’s Sand Shrimp oil. The yarn will absorb some of the scent and then, as it washes out, you can add a dab or two when needed throughout the day. You can also mush up some roe or loose eggs and dip your yarn in the juice…they milk just like the “real” thing.

Mmmm...steelhead food!

Hopefully, this is the end result of all that cuttin' & fluffin!

Okay, so what do Jessica Alba and a driftboat on B.C.’s Kitimat River have in common? Well, aside from a nice fantasy I just had…nothing. It’s just that we’re going to talk about sinkers for drift fishing this time around and I knew I had to get you sucked in somehow! Sinkers aren’t exactly the most exciting topic on the planet, but there’s a lot you really need to know.

So, my cheap advertising campaign aside, let’s get down to it. A lot of getting a proper presentation when drift fishing stems from your sinker selection, so you really need to pick the right stuff. In the old days, choosing which sinker to use was simple – there was pencil lead and, well, pencil lead and that was it. Now, we’ve got quite a few options to choose from. Let’s take a look at the three I use and the pros and cons of each.

SLINKIES

When they first burst upon the drift fishing scene some 20 years ago, Slinkies were about the single greatest invention steelheaders had seen since the introduction of the graphite rod. In case you’ve been vacationing in Katmandu for the past couple decades, Slinkies are made from buckshot stuffed, single file, into parachute cord. The end result is a sinker that is flexible and extremely snag-resistant. As a testament to their effectiveness, Slinkies remain extremely popular today.

Because of their ability to fend off snags, Slinkies are staples on rocky rivers with nasty, uneven bottoms but they work just fine on smooth cobble riverbeds as well. They don’t get down as quickly as pencil lead, but they tend to slide along – rather than pound – the bottom, which gives your bait a nice “just drifting along with the current” presentation.

As a Slinky taps along the bottom, the feeling you get at the rod tip is quite a bit softer than if you were using lead. For that reason, inexperienced steelheaders sometimes find them difficult to use because the distinction between a bottom bounce and a bit isn’t as clear. But, it gets easier with time. Stick with it and you’ll quickly become a believer.

Slinkies work great for bank fishing, free-drifting, side-gliding and boondogging in most spots – except situations in which you need to get down immediately or in heavily wooded streams. I like long, slim Slinkies made from .210 gauge shot when I’m fishing waters with grabby bottoms and magnum .250 shot when I’m working big, heavy water.

PENCIL LEAD

While it seems like pencil lead has been left in the dust by the popularity of sinkers like Slinkies, this oldie but goodie still has its use.

The greatest attribute of pencil lead is its ability to get down to the bottom in a hurry. This makes it the ideal choice when you’re fishing in very swift and/or deep water and it’s also great for pounding short, deep slots that require immediate bottom contact. Pencil lead transmits a very distinct “tap-tap-tap” to the rod tip when it’s bouncing along the bottom, so it allows you to very easily tell if your offerings are getting down or not. It works well when you’re drifting fishing off the bank or boondogging free-drifting from a sled.

The downside to straight lead is it is extremely grabby and “sticks” to rocks. You’ll get snagged up more often with pencil lead than any other type of weight. Also, as it pounds the bottom, it can impart a bit of a herky-jerky action to your bait, which sometimes turns steelhead off. Because of it stickiness, lead also drifts slower than other sinkers – which is an advantage in cold, off-colored water and negative factor when you’re fishing warmer flows.

Pencil lead seems to snag less than do Slinkies in woody areas and is also a good choice in heavily-fished areas like Blue Creek on the Cowlitz. . In areas of heavy fishing pressure where anglers lose lots of gear, pencil lead works best because hooks caught in the rocks can easily impale Slinkies. Catch your Slinky on a derelict hook anchored to the bottom and you’re probably going to lose your entire rig.

In summary, I mainly use pencil lead – usually solid core 3/16 size – when getting a deep, slow presentation is my main goal. I can get away with it, I prefer Slinkies or Sploosh Balls because I feel I get a more natural drift with them.

SPLOOSH BALLS

Sploosh what?? These things have taken the Nor Cal coast by storm…they’re black plastic balls with a barrel swivel embedded in the top. Sploosh Balls are virtually snag free, glide beautifully along the bottom and are particularly useful in long, slow runs and shallow tailouts where other sinkers would lose momentum and hang up. The wide profile and relatively light body weight of a sploosh ball allows it to go where other sinkers can’t. I absolutely love them for side-gliding and have gone an entire winter season without losing more than a dozen of the things!

You can drift Sploosh Balls very swiftly, so they’re a good choice when you’re fishing low water conditions and trying to stay ahead of the pack of boats – or when the water temps are up and the fish are active.

But there are a few inherent problems with Splooshers, too. First of all, they’re too wide and light to effectively be fished from shore in most cases. It takes some practice to get the feel for the way they drift, and you should know that when fished on a sliding rig, they have a tendency to “roll” up the line towards the boat. And since they’re plastic, it also takes longer for these sinkers to get down near the bottom so you need to set up for a drift a little earlier than you normally would.

In instances where the sploosh rig just isn’t getting down, I’ll do a little aftermarket upgrading by adding some lead to them. The best method involves drilling out the bottom of the ball with a 3/16-inch bit and inserting a section of 3/16 pencil lead into the hole (just be sure all you lead pieces are the same length). Or instead of pencil lead, you can add 2 to 4 buckshot to the hole. With a “lead butt” model, you can cover lots of different situations and be pretty assured you won’t burn through a lot of sinkers.

FINAL THOUGHT

Okay, so enough about sinkers already! Let’s end on a high note and get back to Jessica and the driftboat. Upon further reflection, I’m thinking we ought to switch the B.C. driftboat to a flats boat in the Bahamas….

Okay, all you budding steelhead anglers out there, here’s a little quiz for ya: Say you’re pulling plugs for steelies with a guide on a drift boat. The guide hands you and your buddy these two plugs with the same paint scheme to snap onto your lines. Which would would you pick?

If you chose the lower Tad Polly, you’re right! The upper lure would seem to be the more logical choice until you consider that the reason the bottom one is missing so much paint is that it’s been eaten by a lot of steelhead. The fresh out of the package model has yet to be proven under fire.

Regardless of the plug make or model, you’re going to have a few that fish really well and several others that, for reasons sometimes undetectable by the human eye, just don’t get bit. That’s not to say that the shiny one won’t be a winner — but do you really want to be the test pilot?

This all brings up an interesting point about plugging in general. Most of my top-producing salmon and steelhead plugs are missing most of their original paint but continue to get bit…proving that the right action trumps color.

Let’s face it, there are times when steelhead just go off the bite. Maybe they’re getting pounded by boats or are reacting to a something like a sudden change in barometric pressure. Whatever the reason for the lull, you can sometimes turn stale fish back on by showing them a little something different.

One of our favorite old tricks under these circumstances is side-drifting with F7 Flatfish. I know, sounds kinda crazy, but it works!

We drift these little plugs pretty much like you would a chunk of bait: A Slinky or pencil lead for weight, a 3- to 4-foot leader and then the lure. F7’s are very well suited to boondogging and freedrifting and you can be pretty sure that nobody else on the river will be fishing with them. Don’t expect a typical plug take-down when a steelhead picks up a drifted Flatfish, however. You’d think the fish would murder them like they do Hot Shots and Wiggle Warts, but the take is really a lot more like a bait bite – soft and spongy. That’s not to say that you won’t get your arm yanked off from time to time, though!

This technique actually works well in most conditions – even when there isn’t a lot of other angler pressure. It is also worth trying when big native steelhead are present. These fish are generally much more aggressive than their hatchery-reared cousins and will angrily chomp down on a plug when nothing else is working. Just be sure to replace the stock hooks with a size No. 2 or 4 Gamakatsu siwash hook attached via a quality barrel swivel — or run the risk of potentially losing the fish of a lifetime.

Silver, gold, chartreuse and fluorescent red are all good basic colors to have onboard though F7 Flatfish come in a huge assortment of patterns, so don’t be afraid to experiment.

Most grabs come as the plug starts swinging down and away from the boat. Make sure the plug is still wobbling as it swings…hold it back a little with a crank or two if it starts to stall out.

While roe will always be the number one bait for steelhead, the Poor Man’s Glo Bug (aka “yarn tie” or “yarnie”) will hold its own in most drift fishing situations.

Really, what’s not to like? They look great underwater and have an almost translucent look to ‘em. Poor Man’s Glo Bugs also hold scent very well and drift in an extremely natural way. PMGBs are super simple and easy to tie — and you can do it right on the river bank. Here’s how:

Start with several 3-4 inch strands of Glo Bug yarn:

And then, with a leader already attached to your hook (a No. 2-4 octopus style) via an egg loop (Learn to tie one HERE), take and slip the yar strands through the egg loop:

Next, cinch the knot down tightly and pull all the yarn strands straight up:

With a set of extremely sharp fly-tying scissors, cut the pulled yarn into a dome shape…again, keep everything tight!

Then, fluff and pull on the yarn ends to form a ball:

Don’t worry, your PMGB won’t look too sexy at this point, but when you drop ‘er into the water, you’ll start to get the idea…

And, hopefully, this will be the end result:

Don't forget to let those wild steelies go!

Okay, you asked for it…here’s the basic way to bait up with roe for steelhead fishing:

One of the biggest keys to catching steelhead is knowing your water temperature and how it affects the fish. Since steelies are cold-blooded beasts, their metabolism slows down in colder water and increases as the temps go up (until they got too hot).

In general, when water temps are low, you’ll find the fish in the softer water along the edges of the river and in slower, deeper runs, pools and flats. They seek out these spots to avoid fighting the current. Conversely, the warmer the temps, the faster, choppier water you’re going to find them in.

The really interesting thing is — and I have yet to ever hear anybody talk about this — that water temps affect fish differently depending on where you are fishing. Again, they’re going to be governed by their cold-bloodedness but steelhead also react to what they’re used to.

For example, here on my home stream, the American River near Sacramento, CA, we don’t have cold winters. The fish have gotten used to relatively warm water temps and when the river drops below about 55 degrees, they start to get a little less active and we have to fish a bit later in the day and work slightly slower water to get them to bite.

On most rivers along the coast and in the Pacific Northwest, BC, Alaska, 55 is considered very warm for winter steelhead. I’ve caught plenty of steelhead in those areas in water that was all the way down in the mid to high 30′s. Temps like that here in California’s Central Valley would put the fish into lockjaw mode but the northern fish will still bite. Why? Because that’s what the steelies are used to.

So, it seems odd but water temps are a bit relative. You have to take a look at what the steelhead in your particular area are accustomed to before you can put water temperature to its best use.