Bait Fishing

Basic drift fishing starts with a quartering-upstream cast from where you feel steelhead are holding. When the bait has reached bottom, raise the rod to about the ten-o'clock position, guiding the bait as it bounces along he bottom. As it passes your position, you will probably have to slowly lower the rod, feeding some extra line to keep the bait on or near the bottom. When it reaches the end of he drift, let it swing to the side of he current and hold it there momentarily before retrieving it. Most hits will occur during the drift, so be ready to set the hook when you feel any tap that may be a steelhead. They often take spawn or drifters hard, but the hit also may be only a stoppage if the line or a soft pull. (Figure 2-6.)

A steelheader must develop a keen sense of touch in his fingers when free-drifting with baits in order to know the difference between the sinkers hitting bottom and the take of a steelhead. It's often difficult to differentiate and is an art you must develop on your own.

Another method of drifting with Spawn is the downstream approach. Position yourself above a lie where fish are. Cast the bait downstream from you and control its sinking on a lack-free line. When it reaches bottom, you can let it rest there for a Minute. Then raise the rod several fleet, lifting the bait off the bottom. The current will then take it several more feet downstream. Fish the entire run with this lift-and-drop method.

In reality, you'll use various combinations of these two basic drifting methods because you cannot always position yourself near fish to use the standard up-and-across cast and drift. You may even have to use a straight-upstream cast to cover some waters. With this method you must keep a tight line at all times to detect hits. Free-drifting is the most difficult aspect of steelheading to master.

Bobber fishing simplifies bait fishing for steelhead and it's not difficult to master. It's simply a matter of casting the rig above a holding lie and letting it drift through the fish. When it submerges or otherwise indicates a change, set the hook because usually this means there's a fish. Otherwise, your lead is too long for the depth of water, so shorten it a bit at a time until the bait is drifting just off bottom. This method is suitable whether you are fishing large, deep rivers or placid Great Lakes pasture streams.

Of course, there's more to bobber fishing than that. In fast currents, fish will hold just to the side of the main flow. This is where you should direct your bobber rig to drift. When fishing to a fish-holding structure such as a rock or log, cast above the obstruction, letting the rig drift by it, and as it approaches the backwash, feed slack line so that the bait is sucked behind the object by the current. Steelhead will lie in the cushion of water ahead of such obstructions and in the backwash for some distance downstream. Bobbers are also the best way to present bait to fish holding tight to such areas as undercut banks and fallen trees. You can control exactly where your bait is at all times.

As you become more proficient with bobbers, you will recognize many uses for them besides river drift fishing. For example, they're excellent for fishing steelhead at the mouths of rivers around the Great Lakes.

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