Top Ten Steelhead Fishing Tips

Top Ten Steelhead Drift Fishing Tips

1. Fish with the best equipment you can afford.
   
   Usually the more you pay for your fishing pole the better sensitivity it will have in letting you feel more bites.
   
   
2. Don't be afraid to fish behind other fishermen.
   
   Not everyone is casting in the same spot or is using the same color corky, yarn or bait.
   
   
3. Cover the water.
   
   Start by casting short then increase the distance of your cast by 1-3 feet until you locate the seam the fish are holding in.
   
   
4. Use as light of a lead as you can, just so you hit bottom every few feet.
   
   Using a light lead will benefit you in more than one way, first you won't snag up as much, second Steelhead lick a offering that's drifting current speed, third you'll feel more bites and lighter biters.
   
   
5. Use 4 - 6 feet of leader.
   
   This will allow for a more natural presentation.
   
   
6. Fish boulders and rock gardens.
   
   Steelhead love to lay behind large rocks and rock gardens and the current seams coming off of them.
   
   
7. Keep the belly out of your line so you can feel every bite.
   
   Keeping the rod tip high when you first cast out and slowly lower the rod as you make a few turns on the reel.
   
   
8. Extend your drift by free-spooling, but be courteous to other fishermen below you.
   
   When you stop feeling the tap of your lead on the bottom, stat free spooling a small amount of line one to three feet at a time. This will allow you to extend your drift thus covering more water.But be sure to be courteous to fisherman below you.
   
   
9. Try not to get stuck on just one style of fishing.
   
   Try spoons, spinners or drifting bobber and jig.
   
   
10. Try fishing cannon balls in heavy flows, they will sink much faster.
    
    They are much more dense allowing them to sink fast.