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As if catching a steelhead isn’t hard enough for most fishermen, try catching them in extremely low and clear conditions. In the Pacific Northwest we haven’t had rain for months and most the snow is already melted off. This leaves the rivers around here running so low and clear they are almost unfishable. I’m hoping a few of these techniques will help you in catching some of these bright summer fish hanging in the rivers.

First thing you’re going to want to look at is your gear, whatever liter your running now, prepare to downsize. Float fishing is going to be the technique of choice. You’re going to be running a 6 pound maxima ultra green liter with my preference of a smoke color fire line 14 pound braid. Make sure you have a long rod, at least 9’ 6”. My rod and reel of choice is a pflueger supreme reel and Lamiglas xmg50 9’ 6” rod.

For bait it’s going to be a combination of things. These fish are so smart and hard to catch in these conditions, we have to trick them in every which way possible. The first step is buying some jigs in 1/16 ounce size or smaller. You’re going to want them to be darker color patterns. I prefer nightmare, and or purple patterns. You need to get some good running floats. Steelhead Stalkers are going to be my pick.

Next thing you need is some sand shrimp. Once your all tied up with bobber, jig, and all, I like to tip the end of my jig with a little bit of sand shrimp as an extra incentive for these weary fish. Just break off little chunks at a time and tip the end of your jig. Make sure you have some nice waiters and a good pair polarized glasses, for comfort out on the water.

Now that you’re all geared up, finding the fish is a different story. The key to finding these fish is deeper stretches of water where these fish feel safe and can be cool. Since you’re going to be float fishing, you need to target areas of the river that are deeper than the rest but stretch long enough for you to get a decent float with your bobber and jig. Sometimes if you can find slots in the river, that’s going to be the ticket to catching your nice bright chrome summer steelhead. These fish don’t have a lot of water to work with so they will use the deeper slots to sit in and move up river. Most the rivers around here have these slots. With your polarized glasses, walk up and down river looking for these slots, but be stealthy. In the hunt for these slots it’s not uncommon to spot summer steelhead just waiting for you to float your jig by their face. Once these slots are found cast up river, and let your jig pass through the slots perfectly, if the steelhead is there….. “BOBBER DOWN!!!” you should have a fish on. Once the summer goes on you will find fish way way up river in the most oxygenated water they can find. Falls or rapids with deep pools are good areas to look!

Summer steelhead is extremely aggressive and feisty, when hooked its very likely that they will put on a nice acrobatic show for you. Make sure to be careful and play them out, with the 6 pound liter your chance of losing these crazy chromers is very good.

Now hurry up and get off the computer, head to Wholesale Sports, pick up your jigs, your shrimp, your line, your bobbers, and hey why not spoil yourself with a new lamiglas rod and pflueger reel. Feel free to ask any questions you may have in the forum! They will be answered immediately! Thanks for reading, cause once the addiction starts it never stops!

YOUR CRAZY ADDICTED FISHERMAN…THE BASSINPIMP

Beginning this month any angler that wants to earn some extra cash can do so just by fishing. BPA has a bounty on northern pike minnow to help get these fish out of the river. These fish are trash fish and are known for a pretty big appetite on salmon smolt. The season will end September 27, 2009. For every qualifying northern pike minnow 9 inches or longer returned to a registration station, anglers will receive $4-$8. The more fish an angler catches, the more they’re worth: the first 100 in one season are worth $4 each; after 100, they’re worth $5 each; and after 400 they’re worth $8 each. Special tagged northern pike minnow will be worth $500 again this year. This can add up to large amounts of extra cash depending on how much time you put in

You can catch northern pike minnow almost anywhere on the Columbia River. Northern pike minnow congregate in rocky areas with fast current near dams, islands, stream mouths, points, eddies, rows of pilings, and ledges or bars in the river. Most fish are caught in 7 to 25 feet of water. Northern pike minnow feed heavily on smolts, freshwater clams, and crayfish. They move to find concentrations of prey. Finding northern pike minnow may not be easy. Don’t spend all your time in just one spot. If you’re not doing any good after about 30 minutes move upstream or downstream until you find fish.

Worms are the most common northern pike minnow bait. Chicken liver is the next most popular bait. Make sure it is fresh and keep it cold to prevent it from getting too soft to stay on the hook. Salmon eggs, grasshoppers, crayfish tails, and shrimp are also popular. Fish these baits similar as you would salmon or steelhead fishing. Casting upstream slightly and let your bait drift along the bottom with the current.

Bait isn’t the only way to catch these fish you may also use soft plastics. Use grubs or worms (3 to 6 inches long), tube jugs (3 to 4 inches long), or shad type bodies (1 1/2 to 4 inches long). One-eighth or one-quarter ounce jig-heads are the most commonly used. The basic technique for fishing grubs is to drift-fish. Cast slightly upstream, straight out, or slightly downstream, depending on the amount of current. Count down to the proper depth (one-one thousand, two-one thousand…), then start reeling. You are at the proper depth if your lure occasionally lightly ticks on the rocks. In the evening northern pikeminnow are most consistently attracted to grubs with purple bodies and either blue or green glitter. These colors are also available with chartreuse tails, which often work well. Try purple grubs with blue or green glitter first. Red is the last basic glitter color to try for evening fishing. For daytime fishing, try light colored bodies like chartreuse or smoke. Experiments with glitter colors, fish don’t always follow the same pattern. Light colors or white usually better in the evening and dark colors usually work during the day. Experiment with colors to find what works best and make some money while you’re out there.

For more info check out

THE OFFICIAL PIKEMINNOW SPORT REWARD FISHING WEBSITE

To  many anglers Spring Chinook is one of the best tasting fish the North  West has to offer. Anglers each year head to the Columbia to try their  luck in hooking these amazing fish. Typically you’ll find that the  Willamette will start producing fish before the Columbia. This is because  smolts are released from the Willamette a little sooner than the rest  are released.

A relaxing, fun and successful way to catch these fish is anchor fishing.  This can be done on any river that is tide affected but found most popular  on the Columbia River and Willamette. The first thing you must always  be aware of is your tide. The only way to properly fish on anchor is  to fish an out going tide. This will keep your boat straight on anchor  and give your plugs the action they need to work in the water. The best  way to get started is venturing out and exploring holes with a fish  finder. You want to find water anywhere from 18-30ft. You can find fish  in other water as well but these depths are more common to hold fish  this time of year. Using your fish finder you want to find holes that  provide shelves or drop offs. Often times these salmon will just lay  behind these shelves looking for slower water to rest in before continuing  their journey upriver. Once you find shelves the best thing to do is  mark your location on your GPS either on your fish finder or a hand  held. If you don’t have either you can still manage it just may take  longer to locate the shelf next time you go out. The best thing to do  if you don’t have a GPS is try and memorize something along the shore  directly across so next time when you come back you can line yourself  back up and come close to getting in the same spot. Once on anchor you’ll  want to start getting your gear ready to go. I prefer to fish a braided  line either 50lb power pro or tuff line when fishing plugs or spinners.  This is because there is no stretch in your line which increases your  hook sets because fish will often hook them selves before you even grab  your rod. From my braided line I run it to a spreader which looks just  like heavy gauged wire bent in a 90 degree angle with swivels on the  ends. Three way swivels will work as well but you’ll find the spreaders  prevent tangles and frustration. From there you’ll want to tie an  18”-24” 15lb mono dropper line down from your spreader. This is  the line that connects down to your weight. Weight size may vary depending  on the current but for the most part 8-10oz will work. The reason I  run a lighter monofilament line for my dropper is because if your weight  snags on the bottom you want your weight to break loose first. This  will hopefully save you from having to re-rig a whole set up and also  save money. All that’s left to do now is tie on your plug. I like  running Luhr Jensen Kwikfish in a size K14 or K15. Colors will always  vary but there are few that seem to be winners each year. One of my  favorite is one many refer to as the “Double Trouble” it’s a chrome  body with Chartreuse on each end. The most key part to this whole setup  is making sure your plug is properly tuned. To do this put your plug  in the water and pull it upstream and watch the action. A properly tuned  plug will always stay straight inline and not pull to one side. If your  plug does run to one side you’ll want to tune it by adjusting the  eyelet your line connects to. If your plug pulls to the left turn the  eyelet to the right and vise versa if it pulls to the right. Now that  the plug is properly tuned wrapping your Kwikfish with bait will greatly  increase your catch rate. You’ll find the majority of everyone fishing  will be using Sardine fillets which you can buy filleted already or  take whole sardines and fillet them yourself either is fine. The reason  sardine is chosen over many other baits is because of its oil content.  Being that’s it’s a very oily fish it leaves a stronger scent in  the water attracting more fish to your plug. Wrapping your plugs is  easy I start by cutting fillets down to about 1” X 2” fillets. You’ll  want to place your fillet on the belly of you plug. So in order to do  that cut a slit about half way up the fillet. Using that slit you can  now slide it around the hook on the belly of the plug. Magic thread  or miracle thread is a couple threads out there you can use to wrap  your plug. I like to start at the back of the plug and work my way to  the front of the plug then wrap back towards the back making a total  of about 20-30 wraps. To finish it off just make several half hitch  knots and this will keep your bait secure. Now you’re ready to put  your lines in the water. Make sure to check your drags ahead of time.  You want a drag that is snug but not tight and not too loose. If a fish  hits you want them to be able to take line. You’ll find more fish  will hold the plug longer with a looser drag which equals more hook  ups. Hopefully some of these tips will help bring more fish to the boat  this year good luck!