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What makes people go crazy for steelhead?

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So just what is it about steelhead trout that makes people nutty…and do crazy things?

I was once doing a phone interview with a writer from a big East Coast magazine. From his cozy office in New York City, he asked me that very question.

It was hard for me to answer. I mean, with steelhead…you either get it or you don’t.

There are so many deep-seeded feelings and emotions for me that are tied to these fish that it’s almost impossible to articulate in a way that somebody on the outside can understand.

So, I spat out the first thing to come to mind:

“I fish for steelhead so I can see them up close…”

Huh?

And then, I just got on a roll and rattled off a total unabated stream of consciousness…

I fish for steelhead because I want to get as close to them as I can. I feel that they are like fine art, each one to be viewed quietly, taken in and remembered.

I told him that I have never felt more alive and in touch with the world – and myself – as when I’m standing in a misty canyon, with a ribbon of emerald flowing in front of me.

Steelhead haunt my dreams and run through my veins.

They have taken me to the top of the mountain and they have broken my heart. I’ve bled for them; I’ve frozen for them and I’ve driven, flown, hiked and floated thousands and thousands of miles for them…and there’s not a single day of the year that I don’t think about them.

Steelhead make me straight up crazy. Even on dry land, I can close my eyes and literally feel what that moment of first contact is like, that initial tight line surge. And I can make my heart rate jump by simply imagining a float going under or a plug rod going off. Oh man…the plug takedown of a steelhead…wow…if that doesn’t get your juices flowing, you’d better check your pulse because you’re probably dead.

Steelhead make me want to follow every single anadramous river from the mouth to the source – and then float back down them again. They make me think irrational thoughts like maybe I should just sell the house and get a toy hauler that fits a drift boat and hit the open road…and never come back!

They drive me to drink; they drive me to the limits –mentally, physically, emotionally. Steelhead make me wear the numbers off my credit cards and sometimes pull the hairs off my head.

They give me this insatiable desire to fix all the damage that has been done to the rivers they call home. They drive me to pick up trash, fight for flows, plant trees and dump spawning gravel by the truckload into the water.

Steelhead are the fish I’d miss Christmas for and the reason I got married during the offseason. They give me sweaty palms and weak knees. Though I’ve probably shaved at least a year off my life expectancy due to all the junk food consumed on steelie road trips, I also believe that every day you fish for steelhead is one you get to tack onto the end.

And speaking of the end, if I had a choice, I’d go steelhead fishing on my last day on the planet. I’ve informed my family what to do when my time is about up: Take me to the top of some whitewater gorge with a drift boat and a couple rods. No need for a life jacket or a shuttle…it will be my last ride. Hopefully, there will be a couple biters along the way!

Steelhead are responsible for all the drift and float and plug and fly and center pin rods…the jigs and stacks of Pip’s and boxes of plugs; the BC Steels and the spinner boxes; the Slinkies and pink worms; the two deflated pontoon boats; the Fish Pills all over the floor; the nets and waders and boots and pink stained fridge – that all make my garage useless to terrestrial vehicles.

They’ve also ruined many a potentially productive day in the office…all it takes is a photo or a text from somebody on the river and I’m worthless the rest of the afternoon.

Steelhead are why my favorite color is green — because it reminds me of the perfect hue of a river just coming into shape and the giant redwoods that stand on its banks. And because of the dorsal color of one of those awesome looking bucks that’s transitioning from ocean chrome to river camo – olive back and a faint pink cheek and stripe peeking out from silver flanks.

In short, steelhead are epic, nearly indescribable critters that make me tick and dream and feel alive. I’m not at all sure the interviewer ever really got the message but I bet you all do…

I hate the North Wind!

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Cursed you, North Wind…you howling, cold, harbinger of poor fishing! Go away you foul scoundrel and take with you your red faces, bad attitudes, skunk days and white-capped water!

There’s just nothing good about a north wind. It blows stuff all over my yard, it makes people nuts and…even worse…fish don’t like to bite in it.

And why do the fish care? I mean, after all, they’re underwater. Why do they give a rat’s furry behind if it’s windy if they are more than a couple feet below the surface?

To be honest, not all wind is bad. In fact, it can be really good for fishing. It gets baitfish moving around and pushes them up against structure where the predators can easily find ’em. Wind also ruffles up the surface of the water, which keeps the light from penetrating so deep. Predatory fish like to hunt when there is less light so their prey can’t see them coming.

And along the Pacific coast, NW wind generates upwelling, which brings nutrient-rich waters up from the depths…which is critical for the food chain.

Yes wind can be a good thing.

But at least inland, it has to be the right wind!

And as far as I’m concerned, just about any wind is the right wind…as long as it’s not coming from the North!

So, just what is it about the North Wind that makes fish not want to bite? Well, it’s just straight up evil that’s what! Okay, sorry…I was getting a little fired up there.

Actually, I think the only logical explanation has to do with the fact that North Wind, in my area at least, often signals a dramatic change in the barometric pressure – usually a

strong high is moving in with it. Fish bite great in high-pressure periods, but that transition zone beforehand can be a bit of a bugger. I guess there’s just something that the fish just don’t care for about that.

As a kid I remember an old timer from Oregon telling me his little wind mantra that went like this:

Wind from the West is Best, Wind from the East, Fishing is Least and Wind from the North, Go Forth.

Go where? When the wind is blowing from the north, I’m thinking about “going forth” to lunch and a movie…not to the lake! Heck, I’d rather go to the dentist, build some IKEA furniture or do my taxes. That’s how much I dislike the North Wind!

Now, that’s not to say I haven’t caught my share of fish on days when the wind was howling down from up north, but the crappy days far out-number the good ones.

I’m thinking I need to take up kite flying, windmill building, sailing…something to make me better appreciate the North Wind because as it stands now it just irritates the heck out of me.

How about you?

How to pick the right fishing rod (without melting your brain)

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Every month, I get emails from people who are having a tough time picking out the right rod for the style of fishing they are doing. Folks often struggle with not only which brand to go with, but also the more detailed stuff like actions, lengths, line weights, power, etc.

The good news is rods come with most of the information you need to make an informed decision — printed right on the blank (usually just above the fore grip). The bad news is it may look like it’s in code at first. And even if you understand the code, what do all these facts and figures mean?

Well, let’s see if we can’t get you started on the path of understanding here!

Decoding

Okay, so let’s start with the model number on the blank. This part can be actually very helpful — or meaningless, depending on the brand. Some manufactures simply have a model number assigned to a rod that doesn’t mean much to the consumer. Others make their model numbers like a quick cheat sheet that can tell you a lot about the rod.

For example, I’m looking at the above rod — a Douglas Outdoors LRS S785F. In this case, the LRS is the series the rod belongs to. The “S”denotes that it is a spinning rod (C would be for “casting”). The “785” part is the real meat here.

Breaking it down, the “78″ portion of the model number tells me the rod is 7’8″ in length and the “5” means that it has 5-power (more on that later).

Had there been a “2” on the end of that, it would denote that the rod is a 2-piece model.

Finally the “F” tells that the rod has a Fast action, which I’ll also get to in a bit.

So, that’s actually pretty handy and not all that complicated, right? It’s a great system when the models are coded that way, but like I said, not everybody does it. That’s okay though! There’s typically more info on the blank to help ya out.

Just about all companies put some version of this info on their rods. Back to the Douglas Outdoors rod I mentioned above, 7’8″/10-20 LB./ 1/4- 1/1/4oz is also included on the label after the model number.

Okay, so now lets break all that down into more digestible chunks!

Length

The length of your rod has both to do with personal preference (i.e. what’s comfortable to you) and also technique. Some methods like bobber fishing for steelhead require long rods so you can more easily mend loose line off the water. While others dictate the use of shorter sticks — say, casting soft plastics for bass around docks for example.

Power

Typically described in terms such as “Ultra-Light, Light, Medium, Medium Heavy, Heavy and Extra-Heavy,” or numbers like “1-6 Power,” the power of a rod lets you know how much lifting ability or “backbone” it has. In other words, how stiff it is under resistance.

In the real world, this means if you hook a heavy fish on an Ultra-Light or Light rod, you will have trouble turning it or, from a boat, find it tough to lift it up off the bottom. Another way to think about it is, if you were trying to lift a cinder block up off the ground with a rod, you’d have a much better shot at doing it with an Extra Heavy rod than a Light one.

Obviously, in situations that call for delicate presentations and light line, you’d be way better off with a rod with a lighter power rating.

Action

Generally measured from Slow to Extra Fast, a rod’s action tells you how much the rod will bend when you put pressure on the tip.

A Slow rod will feature a parabolic bend in which the blank bends fairly evenly through much of its length, from the tip down to the handle. A Moderate or Medium action rod bends in the upper half and then Fast and Extra Fast rods will bend primarily in the upper third and then, “shut off” in the bottom section.

Because Slow rods (often called noodle rods) have a lot of bend to them, they are most often used when light line is necessary due to their shock-absorbing properties. But you compromise “feel,” hook setting ability and casting distance with them.

Medium to Medium Fast rods are great for casting distance and have relatively good sensitivity and hook setting properties. They are also great choices when using lures like salmon or steelhead plugs so the hooks don’t get ripped out when a fish strikes. Fast and Extra Fast rods are the way to go when you need to bury big hooks into tough mouths or yank heavy fish out of thick cover.

Line Rating

This tells you what lines the rod was designed for and its important to try to stay within that range — at least with monofilament. For example, let’s say you are using a Heavy Power rod rated for 20- to 40-pound line and you are using 12-pound test. When you hook a fish, you are likely to break it off on the hookset or during the fight because the rod is geared up for much heavier line and doesn’t have much “give” to it.

Conversely, if you hook a fish or get a snag with an Ultra Light stick that you have rigged with 20-pound test and put some pressure on it, the rod may blow up before the line breaks.

You get into casting issues too if you don’t follow the line ratings on the rod. You’ll have a miserable time trying to cast a heavy lure with thick line on a Light Rod and it’s next to impossible to cast light lures with light line on a Heavy action rod.

Lure Weight

This tells you how much weight a rod can cast. Like line rating, you’ll want to stick as close to these parameters as you can.

Right when you are about to bring your arm forward to make a cast, the rod will bend and store energy. This is called “loading up.” When you let go at the top of your stroke, the rod will straighten out, releasing that energy — and thats where your distance comes from.

Use more weight than the rod is rated for and it won’t release that energy in an efficient way, resulting in shorter and much less accurate casts. If you try throwing a lure lighter than the rod is designed for, it won’t bend much — thus making it unable to store up the energy needed to make long casts.

Hopefully this helps clarify some of the questions about rod selection you may have. I’ve tried to keep it as simple as possible because fishing is supposed to be fun.

I know I’d rather engage my brain on something much more important like deciding which color steelhead jig I’m going to use instead of decoding rod details!

Backtrolling for Salmon & Steelhead: How to get more bites to stick!

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You have probably heard that the best way to convert bites to hookups when backtrolling for salmon & steelhead is to leave the rods in the holders, right? But has anyone ever explained why?

Way back in the 1980’s I was just learning to plug fish and had always been told the same thing. But it didn’t make sense!

I figured I’d ignore conventional wisdom and set the hook anytime I got so much as a sniff from a fish. After all, I reasoned, why would a fish hang onto a lure for long once it felt it was hard plastic? It just didn’t make sense!

Well, sure missed a heck of a lot of bites in those days…until I started putting the rods in the holders.

Here’s why:

Take a look at the pix above and think about this: When you are backing plugs down a river, you and your rods are facing downriver while the fish are facing upstream.

When a fish first contacts your plug, he’s typically at the worst possible angle for getting a hook into him. If you were to set the hook when you are facing each other, there’s not a lot of good jaw there to get a point into. Plus, you’re pulling the lure straight away from him — like pulling a spoon out of a baby’s mouth.

When the rod is in the holder, however, you give the fish a chance to chomp down on the plug and then turn downstream with it. As the fish is winking away from you, the hooks have a better chance to bury in the corner of the jaw (where they often stay put).

By the time you get to the rod, the fish has usually hooked itself.

Of course, not all fish bite the same way and this is anything but a fool proof method. But, give it a shot and I’m sure you’ll see that your bites to fish in the net ratios go way up.

By the way, the same principle applies when you are fishing bait behind divers…let em eat it!