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How to Properly Freeze Roe for Bait: The “Burrito Method”

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So, you caught some hatchery hens this season and cured the eggs up for future salmon and steelhead fishing missions…But do you know how to make sure your bait is ready to go this winter or next fall? 

It’s actually one of the questions I get asked most often — what’s the best way to freeze egg baits? 

Well, there are a lot of ways you can go here and the short answer is: I vaccuum seal my wet cure eggs in Mason Jars. For dryer eggs I’m going to use for drifting, I’ll go with the burrito method. 

Here’s how I do it:

First, you’ll need some paper towels, plastic wrap and vaccuum sealer bags…


Start by laying out some paper “tortillas” and then put the skein — or portion thereof — in the middle…


Next, wrap the eggs up just like you would a burrito…

Then, stretch out a length of plastic wrap and place the burrito on it…

Wrap the plastic around the burrito tightly, trying to squeeze as much of the air out as possible. Just be careful to not smash the eggs…

Next, get a vac bag ready. Be sure to label it with a Sharpie so you know what’s in there when you pull it out weeks or months down the road…

Now, fill the bag with as many burritos you think you’ll need in a session. I use the Oliso brand because they have a zipper end that allows you to take stuff out and then reseal the bag up to 10 times…

The next step is to place the bag in the freezer (unsealed). When the baits are frozen solid, put your vac packer on the “moist” setting if it has one and suck the air and then seal the bag shut. If you vacuum the eggs before they are frozen, they will turn to mush. 

On a similar note, be sure to either open (or cut a hole) in the sealer bags when you take the burritos out to thaw. If left in the sealed bag, the eggs will expand upon thawing and you’ll end up with mushy goo (not good). 

Follow these easy steps and you’ll have good eggs ready to fish when you need ‘em. 

For more Steelhead fishing tips and techniques, check out my massive eBook: The Ultimate Guide to Steelhead Bank Fishing

How to Plunk for Steelhead

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Sadly, we can’t always have perfect “steelie green” water conditions on the river. There are times when the water is still way up high and a few days away from ideal…but you just have to fish anyway. What to do?

Go Plunking, that’s what!

Plunking is a lot like glorified catfishing: You toss your gear out and put your rod in a holder or against a forked stick and wait for a bite. Not exactly what you imagine when you think about steelhead fishing, but it can actually be pretty fun…and productive!

Timing

Each river has its own schedule for dropping and clearing, but the best time to plunk is usually 1 to 5 days after the high water has peaked. You definitely want to fish when the water is on the drop (steelies don’t usually bite very well on a rising river) and you need the river to have more green than brown color to it. It will still probably be up in the trees and you’ll often be dealing with only a foot of visibility or so, but that’s ok.

Location

Most plunking is done on the lower sections of rivers, where the chance at fresh migrating steelhead is best. In high water, steelhead will avoid the main channel and instead migrate up the soft edges on the shallow side of the river. Inside bends are best and you usually don’t have to cast more than about 20 feet out. In some cases, the fish will be right at your feet, so avoid the urge to cast long distances.  High water looks intimidating, but in reality, you can eliminate 99 percent of the river and just concentrate your efforts on the near-shore areas that feature less current.

Tackle & Technique

The idea here is to find a nice travel lane and anchor your gear right in the middle of it so migrating fish have no choice but to see your offering. Unlike traditional steelhead fishing, in which we normally want our gear drifting along the bottom, plunking calls for keeping your bait in one spot. In high water, that means using big sinkers — sometimes up to 10 ounces, depending on the spot. You’ll need much heavier gear than you are used to for this technique, so using a standard 8- to 17-pound rated outfit for plunking is like taking a butter knife to a sword fight.

My Favorite Steelhead Fishing Gear

Straight Spin-N-Glos or Spinning/Flashing Cheaters are good offerings for this technique, but I love to put some bait on the hook to sweeten the deal — either roe or sand shrimp work well. Once you are rigged and have found a nice soft water edge, toss the rig out and make sure it stays anchored to the bottom. If not, add more weight or cast closer to shore. Then, use a stick or sand spike style holder for the rod. Some people like to put a bell on the rod to alert them when a fish bites. Plunking is a pretty social scene in a lot of places, so folks often get busy shooting the bull, listening to ball games and barbecuing — and forget to watch their rod tips!

Since by design, you will be fishing shortly after a high water event, be sure to check your rig frequently. There will still be a lot of junk coming down the river that can foul your gear.

By the way, if you’d like to see how all this is done in detail, along with everything you could ever want to know about catching steelies from shore,  check out my 6+ hour long video course, The Ultimate Guide to Steelhead Bank Fishing!

Hot Steelhead Technique: Pulling Plugs without a Boat!

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tory_plug

Here’s a fun trick to help you catch more steelhead in small waters: Pulling plugs on foot!

I know it sounds kind funny at first, but this little trick I call “Back-Footin” is deadly effective – and highly addictive – on small streams that are tough to float and fish with traditional methods due to size and/or lots of overhanging wood and brush.

I first started fishing this way during my college years at Humboldt State University, which is a short cast from the banks of the Mad River. I didn’t have a boat in those days, but I couldn’t help but notice how the drifters working the stretch below the Blue Lake bridge with plugs boats absolutely molly-hocked those hatchery stleeies.

So, one winter when the Mad dropped out and got extremely low, I decided to wade out into a run that looked fishy (and shallow enough) and backed a lure through it, just as I’d seen the guys in the boats do. Fish on! In fact, I nailed 8 chrome hatchery brats that day and was an instant convert. I started messing around with the technique a lot after that and found it to be even more effective on really small creeks.

back_footing

As with anything, the more you do something the better at it you get. I’ve learned a lot about back-footin’ since those early days, particularly from fellow guide, river rat and buddy, Fred Contaoi, who’s also long been an aficionado of the method. Together, we’ve had some awesome days fishing this way and now I’m going to share with you the basic nuts and bolts so you can get out and try it.

Technique

Back-footin’ is pretty simple. Find a good-looking piece of steelhead holding water and get into position as far upstream of it as you can. Try to stay in a crouch to avoid spooking the fish and be careful not to dislodge any silt that will cloud up the hole.

When you’re above the spot, drop your plug into the current. Put the reel into free-spool and work the lure slowly downriver by putting pressure on the spool with your thumb. Hold the lure in place occasionally and even give the reel a forward half-crank every now and then to get the plug to slightly dart upstream.

Back footing for steelhead

When you get the plug all the way to the tailout, you can slowly crank it back through the run again – its amazing how many fish will ignore the plug the first time but hit it as it works back upstream. After a pass down and back, reel up and try a different line down through the hole. Don’t spend a ton of time at each spot – when your lure wobbles into a small pool, you’ll know pretty quickly whether or not there’s a steelie in there.

[convertkit form=1914587]

Be advised – when you get a screaming takedown, you’ll need to clamp down on the spool with your thumb. With the reel in freespool, the spool is going to spin out of control when a fish starts running and a very ugly bird’s nest is the likely result. When you get a chance, click the reel into gear so you can fight the fish with the drag instead of burning flesh!

Lures and Baits

Okay, one of the greatest aspects of fishing this way is you don’t need a whole lot of gear. Pop a few plugs, snaps and leader material into small box and you’re in business. And you don’t have to get too crazy about your lure selection, either. Most tiny streams harbor only wild, non-discriminating steelhead and in close quarters, they’re pretty territorial. Simply put, get something in front of them and they’re likely to try to blast into shrapnel.

Steelhead Plugs

I carry a selection of Yakima Bait Co. MagLips in the 2.5 and 3.0 sizes, some No. 50 Hot Shots, and a few Brad’s Wee Wigglers and that’s it. I  replace all the stock trebles with upgraded hooks, but with small plugs you have an inherent quandary: Too much hook will overwhelm the lure and kill the action but small hooks will often get destroyed by big fish, so you have to experiment and find the happy medium for the particular lures you are using.

As far as lure colors go, pinks, chrome, gold, blue pirate and copper will cover you in just about any situation.

If you really want to get fancy (and I rarely do when back-footin’ – keep it simple, you know?) you can also run a diver/bait rig. There are times when a pink plastic worm fished behind a No. 10 Jet Diver works better than anything on the planet, but a complex rig like that can also be a major pain in tight quarters.

Gearing Up

Since you’re likely to hook some extremely hot fish in tight quarters, you’ll need a reel that can put the brakes on a fish that’s speeding towards a root wad, a rapid or tree limb. So with that in mind, don’t try this with cheesy reels. The are lots of quality reels out there — you don’t have to spend a million bucks but make sure you get one thats going to hold up to the stress you’re likely to put it through. The Daiwa Fuego is a nice mid-priced reel that will get the job done. If you want to a higher-end model, check out the Luna.

As far as rods go, you’ll need something with a soft tip to allow those small plugs to work properly but it also will need enough power to muscle fish out of the brush. My go-to stick is the Douglas Outdoors DXC 9642MF.

steelhead fishing

As far as line goes, you can go straight mono (15-pound) or 30-pound braid with a 10-foot topshot of 15-pound mono. Mono is good because it has some stretch — which comes in handy when a steelhead decides to try to rip the rod right out of your hands. However, braid is very tough and can stand up to the abuse that a big steelhead in confined quarters can dish out. It’s kind of a case-by-case judgement call for me, depending on the individual stream I’m fishing.

Safety

When fishing small streams, you’re usually walking in the water all day long, so always, always, always wear a wading belt and felt soles on your boots. Even small streams have deep spots that can get you into trouble, so move slowly and, when in doubt, use the tip of that long rod to check the depth before you pass though a spot you’re unsure about. Also, it’s a really good idea to wear an inflatable life jacket… just in case!

back footing stream

Conservation

As I stated earlier, the best back-footin’ waters are usually small creeks that hold modest runs of wild steelhead. Streams like these can’t handle much pressure and every single fish you keep accounts for a decent percentage of the population. So, killing a fish you catch with this method is really not an option — unless, of course, you’re fishing a hatchery stream there are plenty of ad-clipped fish around.

Also, as you walk downstream, pay close attention to anything that looks like a spawning area and give it a wide berth. An ill-placed footstep in the middle of a redd can wipe out a whole bunch of steelhead or salmon before they ever get a chance to grow up and smack your plug and leave it hanging from the trees…

More Information

If you want to learn more techniques, check out my book, the Ultimate Guide to Steelhead Bank Fishing.

Bobber-Dogging for Steelhead from the Bank

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Bobber Doggin diagram

The following is an excerpt from my guidebook, The Ultimate Guide to Steelhead Bank Fishing. Here’s a small section of the Float Fishing Chapter…

Bobber-doggin’ is hybrid technique that seems to be taking the steelhead world by storm these days – and though it’s most often practiced from boats, you can do very well with it from shore too!

There’s a lot of confusion surrounding this method – partly because everybody seems to have a slightly different way they go about it. I’ll give you the basic technique here and then you can tweak things as you see fit.

The best way to describe bobber-doggin’ is that it is basically drift fishing with a float. Unlike traditional bobber fishing where the bait rides suspended in the water column, the idea here is to have your sinker (typically a Slinky) tapping along the bottom – again just as if you were drift fishing. What the bobber does is act like a little tug boat, dragging your gear downstream.

The benefits of this presentation are:

  • You tend to get snagged much less frequently because of the line angle coming off the float.
  • Instead of having your gear drift in an arc (like regular drift fishing), it travels on a straight line, which enables you to cover water you couldn’t without the bobber.
  • You have a built-in bite detector.

When drift fishing, it can be difficult to distinguish the tap of your sinker from the often subtle bite of a steelhead. When bobber-doggin’ it’s pretty simple – when the float goes down you probably have a bite. At that point, reel until you come tight to the fish and then set the hook.

How to do It

While you’ll often see anglers in drift boats and jet sleds doing most of the Bobber-Doggin’, it’s a handy little technique off the bank too. The absolute best way to do it is “Poor Man’s Drift Boat” style (see the “Drift Fishing” chapter for more on that) where you cast at about a 45 degree angle upstream and then start walking down the bank as your rig drifts. Ideally, you want to have the bobber upstream of your position as you walk.

bobber_doggin_cc

Because the sinker is dragging the bottom, the top of the float should be angled downstream (exactly the way we don’t want it to be when fishing standard float gear), and you may see or even feel the sinker tapping the bottom.

I don’t mind a slight belly in the line near the float just to keep the gear moving along – but there’s a fine line here. Too much of a bow in the line and the rig will get dragged downstream too quickly.

The right speed is dictated by water conditions: Use more weight to slow your bait down if the water is high, cold and/or off-colored, and go with just enough to keep the offering ticking the bottom when the conditions are clear and the water has good visibility to it.

Rigging up for Bobber-Doggin’

Rigging up is essentially the same as described in the drift fishing section – with addition of a slip float and a bobber stop above the leader.

BOBBERDOG_RIG

Because you want the current pulling the rig along, bobbers with a wide profile to catch more current are best for this method. You can use the big teardrops – or better yet: buy the cheapie foam ones and cut the bottoms off so they are flat. That big flat surface gets pushed nicely by the current and keeps the rig drifting nicely. Aerofloat also makes a Bobber-Doggin’ model if you’d rather go that route.

BOBBERDOG_RIG

As far as depth goes, the rule of thumb is to set your bobber stop (measuring from the Slinky) to about 1½ times the water depth. You can adjust from there but that will get you started.

My Favorite Steelhead Fishing Gear

A standard float rod from 8½ to 9½ feet in length is fine and the style reel you use is totally up to you – spinning or casting both work fine. Spool up with 30-pound braid and then run an 8- to 15-pound fluoro or mono leader. I like bright yellow or white braided line so I can see my line in the water. To keep it from being too visible, however, I’ll take a fat black Sharpie pen and darken the top 20 feet of line.

On the business end, roe and a Fish Pill or Corkie works great on a No. 4 octopus hook. But anything you would drift for steelhead – plastic worms, nightcrawlers, shrimp, prawns, sand shrimp tails, pegged beads and yarn balls are perfectly suited to bobber-doggin’ as well.

For much, much more info, check out my latest Guidebook:

High Water Steelhead Fishing: Plunking

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It’s been raining like crazy up and down the West Coast and steelhead rivers are running high…which makes now the perfect time to show you how to catch fish in big water.

This is a small excerpt from my new eBook, The Ultimate Guide to Steelhead Bank Fishing, which is loaded with lots of other useful how-to stuff like this…

When rivers are coming down from a big rise, but aren’t yet low enough to be fished with drift gear, floats or hardware, it’s time to plunk. This method really shines when a river’s on the drop but still off color and pushy – when you’re still two to three days away from what you’d consider ideal conditions. The river’s velocity will still be high enough that the fish will abandon the middle of the flow, opting instead to travel upstream on the path of least resistance along the shallow margins.

High water diagram

High water actually reduces the amount of water you have to cover – since the fish will be right next to the bank.

Big rod? Check! Forked stick? Check! Bell? Check! Truck? Check! Beer? Check! Plunk on, my friends!

Where to Cast

Since steelhead migrate close to shore in high water, you’re going to want to be within 20 feet of the bank (sometimes as close as just a couple feet) on the shallow side of the river. Most of the time, you’ll be fishing in 2½ to 4 feet of water. Ideally, your gear will be parked in the slower current but you’ll have some heavy water just outside of you. Since the fish don’t want to swim up through the fast stuff, they’ll have to come right past you.

Plunking short cast

No need to be a hero and show off your long-range casting skills when plunking. The fish are going to be close to shore when the water is up.

Once you have your gear in the water, all you have to do is put the rod in a holder or sand spike and sit back and wait for the fish to come to you. Since plunking can be such a social affair – almost like tailgating at a football game, you can get distracted by good food and conversation and forget to keep an eye on your rod. For that reason, lots of plunkers clip a catfish bell to their rod tips…that way they can hear it when a fish grabs the bait.

It’s actually pretty fun to watch a bunch of plunkers throw everything down and scramble towards their rods when a bell goes off.

Plunking is a often a social outing – almost like tailgating before a football game: Food, friends, fun...and maybe even a fish or two!

Plunking is a often a social outing – almost like tailgating before a football game: Food, friends, fun…and maybe even a fish or two!

The Rig

There are several ways to set your gear up for plunking. Some anglers get pretty involved and, where legal, will run two to three rigs off their mainline. They’ll have a combination of baits and/or plugs and everything has to be perfect to avoid major tangles. I’m more of a keep it simple kind of guy so I keep my rigs decidedly low-tech. They work just fine, however!

Here’s the easiest way to get going:

Basic Plunking Rig

Step 1: Start by tying a three-way swivel to the end of your mainline (I use 50-pound braided mainline).

Step 2: Attach a 10- to 18- inch leader to one of the remaining eyes on the swivel. This is the dropper line for the sinker. Make sure your lead line is 5-10 pounds lighter than your leader so that, if the sinker gets snagged, you’ll lose it instead of the whole rig.

Step 3: To the end of the dropper goes a Duolock swivel – and then your sinker snaps into that. Pyramid or teardrop sinkers (you may need anywhere between 1 to 8 ounces of lead, depending on the river and flow) seem to hold best in strong currents, though some folks use the flat “pancake” style as well.

On some northern rivers, anglers build structures known as “plunking shacks” to protect themselves from the elements.

On some northern rivers, anglers build structures known as “plunking shacks” to protect themselves from the elements.

For the leader, run a 3-foot section of 20 or 25-lb. test monofilament to the swivel. I know that sounds heavy for steelhead but we’re dealing with heavy currents here – plus, the fish aren’t leader shy in big, off-colored water. The other end of the leader should have a double hook rig with your favorite brand of octopus hooks in the 1/0 to 3/0 size range.

To help fish find your offering in high/dirty water, upsize your rig and keep it shiny and bright.

To help fish find your offering in high/dirty water, upsize your rig and keep it shiny and bright.

As far as offerings go, big, bright, spinning drift bobbers are the ticket here. The No. 2-4 fluorescent orange or chartreuse “clown” Spin-N-Glo is pretty standard but you can also go with Beau Mac Flashing & Spinning Cheaters in the same colors. These winged bobbers put off some serious vibrations when they rotate in the current – and that helps the fish hone in on them in water with limited visibility.

Plenty of people catch fish on the “naked” Spin-N-Glos and Cheaters but I think it’s more effective to add some bait to the offering. A cluster of roe is always a great bet but sand shrimp and prawn meat are also effective when fished on plunking gear.

The Bite

The bites vary from fish to fish when plunking and there’s no real rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes you get a series of taps on the tip that kinda look like a trout bite. I think what’s happening there is a fish came up and grabbed your gear and just kept swimming upriver. The taps you feel are actually rapid head shakes as the fish tries to figure out what’s going on.

If you don’t want to be quite as attentive to your rod as I am here, you can put a bell on the tip to alert you to strikes.

If you don’t want to be quite as attentive to your rod as I am here, you can put a bell on the tip to alert you to strikes.

In that case, wait the taps out and then set the hook when you feel the rod tip load up. Of course, there’s also the “hit and run” style bite, during which your only job is to keep the rod from getting yanked into the drink.

Believe it or not, if you get on the right line and there’s a bunch of fish moving through, you can post some pretty impressive scores just sitting on the beach and plunking. While some folks dive wholeheartedly into relaxation mode while on the plunk, it’s the observant and active angler who gets bit more.

Routinely checking your rig for debris will improve your odds for success.

Routinely checking your rig for debris will improve your odds for success.

After a good rain, there’s often a lot of junk in the water that can foul your gear. By reeling up and checking your rig every 10 minutes or so, you increase you chances of catching fish. Also, pay close attention to what’s going on around you. If you see fish rolling below you, take note of which line they seem to be traveling and adjust accordingly. A slight change in position can make all the difference in this game!

Gearing Up

Due to the strong currents and big sinkers associated with plunking, this is not a finesse sport! Plunking requires stout, salmon-style gear capable of handling lead that can range up over a half pound in weight.

Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight – plunking requires some stout gear.

Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight – plunking requires some stout gear.

That being said, rods should have a bit of softness in the tip to help you detect bites. I prefer level wind reels for this style of fishing and I’ll run 50-pound braid as my main line since it is thinner than comparable mono and therefore less subject to being pushed by the current.

This was an excerpt from my latest ebook:
The Ultimate Guide to Steelhead Bank Fishing

The Ultimate Guide to Steelhead Bank Fishing