subject: Salmon and Steelhead Drift Fishing [print this page] Salmon and Steelhead Drift Fishing Salmon and Steelhead Drift Fishing
The main idea of drift fishing from the bank is to make an extreamly natural looking presentation, that floats near the botton and at the speed of the river. The way this rig works, is by having a heavy enough lead weight that will take your offering down to the bottom of the river, and bounce along the bottom. Now it is impotant that you dont have too much weight in that it will just sink and stay. This will create a unnatural presentation, and will cause a ton of snags and lost gear. You will want to adjust you lead peice according to how fast or slow the river is, and you want to get the lead to bounce about every 1 to 1.5 second along the bottom.
Cast upstream far enough so when the lure is in front of you, it is near the bottom and in the strike zone. Let your lure go through the "drift" untill it has swung downstream and then retrieve and cast again. Make sure to cover the water by starting closer to the bank, and work your way every cast to the farthest part of the fish holding water. I usually like to do this and then move down the bank and do the same thing, so that you cover as much water as possible and have the opportunity of finding fish that you otherwise wouldnt if you just stayed in one spot.
With a corkie used as the lure, it causes the hook to float off the bottom in the fishes striking zone. The added yarn can simulate a sac of fish eggs, and you can easily add any store bought scent. The material of the yarn will hold that scent cast after cast. Another added benefit to having yarn is that when a fish mouths your lure, the yarn has a chance to get tangled and stuck in the fish's teeth, giving you an even better chance of detecting, and setting that hook.
The hardest part of drift fishing is going to be detecting the bite. It's very hard because you will be constantly feeling your gear hitting the bottom, and many begginner anglers will think it is a bite.
BUT REMEMBER, IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBT THAT IT IS A FISH, SET THE HOOK!
Another indicator is if your line suddenly STOPS or if your line starts going off the intended path.
SET THE HOOK!
And try and keep as little slack as possible in your line when fishing this tehnique because you do not want a fish to bite and then it take too long for you to reel up and set the hook.
Steelhead are very fickle and you never want to pass up a chance to hook one!
