How to Rig up for Steelhead Float Fishing

[ghoormann]

Nice video. We do a lot of bobber fishing for Steelhead hete in the Great Lakes tributaries. I find bobber stoppers to be a pain. I like to use a regular spring bobber. Pull the spring off, put two 1/2 inch pieces of surgical tubing on your main line then insert top and bottom of bobber in tubing. Works great for quick depth adjustments and allows you to remove your bobber during transport. Just another idea you may want to try. Nice videos, I subscribed.

[shootem241]

i live in northwest oregon so we do alot of plunkin with spinglows in the north umpqua.. but down on the south umpqua the river narrows down alot and alot and ive seen people catch em on bobbers but im just wonderin if bobber fishing produces more than plunkin.. anyone reply i want some info i jus dont know what would produce more fish and im new to the whole bobber fishin thing so let me know. anyone whos ever plunked and bobbered give me your input on fish production.. thanks

[nautracer12]

great video, thanks

[dookiekong007]

was that a fly fishing rod or normal spinner.

[cultakawtkk]

Great tutorial. What type of knot are you using when connecting the mainline and leader to the sinker?

[BorisWDell]

if i fish in clear water what bait should i use for 12 to 20 pound steelhead and can you make a how to make egg sacks for steelhead

[mrorhunter1]

a little tip ive found, use a dropper weight not inline incase you get snagged you wont lose every thing youll just lose the weight, and also youll have a snap swivle on so you can quickly chang out hooks if one gets dull, or you can switch to jigs for steelhead which ive heard works but i aint cought one on them yet.

[FleshWound42]

nice vids, showing the basics is key to any fishing success. As anglers become more seasoned, we sometimes tend to overlook the basics. Like proper knot tying, checking your terminal tackle regularly, and correcting any issues that may occur.

I specially like the way on most of your vids, you say to match the tackle to the water and conditins you are fishing in.

Keep up the great work and Tight Lines

[steelheadstalkers]

@FleshWound42

Thanks!

[mrwhon]

Good job Steelheadstalkers!

What's the name of the floater and where can I can get one?

[steelheadstalkers]

Nope, but I might start messing around with them this winter and build one up! :D

[QuickScope39]

do you have a centerpin reel?



[steelheadstalkers]

I get my inline weights on ebay.

[PaleHose28]

I have done a few searches on the web and i am having no success so i figured i would ask here. Where can i find the inline weight that you are using? i found something similar at BPS, but they called them trolling line weights and were a bit heavy.

Any suggestions would be great ! your videos are the best on the web! your website is a great source of knowledge!

[dasteeleman]

hey what do you use for bait for the steel heads? I see alot of guys from oregon using baitcast reels..are they better we just use spinning up here..

[Tongaloa]

What size float would you recomend for 25 to 45 pound salmon ? and leader size ?

[steelheadstalkers]

@Tongaloa

Depends on river depth and current speed. On the west coast most use between 1 oz and 2 oz for float fishing Chinook. Smaller rivers with less current you can down size a little bit. Good luck.

[dookiekong007]

@steelheadstalkers woopsie, I should have watched the whole thing first before asking about the fishing rod. But do fly fishermen actually use floats on their fly rods? I see a few but how do they even cast it?

[SuperXmichaelx]

@Tongaloa i would go as small as you can go i use a 1 oz for all my salmon & steel head fishing also i would use a 15 pound leader with 20 pound main line

[Tongaloa]

Would this same rig work for Salmon ?

[steelheadstalkers]

@Tongaloa

Yes it would! Just use a larger float and stronger leader.

[XXXDarkdizXXX]

woot i am going SH fishing ima use this rig hopefully itll work

[TheEliteFisherMan]

Do you acually use that HUGE float for steelhead?

[steelheadstalkers]

@TheEliteFisherMan

For big west coast rivers YES. I use this one for fishing roe under a float on big rivers like the Umpqua and Rogue. Most of the time I will use the 8g and 11g drennan for other smaller steelhead rivers.

[TheEliteFisherMan]

@steelheadstalkers true say man... looks like you know what your doing since you catch some good fish. great job

[niggahigganum2]

How long do the florocarbon leaders have to be?

[steelheadstalkers]

@niggahigganum2

About 2-3 feet long is normally what we use. The do not want the leader any longer than the shallowest spot you are going to fish.

[niggahigganum2]

@steelheadstalkers Thanks for the help. I have 3 7 foot ugly stick rods is that still good to use.

[steelheadstalkers]

@niggahigganum2

They will work but ideally you would want a rod more about 9'0" or longer for float fishing steelhead. This extra length helps you mend your line and keep as much off the water as possible.

[niggahigganum2]

@steelheadstalkers I just wanted to know if it was strong enough to use. I heard that they can get snapped in half by steelhead. Will salmon and steel head just take it and run or will they spit it out? Thanks again for the help.

[steelheadstalkers]

@niggahigganum2

It should be strong enough. They will bite and spit it out if you are not on it when the float goes under. Just be ready!

[niggahigganum2]

@steelheadstalkers Thanks for the great advice hopefully ill get my first steel head and salmon this fall.

[kid5oh3]

just use a clear sliding float and a toothpick..

[dirtbikemike69]

Chad you forgot the bead and extra bobber stop BELOW the float. ;) In case you break off, you won't loose your float. But I do love finding all those nice floats along side of the river. :D

[steelheadstalkers]

You are right! I am lazy. It also helps to add the extra bobber stop below the float if you want to use your sliding float setup as a fixed setup. :)

[dirtbikemike69]

Exactly! I do that a lot! You can go back and forth between fixed and sliding. Awesome.

[oldfacefull]

@steelheadstalkers thats a really useful tip. thnx

p.s. is there a type of line i can use that stays ontop of the water? i need one thats not high vis.

[SetTheHookProduction]

@oldfacefull Raven mainlines are great for the purpose

[andrewh4]

Im happy most people dont add the second one since I went down to the local creek earlier today and found about $30 worth of floats! :D lol!

[Saugeendrifter]

10g is pretty big, you must fish some deep fast water. I never use anything heavier than 4.5g. I find pressured fish will spit out the bait if they feel any resistance. Roe is great but don't forget to try some small fly's early fall ansd through the spring.

[steelheadmaniac]

Actually... He really doesn't... I know him and the rivers are verybig say like clearwater sized... He fishes like the rogue and applegate and alsea rivers.

[FleshWound42]

Good info, maybe do a close-up of the tackle (pre and post rigging up)

Thanks for sharing

[mackinjo]

10g drennen nice choice....but the rigging is messed..try making your own slinkies for slip floats..get those lead inline sinkers out of here

[mcwk1992]

great video!!!! what bait do you use other than roe

[steelheadmaniac]

Micro jigs!! Pink worms!!

[superkindonmymind]

Ya im in indiana and we got 6 tiny streams here and one decent river in r limited lake shore so i peg alot.Just went 2/4 yesterday. R summer runs r some of the best.

[steelheadstalkers]

Ya that works well for great lakes rivers and creeks. Out here the rivers especially for winter steelhead are small but have deep holes that depending on the hour of the day and weather can change a lot making for having a sliding float setup a must! Summer steelhead flows are a little more dependable and you can use pegged floats without any trouble. Sounds like fun fishing for the steelhead back east. Not quite the same animal but still a lot of fun especially if you can hook 5+ in a day.

[superkindonmymind]

hit my creek yesterday and it was full of fish. But not one player. Saw bout 50 fish but they were locked up. temp was 69. ???

[steelheadstalkers]

I would try downsizing everything if you haven't already. Go down to 4lb fluoro and small micro jigs, single egg patterns, small #1 #2 black spinners or small chunk of worm. If this doesn't work fish early and late.  Good luck!

[superkindonmymind]

Whats the advantage of a sliding float

[steelheadstalkers]

If you fish small coastal rivers a lot of times you are in tight quarters so casting your pegged float set at six feet or deeper can be hard compared to being able to reel up and only cast two or three feet and then the slider does the rest of the work once it hits the water. It also helps when fishing deep like a ten foot deep hole, its hard to cast a ten foot section of line with a pegged float. Hope this helps!

[steelheadstalkers]

No I would just move the float stop up. This is why this rig is so great once you have it rigged up rarely do you have to retie. Set your leader to the shallowes riffle or hole you plan to fish, then you can make it deeper to fish other holes by moving the bobber stop up or down. Good luck!

[dwynner]

hey hows it going, do you always use that length of leader... and i was wondering too how fast the water you are fishing with that is, i live on a slower wider, lazyer river. thanks alot.

[steelheadstalkers]

I try to keep the leader the length of the shallowes hold Im going to be fishing. So if there is water that is three feet I will set the leader length at three then I can make it deeper if I need to. This rig will work for any type of water and river.

[dwynner]

thanks very much thats awsome... and by making it deeper you mean you would just attach a longer leader right? not just move the float stopper up?

[prosteelheader]

you could do that. but you'd be spending a lot of time tying and retying to adjust to the water depth. instead, try using a sliding float of some kind. most floats can be easily moved up or down the line, the you can quickly adapt to any depth.

[dwynner]

Thank you, thats great.

[talkfishin]

Thanks for the demo we'll try the bobber fishing..

[djmatt79]

Try a float reel and river fishing... your rig is good as any other slip float rig. Nothing to it.

[wgpballa3535]

haha jeff gordon anybody?