Salmon Trout Steelheader avid reader Tony Bendeck winner of a steelhead trip with Bill Herzog. ENJOY! www.salmontroutsteelheader.com/ www.glangler.com/ amatobooks.com/
Your days are numbered, Bill. :) How do I fish for steelhead swinging a spoon? ChatGPT Swinging spoons for steelhead can be a highly effective technique, especially in rivers like the Sol Duc. Here's how you can do it: Selecting the Spoon: Choose a spoon that mimics the size and color of the baitfish present in the river. Spoons with a silver or gold finish are popular choices. Sizes can vary, but typically, spoons between 2 to 4 inches long work well for steelhead. Tackle Setup: Use a medium to heavy action rod with a length of around 9 to 11 feet. Pair it with a quality spinning or baitcasting reel loaded with 10 to 15-pound test monofilament or braided line. You can attach a fluorocarbon leader of about 8 to 12 pounds to your mainline. Casting Technique: Start by positioning yourself slightly upstream from where you believe the steelhead might be holding. Cast the spoon across the river and slightly upstream, allowing it to swing downstream with the current. Swinging the Spoon: As the spoon swings downstream, use your rod tip to impart action to the spoon. This can be achieved by lifting your rod tip slightly and then lowering it, causing the spoon to dart and wobble in the water. The goal is to simulate the movement of a wounded or disoriented baitfish, which can trigger a strike from a steelhead. Vary Retrieve Speed: Experiment with different retrieve speeds to find what works best on any given day. Sometimes a slow, steady retrieve is effective, while other times a faster, more erratic retrieve might be the ticket. Pay Attention to Depth: Adjust the depth of your spoon by varying the length of your cast or by adding split shot weights to your line to get your spoon down to where the steelhead are holding. Be Patient and Persistent: Steelhead can be elusive, so don't get discouraged if you don't get a bite right away. Keep trying different spots, depths, and retrieve speeds until you find what works. Stay Alert: Be ready for a strike at any moment. Steelhead can hit a swinging spoon aggressively, so stay focused and be prepared to set the hook quickly when you feel a bite. By mastering the technique of swinging spoons for steelhead and adapting to the conditions of the river, you'll increase your chances of hooking into one of these prized fish on the Sol Duc River.
All I can say is that he cast the stick weight everywhere in the river and never lost it. All day. In places I would never normally cast to. The stick just doesn't get stuck.
I would LOVE to hear Bill Herzog’s true thoughts on the last 10-15 years of social media and PNW fishing. If bobber fishing is “steelhead fishing with training wheels”, what is watching 25 insta-tube videos and being an overnight expert/guide?
I meant my words at face value. No selling out mentioned, you said that, not me. Will email ya. I would LOVE to read his article…heck I’d love to collaborate with him on it.
Before social media there were bulletin boards and as an admin of one such NW board I've been accused more than once of selling out by posting some of the very first digital photos of fish, rivers, or giving out reports, etc. I was just trying to be helpful and share my knowledge of the sport that I love. My good friend is the maker of Ultimate Egg Cure and he would have NEVER given that up that cure 20 years ago when we were just putting the hurt to thousands of fish on the stuff. But, now it's available to anyone....and honestly, we will still out fish most people on the river. Takes more than a technique, cure, or place you found on the internet, social media to be a truly "good" fisherman. I truly good fisherman can read water and tell anyone exactly where a fish will be and why it's there. That same fisherman should be highly proficient in many gear techniques and catch a fish on bait, no bait, hardware, bobber dogging, swinging a fly, metal, using a float, etc. Sure, I have my preferences of what techniques to use on certain rivers, but more often than not the condition of the river and time of the year determines what is or should be used and why. I wonder what AI is going to do to steel heading in the next few years? ChatGPT: "How do I fish for steelhead on the XXX XXX river?" Pretty basic response now. Bet that changes in a few years.
