I am a 50 year old woman and I do love to fish. I have no problem catching fish when it comes to trout, bass or salmon but so far these Steelhead have aluded me. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

It will help us help you if you can tell us roughly where you live and what rivers and techniques you've tried so far. If you can catch salmon you can definitely catch steelhead.

As Starfish says, a little more info on where you will be fishing, and your preferred salmon techniques would provide a good starting point for any advice, and he's also correct that if you've figured out how to catch salmon, steelhead--in my opinion--are the easier species to catch. This is because the steelhead is by nature a more aggressive biter when in fresh water. Unlike salmon, that do not feed at all, a steelhead will feed lightly once it has returned to fresh water, and this makes a big difference when trying to entice a bite. Their runs are much more spread out both in terms of time and also in terms of location, so there tends to be a much lesser concentration of fish in the stream--if you can find them, your 90% there. Let us know if you're fishing in tributaries near spawning grounds or in the big rivers through their migration routes, boat or bank, and then I bet folks will chime in with a long list of techniques that all catch fish, and more importantly, methods of reading water, whcih will put at least put you on the fish.

Good luck,

I live out on the coast in the Coos Bay Oregon area.

Sorry, guess I should have read both posts before I replied.
I do both bank and boat fishing here. As far as the Salmon, I use the Blue Fox, hot pink lures in no4 or no5 spoons. I haven't tried using those lures for the Steelhead, as most all of the fisherman I have talked to highly recommend using eggs. I have had no luck at all using the eggs.

Actually a Blue Fox Vibrax spinner in No. 4 and No. 5 is a very effective lure for steelhead. Favorites include metallic blue body/silver blade, green body/silver blade, orange body/gold blade, solid gold or silver, and black/glitter body with silver and chartreuse or red blade. Spoons work well also, but I don't have much experience with that presentation for steelhead.

A jig and float is probably one of the best presentations, especially if you're fairly new to the game. A pink/white or pink/purple or purple/black beaded marabou such as a First Bite or Beau Mac is a great starting point. I like to tip the jigs with a dyed coon shrimp, but there are lots of other options.

From a boat, trolling or backtrolling plugs such as tadpollies, wiggle warts, fatfish, hot-n-tots, hot shots, or hot lips in metallic red, chrome, orange, pink, or purple colors works well.

Eggs do work well, but I find I catch most of my steelhead with shrimp, shrimp/jig, or plugs.

Good luck and let us know when you start to score!

Most of my steelhead have fallen to spinners of some sort. Lately, I use almost exclusively Blue Fox Vibrax #3 or #4 depending mostly on how far I need to cast. For the Coos above tidewater and the Millacoma forks, I would recommend #3s. I think spinners are a great technique for beginners on streams for steelhead, although most beginners tend to simply cast and retrieve so that the spinner tends to ride too high and the action just isn't quite right. Instead, try casting upstream from where you stand on the bank, and almost drifting the spinner down through the holding water. Provide just enough retrieve to keep it off the bottom and that should provide enough resistence to spin the blade. You can tell the blade is spinning by the difference in resistence between a spinning and non-spinning lure. It takes a little practice, and unfortunately you'll loose a few to the bottom and trees, but that's one of the big drawbacks to spinners--$2.50/spinner is much more than $0.20 for a corky and yarn. Another good technique for beginners is jig/float fishing, but I don't have much good advice to add there. The many forks of the Coquille are also a good option for someone seeking steelhead on the bank, but I suggest the West fork Millicoma as a great starting point for someone in your location. During dry spells, the stream runs crystal clear, and while it can be difficult sometimes to get a strike under these conditions, you can spot the fish and figure out the type of water they rest in. In steelheading, this is 90% of the equation--locating the fish. The W. fork has beautiful sandstone pools and slots where you can see the fish and begin to understand the water types that make for good holding water. Once you understand this, you can fish with confidence on streams where the color of the water does not allow for you to see the fish, but you know that the water type will hold them.

Good luck,

Are you fishing in the river or are you fishing in the Ocean? They are fished differently. I am more knowledgeable on rivers then the Ocean.

If fishing the river try using a bobber and jig. The one thing I have learned since I started fishing for Steelhead with a bobber and jig, is it's important to get a good solid drift. You need to kep the line up off the water and keep the bobber floating upright and smooth.

Two small secrets to your rigging to help with landing a few more fish once your hooked up. You will want to rig your line like this.


Start with the bobber stop string, then the bobber stop, followed by the slip float, you will then want to tie on a locking snap swivel.(The swivel is important. If you use a normal swivel and get into a bigger fish, the fish can bend and stretch out straight a normal swivel losing you your fish).
Dev88t can attest to that one! I watched him lose a couple of big Salmon due to the swivel bending straight.


To protect the bottom of your float should you snag into the bottom, place a very small split shot between the swivel and the bottom of your slip float. Here is the next important piece of your arsenal. They are a little spendy, but absolutely make the difference between landing fish and watching the Tail salute. They are a little barrel swivel. You need to get the type that fully rotates. This way if you get into a hog that decides to go into a spin, he spins freely and your hook gets no pressure. To finish off your rigging, tie off a piece of leader fromthe barrell swivel to the jig of your choice.

I strongly recommend the Beau Mac style as mentioned in the previous posts.

Give this rig up a try, I think you will find it works great. Don't worry about making contact with the bottom with your jig. Take it about 6inches to a foot off of the bottom. You can keep readjusting your bobber stop as needed.

RAE

Thank you for all of the tips you've passed on, I will keep you posted on my progress. I guess I have gotten a bit spoiled while fishing for the salmon. When the salmon are running, I can normally get my limit within the first 30 minutes using the hot pink blue fox lures. I have a creek in my front yard that the salmon use to spawn. I have found the bay opening of the slough that leads to the different creeks here. The great part about it is that there doesn't seem to be anyone else that knows about this, even fish and wildlife say that there are no fish in this slough, since it hasn't been stocked in over 20 years.

That sounds like a nice little secret you're sitting on. Unfortunately, the steelhead just don't stack up like the salmon do, and that's the biggest difference between the success you've had with the salmon and the success that's eluding you with the steelhead. Gotta find 'em, but if you do, it sounds to me like you shouldn't have much trouble getting them on the line.

Yep, That is the HARD part. Finding them... I've found 6 total this year..landed 2 lost 4 and kept 1 hatchery...But my first one was a pretty good one I am told at 14lbs 34 inchs...at ice harbor on the snake..

Stick with the bobber and jig info and the bead stopper. If you have a chance, the Snake River is a wonderful place to go. I never caught a Steelhead in Western Washington and gave up...moved to Idaho and a friend took me along for steelhead...I have caught more steelhead than Salmon in Idaho...sometimes upwards of 25 a day between the three of us. I like the way they taste more than salmon too!