Roe or Sand Shrimp?

[sea lice]

Hi all! I'm a newbie to this site and have found it to be a wonderful source of info. Thanks for letting me be a part of it.

I will be going on the Wilson this next week for a couple of days. Is using Roe right now the magic stuff or Sand Shrimp? I'm after the Steelies so I would appreciate any info.

[24 on/ 48 off]

Personally, I believe it all depends on water conditions.

If the water is high/fast/off color, then I use eggs. Not a huge glob as you would find salmon bobber fishers using, but more of the size of a quarter.

Low and clear means I switch to shrimp.

Lastly, I saw a whole bunch of fish hooked yesterday on a coastal stream, by guys using only corkies.

--spud-- :smile:

[RichH]

I tend to prefer eggs under most conditions. Sounds like if you want shrimp you'll need to pump them yourself.

[rob allen]

My personal preference is neither.. I like using a couple 1 inch pieces of glo-bug yarn threaded under an eggloop. Mix and match the colors to get a bait looking the way you like. It worls in all water colors that are fishable and at all hights.. The really great thing is is that it's a very cheap way to fish
and effective. Also when a steelhead grabs this rig it stays in their mouth because the yarn frays and gets caught in their teeth. They can't spit it put easily and they also cannot swallow it.. Syrikes are usually pretty violent for a drift rig cause the fish tried to spit it out but can't so it starts head shaking. I have watched fish do this it's pretty amazing. A great alternative to bait.

[King13fisher]

Bring both...plus plugs....plus divers...though the latter may not be easy if the rivers crowded.

[Hookset]

Nice to have you aboard Sea Lice. My personal preference has always been eggs. Maybe because eggs were always available after catching a few fish. Still, they are effective. However, I usually never start with eggs, instead I prefer to fish a corky, spin-n-glo with/without yarn first. If they're hitting the hard stuff, I just stick with it and start using eggs when the fishing gets tough. I like fishing without the mess from using bait, nice change after sturgeon and salmon.

24/48 mentioned he uses sand shrimp when the water gets low. I've had great results using a small cluster of eggs, about thumb nail size with a small hook fishing low clear water, fish them alone with light line and small weights. Just goes to show both bait types catch fish.

good luck,

Gregg

[willametteriveroutlaw]

Nothin works better than a size 12 dupont spinner. Light it, toss it in, turn your head, And get the net ready :wink: . Seriously though, I think that in this high water good eggs work better than shrimp. Does anyone out there use a side planer and plugs? I have an itchin to try it.

[NEUTRON]

If you're determined to chuck bait, try using
peeled prawn tails. You can buy frozen bait
prawns (I get mine at Tony's) fairly cheap,
leave em in your freezer till your ready to use
them. Yesterday, I left them in the container
with the cut up cured egg morsels for extra juice.
Fresh winter steelie for dinner tonight. :smile:

[ 12-23-2001: Message edited by: NEUTRON ]</p>

[Steelheadman]

Sandshrimp tails work great in high colored water under a rag. I thought eggs would work better in these conditions but the steelies just inhaled the sandshrimp last weekend during the storm. Hopefully I can find some live sandshrimp in the Portland area later this week. I also take some prawns with me too.

[HT Buzzo]

Eggs and yarn. When eggs aren't working, I switch to yarn. So far this month, I've hooked 10 on eggs and landed 6, and I've hooked 5 on yarn and landed 3. Like R&gt;A said, watch your water conditions.I fish the deeper pockets with bait and the faster flows with a little yarn. I trim my yarn semi oval so it has more of an egg appearance, and it seems to work really well, less hassle than bait. And of course these are all smaller systems I'm fishing. Shrimp tails seems to work better in the bigger systems, although I remember four years ago catching six winters on the Salmon river with frozen prawns- I just don't fish them as much anymore. I've caught fish out of four different systems this year with eggs and yarn(3 different rivers on yarn) which shows that winter steelhead are winter steelhead- if they are going to bite something, they will (redundency rules!)....

[David Johnson]

I am very partial to eggs but if I can get them I'll usually bring both just in case there is a shrimp bite. We've also done well on prawn tails.

I've seen fish go on a shrimp bite after seeing eggs used all day and I've seen them go on a egg bite after seeing lots of shrimp.

[sea lice]

Hey you guys are awesome! thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences. Every fish I catch will be done so in your honor...I'll keep you posted! :grin: