Plugs For Winter Steelhead

Are there any plugs out there for steelhead other than Wiggle Warts, Hot Shots, and Tadpolys? Of course, and some of them work well. But I bet a vast majority in use are among those 3 standards. I prefer the smaller Hot Shots and Tadpolys in metalic patterns, especially the dark green metalic, for low clear water, and the brighter colors for colored relatively shallow slots. I prefer the Warts for medium to murky water, particularly in deeper slots and bigger rivers, in metalics to flame red with a chartruse arrow shaped piece of lure tape on the underside rear end. And I like to add one tape eye or black perma-marker pen dot under one side of the nose. I prefer such as the pirate colors w/ a very small red arrow tail for the clearer side of average water color, the chrome with either a chatruse or bright red tail or nose section for average water, and the flame red w/ char. or white tail for murkier than average color water. My custom painted "Injured Baitfish" versions work well for steelhead and silvers but they are best for the 'Nooks. These are only some standards I prefer, but there are so many good ones; such as the metalic hot pink with black head Tadpoly. I also make some custom 'skunk' pattern plugs with a chrome body, gloss black head, red eye under the nose, and small green tail section that works very well in clearish to average water color. What are some of your favs for varying conditions? Thanks much fishers. - RT



[This message has been edited by RT (edited 12-03-2000).]

[Fish4Fun]

RT,

All of our plug pulling is on the Cowlitz, hard to get away from there after growing up on the river. For Steelhead we pull 2 colors in the larger size Hot Shots. Solid metalic green and same in blue. This has worked for so many years that it is hard to not use them. I guess we are kind of stuck in a rut when it comes to plugs.

Question back to RT, how far behind the boat do you put your plugs??

[Jeffhead]

What I want to know is where you guys find the metallic warts at??? I keep lookin' in every tackle store I go in and either they don't carry em' or they not makin' em' right now!!! Really interested in finding a rainbow or copper metallic that some friend of mine claims to be a "proven killer". Until then I'll the chrome w/black stripe and orange dot on the belly wart or the pirates.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

[Roeboat]

The problem is that once you start collecting plugs you end up with hundreds of dollars spent and a mind boggling assortment to weed through when you decide to pull em. They are addictive like flies to a fly fisherman.

Gees where do you begin? Custom hot n tots painted with red herringbone can kick butt possibly because the fish haven't seen them before...Metallic copper, green, blue wiggle warts are very effective on those clear winter days and if you head toward the coast or farther north pink tadpolies with dark blue bills/backs are tops or chrome/red with black beak. For salmon chrome/chartreuse is always a good bet as is metallic green/red. And a strange one that can really get the brute summer fish is solid fluor. green to chartreuse fade on a medium flow, green water summer day. Another perennial favorite is the chrome/black red throat. And the question you always ask yourself after a productive day is :"Did the color really matter? Maybe the fish would have hit other colors just as well..." You just never know.

Hey Jeff, I have a couple metalic Warts in both Rainbow and Copper. I'll bring them for you when we fish the Cowlitz - that's on the 14th with Dan & Mike, right? E-mail confirm when you get the chance.

Roeboat, I do think color matters in plug effectiveness. But I also agree with you that the fish you just hooked by getting a well tuned one in front of it likely would have taken other color patterns; but likely only some of the better colors for the conditions present. It's a percentage of success per given color/water condition game. The proper tuning and presentation is more important than the color; as long as the color isn't way off. Also remember that with manufacturing irregularites some plugs outperform others that are identicle looking. Most often due to imperfect eyecrew angle sets.

Outlaw, that's tough to answer in a short post, so I will put in some generalizations. Amount of line to let out will vary according to water conditions/depths and the plug's diving capabilities. I like to start way at the top of runs and have my plugs let out short, maybe around 40 ft. If the plugs are ticking bottom still, hold the tips up high until the water deepens. At this point I prefer my partners very slowly let out line another spool while I hover, then back down the boat slowly some more. If the hole keeps deepening I hover again and have them very slowly let out more line,while the plug continues to dive and work; another spool or 2. In most cases I don't want or need the plugs out more than 70 feet. For the majority of the hole, other than the shallow entry and tailout, I prefer to keep the rodtips parallel or even lower if in very deep holes. As a rule of thumb, if you hold your rod stable with the tip 4' off the water during a slow backtroll and then pull the rod upstream a few feet and the plug ticks bottom then reel in some line. Conversely, in the deepest sections if you hold your rod stable with the tip just inches off the water while slowly backtrolling then pull it upstream a few feet and if you don't feel the bottom at all then let a little more line out. Try to keep track of how far out your lines are and have them close to the same distance out to approach fish at the same time for a little more effectiveness. If it's shallower on one side of the boat then raise the rod up higher on that side if you are ticking bottom. Also keep in mind that it isn't crucial to be right near bottom with your plugs; especially steelhead, which will come a ways up off bottom to hit plugs. I'd much rather have my plug running 2 ft. off bottom than dredging it's way thru the run; although they will hit in that situation too.

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Know fish or no fish. - RT