Summer Steelhead Jig Techs

I got carried away answering jig tech Q's on Marty's BB, so I will use the post here also for the benefit of jig novices to use. ...

Montana Slim, this is Montana Not So Slim - aka RT here - (Missoula native). You'll love floatfishing jigs! Just don't do it like Os does - he lays his jig on top of a piece of cedar shingle and let's it float down the river [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] and wonders why the fish won't take it. Since it's now for summer steelhead your tactics should change along with the changing water conditions. In some of the bigger rivers with cold snowmelt feed you should still use winter techs - 1/4 oz. jigs with scent or small piece of bait if allowed; and where needed, weight augmented 30+ inches up by a swivel for that big water (Oregon's Deschutes and Oly Pen's Hoh are examples). Also fish the seams along side the main current a little more and put your jig down deep because they won't move off bottom as much when the water is real cold. When the water comes down and warms a bit the more active fish will sit out in the main current more often and also come up off bottom a few feet more often to take a jig; as well as taking them fished near bottom. Try 1/8 oz. rabbit fur jigs in addtion to the marabou feathered ones. That rabbit fur looks great in the water and trailing scents from the jighead area won't affect the action as it can on marabou - although in my personal experiences small amounts of it (used where legal) don't put too much of a damper on the feathers. The lighter 1/16 oz. jigs are good in real low water conditions in medium to smaller rivers. Even then don't be without some 1/4 oz. versions when the water is low because there will be situations when that will help you get it down deeply and quickly enough before it leaves a good whitewater pocket slot. And that's where many of the summer steelhead will lay. Of course casting further upstream, if it's possible, will give a 1/8 oz. version more time to get deep enough. When fishing the faster upper end riffle covered water I suggest using a little longer distance from float to jig than the depth would indicate because in that fast water it doesn't hang straight down for much of the drift. If the float indicates it is dragging bottom too much then shorten your leader a bit. But jigs don't necessarily have to be floated above the fish to get hookups. In fact I've just driftfished them without floats in faster water with it ticking bottom every few feet and done well. This will take a toll on the head paint, which isn't too big of a deal, and you also need to check your hook point for re-sharpening more often. First Cast Jigs, www.firstcastjigs.com , makes them with chrome and brass jigheads that won't chip. In some places where the water is deep along a rock wall and you are able to access right above the water (you'll find this in many places - just don't fall in [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] ) you can cast the jig w/o a float a little upstream and drift it deep just above the fish's eye level - try a rythmic short rodtip up and down jigging motion to help draw strikes. As for a general rule of thumb for techs, cover all good looking holding water, including the tailouts in dim light, first with the jig up off bottom a ways then keep fishing it deeper and changing patterns until you get hookups. As bright sun hits clear water concentrate more on the upper whitewater pockets and real riffle covered runs. Try to keep it holding a little longer in the deeper seams created by boulders in those type holding areas by keeping your rodtip high and the muscilin coated mainline off the water. Also try the very deepest water that still has a decent current line thru it. Fish the jig near bottom and very gently mend your mainline (picking up the line with your rodtip and rolling an upcurrent curve into it as it lays back onto the water) - this will keep the current from grabbing a downcurrent line belly and dragging the jig thru too fast. ALWAYS watch your float! If it gets pulled under the water or just stops or goes sideways to the current set the hook quickly with a strong 'arc set', while reeling in any slack as fast as you can. Once you get a good feel for line control to minimize the line slack while still getting a good natural float drift (including as you let out line to extend the drift), keep your rodtip somewhat pointed toward the float for quicker hook sets. If you see some nibble bites that aren't pulling the float under they are usually from smaller fish - but sometimes the big guys do that rather than just grab or hit them, so try a quick but smooth short rodtip lift to see if a big one is mouthing your jig. If one is that will "poke" the hookpoint in enough to feel immediate head shakes and then pop it another wristsnap hookset instantly. Fish on! .... These are just the basics. There are a myriad a little intracacies, including: color/pattern selection (start white a pink/white combo, then red and/or black), presentation variation, and using smaller narrow 'profile cut' bait pieces to add on the hook that will increase your catch rate (try narrow profile cutting crawfish tail to skew onto the hook for summers - the slim profile won't stay on the hook quite as long but it doesn't dampen the feather action as much as 'chunks' of bait). A little trick I try is when the float eddy's just out of the current, in still deep enough water that the jig is off bottom, I twitch my stealthy float which imparts an enticing action to your jig that can help draw strikes. Read what you can find on the subject and use the search feature here and on other NW fishing website BB's to access jig tech threads that will speed up your learning curve. ... It's productive and a blast to do! Then ...

... try following the jigs with pink rubber worms and various baits (such as a nightcrawler, peeled crawfish tail, live pinched off sandshrimp tail, and even small egg clusters) on a jighead hook. FCJ makes great ones with chrome and brass heads for that use. Fish them with the above mentioned techs and you will do very well!

Steve Hanson (RT)

[First Bite]

One of my favorite fisheries and topics...Summer Steelhead fishing in low water. Depending on what size river you are fishing, usually a fixed float works better for Summer Steelhead. There are many floats to choose from and it comes down to personal preference. When the water is low and clear a lot of the times Steelhead will hold in the riffles that lead into a drift. This water might only be two feet deep but Steelhead will nose right into the choppy water and hold there. Years ago I found this out quite by accident. I had just rigged up my cousin with a bobber and worm and was teaching him how to cast and reel and once he was comfortable I picked up my float rod equipped with a small red jig and cast right into this frothy white water at the head of a drift. About three casts later my cork disappeared. I set the hook thinking I was hung up on a rock and then this mint summer steelhead bolted out of the water and started heading up to the next drift. I couldn't believe a Steelhead that was sitting in less then 18" of water in bright sunshine would take a jig. It was quite the eye opener for me. That was about eight years ago and since then I've caught many steelhead in similar circumstances. If the water looks like it could hold a fish, plop a jig in there and you just might be surprised.
Mark

www.firstcastjigs.com

Thanks for the posts Steve and Mark. I would like to see how jigs work on the Deschutes this summer. Has anyone used them over there? If so how about some stories.
Stew

[dawhunt]

Hey guys,I found when fishing with marabou jigs that it takes a while before the jigs will fluff out on the water they look like a stick untill you get the oil or whatever rinsed out of them.SOO I take a small jar of lemon scented dish soap with me and wash my jig before useing it they fluff right away.If you think I'm full of it try it yourself in a bowl of water,without being washed they look like a stick not hardly if any movement.Then wash it with sone liquid and rinse it off put in in the jar and watch it fluff out.Just tie a piece of fishing line on it and jig it around for both tests.
Its magic !!!
Bob [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[Carver_OR]

Stew......
Jigs on the Deschutes works great. I like black as my color. Fish them under a float or just cast them and let them bounce off the bottom. Sharpen the hooks often and carry your hook file in a HoldZit Tool Saver.:> )

Pat

[Osprey]

Summerrun Jig tactics ooohh Yaaa,I try and keep up [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

I've had great success fishing the 1/8 classic Palmered maribous fromTry the Silent Approach,nothing breathes likes palmered Maribou in low clear water,
sometimes this can make the difference.
I've witnessed other fishermen fishing the exact same color and not hook anything and I cast out mine and WAMMM!!!!fish on.
Some times just Clumping a bunch of feathers on a jig hook doesn't have the anywhere close to same action as a Palmered Jig does.

Several things to consider are profile and light refectivity.....You say light what???
Trust me some styles of feather and fur refect light in a way that cause fish to react,I don't know the science ,
All I know is what I've witnessed..give it a try.

Oh Ya BTW RT.That cedar plank method comes after I've landed my fish...before they go the Barbe.............Os

[Fuzzybutt & Angel]

I have to agree with Os, take yesterday for example, I went up to the Skykomish for my first summer trip this year, tons of people out fishing, people in every single spot, not one or two mind you....at proctor creek we counted 15 rigs parked there, I settled for a spot that only had five trucks parked at it, walked into the spot at 9:00am and only two guys there, one leaving, and one still fishing, they both said no fish were hooked this morning, and that five or six guys had fished it and nothing doing....I smiled and said thanks for the report.
than I made three casts, and FISH-ON!! an extremly hot chrome summer run hit the air, and put up quite a show, upon landing this thing of beauty (pictures to follow) I noticed it was clipped, so it took a nap on the bank.
now to refer to what Os was saying, there is alot to do with how the feathers are arranged on the hook, and the light refractory process that happens under water that makes a huge difference in jig materials.
I have repeated what happened to me yesterday so many times its not funny, especially Summer Runs. last year, fifty guys at Rieter on both sides of the river, my buddy and I show up late at 10:00 am and step in and bang two fish, and it was a very slow morning for the rest of the guys
....go figure
in my opinion, Jigs that have...animation, I call it, will out fish the very same color jigs tied in a haphazard manner.
I have spent years studying, the fish's biology, and what and how they see, cone of vision, the light refractory process that transpires in low light, overcast, and sunny conditions, this has helped me immensely in determining the materials I use, and the color selection I fish with. my research has paid off, and now I dont have to think about ..gee, what color should I us? its already spelled out by the light conditions and the water clarity

Fuzzy

Got Fish??? Silent approach Jigs

[Osprey]

Ya what he said....... [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Thanks ObywonJigkanobe (Fuzzy)