Think Pink!!!

I saw something really incredible on Saturday! No it was'nt RT's plumber's butt! It was the way steelhead react to color and motion. I watched some summer runs take a casual interest in spinners and different colored jigs but when a pink worm was offered to them with the fluttering tail at least 6 went after it with a lot of enthusiasm! Earlier after we threw everything but the kitchen sink at them Mark got one on a pink jig! I realize this is no startling revelation to most of you but when I saw the group of fish go after RT's pink worm after they had passed up nearly everything else it was an awesome sight! I would be interested in what some of the rest of you think.
Stew
Stew

Geez, I read the topic name and thought "Oh man Stew, not here - they don't want to help you pick out anymore pink clothes to wear to various functions [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] . ...

Hey, that was supposed to be kept secret Stew. ... Naah, jk. On the way home from the Saturday cleanup event we found about 15 to 20 summer steelhead stacked in a large hole where they congregated in the shallower tailout section, which is a bit unusual in gin clear water on a sunny bright day with deeper water nearby. We found that the floats definitely were distractive to these fish - even spooking them up into the deeper water at times, only to see them soon return to their shallow holding area. On one float Stew decided to reel in his jig while it was right in the middle of the school of fish. One of them broke out from the others and followed it over nearly to the bank. After I saw that I took my float off and re-postioned to cast and slowly retrieve my pink worm, skewed on one of Mark's hackled jig hooks in a manner to help it spin slightly, and retrieved it thru the school with a mild jigging motion with the rod tip. Wow! We watched half a dozen steelies break out from the school and swim after this presentation - the first 2 taking swipes at it with misses and the 3rd one grabbing it right inside the front of his mouth. A great fighting/jumping buck around 8 pounds - landed it. That ruined the worm and I snagged and lost my last one so I retrieved a Mepps pink prism spinner thru the water and one followed it up close to shore and slammed the spinner but the hook came right out. So yes, they wanted pink and motion that day - as is common. The fish finally got too spooked and we were running late and low on pink stuff so left for home. Fun! - Steve

[ 07-03-2001: Message edited by: RT ]

[Snagly]

To borrow a couple of lines from our Skeena Brother Billy Meyers and Centerpin, "We don't usually start with a pink worm, but we never leave a run we know holds fish before trying it." and "Once you find a river where the steelhead like worms, it is a beautiful thing."

I've just finished rigging 30 "Herzog-style", all pink and 6-8" long. Some floaters and some sinkers. Looking forward to getting a bunch of teeth marks in them later on in the fall.

[smilesforu]

Nice adaptation steve. I have been wanting to try this technique on a local stacking [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]. The bass guys use a technique with a heavy line so it doesn't sink to fast and the suspended worm really has lots of action. Another variation they use is to hook it in the middle of the worm so both ends wiggle. With the water being so still the bobber spooks the fish easily (watched that tonight). Even a light micro jig is to fast sinking for spooky fish. Free floating Plastics...reminds me of the fishing infomercials!! We ended up with two fish..one jigged, one spinnered. And they flat out refused a pink jig...all six that had it in there face at the same time!! Frustrating watching fish turn your offerings down, but as fun as it gets when it comes together.

The steelie that fell for the pink worm with a bass presentation method:



RT

Could there be yet another south bound wind coming our way? [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[THE REEL HEY_YALL]

Bass presentation.....hmmmm...interesting. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

Might be time to dust off the trusty Daiwa.

[ampersat]

i've tried fishing pink worms (and other colors for that matter) in the past and have had the same problem with all of them. i use a threader to run the line all the way through the worm, tip to tail, and casting seems to drive them down the hook or cause the worm to tear. within a dozen or so casts, the poor worm is so shredded up, even a bass wouldn't take it. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
any advice on this? the threader i'm using is the kind you run through the worm, then put the hook tip into the end of the threader and work the worm around the hook and onto the line.

[local_hooker]

I'm gonna fish my way to Tillamook tomorrow, going to see the fireworks, and beach time w/kids. Were you guys finding more fish up high or down low?? No specific info if you don't want to share, just high or low?

Thanks

Sean

[4Salt]

ampersat,

For drift fishing pink worms, here is a technique that I've used with some success.
First, snell your hook to the leader material.(lb. test, and length, along with hook size is up to you) Then slide a small bead down next to the hook. I use a carpet sewing needle to thread the worm. Insert the needle about 1/3rd the way up the worm from the tail, and bring it out the head. This leaves part of the worm dangling in the current, and the bead usually prevents the worm from tearing on casts and hooksets. I prefer to fish the pink worms on jig heads designed to hold them on, and floats. But when the situation dictates, driftin worms can be equally effective [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Good luck,

Mark

I agree with 4salt's post above. ... The fish we found were up high in a very big hole. There a lots of those, and it's early enough for the fish schools to move around to different holes, so fish a lot of areas to find them. When we get even a little rain also search the lower river for new arrivals as the coastal summer steelhead do continue to come in from the bay on thru the summer - although the peak movement in is thru June.

RT

[Snagly]

Ampersat, the only addition to what 4Salt said in respect of rigging is to take about 5" of contrasting-color glo-bug yarn and tie two overhand knots right where the line exists the worm's body. Along with the bead, the tied-off yarn prevents the line from tearing the worm from the bottom upwards. On the other end, tie on a black #7 barrel swivel 30-45" up from the worm, coil and store in ziploc bag or similar. (This is the "Herzog method.)

I've tried all sorts of methods for storing the worms w/ leaders so as to not end up with a god-awful mess when on the river and it's time for a re-rig. The easiest approach is to take a small bag (the ones some of the jig tiers like Rainbow Jigs ship their products in are perfect), jam the coiled leader in there and zip it shut. If you run out of bags, you can use two pieces of folded over vinyl tape to loop around each side of the leader coil. (If you've doubled over the ends to form tabs first, getting the tape off isn't a problem.) Either way, I stop at five worms per bag. No need to tempt fate.

PS Experiment with the beads, too. Some beads float, some sink. Some beads genuinely glow in the dark and some don't. I've got quite a few worms rigged with fluoro green beads and I'll see if they work any better at first and last light.

[Jigman]

Another technique that I've been using for the last few years with the worm I like to call "waking a worm" is deadly on summer fish. If you know where the fish are holding you position yourself above the fish and rig the worm 2-3 feet below the float and cast it across and slightly downstream and hold the line taut. The float will wake across the surface catching the attention of the fish and the worm will be fluttering below the float....they absolutely hammer the worm! Got a couple of fish yesterday using this method. I use a hook tail worm for this which has great action.

[ 07-03-2001: Message edited by: Jigman ]

[smilesforu]

Good tip jigman we have stubbled onto the same technique when we were dragging sandshrimp to recast at visual fish...guess we didn't see the other ones [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]