whats needed to catch a steelhead

[hustlerrjim]

How much of that gear do you really need in your drift boat???
I have people come to fish with me that are loaded down with so much gear it's ridiculous,one guy showed up with 25 lbs of slinkeys,at least 50 plugs,and 6 rods,when I told him I wasn't going to row all that s--- down the river he got quite upset,and asked me what I was going to use so I showed him,
about 6 pearly okies and hooks 3 white with black head tad pollys or hot shots.a hand full of slinks,some snap swivels and leader material on an old reel,2 rods,[not poles]and im'e
e ready to go
Next time you get home from a trip, take inventory and see how much of the gear you packed along you didn't use,better yet how many times have you paced all that gear around and did't use it.
Plan ahead and only take what you really need. Most of the timeI can carry all my gear for drifting in my shirt pocket.if they don't bite pearly okies they aren't worth catching,as far as plugs go the old cop car will get most of them,unless the water is low and clear then I go to a silver with a black head.
leave all the junk home as most of it only rusts in your tackle box

[Tanner]

but, but, but. I like having all that fancy schmancy tackle with me. I know what ya mean Jim.
I have really tried to scale down. Chinook fishing is tough though. Ya have to have a bobber rod, bait diver / kwickfish rod, Back Bouncer and a drift rod. Multiply that by three people on the driftboat and that is 12 rods hanging outa the Willie. What's a guy to do?

[wiser]

Oh quick.... delete this thread. If the wife sees it... back to ties, socks and underwear for gift giving time. I've been working hard on the "we have to support the economy, got to buy more gear to keep everyone working". what if all the tackle companies go out of business and we run out of --- or----- or something else that may be next weeks hot lure.
I guess it's OK not to pack it all with you, but please don't suggest all we need is a few corkies a rod and a little leader material.

[ampersat]

i'm only a bankie but i do pack quite a bit of gear with me, depending on the trip.
optionals:
i have a drift rod, which goes on most every trip; also have a bobber rod and a plunking rod which get thrown in the car depending on the trip. the obligatory waders and the cooler with the raingear and bags. hat, straw for summer, green somewhat waterproof for winter. extra gear bag that has plunking stuff mostly but a few other things too.
required:
the waist pack. i carry about three dozen different corkies, some spare hooks, pink beads, swivels, five different colors of yarn (pre-cut), pretied leaders, needlenose pliers, scent bottle, pencil lead, a dozen spinners, half a dozen jigs and a few jig heads, plastic worms (at least two colors), spare spool of 15lb line, two or three bobbers, hook sharpener, nail clipper, buck knife, tape measure, fish tag, pen, and reel oil. all that and i still worry that i've left something behind on any given trip. i'm usually never without something i need and often have something someone else needs.

that's what they mean when they say fishing is good exercise.

[whitewaterbill]

Jim,

You need to take Gizmo fishing..... Your boat will need a trailer for the duffle bags.....All 7 of them......full of a life time collection of treasures......

When you take him out for Steelhead....He comes ready for everything from trout to tarpin and is all set up for 10 years on Gilligan's island too.

Sorry Giz....Could not resist on this post!

Bill

[Bait O' Eggs]

Slutgoddess - You havent fished with him for a while. :tongue: He has scaled back to only 2 bags the last couple trips.

Of course the one bag would serve as a body bag should we find fat albert dead along the river and the other bag we erected over the boat as a rain shield and had a small party of 20 stop by and have a dinner in the dry during a bad rain storm. It is not all a bad deal, he usually donates a holdzit complete with pliers and file to the boat owner when he goes home . And his raincoats dont fit to bad either when he dontates them to the boat owner.

Sorry Giz, I just couldnt help follow **** on that one. Actually I think I had as much or more than him on Floatilla 3.

Jim is correct we pack way to much junk when we go fishing. I am as bad anybody (maybe ... ok, probably worse). But when the target species dont bite, you never know what else may around you can target.

[RichH]

I feel that preperation is the key to success. That said, I'd like to think I pack a minimum amount of gear so if I'm bank fishing I'll take 2 rods, one for drift fishing and the other for a bobber set up. In my vest is a pocket with a variety of slinkies, 2 packs of drift bobbers, one with corkies and the other with spinning bobbers. I also haul some jigs, a couple of plugs, pips with hooks, some swivel, pliers, scissors, bait......
In the drift boat I like to pack 4 rods, drift, bobber, plug and diver. Now I just had a couple of boondogle rods made so I'll have to pack them too. The funny thing is I have a bud that packs more crap than I do in something that could pass for a body bag.

[Thick-N-Thin]

SG, That's Funny. Sounds like a good buddy of mine who carry's every contraption you can think of in his fishing bags! His boat is named "No Bad Days" Ummmmm he needs all the gear he can carry since his "No Bad Days" Boat should be names "PLEASE" "No Bad Days"! :grin:

[Meridian]

Great topic. And I understand exactly what your going through. I have a drift boat and when a couple of guys bring everthing but the kitchen sink I just can't stand it. Because of that, I always make it a point to pack light when going onto someone elses boat. Soft tackle box and I leave the 120 quart cooler at home.

[SailCat]

This is an amusing post ... I'm one of those who prepares for any eventuality ... lotsa rods & tackle ... but not when I'm a guest on someone elses boat.

I'm reminded of the times back in the days of the little tackle shop in McMinnville when I'd tell people, "We have the hot new lures for the same old fish."

~MT

[smoky]

I had eight GL3s nicely lined up in a holder on the back of my boat last time I fished. Had the proper gear for both Steelhead and Chinook. Caught both.

I ran into Jennie at the put in, she looked in my boat and said:

"Look at all those pretty rods".

[NAUTI-NOTIONS]

This is too funny folks, I pack med. to light. however, I fish with a guy who has two of every thing and takes it all. he has a 19' aluma-weld and can only hold two people with all the crap he packs in it. one thing blows me away is his side planner system, the planners are the size of kids waterskis and there are two of them and he has this 6' pole with two reels mounted in the bow. to run these things out. we have never used them in the two years since he bought them.So this summer i a snuck two bat kite on board, we were anchored up by beacon rock gator fishin. I broke out the kites and tied them off to each planner board reel and let them out. told him it was a reverse drift sock system. eveybody else thought it was funny.... go figure?

[hawgcatcher]

Interesting! I usually take a bobber rod and a drift rod and a vest full of gear and a bag in the truck. But I can remember that when I was younger, all I carried was a few oakies, some yarn, some leader and some pencil lead. That all went in an old GI bag that I threw over my shoulder. I took one rod and reel. I caught fish too.

When I had a bass boat, then that was the six rods, three tackle boxes and God knows what else. When I was a teenager, all I had was one spinning rod and three plugs, with a spinner or two.

Now we have about 100 different kinds of corkies, lots of different colors of yarn, Hot Shots, all different kinds and colors of plugs, spinners in different shapes and different bead colors, Wobblers, ten weights of leaders and leader boxes, weights of different sizes and kinds, bobbers that come in many sizes and every hook brand and size known to man.

When we get to the bank, we tie on a rig, add a shrimp and fish with that the rest of the day. Our shoulders drooping at the weight of the vest or bag we brought. Ahhh the joys of fishing.

Good luck to all in whatever you carry. :grin:

[Fishen Fool]

Smokey, I know a guy who had 5 Loomis rods lined up like that, He fell on them while landing a fish and broke every damm one of them, pretty expensive fall!

[Gizmo Man]

:grin: :grin: :tongue: :tongue:

[Gizmo Man]

:grin: :grin: :tongue: :tongue:

Want to know why some of us carry gear. Ever go fishing with a guy who says he has everything you'll need for the day and find out he has nothing and expected you to have it.

Or, take today for example. We are out fishing and pink was the hot color. Several fish were taken and one of us had on a red spin and glow on and had no hits. He finally changed to a pink and within 30 mins landed 2 sh and had two other take downs.

For those with boats, ask yourself how much stuff you have hidden or tucked away in your boat that if you went with someone else what would you take.

It is a tough decision. I remember a trip earlier this year where one of guys showed up with just a fishing rod...was the captain of the boat expected to provide all the gear for the trip???

Giz... :smile:

[Pilar]

Ding! you hit it on the head Giz. Just try to go off to a boat not your own for a trip. You don't want to be a **** and bum gear all day so you bring some stuff. Can you get it all in one backpack?

If I'm looking for something, its probably in the boat.

[BUGLEMAN]

Jim you forgot to mention barbed wire and DI-NO-MITE!

[FM2]

Jim asks, whats needed to catch a steelhead:

ME!!!!! hehehehehehe!!!!!


:grin: :shocked: :grin: :shocked: :grin: :shocked: :grin: :shocked: