I was actually reading the Jed Davis book, Spinner Fishing for Steelhead, Salmon and Trout last night as a matter of fact! :smile:
Water temps and how hard the water is being hit are the only real factors for the size of presentation he uses. Temps (don't quote me on this; it's been 12 hours since I read this!#@!) range from 33-40f, in which he will use a #5 exclusively regardless of stream condition (high and murky to low and gin clear). Reason being is that metabolism is slower and fish are less spooky. He also made the point several times that one has to completely get away from the drift fishing mentality that a steelhead won't move far to take your offering due to colder temps. Spinners flash (slower spin gives off almost a strobe effect), and emit sound triggering fish to move quite a distance at times to hit it and usually on the first cast (if they are aggressive; weather/temp change can effect what a fish will do). He used several examples of freezing conditions and fish moving 20+ feet to hit the spinner, sometimes on repeated casts. Corkies, eggs do not strobe or emit sound unless your using Carrot Juice :grin: . From 40 - 43F he'll move to a #4 (he points out that #4's have been a Northwest favorite for steelhead for years. He'll only use a 4 on fish that have been hammered on by others or if temps go way up since he's 'mastered' #5's.
His #1 go to lure is a silver plated #5's. He uses reflective tape of various colors on the inside of the blade (again, color depends on the conditions) and occassionaly colored tubing. He will also go gold plated in some conditions though he talks more about silver plating as the weapon - FLASH.
Presentation for winter fish - as slow as you can get the blade to spin without it hitting the bottom without dragging it along the bottom. He mentions the occassional fish will attack a faster retrieve but 99% of the time that same fish would also have taken the slower presented spinner if presented properly (this could simply mean that you could have been standing upstream, downstream or across the stream - all would have been presented differently to the fish).
I could go on and on. This is the 'Spinner Bible'; lots of things to think about. He mentions if your really want to perfect your fishing, pick out one lure and work it to death, journal everything (water temp/weather conditions/lure used/presentation/where you hooked it). After the days up, you'll wonder why you did all of that until the end of the season comes around and you start seeing the similarities of all the fish you hooked; things you've never seen or thought of before.
He also made note to the reader that if your fishing with the drifters, your generally not spinner fishing correctly (totally different water the majority of the time). What takes a drifter hours to cover takes a spinner 20 minutes. ie. Don't go to Big Ck and expect to be spinner fishing all day - take your drift rod).
It goes on and on and on...
I've used #4's this year in gin, clear water with excellent success (Gnat Ck and Sandy).
Water temp/which lure to use
RichH
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