Will steelhead hit same setup as salmon

hz293

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 27, 2015
Messages
46
Curretly I'm fishing salmon on the Columbia River. Soon salmon and steelhead will be heading up the Lewis River. Will steelhead hit on same setup as salmon like super bait lures?
 

Starcraft5834

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Messages
1,677
Im assuming the salmon heading up the river will do so to spawn and die.. the trout enter the river only to follow the salmon for the eggs. once salmon start to run, their purpose in life is to spawn and they don't eat much. its not to say a salmon wont take a fly or egg, at times they do, but mostly no.. it all depends what species your targeting....in upstate NY on the Salmon River, Kings and Coho's run up the river, 1000's of fisherman go there claim to be "fishing" but are only foul hooking them 95% of the time... as for trout, those are 95% of the time hooked in the mouth, 5% foul hooked... as for the salmon foul hooking, I say, let the fisherman have some fish, they are all only going to die anyway
 

K-2

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 3, 2011
Messages
406
If they die AFTER they spawn the run continues. If you snag a fish, take it home and throw the eggs in your garbage it doesn't help the run much.
 

Starcraft5834

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Messages
1,677
true K2. if you believe taking a small percentage of the total run out of the river is going to have an impact... it doesn't.... it never has, those fish up there have been foul hooked and taken for ages, year after year, back when using treble snagging hooks was "legal" it made no difference. now using a single hook the same snagging is achieved, the technique is now different, rather than using a throw and "raking move", it's now a nicer looking lifting move.
 

NAT1VE

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 7, 2015
Messages
116
Hey there! So what are you planning on using, gear? My family and I fish the columbia, willamette, bays and tributaires here in the PNW. If you're targeting fall chinook a 8-6"-10-6" rod with a moderate heavy action and enough back bone to support up to 8-16oz. of weight is what you want. Not much better lure out there to use than a tuna wrapped kwikfish or wobblers. Clancy, simons or brads are good wobblers.

Up near the cowlitz and lewis rivers we use simons wobblers, depending on the tide. anywhere from 6-16oz. of weight. We recently limited out using lead and spinners, right near government island.

I've had several hits, as well takedowns in the tributaries by fall chinook or coho. while fishing for heads. Wigglewarts, flatfish, jigs. Rarely though in the Big C or Willy have I caught URB's or coho on steelhead gear, more than reverse in the big river. I caught 2 steelhead 2-Thursdays ago on a K-15 anchovie wrap and quite a few on a brads super bait packed with tuna.

Hope this helps, love fishing and talking fish!
 
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