Drift Fishing

[Stonedfish]

I ran that exact setup quite a bit as a kid. My step dad didn't approve so it had that added bonus lol. Mostly he thought I'd lose more setups that way due to the lead not really being rigged to break away when hung up, but I never really noticed an issue.

Agreed. I never really noticed I lost that much more gear either.
Just a super simple way to fish gear wise. Just your mainline, hooks, tubing and lead. Would work with corkies, okies and other stuff.
A friend of mine lived on a river with a good population of summerruns. Go down, catch a crawdad, bait it up and go to town with little to no weight. It was interesting to see how far some fish would move to inhale a crawdad tail.

That same little river would be so low when it would open you couldn't fish it with any weight, what we called free drifting eggs. No weight, no leader just a hook on the mainline and eggs, 95% of it was sight fishing, we would just kill em doing that too!
Some times even a swivel would be too much weight!

So much fun!
SF

 

[SeaRunner]

That same little river would be so low when it would open you couldn't fish it with any weight, what we called free drifting eggs. No weight, no leader just a hook on the mainline and eggs, 95% of it was sight fishing, we would just kill em doing that too!
Some times even a swivel would be too much weight!

I used to love fishing some of the smaller creeks in your neck of the woods, back when they planted them.

 

[Gyrfalcon22]

Tidewater drift caught Blackjack salmon, my most important fish I have ever caught.

I was 12 and my brother and I had watched guys from a distance flinging eggs out into a big set of rapids and landing these bright fish near our house. We were self taught so we took mental notes and gave up the sucker worm fishing gear to try ourselves.
We found an old rod in the attic, and there was an old Garcia Mitchell 300 spinning reel in a box from a deceased great uncle. We bought some boraxed eggs at the gas station and after school wet waded out on a day where no fishermen showed. At some point on a very long cast and drift I had the thump thump thump that felt no different than a sucker eating worms. Set hook and WOW! This was different. For a 3lb fish it felt I had hooked the bottom until there were 3 beautiful jumps far out. It was not an easy battle at all in the heavy fast water. Landed the fish on the gravel bar.

That was pretty exciting to a young worm dunker !

While I admired the beautiful fat bellied jack my 10 year-old brother took a turn. He soon hooked and landed an equal. We showed up to our next door to us on the farm grandpa's house with the two fish and we were met with a hero's welcome. They loved salmon. That was the start to many years of excited waiting for the first rains of Fall to drift for jacks. Flyfishing took off at the time for us as well and we hit small streams and stocker lakes, but those first jack salmon caught with drifted eggs will forever be stuck in my mind !

First Blackjack 1976

 

[Rob Allen]

That same little river would be so low when it would open you couldn't fish it with any weight, what we called free drifting eggs. No weight, no leader just a hook on the mainline and eggs, 95% of it was sight fishing, we would just kill em doing that too!
Some times even a swivel would be too much weight!

That's also great for early season or low water coho when you don't want to throw a bobber.

 

[Nick Clayton]

So many great memories growing up drift fishing for steelhead. I spent an enormous amount of time on the OP rivers, but definitely fished the Lyre the most since it was just about in my backyard.

Caught my first ever steelhead drift fishing in the Lyre canyon somewhere around late September/early October.

I had lost two fish already on size 4 Mepps Algia spinners when we hiked up to a spot where fast water plunged in a small but semi deep, short pool with a large boulder at the bottom end. We could see a few fish laying just up from the boulder. While on our hands and knees we crawled into position and I tossed my spinner up into the turbulent water at the head and worked it back towards me. A fish we hadn't seen darted out from behind the boulder and smashed the spinner but it didn't stick. I was getting frustrated at this point. The other fish didn't move much, but showed no interest in the spinner on the following casts.

My step-dad suggested we switch up to drift gear. We didn't have any bait so it was just a small corky and yarn with a little scent, probably anise knowing my step-dad. I tossed it up ahead of the fish and we could track the colored corky/yarn easily even from our low position. I didn't see or feel the take, but my step dad did. It startled me when he barked for me to set the hook. I did as told and all hell broke loose. That little 7 lb summer run went absolutely ape shit, nearly beaching itself on shore and the large boulder several times. Jumped all over the pool, but never left the general area. (Those fish on the Lyre were notorious for making you chase them and generally once they left a pool you were mostly screwed due to how difficult it could be to follow and the amount of snags and things to break you off).

I was so excited to finally land that fish. I think it was my 2nd or 3rd season of trying to land a steelhead on my own. I believe I was 9, maybe 10 at the time.

My youth is full of memories from fishing that little river, but no doubt that one tops them all.

 

[Nick Clayton]

We showed up to our next door to us on the farm grandpa's house with the two fish and we were met with a hero's welcome. They loved salmon.

Man there was nothing better than returning home to family with some hard earned fish. My mom was always so excited. For a number of years we had a yearly family reunion, often held at campgrounds around the peninsula so fishing was never far away. I remember a few times returning with fresh salmon or steelhead to contribute to the big dinner cookouts. Boy did I feel like the king of the world hearing people rave about the fresh fish!

 

[Stonedfish]

Back in the late 60's and early 70's, my family used to camp in the Redwoods in Northern CA.
There was a river there that my brother and I fished. I'm not sure if they were half lbers or just resident rainbows, but there were some pretty large fish in there. At least to a kids eyes. We were catching them drift fishing single Pautzke's Ball O' fire salmon eggs.
My brother ended up catching a bullhead and mentioned he was going to use it for bait. I told him nothing would eat that (naive kid, lol), so I squashed it with my foot and tossed it in the river. It sank and landed on top of a large flat rock. About a minute later, the biggest fish we had seen emerged from behind some rocks and inhaled the bullhead. My brother still gives me shit about that to this day.
That got me thinking about other possible baits. There were tons of little frogs around and I managed to catch a few nice fish drift fishing with them using a single spit shot.

My first steelhead came on the Puyallup in 1968, just above Anton's.
My dad wasn't a river guy, but took me out there since I said I wanted to catch a steelhead. He knew the basics and said let your outfit bounce along the bottom. If it stops, set the hook. I had on a Sammy Special, which stopped about half way through the drift. I set the hook and a fish jumped. My brother wasn't paying attention and I told him I had a fish on. He laughed and said you're snagged on the bottom. Then it jumped again. I ended up damn near back in the woods by the time I slide it up on the beach. More walking backwards then reeling. I was one happy camper. I think I petted the scales off that poor fish and got lots of congrats from the old timers.
SF

 

[Gyrfalcon22]

I think I petted the scales off that poor fish

Many early landmark fish got this treatment! Haha

 

[BDD]

I, like many of the older crowd, probably first started fishing steelhead by drift fishing. I loved it...mostly the feel of recognizing a fish from the bottom. I loved nothing more than feeling the bottom, then feeling a fish picking up my offering and the subsequent tug, tug, setting the hook and the feeling of the weight of the fish as I set the hook. Then after awhile, I started doing less and less of it. I think mostly because the hassle of taking care of bait and later, all the hardware needed when drift fishing even without bait. Hooks, leaders, swivels, knots, weighting system, different bobbers, bait, yarn combos...but most of all, lack of fish. I started simplifying the gear needed. First with spoons (deadly effective when done right) and swinging flies.

With the latter two methods, the simplicity of tying a single knot and most importantly, the FEEL of a fish grabbing your offering. I never really got hooked on bobber dogging, pinning, or indicator fishing because the visual aspect of the float/bogger was never as appealing as the feel of a swung fly, spoon, or drift-caught fish. Lake fishing with indicators is the one exception for me because it's just so dang effective.

If I could find a fishery where I could have some solitude and drift fish with a simple setup without losing gear and have a lot of hookups per day, I'd be all over giving it a go, even if it was winter whitefishing. The feel of something at the end of your line, knowing there's a live fish there is what does it for me, regardless of location, species, or weather. But of course, steelhead are my favorite.

 

[ThatGuyRyRy]

I learned to salmon fish drifting gear on the Puyallup and Carbon River. My dad was a transplant so we ended up having to learn together. I never knew there were other styles of fishing given that's how everyone fished on the puke and really in that combat fishery, it's the only thing you were able to do.

Still looking at learning other forms of great fishing, but I think I'm more content catching fish out in the salt especially on a fly rod.

 

[Sam Roffe]

Seems like it's becoming something of a lost art from what I can gather from my buddies who fish rivers a lot.

I think drift fishing is a lost art. I had a buddy who taught me drift fishing, I've never did much of it after, but, I sure liked it. It takes a serious investment of time and experience to drift fish well. But I believe it's probably the most effective way to fish when you know how to do it right.

I am excited about our trip coming up in a few week. I am going to give drift fishing a whirl again.

 

[Evan B]

This is exactly the type of discussion I was hoping for when adding the gear fishing forum. I wasn't sure how it'd go over, but this is my forum dammit and I want to talk about gear fishing There's other gear fishing forums out there, but they never were the same for me. My people are here, and it's easier for me to relate my experiences with people who also fly fish.

 

[brownheron]

Evan, I think it's a really good add to the platform.

I'm sure I am unfairly overgeneralizing but the other gear forums I visit seem to place very little priority on conservation issues - more 'kill my limit and who cares about the future (or rules)'. The vibe I get here is feels more conservation oriented even if there is disagreement with W/ODFW. Feels more like 'fish however you want within the rules'. That makes the gear discussion a lot more rewarding for me at least.

I appreciate your flexible approach on this and so many other things on the new platform.

 

[Rob Allen]

This is exactly the type of discussion I was hoping for when adding the gear fishing forum. I wasn't sure how it'd go over, but this is my forum dammit and I want to talk about gear fishing There's other gear fishing forums out there, but they never were the same for me. My people are here, and it's easier for me to relate my experiences with people who also fly fish.

I think a great reason for this sub forum is that we'll flat out in most cases gear fishing for steelhead is easier and more productive than fly fishing. People want to actually catch fish once in a while and if we can keep someone in the sport when they might otherwise get frustrated and quit. I think that's a good thing.

 

[Big K1]

I started out drift fishing with surgical tubing and pencil lead. I switched over to shot in paracord(slinky) in the early 90's.
Drifting is super effective for bankies, but I prefer a float if I am gear fishing.

 

[Rvrfisher360]

I started out drift fishing with surgical tubing and pencil lead. I switched over to shot in paracord(slinky) in the early 90's.
Drifting is super effective for bankies, but I prefer a float if I am gear fishing.

I prefer float fishing too. IMO bobber doggin is the best of both worlds, constant contact with the bottom like in drift fishing but the visual indication from a bobber. It seems to work well for me.

 

[G_Smolt]

I used to be a drift fella, right up until the day I moved to AK on a permanent basis. I started out accompanying my Pa in the 70's, messin' around on gravel bar while he and his friends fished. As I got older I started fishing with him more, first with a closed-face reel, then graduating to a levelwind (with the spool friction cranked WAY up). By the time I started high school (1983), I was staring to amass what would become a staggeringly large gear assortment, pretty much all centered around drift fishing for steelhead.

Before I got my driver's license, I used to take the Metro buses all over the place to fish. In between Metro, Pierce Co and Snohomish Co public transportation, I was able to fish the Sky (and tribs), the Snoqualmie, Tolt, Raging, Tokul, Cedar, Green Puyallup, Carbon...when I went with car-owning friends, we would hit the OP or SW WA cricks for a weekend.

When I got my first car it was pretty much game on, because I started working 7 months out of the year in AK...that left 5 moths of the year free for me to hit nearly every single Westside steelhead river listed on the old punchcards. After a couple years of that, one of my friends who managed a local tackle shop set up a deal with some Quinault guides to advertise their trips in exchange for deep discounts. Long story short, I spent a bunch of time on the Q lands after that, and in restrospect, had some days that I would probably be better off never telling new anglers about lest they think I was mistaking steelhead for smelt in a 5 gallon bucket...

I still have a bunch of old setups - I've still got about 6-8 drift poles, a few shoeboxes worth of levelwinds (mostly Bantams), and a pile of terminal gear. Over the years I went through a bunch of different phases and schools of thought concerning weights and attachments, so as a consequence I have done everything from the simple surgical tubing sleeve to slinkies in various shot sizes/counts to 2-5oz bank sinkers when shit was getting deep on the cowlitz. My favorite was always crimping hollowcore to the tag-end of your mainline-to-swivel clinch knot - easy to put on, easy to come off, no gear lost...these days, not the most environmentally-conscious way to go.

From '89 to '92 I worked for Cossack Caviar - also known as Cossack bait / Alaska Premier Bait / etc.. As a fishing fella with access to literally tons of both bait eggs/skeins and curing supplies, I had a pretty good time after-hours at the plant, making all kinds of "secret recipe" baits and gels. One of the discoveries from that era was "Smooj" - quite literally the concentrated, sodium chloride-laden egg oil that seeps out of export-grade sujiko boxes as they are compressed over a period of weeks. That stuff was an absolute bitch to handle, but we used to put it in a little aspirin jar with a wide mouth and smear it all over yarn...it would make a plume of cloudy egg-milk that damn near everything in the river would (and could) follow right to the source.

At any rate, I used to dig me some drift fishin', fellas.
2 from a ridiculous trip to the OP, one of the last times I was there in the early 90's. Calcutta for the win!

 

[Matt B]

This is exactly the type of discussion I was hoping for when adding the gear fishing forum. I wasn't sure how it'd go over, but this is my forum dammit and I want to talk about gear fishing There's other gear fishing forums out there, but they never were the same for me. My people are here, and it's easier for me to relate my experiences with people who also fly fish.

As a gear-curious fly flinger who has no problem with the concept of “when in Rome” for fishing and especially for learning from others about fishing, regardless of tackle types, I also appreciate it.

 

[Tom Butler]

I started out drift fishing with surgical tubing and pencil lead. I switched over to shot in paracord(slinky) in the early 90's.
Drifting is super effective for bankies, but I prefer a float if I am gear fishing.

My experience is about the same as others. I found in our area the slinky hangs up much less than other rigs. I like spoons and Evan's comment hit me as right on.

 

[Rob Allen]

Just throwing this out in case it might help someone.

Lamiglas in Woodland Washington has or at least had a factory outlet store. They have seconds and repaired rods there for about half price. No warranties but good gear at low prices. Their G1000 series in a medium is a good choice.