Fisherman Dave

I think I will be the minority here, but I enjoy my canoe over a boat any day. The difference lies in the type of fishing I do. I have a nice big river running straight through the middle of my city. I enjoy getting in at the drop off, getting completely "lost" in the wilderness, visiting my bald eagle friends that just recently had babies, and the crazy amount of different species I can pull out in a day, and then deciding what pickup spot to head to and call for a ride. My river can be shallow, so dodging rocks can be fun too, some situations are hairy for sure but then when you get out of them the relief that comes after is a great feeling. Plus the workout is great, it really is an adventure.

I do not like fishing big lakes, and that is likely because I am not great at it. It is different fishing than I am used to, likely need a good fish finder to help you with depth and structure, and it's too wide open for me. I like rivers where I can work the tail end, front end, or middle of a pool to find where the fish are at. I also like bringing my fly rod and stopping at my honey holes and having some fun with that. I barely have to maintain my canoe (my boat was a pain in the @$$ to maintain, too many toys), they are cheap if you just want a beater on the lighter side like me, and you can drift bait or throw lures from them, even stand on some once your confident or get a more stable one. I absolutely hate trolling with a rod holder, fish hooks itself without the rod even in your hand and then floats to the surface if you don't stop trolling and then you horse it in. Not my idea of fun, but I admit I didn't do it too often so probably don't get the full nuance of it. I'm also the guy that enjoys hiking a long way to my good spots and hopefully not seeing another soul, so in the end I think it just comes down to what draws you the most to fishing.

I was half chirping about the escalation, but the other half of it is this time of year gets everyone fired up. If ice fishing doesn't scratch the itch, which to me it doesn't at all, February (this year January) through March I get cabin fever bad. Some people snap lol. Every 2 days someone in my contact list is msging me about gear or buying something or spring plans so I know others are feeling it too lol, making it even harder. Its dangerous too because if you can't fish the way you like, what else do you do? Buy gear of course, gear you probably don't need anytime soon since you're not fishing...

Someone in this thread, I'm not gonna say who, ^^^, really needs to go fishing...

High temperature like that would have taken them out of the bottom of the pools you said you were fishing and into the rapids. That's where they will get more oxygen (warmer water depletes oxygen quicker) and that is also when they have the energy (keeping in mind they are cold blooded) to move from pool to pool. Learning to fish shallower, quicker moving water can be tricky, sometimes I just keep the float in one place that looks fishy. If you are fishing that sort of water a shorter leader tends to be better. It's tricky though because too hot is also not great for them either, but it's not so hot that they need to find the cold water in the deep pools quite yet (unless super sunny), most of the times they head to the very middle of the pool and become non responsive because it is too cold. I would have worked the front of the pool, the back of the pool, and then the middle in that order. It sounds like you are doing the right thing though, doesn't it just burn you when the water seems perfect? A lack of fisherman could mean ppl know something you don't, but that personally is the last thing I pay attention to, just trust in what you're doing and you'll hook up. Just remember to fish different drifts even if they seem unlikely, I know half of us try to work the far shore or the middle of the pool most of the time, but I learned from canoe fishing that I tend to like to cast at the shores, so don't forget about the one closer to you as long as you have stayed quiet.

Take a look at this:

http://www.raventackle.com/shotting_patterns.php

Another suggestion I would make is to google and read up on how temperature effects steelhead behavior. There are some "magic" numbers that move the steelhead from the fast runs to the middle of pools, that is often times the ticket based on time of day and year you are fishing. A local fish ladder really sunk this msg into me because one day when I was there their morning raise was about 10, maybe even less, and then the water warmed up literally 2 degrees C and the afternoon raise was close to if not over 100. The one dude from the hatchery told me literally 1 degree C can make the difference, and the funny thing is until I learned to watch this more closely I would show up to some spots for first light, fish the crap out of it, go home around 11, only to be told by my buddy that starting 1230 they caught 3 each.

Whenever I see a "seam" in the water I tend to fish it first because to me that means structure. I always try to control my float to go right around boulders too, they tend to ambush from behind rocks or at least it may give them less time to think. The riskier the cast seems to produce more fish for me, I like to float dangerously close to logs/trees.

Other than that, sometimes no matter what you do everyone around you will hook up and you wont. Change your bait, presentation, shot pattern. I always tend to bring 2 rods with me because if float fishing isn't working, it's happened to me time and time again that I will catch em on a spoon/spinner/rapala instead.

Edit: also don't be afraid to go out and try on days ppl will tell you it's not good (low water, storm in the forecast, rain, etc.) as a) it will keep a bunch of fisherman away and theres still a ton of luck left in this sport so worst case you end up spending a nice day in some fresh air getting casting practice, best case you hook into that one random one and will have a sweet story.