Float fishing help

[AaronKrick]

So im fairly new to the pin, and today i felt like my rig had these issues (which resulted in no salmon or trout)
A.my high vis mainline was laying on top of the water at some points, and about 5 inches was below my float. Should i make sure no main line is in the water/ on it?

B.my rig was heavy with alot of split shots. Im worried fish were seeing the shots

C.my bait. I had a orange bead on with 1.5 inches of line to a size 10 or 12 octopus hook which i put a 4 salmon egg roe bag on.

I kept my bait in front of the float as much as i could, and i also had it anywhere from 3-8 inches off the bottom. The pool was about 2-2.5 ft deep. I had the smallest swivel availible, and had the smallest spit shot around (triple b or something like that) about 5 inches up from my bead, another bbb 2 inches above the first one, and then some fairly large ones within 5 inches of my float. And advice is appreciated
Advice is appreciated

 

[W_boughner]

What size floats are you using let's stars there

 

[Klik]

how clear was the water?
were you seeing the fish?
were they trout or salmon?
-now if you answered clear, yes and trout. then they saw you and your rig a mile away. they have extremely sharp vision.
-if you said, clear yes salmon, salmon extremely rarely hit roe. they only hit out of aggression so that is why.
-if you answered coloured, yes and salmon, refer to last line.
-if you answered coloured, no, then you assuming there was fish unless you saw salmon come up, or someone catch a trout. then there could be absence of trout.
-if you answered coloured, yes, both, then it was just not your day. or it had to be the time of the day.


the time of the day you fished, and the over head sky also makes a difference.
now if you force a float, and bait it will not move natural at all and beats the purpose of CP. also helps if your hi vis line does not enter water when it is shallow, they see your float mile away. specially trout. so you need to use longer thinner leader. and remember, if you see them, good chance they see you.

 

[W_boughner]

What's the deepest hole you fish on your river

 

[AaronKrick]

3 ft hole. And i could see their shadows

 

[Rain-Bow]

Well that explains it lol.

 

[miles]

These guys have some made some good points, I would assume keeping hi vis line out of the water would be a good idea.

I never fish water like that for steelhead but maybe if you put a swivel right under you're float then put the shot on the floro.
When I fish smaller water for residents I like to go down to a 5 or 3.5g float.

For me lately the action has really been turning on early morning and before dark with not much action in the day, the other day I didn't get get anything for a couple hours then the last hour before it got dark I got into multiple bows, I haven't been fishing for salmon.

 

[steelhead101]

dont be fooled, most fish that come out of 3 feet of water are flossed. only way i have been able to take fish in the shallows is by twitching fly's, or spinners. salmon only seem to take roe in deep slow pools,

 

[Rain-Bow]

^spot on.

 

[dreamboy2010]

Hmmm Alot of info to digest here

 

[Float_down]

Ask Nado about plonking fish out of clear water running 2 ft under your float, it happens. As for salmon rarely hitting roe, common up and fish some GB tribs.


As for your question. If they were bows, it could have been that they were being worked prior to you being there, sometimes the best thing to do if you can see them but can't get them to bite, is to leave the pool alone for a while, then keep trying different things, flys, pinkys, single eggs, plastics etc. If they were salmon, the darker they are this time of year, the less likely you're going
To smack um.

 

[steelhead101]

Ask Nado about plonking fish out of clear water running 2 ft under your float, it happens. As for salmon rarely hitting roe, common up and fish some GB tribs.


As for your question. If they were bows, it could have been that they were being worked prior to you being there, sometimes the best thing to do if you can see them but can't get them to bite, is to leave the pool alone for a while, then keep trying different things, flys, pinkys, single eggs, plastics etc. If they were salmon, the darker they are this time of year, the less likely you're going
To smack um.

im going to have to respectfully disagree with you, it is incredibly unlikely that georgian bay salmon have developed a taste for roe more so than lake ontario chinook salmon. the more logical approach to your argument would be that less pressured fish are more likely to bite. despite fishing pressure most fish taken out of 2 feet of gin clear water are lined reason being is salmon have incredible eyesight and huge sensory organs compared to that of say a bass or pike, they can see your line your hook your shot and your float and will shy away from your roe almost every single time. i challenge you two run 1.5 feet below your float in even 3 feet of water and see how many chinook salmon rise to grab your roe. in low clear water salmon hit out of aggression 90 percent of the time and every now and then seem to slam the odd roe bag. unless you have some sort of magical roe cure that i dont know about i have to disagree with salmon taking roe in clear shallow water. trout on the other hand is a total different story

 

[IR4Jflyfishing]

im going to have to respectfully disagree with you, it is incredibly unlikely that georgian bay salmon have developed a taste for roe more so than lake ontario chinook salmon. the more logical approach to your argument would be that less pressured fish are more likely to bite. despite fishing pressure most fish taken out of 2 feet of gin clear water are lined reason being is salmon have incredible eyesight and huge sensory organs compared to that of say a bass or pike, they can see your line your hook your shot and your float and will shy away from your roe almost every single time. i challenge you two run 1.5 feet below your float in even 3 feet of water and see how many chinook salmon rise to grab your roe. in low clear water salmon hit out of aggression 90 percent of the time and every now and then seem to slam the odd roe bag. unless you have some sort of magical roe cure that i dont know about i have to disagree with salmon taking roe in clear shallow water. trout on the other hand is a total different story

I think the thing you are leaving out here is the speed of the water, in clear shallow fast water I have seen salmon move to take a roe bag. Hitting out of pure aggression and instinct however in the clear slow water it is very unlikely. my 2c

 

[NADO]

I would agree with Float_Down, there is something different about Georgian Bay and Huron Salmon. I personally think its something to do with the rivers, alot of the tribs that way have deep sections that feel alot more like the lake than any of the Lake O ditches and as a result I have gotten some clear hit from salmon on Roe this year while fishing for steelhead.

As far as the shallow water fishing goes I have pulled a ton of steel out of the rapids this fall, it is a ton of fun. A lot of guys will watch you and make themselves feel better by telling themselves that you are just flossing fish because they haven't figured it out but that can't be farther from the truth. This time of the year the steelhead are hanging out in fast water behind the salmon scooping up any eggs that break free from the redd. Float a single bead in the right color through those rapids and hold on because you wont even have a chance to set the hook! When fishing these type of rapids I use a small 3g float with bulk shot under the float, and a small split shot above a 20" leader. I keep about 2.5' from my float to the hook in rapids that are 1.5-2' deep, your presentation wont be right on bottom in the fast water but it doesn't need to be as the natural eggs move all over the water column in that fast stuff too.

Catfish come out to the meetup at the end of October and we can help work out some of the bugs in your set up.

 

[BASSMASTER19]

I would agree with Float_Down, there is something different about Georgian Bay and Huron Salmon. I personally think its something to do with the rivers, alot of the tribs that way have deep sections that feel alot more like the lake than any of the Lake O ditches and as a result I have gotten some clear hit from salmon on Roe this year while fishing for steelhead.

As far as the shallow water fishing goes I have pulled a ton of steel out of the rapids this fall, it is a ton of fun. A lot of guys will watch you and make themselves feel better by telling themselves that you are just flossing fish because they haven't figured it out but that can't be farther from the truth. This time of the year the steelhead are hanging out in fast water behind the salmon scooping up any eggs that break free from the redd. Float a single bead in the right color through those rapids and hold on because you wont even have a chance to set the hook! When fishing these type of rapids I use a small 3g float with bulk shot under the float, and a small split shot above a 20" leader. I keep about 2.5' from my float to the hook in rapids that are 1.5-2' deep, your presentation wont be right on bottom in the fast water but it doesn't need to be as the natural eggs move all over the water column in that fast stuff too.

Catfish come out to the meetup at the end of October and we can help work out some of the bugs in your set up.

sooo true nado, all the steel and trout ive hooked onto were on a fast stretch right behind a large pool

 

[AaronKrick]

The pool was fairly slow, it think my problems were 1) my rig (too chunky of a set up) 2) my hi vis line below the float and 3) a bit of not my day mixed in there i think

 

[fishing89]

I usually keep my leader about 4 feet long with ZERO weights. Only 8mm bead, and size 12 hook with usually roe or other bait. Above the leader is a tiny swivel to clear mono mainline and thats where my split shots are spread out before the float.

I dont like using hi-vis, clear is best

 

[steelhead101]

fishing89, no offense but that is definitely a flossing rig. you wouldnt even see your float go down on a strike with all the slack line.

 

[W_boughner]

fishing89, no offense but that is definitely a flossing rig. you wouldnt even see your float go down on a strike with all the slack line.
well then I'm a flosser ! I use that setup in crystal clear water hen they are skittish ... But I have watched the fish move 4 feet over to be flossed

 

[Rain-Bow]

That really depends. If it's a shallow run that's stacked with salmon, then flossing isn't avoidable when running that much line.