May 3rd steelhead help

[seabass81]

The weekend of may 3rd I will be leaving Ottawa and heading out and trying my luck again at some chrome. Forum rules say no naming bodies of water, I am not sure if it applies when asking a question but all I will say is my hotel over looks a wicked looking waterfall. My main question is regarding time of year. I have yet to nail a steelhead and am really hoping to hook one. How is it fishing this time of year? I hear a lot of talk bout using a 3way swivel to get the weight and bait down to the bottom. Can a standard float rig with a roe bag be used? This is the only method I know. What other species woud be in this river at this time of year?

 

[staffman]

Roe under a float should work fine. If roe isn't working try a bead or a worm and something should interest them.

 

[pop-vlado]

Fresh roe if you are fishing slower moving water. Beads if you are fishing faster moving water. Make sure you are getting your bait close to the bottom.

 

[W_boughner]

Minnows work great as well .. There is every type of fish that we have in Ontario in that river

 

[Brian]

If float fishing is your fancy, get yourself a decent sized slip float (12g or 16g) and enough shot to get your presentation down to where the fish are. Try different methods to see what the fish wants on that day. Roe, flies, spoons, minnows all work.

 

[AaronKrick]

Find the bottom, unsnag yourself, and put the float up a foot or so

 

[goodentight]

What do bottom bouncing and fishing have in common ? Nothing and never disrespect fishing like that again

 

[seabass81]

@perch, I am new to all this. been out a couple of times with no success . The 2 methods I have heard of are standard float fishing and using a 3way and pencil weight to get to bottom. Everywhere else I have fished has been no deeper then 6 feet . I assume fish wont be holding the shoreline and I don't think I will find bottom with those depths with a float. Bottom bouncing frowned upon? I do bass tournaments all summer long and know my $hit but steelheading is new to me .

Thanks for the rest of those who helped . Still plan on doing a lot of homework and hope for the best.

 

[AaronKrick]

What do bottom bouncing and fishing have in common ? Nothing and never disrespect fishing like that again

???

 

[Slickrick]

ahaha, goodentight, i'll make a flosser out of you yet!

"Bottom bouncing frowned upon?"

bottom bouncing is not frowned upon, but if you don't know the good and bad spots, you might as well throw your wallet in the river :razz:

 

[Graham Bristow]

All the rivers should have plenty of fish on May 3rd.. Get rid of your 3 way swivel idea and use your float set up. 3 ways swivels might be best for rivers like the Niagara.. .

Check this out for help on float fishing.. http://www.anglersinternational.com/shotting.html

Courtesy of the Raven website..

 

[W_boughner]

Bottom bouncing is frowned by the pinners on this forum but it can be very affective in that river but I suggest ditch the pencil led and get some large split shot .. The shot when stuck on a rock will slip off your line instead of breaking off