Steelhead Trout Club of Washington | Techniques Float Fishing

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FLOAT FISHING
PLUGFISHING FLOAT FISHING bobber back 2.jpg

STEELHEAD FLOAT FISHING BASICS

Float Fishing Rigs Float Fishing Basics By Tom Wallace Float (bobber) fishing is a simple effective way to target Steelhead. I began steelheading the way most northwesterners do, drift fishing. I caught a lot of fish and donated a ton of gear to the river. After watching the success of float fishermen I decided it was time to let go of my pride and give it a try. On my first trip, the float went down and I was rewarded with a 10lb chromer. I began to utilize this technique more and more. These days it is my go-to for most situations. The main advantage of float fishing is less snagging and breaking off. This equals more time with your gear in the water, and in turn, a higher chance of hooking a fish. I canâ€™'t tell you how much good holding water has been passed up by drift fisherman on my boat because they broke off and had to re-tie. Additionally, it allows you to make longer presentations against the bank and the strikes are usually obvious. The main disadvantage is depth control. When fishing a hole that has many different depths the angler must adjust his depth constantly to stay in the zone. In high colored water, especially fishing from a boat, where you are casting to new water it is hard to know the depth. Unless you know the river very well, you are constantly guessing. In these conditions, if your line isnâ€™'t in the zone, you are not fishing effectively. The two most important keys to success in float fishing is line depth and line control. In most situations you will want your offering to be presented 1 foot off the bottom. If you are unsure of the depth keep adjusting your float (or bobber stop) in 1 foot increments until you observe the float getting delayed or tilting on its way down stream. Once youâ€™ve found the bottom raise the float a foot and you will be in the zone. If you are fishing with a jig and the paint is getting worn off on the bottom off the jig head you are too deep. If the paint is being worn off of the sides of the jig head, boulders are causing this and itâ€™s OK. As far as line control is concerned, proper mending is the key. Proper mending means that you are achieving a natural drift and the current is not pulling on your line. When the current pulls on your line it pulls your offering up and out of the zone. Additionally most fish prefer a natural presentation. To mend the line if youâ€™'ve cast upstream, simply raise your rod tip and reel in the slack, then let line out as the float moves downstream. If you have a big belly in the line, give a quick jerk of the rod and reel in the slack. You want as direct a line (the shortest distance from A to B) from your rod to the float as possible without creating extra tension on the float. One way to tell if you have a natural drift is that your float should be vertical as it moves downstream. An added benefit to proper mending is when your float goes down you have less line to retrieve for a quick hookset. The main exception to this is in fishing tailouts, where occasionally it pays to swing your offering through. To achieve this, simply stop feeding line out once your float gets below you into the tail out and let it sweep across toward the bank. Jigs are the most common lure used under a float for steelhead in the PNW. The Canadians do some funny things, wool and what not (pink worms came from Canada). Anyhow, steelhead love jigs and they are very simple to rig. Put your float on your mainline and tie an in-line sinker below the float. Then tie a leader to the sinker at the length of the depth of the shallowest water you anticipate fishing. To the end of your leader, tie on a jig. As the water gets deeper raise your bobber stop, or fixed float up your mainline. I prefer fixed floats (dink floats) for most steelhead applications. They have a couple of advantages. Your jig or bait gets into the zone faster; there is no waiting for the line to slip through the float, and you always know how much line is below your float because itâ€™'s fixed. They are simply and straight forward albeit a little annoying to adjust. One way to get around this is instead of wrapping your line around the float, run it straight through both tubes and secure it with rubber bands. An added benefit is when you snag up and break off you will get your float back in one piece instead of a cut up mess from the line. I use a sliding float when fishing water deeper than 7 feet as they are much easier to cast than an extra long leader with a weight on the end. This is especially true with a baitcaster. The main disadvantage of a sliding float is if the line is not well mended it can pull your float away from the bobber stop, raising your lure out of the zone. Also, the bobber stop will occasionally hang up in the rod guides.

No Frame

From Left to Right - Example setups:

Basic Jig Rig - Fixed (dink) float, In-line sinker, jig

Basic Bait Rig - Sliding float , in-line sinker, painted egg sinker, hook with yarn.

Float with Drift Rig - Fixed float (rigged rubber band style), pencil lead, double Li'l

corky, hook with yarn.

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Float Fishing Lures Jig choice can make a big difference. Although there are many productive jigs on the shelf, I tie my own and would suggest that to anyone who gets into jig fishing. There is something very rewarding in catching a fish on a homemade lure, especially if it'â€™s your own design. Most of the jigs I use are marabou or rabbit tail. My go-to in the winter is hot pink but in clear water cerise, purple, or black are good choices. If you know you'â€™re on top of fish but they wonâ€™'t bite, keep changing. For summer steelhead it is hard to beat cerise for fish fresh from the salt. Once they've been in the river for a while, darker is usually better. Most of my jigs utilize a combination of colors. One pattern proven effective for both summer and winter fish in clear and colored water is the nightmare pattern. (white head/red body/ black tail) When allowed, I scent and/or bait my jigs. For bait I prefer small sandshrimp heads or tails and finger nail sized prawn chunks. Some days jigs work better without bait and it certainly isnâ€™t necessary. When scenting jigs you must be very careful. Use a little smelly jelly on the jig head or the smallest possible drop of oil on the body of the jig. If the feathers get oily they will lose their action. I prefer shrimp or anise scents. Many serious float fishermen use a 10 ft spinning rod with braided (often floating) mainline. This makes mending and casting a breeze. I find a 9 ft rod and a baitcaster with mono works fine. I prefer a baitcaster because it gives me more control and a quicker hook-set when feeding line downstream. Unless fishing waist deep and casting across a big river a 10 ft rod may be excessive. Mono sinks, has a higher line diameter, and more stretch on a long hook-set so proper mending is key when using it. I donâ€™'t like braided line for many reasons I wonâ€™'t bore you with, but it does have its place in float fishing. Jigs have a very good hook-up rate. For the most part they hold fish very well. Successfully landing a big hot fish on a jig hook is another story. I have tried nearly every jig hook on the market and found that all of them tend to open up on hot 15 lb plus fish. Not to say you will lose that fish, but if you have to give it the rod, cross your fingers. I use 12 lb Seaguar fluorocarbon leader. People say that is too heavy for jigs. Iâ€™'ve lost enough big fish on 8 & 10 lb leader that I wonâ€™'t go light unless Iâ€™m targeting 6-8 lb brats in gin clear water. I have found the smaller jig hooks (1 vs. 1/0) actually hold fish better. This is due to the hook bend being smaller and the gauge of steel staying the same. I have had my best success with the Gamakatsu jig hooks. That being said, I did get a bad batch in winter 2010. After losing 5 fish to opened up hooks (none of the fish huge or horsed in) I decided to throw them out. Then I had a better idea. Tie up a bunch of jigs and hand them out on derby day.

Typical jig hook after an encounter with a large, hot fish.

Note the paint chipped frome the side of the jig heads - a sign of being in the zone.

Some variants of the Nightmare pattern tied up by the author.

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Float Fishing Bait

Jigs are not essential for float fishing. Another effective way to fish a float is with bait or drift gear. You can use your standard drift rig (or just bait or yarn) and fish it under the float by setting the depth of your pencil lead to the depth of the bottom or just shy. In less snaggy areas you can even set it a little deeper to slow down your presentation. The main benefit of using a float with drift gear is it will allow you to make a longer presentation down a slot on the far bank and the takes are more obvious. When I fish eggs or sandshrimp under a float, I prefer to rig them the same way as a jig. I put a Â¼ ounce painted egg sinker on my leader to get my offering down. This can be especially effective for salmon in slow deep water. This is not the traditional way of presenting bait under float which calls for splitshot for weight instead of a painted egg sinker. The split shot is spread out on the leader with 2/3 of the weight at the swivel and about 1/3 half way down the leader to aid in casting. Arguably this method may provide a more natural presentation of the bait and you may do well to use it in low and clear conditions, when the added color from the painted egg sinker is not wanted. I generally prefer the painted egg sinker set up for a couple of reasons. First, I don't need to put splitshot on my leader, which I think tends to weaken it. Second, having the egg sinker near the hook allows me to read the bottom better and readjust my depth to get the drift dialed in quickly. I also think that the egg sinker gets the bait down faster, so each of my casts spends just that much more time in the zone.To sum up, I would make the case that every serious steelhead angler should learn the basics of float fishing and add it to their arsenal if they havenâ€™t already.

The more traditional rigging for bait under a bobber using split shot on the leader.

Tom Wallace (author)

with a pair of jig caught steelhead.

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