You thought the last one was long and boring
Again, my apologies.
As a preface, everything you/we know about steelhead behavior applies directly to this style of fishing. We are fishing to the same fish under the same range of conditions, but this method in particular has definitely opened my eyes to a few behavioral traits that I wasn’t formerly in touch with. One key difference that I would highlight is that to me it seems as though a much higher percentage of fish will respond to dead drifted bait, an egg pattern/bead especially, than would move to a swung offering be that a spoon, worm, fly, etc. If using the concept of players, a hole with 9 fish in it might have 1 that would move to a swung fly or spoon, 2 or 3 that would eat a dead drifted bait or jig, and 6 that would eat an egg. I use these numbers to loosely illustrate a point, but after a handful of years mixing this beading technique into my toolbox for steelhead, I think the concept at least is close accurate.
how long of a cast can be effectively nymph fished?
A surprisingly long one. It takes a lot of work, but one can actually fish a pretty substantial stretch of water effectively per each cast. Definitely more linear feet of water per cast than swinging because you are fishing as soon as your line is in the water upstream until your line is tight downstream. That having been said, swinging is a far more effective way to cover from near to far. In nymphing, the longer the cast and the farther you try to reach with it, the harder it is to mend and generally the less water you are fishing effectively. That having been said, maintaining a perfect dead drift for your entire cast isn’t necessary, and quite often I am mending and moving line and the terminal tackle to get it running in the zone I want throughout the cast.
If salmon egg hatch matching doesn't account for steelhead bead selectivity, do you have any hypotheses that would?
That is the million dollar question my good man! External influences aside, the same factors that would lead them to strike anything of a given shape, size, or color over something else. If your bait is in the broad range of what steelhead tend to bite, color, contrast, and movement for starters. A lot of attention is given to the light reflection and/or lack there of in beading. Oddly enough, my best bead is a solid color rather than translucent or opaque like many successful beads. Neutral bouyancy and the weight/density of the bead is super important as well to give the bead natural action as it rolls and bounces along the bottom, catching micro-currents along it’s drift.
All my experiences with steelhead selectivity have been the product of fishing pressure. I subscribe to the theory that an undisturbed steelhead will hit the first properly presented bait or lure it sees because that has served well for decades. Disturbed steelhead often won't hit anything at all, and when they do hit, it's usually something different and random. Under what kind of conditions have you observed steelhead selectivity?
My experience has been more or less the same and I agree. Most undisturbed steelhead are fairly un-selective in the bead that they will take, and likewise would have more likely than not taken anything else that was put in front of them. I think the bead shines in situations where steelhead have seen fishing pressure, or in situations where they are less comfortable. Low and clear being the easiest of the latter to define.
Eating and egg is natural, easy, and something that I think is heavily imprinted from a trout’s younger days. Interestingly enough, I have caught (not flossed) all 5 species of pacific salmon on egg patterns, although not with regularity. Eating an egg isn't an act of aggression and it doesn't really seem to involve the predatory instinct at all. It doesn't usually require a lot of effort on the fishes part, and it has nothing to do with territorial issues. Fishing the bead is perhaps the most minimally intrusive presentation I have come across, which if you are fishing to pressured fish that seem to have a case of lockjaw, is a big benefit. Certainly care has to be taken to manage your line and offering in such a way that you don't put the fish down (as can happen with terminal gear that tries to appeal to the more aggressive instincts of the fish), but outside of your line and indicator, it is very rare that you spook or even turn fish off with the bead. In my opinion, this is evidenced by fish eating a bead after having seen perhaps a handful or more presentations of the same or similar pattern, and in many cases, after having been fished to several times with other methods as well.
Quite often I catch fish out of a given stretch of water after having fished through it a a handful of times with different beads. To me, this says that the fish was comfortable, willing to eat, but just hadn't seen something that it wanted or was curious enough to move for. I do not believe that the same fish would have eaten the 14th spoon that it saw just because it was the right color or wobbled just the right way at the right time.
If steelhead can be so selective, what is your fishing strategy?
It varies based on a number of personal and environmental factors. Your summary of approaching Sauk/Skagit style rivers sounds very logical and I would say that I would take a similar approach to those rivers, regardless of what rod and gear I was using. Generally I usually fish in two “modes” either searching the water, or working it. If I am in searching mode, I either don't know the river well enough to be confident that I am fishing to fish, or I am uncertain that there are many fish in the system at that point.
Working mode applies when I am confident that there are fish in the system and I know, within a matter of feet, where they are at.
In searching mode with a bead, I carry two rods, each with one of my tried and true favorites on the end of the line. I fish much as you described fishing the Sauk and Skagit, with the difference being I will make one pass per each rod/bead and move on if there are no signs of life.
Working, much the same but I will take switch gear, positions, casting angle, depth/length of leader, amount of weight, etc. and take the time to be sure that any fish in that stretch has had more than one or two looks at a few variations in gear and presentation before I move on.
It appears that a bead fishing strategy would best fit two scenes: 1) very small streams, and 2) water that you have knowledge certain that is stacked with steelhead, like a hatchery blood hole. Otherwise, in order to fish 3 bead sizes in 4 different color patterns, you would run out of daylight fishing the first pool on a 6 mile float down the Sauk River, for instance, and assuming you began at daylight. See what I mean?
Yes and no. Small water is far more friendly to fish than larger water, but more important than the size of the river is the likelihood that the piece of water your fishing as at least
a fish in it. Obviously the more fish in a given stretch, the better the odds are that one (or more) will bite. Again, I believe a much higher percentage of fish will eat an egg than would take something else.
I have only fished the bead to hatchery fish a few times. As Justin has recently demonstrated, it works just fine, but personally I don't have any perspective for you that has been gained as a result of flogging hatchery terminal zones. The given piece of water doesn't need to be stacked, but I need to be reasonably confident that it has something in it to spend the time to work it over carefully. If I am not, again I am covering lots of water, targeting the places that look promising or that I know hold fish.
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On thing that I am convinced of, is that what leads a fish to eat an egg seems to come from a very different place than what would inspire them to chase a fly, spoon, worm, or even eat a dead drifted bait or jig. In some cases, they quite literally can’t refuse it and will go to great lengths to get it. Although, the less they have to work the better!
SG,
At the end of the day I believe the difference is that swingers are fishing for players. Beaders can get the less aggressive fish to bite as well as the players.
Personally, I love the idea of catching the players and letting the others turn on when they want for those who fish behind me. I moved 3,000 miles so as to swing for these fish, so nymphing and talking numbers can be off putting for me. There is no question as to the effectiveness of beads. There is nothing wrong with it either, of course the same can be said of gay sex.
I'll be happy to share a beer or 3 with any beader, I do hope I beat them to my favorite runs though. They don't leave many scraps.
Nailed it.
I have rambled long enough, and in doing so, haven’t said anything that hasn’t been mentioned at least twice before. All of this is obviously just one perspective and in sharing it, I am not trying to present anything authoritative of course. As I mentioned earlier, beads are just another tool for the toolbox to be used if and you wind up looking for something different.
PS - we haven't even discussed rigging, that is another 2-3 page discussion in and of itself
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