This topic has always interested me because I hear such a wide variety of opinions.

Here are my thoughts for what they are worth.

Salmon: I like to fish for Salmon that are on the move. My experience is that as salmon move into a hole they take a short breather, or rest especially after navigating a particularly difficult riffle. You could argue that these fish are 'holding', but in my view a holding fish is one that will stay in a given hole for a couple of days. I've found that if you can identify one of these types of 'resting spots', when there are fish present and moving up river, you can target more aggressive fish in these areas. Salmon that are holding in a hole and have been for several days are much more likely to be lockjawed IMO, and when fishing on these fish I've noticed that they are much more prone to the random 'bite'. In other words you can stand there and pound the hole all day and there will be a 'bite' that turns on maybe a couple of times each day whereas in the moving fish spots you are dependent upon a pod of fish moving through the hole. For salmon I am much more likely to pick a spot on the river and pound the bejeesus out of it all day long for these reasons.

Steelhead: Here I target 'holding' fish, especially after a freshet. Steelhead seem to be most aggressive right after they have established a new 'holding' spot, of course fish move after a freshet which I believe more than anything else accounts for the increased success we experience after a good rain. They move into new lies and actively 'defend' (for lack of a better way to put it) their new spot. Given a river that is slow to change these holding spots will always attract fish and therefore should get the lions share of our attention. Unless I am in the tidewater stretches of a river I find targeting moving steelhead to be a fruitless effort.

Again...there seems to be a wide variety of opinions on this subject so I am looking to compare what I have learned through experience to those experiences of other anglers.

Thoughts...?

I'd say you pretty much hit the proverbial nail directly on the head. My observations are very similar, and I prefer to fish the same situations.

I think moving steelhead also hit well. It's just that it's usually harder to locate moving steelhead since they don't occur in the large schools that salmon often do. The very few times I've found moving steelhead, every one was a biter. I do agree with you that holding steelhead are willing hitters, compared to salmon. I used to fish a place on the Skagit years ago where silvers were known to stack like crazy. Yet I caught very few. Maybe a couple hits at daybreak and maybe a random bite would turn on during the day - - sometimes. Finally I learned that those fish held there for days and weeks. It was only really good fishing on those occasions when fresh salmon moved in. I'm still a lousy salmon fisherman, but I know a rock on the lower Hump that X hours after high tide in the fall, it's every cast a coconut. The fish are moving, and they hit like starving trout. So in general, I agree with you, but don't underestimate moving steelhead if you can just locate them.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

This year was my worst year ever for Coho on the Skagit. No problem with the number of fish, it was amazing. The big, deep holes held hundreds and hundreds of them I just couldn't get them to bite. The guys that were casting all day in the same holes where getting fish but how boring is that, I like to stay on the move unless the fish in a particular hole stay on the bite than what the heck. Steelhead on the other hand I've never had a problem getting them to bite, fresh or holding fish. The trick is finding them so staying on the move for me ususally does the trick. Instead of fishing a few of the "good" holes like for Coho I fish the "good" holes and than a whole bunch more!