I know this might be considered as a "dumb" question...but I hope not.

Leaving gear on the bottom is not something anyone likes to do, and is a pet-peave of mine. No, its not the cost of the stuff, or that it takes time to re-tie (although it does), but I hate to leave lead and gear hung on a piece of structure, cause eventually it is going to look like a garbage dump down there to the fish.

All that said to ask the question. I am switching to drifting baits (corkies, spin-n-glo's, etc.) with a float . These are baits that in my limited understanding are traditionally fished in a manner that floats them up from the bottom as a piece of pencil lead in a tube bounces along. (That's how I've been fishing them, at least).

Making a cast of any length requires at least a 1" piece of pencil lead, which is sometimes too much with smaller corkies or other floating combo's to get the right drift..it rides too low (drags bottom too much) finds rocks and on some occasions has to be broken off, or at least the lead is left behind. Not a good thing to leave in the water. (Keep in mind there are hundreds/thousands of these weights lost every year in a given body of water).

I tried attaching a small split shot just above the corkie/yarn, and it drops down to the right level just fine, but it looks like...well, not to attractive. So, how about painting that split shot pink/orange, etc. ?

I designed and made a float that works excellent, and adjusting its depth takes only a second (literally), so setting proper depth for the bait in changing water is a snap, but I want to drift a decent looking bait, not some Frankenstein.

Gonna try some powdercoat paint on a few and see if they come out OK.

Anyone else ever try this? Am I wasting my time being too picky about appearance?

Mike

In my opinion, yes you are wasting your time!

Cowlitzfisherman

Good enough. Thanks...thought I might be, but knowing how detailed (read anal) some details are with bait presentation it didn't hurt to ask.

Time to go fishing. Rivers down and beautiful today.

If steelhead are the "fish of a thousand casts" the river owes me 5 fish!

Mike

I tried something similar earlier this year. I powder-coated some brass beads and used them like a corkie under a float. That rig was outfished (about 6 to 1) by one with a split shot about 8 inches up from the hook.

SciGuy:

Two things I might recommend. One is to switch to non-buoyant or neutral buoyant lures like Jensen Eggs, pink worm, Gooey Bob, Wool ties, Spinners etc. The second is to peg your Corkie/Cheaters to the line with a toothpick, then add a small split shot 6 to 15 inches above the corkie. Fish your float with a relatively long leader so that your pencil lead is very near the bottom. This will put you Corkie/Cheater in the zone. It okay to drag bottom a bit when float fishing.

Exactly what I was going to say Dave.

Mike,
This fall i experimented with some small barrel sinkers and painted them red with powder coating. I then took a #2 Owner bait hook and tied a 24-30" leader with an egg loop. Then all you have to do is slide a small bead down your leader to the hook and then your painted sinker.

Ive fish eggs and shrimp using the "lead corkie" setup for silvers with good success, so i imagine they will work well for Winters. The only problem i had was the sinker sliding up the leader when i casted. That can probably be taken care of with a small piece of yarn tied above or something similar.
tight lines...

Thanks Bank Walker, that sounds like a super idea.

I powder coated some split-shot this morning, and then set up a couple of different 30" leaders with egg loops, pink corkies, yarn and a split shot on the top. I tie barrel swivels to the tops of my leaders, saving a lot of time re-tying if it is needed. (got bad arthritis in my hands it is tough tying knots when they are cold, so its much easier to have it all ready to go onto the snap-swivel)

Fished most of the day below the house, trying to practice the techniques I learned from the Nick Amato video on Drift Fishing for Steelhead. Man, that video is packed with tips and how-to's!

The new weighted corky leaders were fished under a float, and from what I could see they drifted like they should have. The float is easy to adjust depth on, so fishing differing depths was no problem.

Fished some decent looking water, at least till they started generating power up the Baker and muddied up the Skagit. No steelhead, but that was most likey due to few being in the area accessable. I have learned that just because the water looks good doesn't mean there are steelhead in it.

Didn't lose a rig all day, and fished some rocky, structure filled water along the way. Bouncing the bottom I know 3-4 weights/leaders would have joined the bottom structure.

Did catch another nice Dolly...in fact I think it was the same one I caught yesterday, as it still had a sore mouth from where it was hooked yesterday. Released it...again.


Mike