Mine would be a small cluster of eggs. Some times I will use a small sand shrimp tail.

Do you think adding a corkie or a pice of yarn to your bait will put more fish in the boat or the bank?

I do ok on first cast jigs , and spinners. I always seem to catch more on plain eggs with a size 1 hook.


So what is your go to bait/lure for summer steelhead? Thanks in advance......Ross

Here are my top 5...

1. eggs
2. eggs
3. spinner
4. eggs
5. shrimp

In a pinch, I'll also try eggs.

Fish on...

Todd

P.S. I didn't post on the "favorite springer bait" thread, but if I did, it would look exactly like this post. If we were talking winter runs, I'd add plugs, squid, and pink worms, but eggs would still be first, and probably second.

Two biggest days I ever had were using the following:

Free drifting eggs with no weight in ultra low water conditions.

Drifting a piece of prawn/corky/yarn combo in normal flow conditions.

For summer runs I am really becoming convinced it is a bait game.

#1 Egg's
#2 Cured prawns
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I like using eggs they are great but I also like float dark jigs they work also. First choice really bright eggs.

What Todd said. But!........in stacking, heavily fished, low clear hatchery holes, jigs seem to do better.

I know people who clean up with jigs in those heavily fished stacking holes but in umolested, unpressured upriver waters I do just as well or better w/eggs.

Egg tossers unite!

amen

Little Cleo's are hard to beat, but the bite is a no-brainer. So #1 would have to be little gobs of eggs, but at night nothing but a #14 glowball!!!!

Top Five

1. Orange GP
2. Single Wing Spey
3. Wolly Worm
4. Stillaguamish Sunrise
5. Silvana (in purple)

Who needs eggs

Homer

How can you have a top 5?

To my knowledge no fly fisherman has ever caught more then 1 fish in a life time.

OK just funnin let me off easy :p

Sorry,

I forgot we were talking about summer runs

My bad

Homer's Top Five:

1. Green Butt Skunk, wearing Pink Tutu.
2. Green Butt Skunk, wearing Red Tutu.
3. Green Butt Skunk, wearing Orange Tutu.
4. Green Butt Skunk, wearing Chartreuse Tutu.
5. Green Butt Skunk, wearing Camo Tutu (low water conditions)

When you guys said cured prawns, How do you rig them? The only time I use prawns is when springer fishing. I use the whole prawn on a two hook setup behind a small spinner blade, and beads......Ross

Thanks, Todd

I never used CAMO
I have to now

Thanks again

My first choice is sand Shrimp and Eggs would be second. If there is alot of pressure, Night Crawlers.

For me nothing beats a summer run crushing a surface fly - so my choices include:

1) Haig-Brown's steelhead bee - fished waking
2) Grey Wulff - fished waking or drag free
3) Lady Caroline - fished grease lined

For a sub-surface fly on a sink tip -
4) Winter sculpin - an own recipe

For the bait rod -
5) Fresh crawdad - always a great bait and even better change up to more standard offerings (eggs, jigs, etc). However be warned that the fish eat it big time.

Tight lines
S malma

Actually, sometimes a skated dry fly acrossed the surface will outfish bait. Granted that you have to be at the right place and time and hookups arn't every strike, but still I'd rather watch a huge fish pound a furface fly than some thing that I can't see.

For me: Skating Muddler Minnow, a black stonefly nymph with rubber legs, small spey, or a shrimp pattern.

Now, if I could actually get a dry/skated fly strike to actually get hooked...

A little piece of prawn and a corky. Orange or pearl pink medium size for off color. A little black corky for clear. The real key for me is very little weight and a longer leader.

1. Eggs
2. Eggs
3. Doo-dads
4. Crawdad tails
5. Early summer runs cold water Eggs or Whole Sandshrimp....

Keith

1979---1996----

1. Sand shrimp
2. Prawns----cut length way
3. Eggs--normally kept my eggs for jack fishing
4. corkies, birdie drifters, plugs, and spinners.

1997--2003

Almost 100% jigs......."bobber down".....fast water, slow water, deep water, shallow water--"bobber down". Still use some of the other items but don't think I've caught more than 20 summerrun since 1997, on all the others.


"Worse day sport fishing, still better than the best day working"

Just one question.... is the presentation more effective if the fly is dressed with the tutu OR
should the angler be wearing it?

Doc,

It would make sense that Homer would be the one to wear the Tutu, but it's hard to tell.

Every time I've seen him fishing, he's been wearing one.

The confusion comes in when you look at the flies he ties...because they all appear to be wearing tutus....too.

Even his San Juan Worms and chironomids.

I once saw him with a 30" brown trout at Pass Lake...the fish swam by, saw his fly, saw his tutu, and laughed so hard it swam right up on the bank by the boat launch...which was lucky for Homer, as he had been standing there for the past 55 minutes trying to figure out which fin went on which foot...which probably wouldn't have been so difficult if his tutu wasn't in the way so he could actually see his feet...too.



Fish on...

Todd

Fish on...

Todd

That's no Tutu it's kilt!!!!

Now understand that this is a black and white issue!!! There is absolutely NO room for any gray here. Anyone who disagrees with me is just flat out wrong or insane!!! End of Story!

THE best Lure/bait for summer steelhead is a 2/5th oz chrome little cleo. This is the best bar none! don't agree your wrong!!! It really irks me when people think they know more than me! I wish they would just stop! While it's true that everyone is entitled to an opinion only one of us is entitled to be right , And that's ME!

Todd & Doc

That was amazing Brown I think it was the TUTU that did it. The hard part about San Juan worms/Chironominds is getting those TUTU on them specially those 24 & 26. Yea Doc I have a collection of TUTU I wear when I fish, seeing pictures of myself with my spey rod and my pink TUTU in stunning. Been down too Oregon the last week fishing the Sandy River for Jerry and Summer Runs was a blast, it was hard keeping them off my line (you know the TUTU thing). With my spey flies (1/0 – 2/0 – 3/0) makes so much easier to get those TUTU on. They look so nice anybody would fish them and people do ask for them.

Hey, Rob,

I think you ought to use that entire last post as your signature line. It would save people the time and effort of having to read your posts and figure that out for themselves.

J/K...

Wait a minute...no I'm not.

My personal favorite is what I like to call the " purple passion " ..... Its a red chrome bead and a blue chrome bead pinned on the line with a toothpick above a #2 pink Gamakatsu hook with an egg loop and a small dime to size chunk of my special cured prawns ... I use grape koolaid and borax , they turn out firm and look almost black when they are done but after the first cast they take on a translucent purple look that steelhead cant seem to resist ... no joke it really works ......Von Warner

Thanks to all who took the time to reply Thanks..... Ross

I agree with Todd and leadthrower.
Bait is my choice for summer runs.

Green Butt Skunk, wearing Red Tutu.



Todd nows what catches summer steelies

Homer,
I never heard of Stillaguamish sunrise.
Is there a such fly?
I know there is the Skykomish sunrise.