I have been fishing a fairly large river lately that has about 13 feet of visability, and have been catching a few, but there are a ton of fish rolling, and I feel like I should be doing better. I have seen some people hook 4 and others aren't catching a cold. What can I do to increase my hookup ratio?

Thanks for any ideas!

Which river are you fishing?

It is a river that runs through Washington, and it is in the southern half of the state. :p Does that narrow it down for you?

Cowlitz, Kalama, Lewis, Hump, Satsop, Nooch Am i getting warmer or colder?

Brat, it is one of those rivers, but I'm not saying which one.

Ok so here is what I have gathered on my experiences out there, the water is hot out there, so these fish do not want to bite, so you gotta catch them at the right time or at least ideal time. For one the sun hits that water and it is pretty much game over after 11 am for me. Gear that has been known to increase hook ups are ultra small and ultra light. The more natural the better. Leave those stacked fish alone and work the faster waters and not those huge froggy stacked fish holes, mayber you already are and it still isn't working, but I will drift by a huge stack of fish and then work a piece of water that I can tell has a few slamon in it and then I will have more success. Hope I helped a little and never forget to pop on a dark or natural colored jig or fly

Assuming you are fishing the Cow, Kalama, or other river with summer run steelhead, take a #2 or #3 vibrax spinner and paint it all black (or buy some black bladed spinners at Pritchards), forget the big holding water where the salmon are, and instead target steelhead in the aerated water at the heads of the runs and the fast, bouldery slots. Cast across and down, swing the spinner through these spots, and HOLD ON! This is perhaps the most exciting form of steelhead fishing...summer fish holding in these "trouty" locations can be very aggressive and will frequently make a spectacular first run.

I have had real good luck on very small jigs in low clear water. I have had real good success with a black feather with a white head. Also have caught on orange w/white head, pink w/white head and others. Was fishing last Friday before all the rain and a buddy and I hooked 12 steelies landed 7 of them. Don't be afraid to go small. You may loose a few to a bent hook, but it is a lot better hooking up than getting nada!! Good luck!!!

Even though it may seem like they're to bright, red cured roe works good in the Kalama even with the river being that low, with that much visibility.

Just use smaller chunks. It's worked for me anyways.