I mostly fish for brats with the bobber & jig, kind of a one trick pony. I'm looking for another trick or two, going to be banking it 90% of the time. Anyone have a more versatile set-up or two feel free to chime in. When it comes to drift fishing how do you guys like to set up your rods? I've got an Imx 1025c, a Lamiglas 9.5' med. bait caster, and a Lamiglas 9.5' light spinning rod to rig up............C/22

Small single corkie in the smaller rivers.
Small corkie with a little yarn in larger rivers
pink worm everywhere

Rag & Sandshrimp.Or tadpolley's.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I mostly fish for the big boys in feb-april, but then thats out of a sled or DB and side drifting to boot. A little plugging, but mostly side drifting size 1 or 1/0 red hooks and eggs a touch of yarn and just enough lead to tick bottom every 5' or so.

C-22

Stick with a float and jig, but add a tiny piece of prawn meat, or sand shrimp tail, or add a tiny spawn bag.


I like the rods you have, especially the spinning rod. For medium to large rivers I go with a 10 1/2 foot rod for beetter line control, longer casts and better hook sets.

What the heck is a bobber?

Alright Mr. Vedder a float then, are you going to start centerpinning on us & calling yarn "wool" too?? Your spending too much time in BC....eh?? C/22

light pink corky, yarn in a "washed out pink" color, size 1 red gami hook and a touch of shrimp oil (or a sand shrimp on occasion).

It's hard to beat ultra-light drift gear and a *small* cluster of good eggs. Light lead requires a light spinning rod (9.5 to 10-foot, preferably), and light line. I like 10-pound main and 8-pound leader.

Chuck a 5-ball slinky and a 4-foot leader with ultra sharp tandem #4's with a tiny corky in the middle out into a brat run with---(did I say good eggs?)---and there's nothing left to do but grab the net.

C 22.

I already call yarn, wool. Don't say eh much, huh? But gave up on the centrepins. I do love their feel and the whole idea of eliminating the drag, but thay are soooo slow retrieving line, and I never did feel like had mastered casting them.

I just hate hearing floats called bobbers. It makes me think about guys, with no teeth, going to a family reunion to look for women. Just one of many idiosyncrasies I guess.

Good luck on the brats!

I think the advice you have gotten so far is excellent. I believe that a float and whatever is great for defined holding areas. If fishing big, broad flats with no defined holding areas I would go with a spoon or drift gear.

I just don't get the double #4 hook with the corkie in the middle...? I mean they must be a royal b!tch to tie-up, and where do you put the eggs front loop or rear......

Eggs go in the top loop, the corky is just for contrast and a little buoyancy, and the rear hook is the stinger.

As for why? Because once a fish picks this baby up it's as good as bar-b-qued.

Sol duc said it.That set up work's great,I use it in lower clearer water conditions and the rag & shrimp in all conditions.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

P.S. Sometimes they just like the white shmaag left on the hook with maybe two berries on it.

Quote:

P.S. Sometimes they just like the white shmaag left on the hook with maybe two berries on it.

I'd say this is true of 90% of the brat's I've hooked on eggs.

Did'nt they just pass a new regulation banning the use of a corkie below a hook?

Having spent alot of time in the Midwest, I believe the best thing to do with brats is to boil them in beer (Old Style or Linnie's), toss'em on the BBQ grill, and serve them in a sub roll with baked beans and a cold beer.......

Not sure how you can fit them on a 1/4oz pink jig.....

Eggs under a float works very well. I most prefer to drift light gear with small corkies.

I've got a Shimano Curado SF I just picked-up, could put that on 1 of my lighter drift rods and run what, 10lb. main to a 8lb. leader?? Or lighter yet........?

10# main 8# leader would work great.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

depending what type of water we are fishing I prefer to use the following methods...

float and jig

sidedrift/driftfish bait...a fast presentation so not much lead...

I also like casting small spinners in the tailouts ... dark green with a black blade seems to work pretty good for me.

presentation is where its at.

Out of a boat...side drifting, diver/bait and plugs as well as the rest

Looks like we got the steelie green water covered. In high and murky water I like a pearl pink spin-n-glow, purple yarn and a gob of eggs drifted. In low and clear water I like a small glob of eggs under a bo.......uh-float!

C/22

If it were me I would ditch the double hook set up, it is not needed and actually causes you to hang up on the bottom more. This means more time breaking off and retying and less time fishing. Can't catch fish without a line in the water. Just my .02

For brats I like a size one single hook.

Pink corkie with a small quarter size glob of eggs topped off with some shrimp mikes lunker lotion. My second choice would be a Dr. Death tadpolly.

Float and jig or pink worm. I also love the Aeropuffs. I soak the Areropuff with scent. Both of these methods have been responsible for most of my steelhead.

The brats I've hit the past few days seem kinda partial to bobber and jigs

Double small hooks(dont know size exactley, small) with pearl pink small corky, with white and light pink yarn, with either a sand shrimp tail or a tiny cluster of eggs, this is for the brats. B.C. STEEL ELECTRIC BRASS for the big ones.

Interesting point...

Here's a quote regarding the non-bouyant lure restriction:

When a non-buoyant lure restriction is in
effect, anglers fishing with a non-buoyant lure
(one that sinks in freshwater) may only use a
lure that is equipped with one single hook
measuring ¾ " or less from point to shank.
When using a buoyant lure (one that floats in
freshwater) in an area with a non-buoyant lure
restriction, hooks must be attached to, or
below, but within 3” of the floating lure. (No
hook may be tied above the lure.) Weights
may not be attached below or less than 12”
above a buoyant lure. The single hook
restriction does not apply to a buoyant lure.

The rule is a bit ambiguous...

(a) if the combo of the pencil lead, leader, corkies, and two hooks is considered a non-buoyant lure COLLECTIVELY AS A WHOLE when fishing a NBLR river, then it appears that there is no restriction as to where the hook is placed relative to the corky, but it must be a single hook only.

(b) If the corky individually is considered the "buoyant lure", then it appears that the aforementioned double-hook set up is illegal in an NBLR river. "No hook may be tied above the lure."

I'd stick with a single hook, rigged traditionally below a corky, in an NBLR river--less potential hassles from the gamies and an adverse judge that way

Thanks for all the tips, something in their should work for me.....C/22

WOW:

If the 2 hook thing is correct.........lot's of guides are doing some fast "re-tie" to get rid of that 2nd hook about the corkie/cheater.

What is the rule and is it "state wide"???

December 1 is getting close....

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

DrifterWA: the rule is fully set forth under the "Non-Bouyant Lure Restriction" definition in the regs, and therefore would generally apply "state-wide" to any body of water that is subject to the NBLR.

Keep in mind that this prohibition only applies to NBLR rivers: Any river that is currently not subject to the NBLR (and/or Selective Gear rules) can legally use the 2-hook setup.

Moreover, many rivers (the Skykomish being one of them) lift the non-bouyant lure restriction by Dec. 1. So, once the NBLR is lifted, everyone can go after the steelies with basically everything but the kitchen sink.

Check the regs for any specific NBLR rules in your favorite rivers..

Dave,seems your really liking "the Canadian crutch"as Bill calls it.I'm not sure if we even have brats up here,but for early winter steels ,I have taken a liking to fishing Colorado blades (home made) under a float .Very versataille,you can swing em ,cast up river and rapid retrieve them ,or just let em barely spin with a natural drift,even put a jensen egg on the hook shank occasionally.Am also starting to really like the float and jig,our fish do not see alot of this set up YET.

I use the same set up as I do for summeruns. 10' XML CHMS1004 spinning rod, Shimano Stradic, with 14 lb Trilene XT. Set up to drift with 1/4 " pencil lead, attached to a little rubber tubing, through the mainline to a 2/0 hook with egg loop, and a little yarn above the hook. Sand shrimp or eggs or prawns for bait. Manged to hook two brats yesterday, play them and loose both. Line broke between hook and weight after I hooked the scrappy little one after several jumps and I horsed him in fast, reached for net and lost it near shore. Maybe my line was frayed or I gut hooked it. Retied, threw another sand shrimp with a little dull orange yarn and two casts later I had a big one on for a couple of minutes before the hook was spit. Would have been nice to bonk them but it sure feels great to hook and play them. The river sure did clear up and get low yesterday. Will have to try again when we get more rain.

DK: As I'm sure you are seeing the float and jig is a great set up, especialy in Canadian waters where they are not too common yet.

It's funny, you guys were way ahead of us in float fishing, and with Jake the Snake, but slow to try the jig.

I think any good set up that they are not used to seeing will give you an advantage.

I'm sure in a few years jigs will be very common in B.C. I can tell you they love them on the Gold River. Or they did when it had fish.

Rec'd the following information from Evan Jacoby, Rules Coordinator for WDFW. Hope it helps.


Is a double hook set up legal for sinking lures in selective gear waters? No. How about in non-buoyant lure restriction waters? Yes. How about for sturgeon? Yes, until May 1st, then no.

Evan Jacoby is an attorney, and I have communicated with him in the past regarding rules clarification.

However, I am having trouble accepting this answer. The exact words in the rule book under the Non-Bouyant Lure Restriction definition is:

"When using a buoyant lure (one that floats in
freshwater) in an area with a non-buoyant lure
restriction, hooks must be attached to, or
below, but within 3” of the floating lure. (No
hook may be tied above the lure.) "

If both double hooks are below the corky (in an unweighted setup), then yes, I agree with Mr. Jacoby in that it is legal. Mr. Jacoby is also correct in that double hook setups (including treble hooks) are legal in NBLR waters where you use an unweighted plug, like a Wiggle Wart, without any ancillary weighting system to sink the plug.

However, if one hook is below the corky, and the other hook is above the corky, then I am having difficulty reconciling the legality of that set-up with the explicit text of the rules as I have quoted above. To me, such a set up (hook above and hook below the corky) is illegal where an NBLR is in place.

If the corky is NOT considered a buoyant lure (i.e., is considered a sinking lure), then the other portion of the NBLR definition kicks in, which requires "one single hook
measuring ¾ " or less from point to shank."

I'd bet my law degree that the corky between the two hooks is illegal when NBLR is in effect.

Oh well, it won't matter much longer. The NBLR will be lifted in my nearby rivers by Dec. 1, and so the double hook setup will be legal by then.


I fish with just a single hook anyways under all conditions.

Good luck everybody... catch some fish.

The double hook setup can be extremely hard on wild steelhead, so if you are fishing wild steelhead release waters please use single hook setups after January.
My favorite rig is anything under a float.

If you want to catch a brat, chuck some sandshrimp at them. Either with a corky, rag, bait diver, or on a jig.

Winter brats love sandshrimp.

Sandshrimp is where it's at for winter brats.

So Parker,

C'mon......don't be bashful. What's your favorite brat bait?

I agree with you on all points except one.....replace the word "sandshrimp" with "eggs".

Just messin with you. They're both great baits.

Tell ya what. I'll perform a little lab experiment on Friday with *awesome eggs* and sand shrimp, amidst hundreds of sea-lice fresh brats and we'll see which will emerge victorious.

I don't doubt for a second that those little bottom dwellers wound prefer shrimp. Can't wait to find out. "Fish-On". God da%&it Wallis (patented fishing partner responce).

Sol, While your doing your test reach down and hook NOFISH up. I'm afraid he's close to throwing in the towel. Have a good day! and Happy Thanksgiving to you and the family.

I'm on to you DK I just finished putting in a big order of jigs stricly for the LML steelys, but dont worry, it'll be our little secret

Doh,busted,I'll have to fish a little lower on the flow than you .I make my own jigs ,my wife makes them to sell ,how come you didn't order through me ,trader. :p