I don't know about everyone else but for years Bill's entertaining articles, innovating tips, and larger than life hog steelhead pictures inspired and motivated me to take the next step and try a new technique, search for trophy steelhead and find my own steelhead paradise holes.

Bill has in the past mentioned that sidedrifting is an affective technique and used to use it in certain circumstances (probably not anymore however) but it's a method that has become so popular that the majority defaults straight to it without thinking of the intracasies of covering a given hole in different circumstances. I have to agree with him though I'm sure I'll get flamed.

One thing that he did not mention in his blog however is the way this technique is often set up with terminal gear. This is something that he's talked about many times and something we should all think about. Double #4 hook set-ups with corky in the middle and bait. May not be such a problem in the Cowlitz during hatchery season but using the same technique on the Hoh in February is a different story. Light leaders may result in overplayed fish and small hooks kill many juvenile salmonids later in the season. Why take the chance?

Anyway good read !

I would have to fish way more than I do to post that number I don't keep track though, so it is easy to exagerate!

Yeah, I got close to that this year. Those 4-5 skunk days in January/Fed really hurt my numbers and kept me below the 400 mark.

The article was well written, as for the argument against boondogging, I could care less.

I have used the Sacramento style dragging technique very effectively on one river in particular. I turn the boat sideways and between 3 rods, can cover a 30' wide swath of river. We use it to sweep inside corners when visibility is below 18". It is amazing how many fish hang out on inside corners when the visibility is poor.

400 steelhead is very believable. back in they great daze of the cowlitz huge steelhead returns. i knew a guy who only fished during the week after work. 100% side drifter. he could catch as many as 20 a afternoon. he knew every rock and cranny in the entire BC area. he knew when the river had high pressure he would fish tight to the shore when everyone else was doing the same methodical runs. he read the water knew at different heights the fish be here rather than there.

the article was typical Zog. it smacks of typical if it's not done this way it's not true fishing rederik.

this piticular blog reminds me of a STS article he did back the mid 90s i believe. it went something like this. the canadians were angry at zog because his spoon method was not a true method of taking steelhead. he(zog) went on to defend how he'd rather hook 8 kispiox huge steelhead on spoons in aday. over a fly guys 2 in the same amount of time. to zog the the numbers counted in his defense of spoons.

now it seems he has joined the canadian mentality, thinking that 18 steelhead landed side drifting is not legit.

blah blah blah, yada yada yada!!!!

I really like how Zog mentions wading and bank fishing as being a skill in and of itself because that is something I have always felt, and it is something that never really gets mentioned in fishing reads.

I definitely prefer bank fishing because of the numerous challenges it puts in my way. Not only does the angler have to read the water, he has to find a rock, if one exists, that allows him to angle his presentation to the holding water.

On that note, I was on a brand new river to me last weekend in Oregon. I spent much time checking pullout after pullout getting burned by water that was too deep and bottomless for me to carefully swing a fly through. Finally I found a tailout that looked to be the [censored], with an outcrop of rock that would get me in a spot to present the fly properly. First cast, 7 pound hen, fifth cast missed a fish, and that was it for that tailout. Not huge fish but God damn were those encounters satisfying.

It took a lot of different dimensions to my fishing to pull that off and I think that is what Zog is getting at. Zog isn't trying to be holier than though, he is trying to remind us all that numbers aren't the important thing, satisfaction is. Wouldn't you be more satisified if you could put it all together on your own and nailed a gorgeous steelhead?

If you don't care and you just want to catch as many steelhead as possible than you are just a different kind of fisherman and there is nothing wrong with that at all.

I think there is some merit to a lot of what herzog has written over the last couple years about sidedrifting, including this article, but I think his condemnation of the technique is very oversimplified.

Sidedrifting, boondogging, whatever you want to call it, is easy for even novice boat operators and fishermen to accomplish in certain kinds of water (read long and flat). However, it is anything but simple and easy in a lot of the water that holds steelhead consistently. I see people all the time with motors, new boats, etc that run into a fish here and there in long runs that hold spread out fish, but they are either ass-backwards or completely ignoring water that only skilled operators AND fishermen could fish effectively and consistently while under float. There are many runs in certain rivers that I can get people into fish where I wouldn't be nearly as effective if I hadn't spent time previously drift fishing it and knowning where to put the bait and where it needed to end up.

To me, the sidedrifting rant is really a rant about guides and their clients. In my mind, no one can seriously question the skill it takes to consistently put people onto fish while sidedrifting. With that in mind, I cant help but think that herzog's real beef is with people who never learn to "fish" but are able to catch multiple fish under the command of good operators/oarsmen and guides. I suppose that's a legit conversation too, but if it's not about that, then herzog's lost me, because I just dont think side drifting is any easier than any other technique for someone who just goes and buys their first boat and motor.

Herzog makes it sound like any joe schmoe that goes out and buys a boat, motor and a half dozen 9 foot spinning rods puts the fish that much closer to extinction because of how tragically-effective boondogging is. I agree that it is effective, but I disagree that sidedrifting has had that big of an impact on the number of fish caught or fish impacted. The problem is the number of people fishing, not any particular technique. I seriously doubt whether more or less fish would be caught if everyone was anchored casting like drones across the river or drifting like drones down the river holding on to noodle rods. Sidedrifting just changes who catches the fish, in many instances, not the number of fish being caught. Now, maybe that's un-sporting, that's a legit conversation, but I dont think this sidedrifting vs. some other technique has anything to do with the fish unless we are going to talk about how many people are fishing nowadays.

Dom

I think what he's trying to say( and DONT correct me if i'm wrong) Is that side drifting is like the "fast food" style of steelhead fishing.

mindless, and Unsatisfying

Think of it like this, wouldn't you like to think of yourself as a decent angler, one who knows how to read water, and be able to pull a fish out of almost any decent piece of H water? Well, that takes patience,time and skill.

ANY IDIOT CAN SIDEDRIFT!!!!

ANY IDIOT CAN SIDEDRIFT!!!!

or plug, or use a float, or fling a fly, or toss a spoon, or a spinner. Its fishin not building rockets eh

I think his point is that being multi-faceted and being satisfied with pulling a fish or two out of different types of water over a day has become antiquated, while side-drifting up a dozen hatchery turds has become fashionable to the point that some anglers find themselves pretty ego-driven to just go out and put up numbers doing it.

I'll take two wild fish in a ten hour day of working hard over eight fish standing in front of the hatchery raceway any day, and that attitude seems to be disappearing from our sport.

I don't care if people sidedrift out of their sleds...whatever floats their boat...so long as they don't mind that I don't care for it, even a little, and won't be impressed by a box of bananas from the Cowlitz or Lewis, or something like that.

Fish on...

Todd

I doubt as much attention would be paid to the sidedrifters if some of them would just pull in their goddamned lines when they drift through water that's already being fished. If I step right in front of a guy on the bank and make a few casts, it's rude. If some douche in a sled drifts by and drags four lines right in front of a guy on the bank, it's also rude. It's still rude when that boat motors up and drifts through for a second and third pass.

OK....

1. I doubt anybody cared to read everything I read as it is way too long and reflective of the meaningless law degree I'm supposedly about to receive.

2. I can agree with you and realize to a point that maybe that is 'zog's point.

3. My point, that still runs counter to your's, is that side drifting isnt that simple and, also, has nothing to do with hatchery fish vs. wild fish.

(This isn't law school so I'm done with numbers) I think that hatchery fish (or turds) has nothing to do with it. The fact is that you can work your ass off to catch a fish in a narrow slot by drift fishing from an anchored boat or by wading, OR, you can do it sidedrifting with skilled boat operators AND anglers. I admit, some spots are not possilble to side drift effectively and consistently, but most, if not many, are. Caveat is that I'm much more familiar with OR streams vs. WA streams.

My point is only that, in my experience in oregon, guys like my college buddies and top-notch guides caught (and still catch) fish consistently side-drifting slots that most guys wont side drift. It isn't by any means necessarily easy, or have anything to do with hatchery fish.

The fact is, side drifting is a better mouse trap in the hands of people that master it (read ALL people that master it). Hate or like it, I can almost guarantee it isn't going anywhere. In many situations it is just plain more effective in the hands of skilled anglers and boatsmen. (BTW, one great example is the nestucca, where motors are banned until april ----> on most days you have to have great fishermen and rowers to catch double digits on that river. If everyone isn't on their game, I can almost guarantee that drift fishermen and plug pullers will out fish side drifters, especially above first bridge.).

Okay I'm done.

Later all.

Dom

I think that might be some of the differences...with the exception of hatchery runs on a few big rivers, all of the "good" fishing is on rivers where you either aren't allowed to fish under power, it wouldn't be kosher even if it was, or you'd be suicidal to take a sled on a certain river...not sled friendly.

We don't have much in the way of big rivers for sleds with wild fish in them...Skagit is about it, and only thru the early season, where it changes to "no fishing under power" rules for the spring.

It's either a bank show, or a drifter show, or both...so no sidedrifting out of a sled.

Fish on...

Todd

Who cares its just fishing...

I know Bill well, and believe I understand him better than most. I will not comment on what anyone else has said. But I will tell your Bill is a fiercely loyal friend and is truly as compassionate about "his" steelhead as anyone. He absolutely meant every word he wrote.

He is very nearly a genius and accordingly has some unusual traits. He has an awesome/strange sense of humor that is contagious. He will give you the shirt off his back and low hole you the same day. He is not particularly modest, but he is has little need to be. But I will share a boat with Bill anytime

So what's the big deal again?

I agree with 99.9% of what he wrote, its to the point that now allot of the guys who fish the Cowlitz river rely on side drifting and that's all they bring to the other rivers they fish. Sure its an effective technique, but there is almost no skill involved in the anglers on the boat, it all comes down to the boat operator and his skill at working the boat at the same speed as the current.
I would much rather be wading on smaller rivers off the beaten path, throwing metal to ultra aggressive steelhead.

Sure you got to cast into the right water, but that's as far as it goes....

I'm talking about sleds, not drift boats.
With a sled you want to be moving slightly slower than the current speed, with your lines at a 45 degree angle upstream of your position.
TBH who cares about the little misprint/misspell....

yes the operator of the boat is the brains... (sled) he is the secret. i've been out with several guys wanting to learn the sidedrifting thing. it can be frustrating to say the least, thats when brewer blows his seat whoring gasket! which has put me back at the boat launch everytime!. which is fine.


since zog is the subject, has brewer ever told the story (true by the way) on how zog got his signature spoon rod deal from lamiglass? betcha DV doesn't even know this one. brewer doudts zog talks about brewer from way back.

bingo.

i've said it before, but for some reason, i have this problem on one particular hole on the east satsop more than anywhere else in this state. in the past 2 years i've probably fished it at least 30 times, and probably 20 of them i've had some big guide sled that shouldn't be up there anyway coming up and making half a dozen boondog runs with 3 or 4 clients, right through the water i'm working from the bank.