being new to the steelhead fishing scene,
I`m looking for help on maybe what kind of books or tapes to get for learning the sport.
(what to use, how to present it,etc.)
My 12 year old daughter and I are going to try and learn it together so any help would be appreciated.
(We`ll be doing most of it from the banks)

Thanks a lot for any advise

For books there are many! Steelhead drift fishing by Bill Luch is basic and easy to follow. Steelhead Savy by Jim Bedford isnt bad either. But I think the best way is to get right in the middle of the action and watch the people who are consistantly hooking up. This will entail fishing in those places were the term "battle fishing" derived. Blue creek, Elochoman, Shafer creek, Bogy and Calawah ponds and Reiter on the Sky. Places were you will never find me. But you will get to fish with alot, and I mean alot of people, some are jerks, but most try to work together. And a few are really knowledgable. Also try a guide, some are great teachers, but remember that you want to learn to bank fish for now so tell them your not interested in Plugging all day. Tell them you want to cast and drift fish or float fish. Tell them that even though you may not get the hook ups you would plugging, you dont care because you want to learn. Maybe you do care but for approx. $250.00 you and your daughter can learn years worth of techniques and even learn some secreats to the particular river that they fish. Then you can go and venture on your own and end up buying a driftboat and $10,000 worth of Loomis rods. You'll need a new one ton pickup for all your gear your buying and then you and your daughter will be seasoned anglers. Just kidding about the last part!

See ya on the river...The guy who runs this site could probably hook you up with a good teacher, if your real lucky you'll get a trip with him, but he's usaully pretty booked up.

Always be nice to your fellow fisherpersons!!!

Bob,
Thanks alot for the advise, I`ve heard of
Reiter ponds before,
never really thought about just hanging out and watching them battle fish, think I`ll try it though..sounds like good advise,,Thanks again,,

Going with a professional guide is really good advice. Be sure to get some references though! Just like regular people there are good guides and bad ones! Another good way of learning good steelhead techniques is to join a sport fishing club. There are quite a few around and each most likely will have someone who has the experience you need. The other good thing about most clubs is that they will also give you the opportunity to give something back to the resource in the form of fish and habitat restoration projects. I can direct you to a few of the clubs around King and Snohomish Counties in Washington if you'd like. E-mail me at gbeezer@aol.com.

Just remember to bring your rods and your daughter. You dont want to miss out if the fish are there.

I'm not able to steelhead fish very often, so I'm an avid reader and Net surfer. This Board is by far the best source of information on steelheading. (Don't forget to check out Bob's 'Tips' section and print all those out as well.)

This Bulletin Board is absolutely full of the information a beginning steelheader could use to good advantage. If you check the last year's worth of posts and look for topics on rods, reels, line and specific techniques you'll be well ahead of the gang.

In particular, a little over a month ago there was a similar request made in reference to the best steelhead books. The consensus was that Bill Herzog's 'Steelhead Drift Fishing' was tops, but another 10 books were mentioned, too.

I'd block out a couple of hours over the weekend, scroll through the last several hundred posts here, print out all the things of interest, and save them for future reference. (Bob, there's a book's worth of great info contained in your archives -- all you'll need is a spel chekker and an editor, and you've got a Frank Amato Publications winner.)

The advice to use a guide is also very good. It's an inexpensive investment in the long run. If there's a river nearby that's likely to become your 'home river' for steelhead fishing, that's the one I'd hire the guide for (even if the river isn't as productive as one farther away). In addition to learning the ropes from a pro, you'll also find a few spots that hold fish under the current conditions.

And if you do use a guide or observe others in a combat area take notes -- if not on the bank or in the boat then when the day's over. You don't want to forget anything about the presentations down to numbers of shot in the slinky, hook sizes, leader length, leader breaking stength, brand of line, etc. All of this will accelerate your learning curve.

Welcome to fishing's most addictive vice.

Wow guys!!
Thanks alot for all the help, gettin` excited already,, and I have`nt even made it out yet.*L*

I'm in consensus with most here. A good guide will help if you've never been taught how to work a slot in the area. Try to find one who does more then just pull plugs. There's a guide named Greg Cain that wants his clients to ACTUALLY fish, not just pull plugs. There's alot of webpages to surf about fishing, and Bill Herzog's book is excellent. But, for myself, if you want to learn to fish, get out there and do it. Nothing works better then first hand experience. All the information in the world won't help you and your daughter if you don't actually use them and see what they're all about.

What part of WA are you in? I can maybe take you one of these days. I have access to some undercrowed fishing spots that may help ease some of the frustration of learning with some chances of catching some fish. Nothing worse then learning how to fish on a "Kenai" type hole. You spend more time trying to keep untangled then fishing.

good luck and tight lines..........

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steelheader,
Do you know what rivers Greg Cain primarily guides? I would imagine I`ll be sticking fairly close to the Green, Puyallup, and the Sky, at least for a while anyways..and I definetly want to "actually" fish..*L*

[This message has been edited by rainycity (edited 01-10-2000).]