Way Of The Walleye: Steelhead Tactics
Fishing Post-Spawn Rivers: Steelhead Tactics
By CD RomCo
This information is presented as promotional material for Way of the
Walleye CD Rom and is protected by copyright. © 1996 CD RomCo and its
Licensors
Using
steelhead-type rigging in small rivers to catch walleye requires some
knowledge of the area before you can get the most out of the tactic. When
walking the banks of a small river during the upriver walleye migrations
of fall and spring, look for barriers. A barrier can be a neck where the
width of the river narrows and the force of the current increases. Look
for a long, deep pool just below a dam, a waterfall, or a rapids. Fish
pause above barriers, too. A barrier can be a long stretch of shallow,
broken water. A pool above or below long stretches of water with no
holding habitat can be dynamite during a migration. Make short, then
medium, then long casts, starting at the downstream end of the area. That
way, hooked fish aren't dragged through the rest of the school. Current
and the force of the rod pulls them downstream and away from the critical
area. After covering the tail of the area with successively longer casts,
move upstream five to ten feet and start over. To fish a productive hole
with a ridge in front and a depression behind it, you must change rod
position several times. Start by casting upstream and maintaining a high
rod, giving current less line. That means you can use less weight and
still get deep, which will help as the rig moves shallower. Approaching
the ridge, the rod should be dropped downstream and parallel to the water.
The current bows the line and pulls the rig up. As the rig drops into the
pool, more current hits the line. The rod should be raised again to reduce
the influence of current and to keep the rig tapping bottom.