The Steelhead Angler

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Fishing is a fun and tranquil sport that lets you spend quiet time with your friends, family and with Mother Nature.

Fresh water fishing is a sport involving the catching of fish in lakes, rivers and streams. It involves a lot of patience, challenge and a lot of acquired skill over time. Anyone can participate in this fun activity, including the kids.

To start, you have to check your State’s fishing requirements and make sure if a license is needed for you to fish. If it is required, you must acquire one by checking with a sporting goods store. They will help you how to get it, and some will even provide it for you.

During the time that you are in your favorite sporting goods store, you can look around and buy the right fishing equipment that you will be need for your trip. Considering that you are a beginner, make sure that you budget well the cost and your spending on the equipment, not deciding on expensive equipments; buy only the basic things you will need.

When in doubt as to what is needed, ask the help of the store keeper, but do keep in mind that you need to stick to a budget. Take your time and don’t hesitate to ask how to use each piece of equipment that is offered to you. Artificial lures for bait can be used or you can simply look for worms from your back yard.

An inexpensive fishing rod and reel will be enough along with a fishing line, hooks, weights, a bobber (this keeps your line afloat), fishing lures and net. A polarized sunglass is also essential, as it will help to see clearly through the water and lessen the glare.

Then if you don’t know the good locations to fish, ask about local “hot” spots, or check your State’s fishing regulations for information about fishing locations around your State.

The time will surely come when you will be a better fisherman; then you may decide on upgrading your equipment. In the meantime, keep things simple.

It is always advised that you avoid fishing alone. Always be with a friend, as when emergency strikes, there can be someone who can call for help.

It is wise to start fishing in shallow waters. Aim your cast in shady or rocky areas where the water is deep, as this is where the fish is expected to be found. Keep in mind that this is all practice first.

As your skill level develops and increases, you can then attempt into deeper waters. But before going, take the time to practice casting to familiarize yourself with your rod and your reel.

What better place to practice than your back yard. To do so, mark off an area using a rope and use this as your guide in aiming your cast. Rehearse and study your movements to discover a method that will work for you. Bear in mind, cast with your wrist, and not with your arm.

Fishing hooks are very sharp and needed to be handled with care to avoid injury. Before casting, it is important that you should look around you and stay unobstructed to avoid hurting other people with your hook.

When the right time has come and you go fishing for real, keep in mind to cast your line always ahead of the fish, making your bait land slowly, with as little splash as possible. The fish will see well at a close point, but cannot see behind.

If your casts are going in a disorganized manner, move closer to the water so you can gain better accuracy.

Watch the bobber closely for any movement. If and when a fish grabs the bait, the bobber will be pulled under water. This signals that you got a fish on the line. Don’t get too excited. Remain calm.

Keeping your line tight, slowly reel in your catch. Place the net near and use it to bring the fish out. Remove the hook from the fish with great care.

If you got an undersized fish (as noted in the state’s regulation book), quickly return it to the water. Likewise, if you have no intention in eating your catch, do not waste it and return it to the water. Releasing the fish will supply the water with more fish, giving future fishermen the thrill to experience a catch.

Lastly, look around you and feel the calm, restful and serene view of the river.

You will find some super deals on all you fishing needs at Steelhead Gear.com we even have some used fishing gear for you and you can save even mare.

 

With the Chinook Salmon Season opening today here on many of Idaho’s rivers it would be a good time to take an inventory of your salmon fishing tackle. While the salmon have not actually made it into our river systems yet they are on their way and this season is promising to be one of the best in years. Taking time to make sure your salmon gear is in order can mean the difference between spending the day on the river our spending your time trying to locate a replacement rod or reel. 

As most of you know having plenty of hooks, line, sinkers, swivels, yarn, bait-sacks, lures, and what ever else you plan on offering to the river Gods in exchange for one of Idaho’s most powerful fish is essential in having a successful trip. There is nothing more frustrating then to just lose a nice salmon and then in the next cast or two lose your rigging and not have what you need to replace it when you go to tie back up. 

With the snow staying in the mountains the way it has this year I expect we are going to be fishing in some of the highest river flow condition that we have experienced in years.

I for one know that high river conditions seem to make the river gods angry and will be taking a lot more  of my gear before giving up one of their salmon.

It is also a good time to make sure your rod and reel is ready a good cleaning and oiling may need to be done. You want to make sure your drag is operating properly (nice and smooth) even if you crank down on it trust me you will need a good drag system if you plan on land a salmon especially this year with the expected high flows. You take the power of these fish and add the additional power they get by utilizing the river currents to their advantage and you will be glad that you took the time now to clean and oil things up.

Having plenty of line on hand would probably be a good thing also since fighting these fish does take its toll on any line and after awhile you will notice quite a loss in the effectiveness of your line.

By: RR Smith

Looking to save on your next purchase of Fishing Gear Please visit my Store at Steelhead Gear.Com I’m sure you will find some of the best prices available anywhere for your Salmon, Steelhead, and Trout Fishing Gear wants and needs.

http://www.steelhead-gear.com

Steelhead trout belong to the family Salmonidae which includes all salmon, trout, and the char. Steelhead are the anadromous form of rainbow trout which migrate to the oceans during their adult life, they then return to the same steam and rivers where they migrated from as juveniles. They are a salmonid species native to western North America and the Pacific Coast of Asia.

The term anadromous refers to fish species born in the stream that migrate to the ocean for their adult phase. Steelheads have a life cycle similar to the Pacific salmon and require the same ecological requirements. They are born in fresh water streams, where they can spend their first 1-3 years of life depending on migration conditions. They will then migrate to the ocean where their real growth occurs. They will spend from one to four years in the ocean. The steelhead then will return to the same fresh water stream to spawn. Unlike Pacific salmon, some steelhead do not necessarily die after spawning and are able to spawn more than once These steelhead are normally located along the coastal streams, longer migration such as here in Idaho takes it toll on these great fish as they do not feed once the return to the fresh water streams.

Here in Idaho, most steelhead spawn from March through June in small streams and tributaries where cool, well oxygenated water is available year round, have this cool clean water is key to their spawning success. The female selects a site with gravel beds that have an abundance of rocks in the 1/2″ to 6″ in size where there is good flow of the current through the gravel. She will then digs a nest using her tail, these nest are called redds, a male will come up along side of her and coax her into depositing her eggs, which the male will then fertilizes. These eggs are then covered by gravels and small stones when the female makes another redd just upstream.

The length of time it takes for eggs to hatch depends on water temperature. In hatcheries with carefully controlled conditions, steelhead eggs hatch after 30 days at a temperature of 51° F. “The optimal temperature for egg incubation is between 44 and 50° F (7-10° C).” Eggs will hatch sooner in warmer water, however the young fish are normally smaller and they have lower survival rates. If the water temperature gets too high, eggs will not hatch at all. After these eggs hatch, the developing steelhead will remain in the gravel for another four to six weeks. During this time, they are called alevins and they obtain their nutrients from a yolk sack attached to their body. Once they have used all the nutrients from their yolk sack they emerge from the gravel, they are now called fry, and are capable of finding and catching their own food.

The fry will move to shallow, protected areas of the stream, rock downed trees and the under cuts in the stream banks now play an important role. The fry and as they develop, the smolt as they are now called will establish feeding areas which they defend. They will remain in these steams and tributaries until they are ready to start their migration to the Ocean; there they spend the next 1 to 4 years of their lives grow and maturing until they are ready to start their migration back to the same streams which they were raised in and the process will start over again.

Thankfully for steelhead anglers many states have a very aggressive stacking plan in place to keep these magnificent fish returning. The loss of spawning habitat and dams impeding their migration routes have taken its toll on the natural runs, but with the stocking of streams and assistance in their migration we still have the opportunity to fish for these fish in some of our rivers and steams. I just want to give a big thank you to all agencies involved in keeping these might fish available to us.

Thank you all!!

By: RR Smith
Looking to save on your next purchase of Steelhead Gear Please visit my Store at Steelhead Gear.Com I’m sure you will find some of the best prices available anywhere on the internet. http://www.steelhead-gear.com