![]() ![]() The rod is the perfect balance of power and sensitivity what I now know to be the two most important aspects of any steelhead rod. That is until the day I was handed a rod that made me feel as if I had died and gone to steelhead heaven, and made me question my sanity for all the wasted years I had spent fishing a sub-par rod. Then again, I caught fish, so it never really crossed my mind as to what I could be missing out on. But having only a single rod is like a golfer playing eighteen holes with only one club. In the beginning I got by with a generic seven-foot medium spinning rod the kind of rod used to throw just about anything, not just for steelhead but anything else I chose to chase. I can’t stress enough the importance of a good rod when bottom bouncing. It was at least a dozen years of steelheading before I was comfortable enough with bottom bouncing to actually say I could be successful when doing it. ![]() It’s all about finding that perfect balance between keeping the presentation up off the bottom and in the strike zone. Sure there are those guys that make it look easy but don’t let them fool you, it took a lot of frustrating days on the water to get them to that point. With the exception of swinging flies, bottom bouncing makes a great case for being the most difficult method for banking steelhead. In all honesty it made everything I ever did to catch steelhead from there on out that much easier. Although back then I was far from good at catching steelhead while bottom bouncing, the lessons I learned and the skills I picked up have proved to be invaluable when applied to any method I use today.īottom bouncing forced me to learn how to read water it gave me the ability to determine distinct bottom structure it taught me the subtleness of a steelhead take it gave me the patience to overcome any adversity on the water. I glance back at my ten-year-old self and realize that what I thought of as simply catching trout was actually shaping the foundation for the steelheader that I am today. Better known here in the Great Lakes as "Bottom-Bouncing" it’s underutilized and often misunderstood. These other methods are quickly becoming a lost art.ĭrift fishing on the West Coast is and almost always has been the most popular method of steelheading. But it seems as if other methods are falling to the wayside the ease and effectiveness of float fishing beginning to dominate Great Lakes steelheading. I know a lot of great steelheaders and the best of those are the most complete ones the ones that aren’t hung up on one single method the ones that use everything they can to their advantage. The problem lies in what these center pinners are missing out on. ![]() Running a float with a center pin is an exciting, extremely effective way to bank fish, in fact one of the most effective. Ok, I love it, as do most who try it.īut as the center pin revolution takes hold in the Great Lakes region it would seem that those who are taking it up are getting stuck on this singular method to catch steelhead. I have to admit that I have a soft spot for the center pin. ![]()
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