Glad you got out with Fish On and Goby.......It's hard to say what is better when referring to egg vs. jig.

I like to use eggs late season, and jig early season. But I always carry eggs with me either way. So if they aren't hitting the jig in like 30 minutes, I switch to eggs.

Just gotta try and not stick with a presentation that isn't working. I sometimes get into a bad habit of getting lazy when it comes to tying on something differant.

When your fingers are cold, it makes it that much harder to decided to switch baits.

flash------------------------------------------out

 

Its a To Each his own. People will try to tell you jig and maggots or spawn works beter than the other but Steelhead are so elusive. I am one that swears by salmon spawn all year long. But I've had days were they wouldn't touch spawn and only hit on jig and maggot and i have days were its the other way around. I agree with KSU on the cold fingers. I am a big winter steelheader and its tough to change when you can't use your fingers.

 

I would say jig and maggot works excellent in clear water, where as spawn wont work as well. But its total opposite when the water is stained or muddy.
At least in my experience.

 

Conneaut Was Pretty Near Muddy, But 'bula Was Ok. I Do Usually Carry Both, But Not Yesterday... Thanks For The Insight Guys.

 

Let the fish tell you what to use. Some days it will be jigs, others it will be spawn, others it will be minnows.... It is fine to have a favorite, but my favorite is whatever the fish want that day. That's why my vest weighs about 40#.

BTW, I am not a big jig guy. I have had a hard time finding a jig with a good sharp hook that won't bend.

Joel

 

DICKS/Mini Foos - $2 For A Pack Of 2/ Never Bent One Yet. Caught A 12# Last Yr...

 

Hey Tom,

Good to see you yesterday and glad to hear you're doing well.

I've fished jigs for a little while now and have had very good luck. The key is finding bottom and then suspending the jig above the bottom anywhere from 6" to 2' depending on water clarity and temperature. I really like the P.A. Lures Marabou jigs. http://www.palures.com/ They have a very sharp and sturdy hook. They work even better by pinching down the barb. You can tie your own for about a quarter a piece using their jig heads.

As for eggs, I can say this. Fish On consistently out fishes me with eggs. Yesterday we were fairly close and I fished eggs. I noticed that egg fisherman hook up more frequently, but seem to lose more fish me included. I've seen guys hook up 2X more than me, but land the same number of fish. I can't stress the importance of the right hook and good eggs. The best hooks for my style of fishing are the Kamasan Species hooks in sizes 8, 10 and 12. The best eggs are fresh King, Brown or Steelhead eggs cured with Fish On's recipe. Like most of the folks here, I have an assortment of flies, jigs, baits and other artificials on me most of the time. I'm finding that eggs are the best producers followed by jigs and flies.

One word of note, ditch that float and pick up a couple of Drennan, Blackbird or Sheffield floats and some P-Line 6# fluorocarbon line and use it for tippet. It's hard to beat at 15 bones for 250 yards. You may be missing light hits because that style of floats isn't very sensitive.

Take care,
Steve

 

Good Advice Goby - The Floats I Use Really Help Keep That Line Out Of The Water Though/ More Than 1/2 Is Above The Surface. Have Some Smaller Clear Ones/will Try.

 

I fished the Chagrin yesterday and I caught one small one about 18 inches long and lost another small one on Jigs and maggots. Another guy fishing a little further from me hooked and lost two very nice fish on Salmon Eggs. I don't know if this says anything about which is better or not ?

 

Jigs vs. eggs - it never makes much sense to me. Just when you think you figured it out, the fish tell you otherwise. I normally start with eggs when muddy, jigs when clear(er), and switch when one isn't working. Nice thing about jigs are that they are more portible and less messy. I tend to use jigs when covering more water and eggs when trying to pry fish out of a hole or run.

It often depends on the spot itself. I have some holes/runs that always seem to produce best with eggs, and others where I use jigs and nearly never try eggs. Must be the presentation difference. In more off-color water, worms (crawlers) sometimes will outfish all others, especially in the slack water (resting) areas.

I believe that minnows are the bait which always performs, all seasons. If you can keep 'em from freezing, they will often outfish eggs or jigs during the coldest temps.

 

I agree with GobyOneGnoby on the type of eggs. Fresh King eggs are my magic. The eggs you buy at cabelas or gander mtn have so many preservatives, bad news! Also I was wondering if anyone would show me the grand. I have never even seen the river but heard good things. I need some other place to fish when conneaut freezes over. I would glady show you some of my holes on conneaut and give you some fresh king spawn.

 

I would have to say Jigs and Egg's both have there time and place , but when I am fishing my Centerpin or noodle rod ,I mainly use Egg's .
I can tell you this , and I think Goby would also agree , I think the color of the sack netting has alot to do with it also and how many egg's you have in a sack , Yesterday Goby and I was hitting them REAL GOOD on White Salmon Egg sack and White Steelhead Egg sacks , even when we ran out of white sacks , we still got alot of hookups but not as many as we had with white sacks , Goby and I were getting dunks on almost ever drift with white sacks.Then we both tried Peach and could not buy a bite , went to Pink sacks and started picking them up again , at the end of the day Goby and I were both using the same sacks fishing the same run and Goby hooked into 3 fish and I could not buy a bite , I believe it was his drag free drift and the way he was checking his float that was doing the trick , I like those Drennans Goby it has a higher stem sticking out the top then a Blackbird does , soon as I get my mandrels for the lathe , We will half to get together and make some floats up with a taller stem on then
Just got done making room and condensing all my egg's that my friend brought back from his New York trip ...MY WIFE IS GOING TO KILL ME !!!...LOL!!...It's hard to hide roughly 5 Gallons of King Salmon and Brown Trout and Steelhead Eggs not to mention all the different types of Skein in the freezer


Got Egg's ?!?!?!

 

looks yummy....

 

I'm still kind of new to steelhead. My question, does the hot glue eggs work or the standard yarn pattern work the best. I find it much easier to make glue eggs with different colors and create cluster eggs which to me looks more real then the yarn eggs.

 

I will usually start with whatever I had on last on the last trip. If I have a jig on thats where I start. That being said, I have had days where I could not buy a hit on jigs and could only get them on eggs and visa-versa. I have also had days where a shiner was all they seemed they wanted. Most of the time they want something different. For example, you hit a few in a good run on jigs, then nothing. Tie on an egg hook and put on a sack and bam, another two or three, then nothing. Take off the sack hook a nice shiner in the lips and float him thru the run, another one or two. By now I am sure you get the idea. Also don't forget to try a wollybugger or other flys as well even if you are using spinning gear or I have even had luck with soft plastics. If you think there are fish in the run no sense moving until you have given them every oppertunity to take something they want. Hope this helps.

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