Fish rap: Riggins could be good for steelhead

By Roger Phillips - rphillips@idahostatesman.com

Published: 01/08/09


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Maybe it's just me, but every time snow turns to rain and the gutters get slushy, I start thinking about steelhead.

Here's why: Steelhead tend to get sluggish and dormant during winter. They hang out in deep holes and conserve their energy. When spring arrives, they make their final push to their spawning waters or to hatcheries.

When we get a jet of warmer weather and rain, it mimics those early spring conditions, even though it's January.

All this sounds great in theory, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But if you're willing to take a chance and head up to the Salmon River, you can find out for yourself.

The river is ice-free and conditions look good. While I don't consider myself an expert on the Salmon River, I can say from experience the best day I ever had steelhead fishing on that river was in January.

Conventional wisdom says this is the best time to drift bait across the bottom, but I've found that accomplished anglers can catch steelhead when they're biting regardless of the tackle. So a person who is good at fishing with bobbers and jigs probably has as good of a chance as the personbottom-drifting shrimp or roe.

Realize that I haven't heard any reports of fish biting, but the weather looks favorable, and it's always better to give a good report than to hear one.

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