Category: Steelhead Fishing

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Snake River Steelhead and Salmon Fishing Report

Snake River Steelhead

We had another fantastic day yesterday fishing the Snake River out of Heller Bar for both Fall Chinook Salmon and Steelhead. Between salmon and Steelhead we landed 10 plus adult fish and numerous Chinook jacks, and ended up keeping 4 fish (two Chinook and 2 Steelhead.) All our fish were caught side drifting eggs and yarnies. Our best producing eggs have been Jones Sport Fishing Steelhead Cure in Natural and Orange, and our Salmon Cure in Red.

One thing we have noticed this season is that while the overall steelhead numbers might be down the average size of fish we have been catching this season has been way up. Normally most fish we catch on the Snake River  are in the 4-6 pound class, but this year we are seeing lots of fish in the 8-10 pound range.

We have openings over the next few weeks. If you have been thinking about a Snake River Steelhead trip now is the perfect time to get out in the water. Check out the Book Online Now button on our homepage to view available dates and book your trips.

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Clearwater River, Idaho Steelhead Fishing Video

Clearwater River Steelhead

With the great forecast Idaho’s Clearwater River has this year we thought this would be a great time to share a video we did a few years back.

On the Clearwater we work as employees of Reel Time Fishing. This is a great river with huge Steelhead!

 

The team at Reel Time Fishing has openings! Get in touch with us and lets get your trip set up.

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Snake River Salmon and Steelhead Fishing Report

We had a great day today chasing salmon and Steelhead in the Heller Bar area of the Snake River. Although we mostly caught Fall Chinook today we did manage to find a few Steelhead. The river is absolutely loaded with fish now and should continue to fish fantastic for the next few weeks for salmon and Steelhead and well into February for Steelhead.  This is a very active fishery where we mostly side drift bait, so you are actually responsible for catching your own fish. We have quite a few openings for this fishery, so get with us now to book your trip. To view our open dates click on the Book online now button. On our home page. We fish most of our fall snake River dates out of Heller Bar.

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Clearwater River, Idaho Steelhead Fishing Report

Clearwater River Steelhead

We had an absolutely fantastic day today fishing Idaho’s Clearwater River. I had two customers join me today on a wonderful October Day. Now though October 15th is the catch and release season on the Clearwater, and it is my absolute favorite time of year to be on the water, and today was a perfect example of that. We landed over 30 Steelhead and Chinook Salmon today side drifting small egg clusters and yarnies. Yes you hard that right over 30 salmon and Steelhead were landed today by two customers! We are forecast to receive a great run of Steelhead this year on the Clearwater, and this area fishes great now – February! For people who like to catch lots of fish and don’t mind watching them swim away the next 10 days are the absolute best fishing of the year, and for people who like to catch and keep fish the Clearwater retention season opens on the 15th of October.

I run all of my Clearwater trips as an employee of Reel Time Fishing. Contact me at 208-861-0654 or email [email protected] for availability and prices, but all final booking is done through Reel Time Fishing.

Get in touch with us now we have openings for this great fishery!

Make sure to sign up for our Newsletter and be entered into a chance at winning a free fishing trip with us!

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How to Cure Coon Shrimp for Steelhead and Salmon Fishing

Coon Shrimp

Coon shrimp and specifically cured and dyed coon shrimp are a staple in our bait cooler.  They are our bait of choice for both Sockeye Salmon and Summer Steelhead, and we often use them for  Spring, and Summer Chinook.  Many anglers are confused at how to go about processing their own coon shrimp, but luckily we have many over the counter ready to mix cures and brine’s that help make curing coon shrimp a consistent and easy process.  This is a very simple process, and if you have ever cured your own salmon roe you can cure coon shrimp.  Most of the available commercial egg cures will also do a fantastic job of curing coon shrimp.

Ingredients:

Pro-Cure Egg Cure (original double red hot stuff) Buy Here

Frozen Coon Shrimp ( make sure you buy good quality Shrimp)

Rock Salt

Freezer bag

Pro-Cure Slam-ola powder   Buy Here

Scents ( the sky is the limit here but my favorite are the line of Super Dipping Sauce.) Buy Here

how to cure coon shrimp
How to cure coon shrimp

Step 1: 

Fill your freezer bag with approximately 3 inches of Coon Shrimp

 

Step 2: 

Add enough cure to get a good covering of the Coon Shrimp ( 1/2 cup of cure is a good starting point)

 

Step 3:

Add 1 tea spoon of Slam-ola Powder

 

Step 4:

Refrigerate at a minimum overnight.  Your Shrimp can be fished as early as the next day, but you will get a better result by letting them cure for 3 days.

 

Step 5:

Add 1 cup rock salt.  I do this after 3 days of curing.  Adding the Rock Salt is optional, but it will toughen up you shrimp very well.  We often use Coon Shrimp for side drifting Steelhead in Hell’s Canyon and this step gives us a very durable bait.

 

Coon Shrimp
Coon Shrimp

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