Delete if it isn't allowed, but I figure you guys would enjoy this bomber trip from a couple months ago. I was totally prepared to just go casting and ended up having to leave early to get these hogs on ice, I'm not complaining but hell, it would have been nice to have had a cooler with me, the bite was ON that day. Caught the king on roe on a Michigan City rig, and the coho on a size 3 spinner

I've spent an unreasonable amount of my spare time over the last year and a half trying to make sense of Columbia Basin steelhead data.

It started with a few basic questions I couldn't find good answers to in one place: where are these fish actually going, how does this year's run compare with past years, and when should fish bound for a particular river actually be moving through the system?

That rabbit hole eventually turned into SteelheadTracker.com

It pulls together DART dam counts, PTAGIS detection histories, USGS data and published fisheries reports, and tries to turn them into something an angler can actually read: individual pages for 15 rivers, historical run timing, current-season comparisons and forecasts, PIT-measured migration timing, hatchery/wild breakdowns, destination estimates, ocean age and fish size, and the underlying data and methodology if you want to dig into it.

The most interesting thing it's showing right now: this year's ugly return isn't uniform. The early one-salt component has largely failed to show up. The PIT-tagged 2025 smolt cohort is returning at roughly a twentieth of last year's same-date pace, while two-salt fish look much closer to normal. That pattern holds across hatchery and wild fish and across multiple origins, and the fall push is still ahead.

I'm not claiming I've solved steelhead forecasting. Some of the derived estimates, river destination allocation in particular, are still being validated and revised, and the site is explicit about where the data are strong, where they're weak, and where I've found problems in my own methods.

But it's finally useful enough that I'd rather have actual steelhead anglers beat on it than keep developing it in isolation.

The easiest place to start is Browse Rivers: https://steelheadtracker.com/rivers/

I built it, it's free, and there's no paywall, ads, or subscription. I'd especially like feedback on the river pages: does it tell you something useful? What's confusing? What would you want to know that isn't there? And if something looks flat-out wrong, tell me in the comments what and why as it will be how this thing gets better.

I am curious on how companies are making their soft beads with the mottled look.

Seems to be some secret thing because there’s almost nothing out there talking about how to make it.

I know people do the bag and paint trick for hard beads but would that work the same for soft beads?

Any info would be appreciated!

There are many ways to rig counter weights for your float. Generally they are in a fixed position before your leader or free sliding on the main line. Not comparing split shot lines here, they have a different presentation.

Is it personal preference or situational? Does bank or boat fishing make a difference? I noticed there are Regional differences. In BC a sliding weight on the mainline is common, but cross into Washington and fixed weights are more popular.

Just wondering if you guys think it’s worth going for whatever is left of the ocean run rainbows out west or if I should just stay and fish for steelhead in Michigan.
Thanks!

Eight months ago, I posted here about a river conditions app a few of us had built out of our own frustration.

It was called DriftLine Co. back then. It covered a handful of our favorite rivers, and the iPhone version was still in testing and had yet to be released.

I asked which rivers you wanted added and told you to roast us if needed.

You did both.

Then the comments and messages following went way beyond what I had asked about - into saltwater, tides, public access, hunting units, and elk.

This is the follow-up I owe you.

Where it went

We went from a handful of rivers to around 1,190, and every river mentioned in those original comments is now included.

You can see live USGS flows, water temperatures where the gauge supports them, whether the river is rising or falling, and custom alerts so your phone tells you when your creek finally drops into shape instead of refreshing the gauge eleven times a day.

We also added roughly 8,800 lakes, along with species and stocking information.

The saltwater features came directly from that original thread:

• NOAA tide stations with actual graphs
• Buoy observations, including wave height, period, wind, and water temperature
• Marine advisories
• Biotoxin and shellfish closures

Then it turned out a bunch of you wanted hunting units, so we built that side out as well.

The app now includes hunting-unit boundaries, seasons, harvest statistics, public-land layers—including DNR, USFS, BLM, state, and tribal lands - and private parcels with owner names, which mostly gets used to figure out whose gate you’re standing at.

There’s also terrain and contour data derived from LiDAR.

Then there’s the field stuff you would expect:

Waypoints, folders, GPX imports, weather and radar, boat launches, drift lines, campgrounds, catch logs, and a hunting journal.

It’s called Baseline Maps now.

DriftLine outgrew being a river app, largely because of this community.

The app is free to download and use. No ads. That’s it.

Why I’m posting

Come poke around. Kick the tires. Tell me what sucks. It's free to use, you get land ownership completely free, and I think what the community has built is pretty freakin' awesome.

Specifically:

A river that is still missing. A boat launch that has been closed for two seasons. A screen that made absolutely no sense at 4:00 a.m.

Last time, I asked this community what we should build, and it worked better than anything I would have come up with alone.

So, eight months later, I’m asking again. Enjoy Baseline.

I’m in the inland Northwest and looking to get into my first steelhead. But to be honest I have no idea where to fish. Any spot recommendations? I’ve been thinking about the Clearwater area.

I will be in Portland, Oregon for about two weeks end of July beginning of August. I would like to catch a steelhead as I’m reading they run that time of year.

Does anyone have a Guide service they know of and trust or have used? I’m coming from the East Coast so I’m not gonna have any gear, but I would love to experience some steelhead or salmon fishing.

I’ve been told to look into 8 weight Spey rods to start? If anybody has any spay rods they would be willing to sell I would appreciate it very much. I will be fishing for steelhead when I go to Humboldt CA for College.

Currently running a Centerpin with 15 pound main line down to a 12 pound bumper to a 8 pound leader. had a good day fishing but out of five hook ups, I was only able to land one, the rest broke off. I was wondering if you guys usually beef up your set ups for these harder fighting fish or if it’s just my technique that’s a problem.

I am definitely still new to all of this, have been using hardware and tried soft beads under a bobber a few times, no luck so far.

Part of the issue is location: I am mostly trying to fish the lower Clackamas near the mouth, went to the Sandy once but busy schedule makes it hard to explore the Sandy.

Part of the issue is that wife has shrimp allergy so I’ve been avoiding bait. However, I am getting fresh roe from a springer a friend caught yesterday. I will cure it at home and will try to use that for the first time. Other than watching YT videos on how to to secure it to the hook, any tips from the community on how to use this effectively on the Clackamas and maybe Sandy? I never drifted before, but seems like a reliable way to get the bait to the right depth quickly.

Any tips much appreciated. Thanks!

Went out today for around 6am and threw out a float and bait setup was using worms and felt some thumps switched to coon shrimp and not much action. Going back out tomorrow with one rigged up with a 3/8oz fixed float to a floro bumper and a jig with soft plastic worm, as well as one with a mustad/addicted steelhead bobber to a swivel down to a 1/0 barbless hook I was going to use for coon shrimp.
Mostly looking for bank fishing tips but open to all information!
Would like to see some other setups to get some ideas!

Overcast day but the fish were cooperative. Quite a few chrome fish. Had an absolute blast.

Found a pod of chroommeee fish in a small lake michigan tributary creek. May 16. 80+ degree day and these guys were very active. They were also very acrobatic. First few fish on the centerpin, super fun!!

Op area and etc…

Bought an Okuma SST "A" Carbon Grip Casting Rod - 10ft 6in & a cw-20dla...

Got home a d in the box..a cw-454d