Fishing in Oregon

This is the Kwikfish that I caught my first steelhead on at Bonneville dam.
It was a nice native steelhead, and the fish absolutely pounded the lure. Lurh Jensen has made a proven lure that works perfect for steelhead and salmon, and I will always have this lure in my arsenal.
The chartreuse and silver finish has been by far my most productive color combination when it comes to Kwikfish.

With this lure you can add some sardines or tuna to the belly of it to add a very attractive scent for the fish. It also makes the lure more lifelike. Just get some of your favorite bait and attach it with stretchy thread around the Kwikfish. Make sure you do not use too much bait to mess up the normal action of the lure.

For Steelhead I will use the size K15x size Kwikfish and smaller.
For Salmon I will Use K15x Kwikfish and Bigger.

Since I do not have a boat I had to plunk this bad boy into the fast current on the Columbia river by Bonneville Dam.

The Setup is pretty simple.

I like 40 to 60 pound Braided Mainline. You will then attach a three way swivel to the main line, ( I just use a Palomar knot) and then 12 to 24 inch 15 to 20 lb. weight line with a good hunk of lead to hold the lure down... 8oz lead pyramid weight or bigger is the norm.
Then I attach the lure to the last end of the three way swivel with a 48 to 60" inch leader of 15 to 20lb for Steelhead and 20 lb. or higher test line for Salmon.

This works for me and I hope it works for you.

By the way there are many things people can plunk from the bank including spin n' glos, spinner, live bait including prawns. Try and experiment and hopefully catch some fish!

Drift Fishing:

The main idea of drift fishing from the bank is to make an extremely natural looking presentation, that floats near the bottom and at the speed of the river. The way this rig works, is by having a heavy enough lead weight that will take your offering down to the bottom of the river, and bounce along the bottom. Now it is important that you don't have too much weight in that it will just sink and stay. This will create a unnatural presentation, and will cause a ton of snags and lost gear. You will want to adjust you lead piece according to how fast or slow the river is, and you want to get the lead to bounce about every 1 to 1.5 second along the bottom.

Cast upstream far enough so when the lure is in front of you, it is near the bottom and in the strike zone. Let your lure go through the "drift" until it has swung downstream and then retrieve and cast again. Make sure to cover the water by starting closer to the bank, and work your way every cast to the farthest part of the fish holding water. I usually like to do this and then move down the bank and do the same thing, so that you cover as much water as possible and have the opportunity of finding fish that you otherwise wouldn't if you just stayed in one spot.

With a corkie used as the lure, it causes the hook to float off the bottom in the fishes striking zone. The added yarn can simulate a sac of fish eggs, and you can easily add any store bought scent. The material of the yarn will hold that scent cast after cast. Another added benefit to having yarn is that when a fish mouths your lure, the yarn has a chance to get tangled and stuck in the fish's teeth, giving you an even better chance of detecting, and setting that hook.

The hardest part of drift fishing is going to be detecting the bite. It's very hard because you will be constantly feeling your gear hitting the bottom, and many beginner anglers will think it is a bite.

BUT REMEMBER, IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBT THAT IT IS A FISH, SET THE HOOK!

Another indicator is if your line suddenly STOPS or if your line starts going off the intended path.
SET THE HOOK!
And try and keep as little slack as possible in your line when fishing this technique because you do not want a fish to bite and then it take too long for you to reel up and set the hook.

Steelhead are very fickle and you never want to pass up a chance to hook one!