Casting Crankbaits in Rivers for Kings, Coho, and Steelhead
– Part I
By Chuck Bailey
When Michigan guide, Tim Roller, first started casting crankbaits for Kings, Coho, and Steelhead in the Manistee River, he got some strange looks from every angler he encountered. They’re not laughing at him now. (Especially after one of his clients, Tom Healy, just set a new world record in September of 2009 for brown trout – weighing in at 41 lbs. 7 oz – while casting crankbaits for Kings.)
Ironically, it is a common practice for charter boat captains and sports fishermen to fish for salmon in the Great Lakes and other large bodies of water by trolling crankbaits. But once the Kings, Coho, and Steelhead start running up the rivers, the crankbait disappears from most anglers’ arsenals to be replaced with more traditional presentations.
Here in the Northwest, (Washington and Oregon), river fishing might include the use of corkies with yarn or combined with a cluster of eggs. Perhaps at the mouth of rivers where the water is deeper and boats can still troll, plugs such as Quikfish or Storm Wiggle Warts are occasionally used, but not nearly as much as a herring trailing an in-line flasher.
Once in a while, an upstream angler may anchor their boat (or fish from the shore) and try “plunking”, that is, throwing out a heavy sinker into the current that has a dropper line with a plug attached. BUT… it’s safe to say that hardly anyone casts with crankbaits in an attempt to catch salmon.
With all the proven presentations that are comfortably accepted by the salmon culture, why would anyone want to suddenly break from tradition and cast crankbaits in rivers? Because the presentation works! And Tim Roller ought to know – his clients line up to go fishing with him whenever the Kings, Coho, or Steelhead begin one of their runs up the Manistee river.
The Relatively New Great Lakes Salmon Fishery
Unlike the northwest or northeastern portions of the US, the salmon fishing culture in the Great Lakes is relatively new. In the 60’s salmon were introduced to control the exploding population of alewife in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, (often implicated in the decline of many native Great Lakes species through competition and predation).
Tim remembers, “The thinking was that the salmon would not spawn nor enter the rivers. Low and behold, a few years after the initial plants – they began to show up. Not only did they come, they flooded into the rivers, …and they spawned.”
This gift was not appreciated at first, and once the rivers filled with the dead carcasses of salmon that died after spawning, a public outcry resulted in one of the strangest governmental decisions – the legalization of snagging.
The Legalization of Snagging
Tim explains, “The thinking went like this; ‘The salmon are running up stream, but they are not spawning successfully, and they are littering the rivers and the fish are dying anyway. So, since it’s a put-and-take resource, let’s just allow people to snag them and get them out of there.”
“An ill-informed DNR (Department of Natural Resources) also told anglers ‘These fish will not eat once they get into the rivers. Once they start their run towards the spawning grounds, they turn off to any kind of eating activity.’”
“And consequently, that misinformation and the legalization of snagging led to the belief that the only way you were going to get them was to throw a treble hook with a great big weight on them and rip it through the water until you stuck one in the side.”
Non-Snagging Methods
“Obviously with time came knowledge and education, and snagging was stopped in the early 90’s. Not only did we find out these fish were spawning successfully, it was at a really great rate. And along with that came a belief that these fish might also hit something.”
Anglers on the Manistee and other Michigan rivers began using bottom-bouncing presentations, (a piece of yarn, flies, roe or some type of other bait). But in Tim’s mind it was still akin to snagging. As the line drifted, it would suddenly stop as it encountered a school of fish, and the angler would set the hook.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you swing something with hooks through an area loaded with salmon and twitch it at the right time, you’re bound to hook one. You might suddenly have a fish on, but you could never tell where that fish might be hooked. It was a different place every time.”
Feeling it was unethical and unfair to his paying clients, Tim’s mind churned constantly as he began to challenge the myths that surrounded salmon behavior at the time.
Shattering Myths
“I reflected on why you could go out into the lake and catch these fish trolling. Obviously salmon were coming up and hitting many types of lures being trolled past them. It didn’t make sense to me that we could go out and catch those fish right at the pier heads of the rivers one day, and then suddenly the next day they would swim up the river and refuse to hit anything.”
“So I starting experimenting with all kinds of techniques, and I ran into some guys that were having some success with spinners. Once I could see that those fish would indeed hit a moving bait in the river, I felt justified to keep experimenting with crankbaits.”
Eureka!
“Basically we started out with crankbaits that closely resembled the alewives – what the fish were eating out on the lake. And I remember the first day we went down river and threw crankbaits around. I don’t think we were casting for 20 minutes when we got our first fish. And the rest of the morning we caught another fish every 20 minutes!”
“Well it was very exciting,” recalls Tim, “and it’s still exciting all these years later. But the biggest thing was driving home that night and just the sigh of relief that ‘Yes, these fish will hit a crankbait in the river.’”
A Lifetime of Instinct
Why does it work? Our guide theorizes, “When it comes down to it, the salmon have only two things on their mind; and only one of those things, (spawning), happens but once in their life. The rest of the time, they’re eating – eating to survive. And that’s all they are trying to do.” And as Tim has discovered, the urge to hit a bait continues – even in the river.
The Manistee River
Tim’s home river, the Manistee, is a beautiful stretch of water that flows primarily through national forest. Though it runs over 232 miles from where it starts out as a spring, the salmon are limited to the first 33-34 river miles because of the Tippy Dam, which has no fish ladder.
“In its widest it might be 300-350 feet across,” says Tim, “and that would be up near the dam. The river has lots of turns, …so it’s a winding river. The top portion of this stretch is predominately gravel. Once you get away from that top 6 or 7 miles of river, then it’s predominately sand all the way out to the lake. So the bulk (perhaps 80-85%) of the spawning gravel from the dam to the lake is in the top 5 miles.”
“Part of the re-licensing agreement with Consumer Power (operators of the dam) that took place in the early 90’s was for constant flow - there is no peaking. So if we get a lot of rain and the river goes up 5 inches, it goes up 5 inches. When it is low, it is low. They don’t artificially adjust the river with the dam.”
When heavy rains do occur, the river can muddy up. But as Tim explains, “It clears fairly quickly, and it flushed itself out, and on normal flows it’s a very clear river. Basically it’s a gorgeous and beautiful section of river.”
Just Kings?
Tim’s first video/DVD was entitled “King Crankin”, but he is quick to point out that “Any fish in that river will hit a crankbait. We catch all our migratory fish on crankbaits.” One of Tim’s upcoming video projects is aimed at those steelhead anglers who are unaccustomed to targeting their favorite fish with crankbaits. “Fact is, all our migratory fish will hit cranks when presented properly - I make my living throwing crankbaits throughout the fall.”
The Seasons
As to seasons – “Our steelhead start coming into the river about the middle to the end of September. Most of those are fish that follow the salmon up just to eat the eggs that are in the river, and those fish will stay all winter. Some of our biggest steelhead of the entire year are caught from late September through November. Our fall steelhead average 8-10 lbs., and fish in the teens not uncommon. The biggest steelhead I've ever had a client catch was in October and weighed 23.8 lbs. These will be our first fish to spawn in the spring.”
“Then we get a spring run of steelhead that generally starts sometime in March, depending on weather conditions. They will come in and mix with the winter fish and obviously all those fish spawn in the spring. Most of our steelhead are out by the middle to the end of May.”
“We have fishable numbers of salmon in the river by the end of August. Most of the time, by the middle of August, you can go out and have a decent day. September is our peak period. And while fish will run until November, if you are looking to throw crankbaits, you are looking for a 6 week period from August 15th through September 30th.”
“When the steelhead start coming in, we will know it because we start accidentally catching them while fishing Kings. That’s generally sometime in the middle of September. Once the salmon start moving up river and start spawning heavy, then we just stay down here and keep throwing the crankbaits and simply switch over to targeting the steelhead.”
Catch-N-Release
Although the first Kings are in mint condition, Tim’s clients are for the most part catch-n-release anglers. “The bulk of my people have been with me 10 years or more. They come up on the same days each year, and they are coming up just for the sport of catching them. Still, if someone wants to take a couple of salmon home with them, I don’t have a problem with that.”
The Right Rod
In equipping a beginner with the proper gear, Tim starts with the right rod – a 9 foot Cabela’s XML. “I suggest using a 9 or 9 ½ foot graphite spinning rod, with a medium-heavy action. You don’t want a whippy or noodle rod. It has to be stout but with a good sensitive tip that will allow you to 1) cast that crankbait, but then 2) maintain that power down in the butt section of that rod.”
Tim explains the reason for this particular rod selection, “The main reason is that this river is full of wood.” Much of the trees from the lumber industry of the 1880’s was floated now the Manistee, and not all of those trees made it to the Lake Michigan. “So consequently, the river with all its turns is full of huge log jams.”
“Naturally those big log jams create pools, structure, and current seams that the Kings, Coho, and Steelhead relate to as they are coming up the river. So log jams are a great place to target and hook fish, but at the same time, when you hook them there, they love to go right into that wood. So you’ve got to have some power in a rod to turn them. And turning a 20 pound silver salmon is not easy. So you have to have the equipment to do that. That’s why we use those stout rods.”
The Proper Reel
When it comes to reels, “We’re not using anything really special. I’ve gone through a bunch of reels over the years trying to find the one I am happy with. The set up I have now never fails me. It’s a Cabela’s Prodigy. I use the 4500, which is the biggest one in that series.”
“What you are looking for in a reel, (besides line capacity), is something that is really smooth. I tell people ‘You sure don’t want to go under 5 ball bearings, and if you get up between 7 and 10, that's better.’ A smooth running reel will make a real big difference.”
“You will want a highly adjustable drag, because those fish make incredible runs. As you get into the fight they are going to slow down a bit and you are going to want to torque down on them a little bit. As they get up near the boat, you don’t want to allow them to make those great big runs again, or get you snagged in the wood.”
“So the biggest thing with the reel is your drag system. It’s got to be a smooth, non-failing drag. These fish have so much power. I have seen anglers go out with a brand new reel, right out of the box, and they’ll catch 10 fish on it and might as well throw the reel away at the end of the day. You want something that is put together real well.”
“I tell anglers: if you are going out to invest in a rod and reel, put your money primarily into the reel – because you are going to lose (or get) more fish because of your reel than your rod. You can get a way with a lot cheaper stick, but if you try to skimp on your reel it is going to cost you fish after fish.”
The Correct Connection
Line of choice? “Braid,” declares Tim. “We use straight braid because of its abrasion resistance. It’s so much stronger than mono. And we don’t have stretch with it, which is huge.”
Roller explains his preference for a non-stretch line, “Obviously with all the wood, there are numerous times when I will have to dig down into a log jam and get line out that’s wrapped around 3 or 4 logs during a fight. With braid we not only get it out, we usually end up netting the fish. You’re not going to do that with mono. Mono will shear off or get nicked and break almost immediately.”
Our guide also avoids the stretch of monofilament because of the importance of getting an immediate and deep penetration of the treble on the hookset. “Their mouths are incredibly hard, to the point that it can be difficult to get a hook into them. Even though the salmon will begin the hookset themselves as they smash the lure, the non-stretch braid is going to help finish the job.”
“As soon as those salmon feel those hooks, they start shaking their head. And it’s hard for some people to react quick enough to come back on it right away. With that little delay – if you’ve got ‘give’ in the line, and don’t get the barb driven home - they’ll throw it. Braid helps with hookset penetration.”
“We use 30 pound braid which is equivalent to 8 pound test mono in terms of line diameter, (depending on which brand you are using). Braid works the baits perfectly, casts real well, and you can put a bunch of it on a spool. I have not found any draw backs to it at all.”
Leader? Swivel?
An interesting question that Tim is asked constantly is “What do you for a leader?” Tim answers, “I don’t use a leader. Sure, there are anglers that tie their braid onto a 3 or 4 foot section of fluorocarbon – but I do not recommend that. These fish are not line shy. They are not seeing that line when they are coming up after a crankbait. They are coming in behind it or below it, and the line doesn’t spook them.”
“I don’t have anything between the braided line and the crankbait. When you add a leader or a swivel, or both, you are adding more weak points in your connection to those salmon – which they will take advantage of, and then bust off.”
Many crankbait anglers believe that tying directly to the crankbait or split-ring will negatively affect the action of the bait. Tim, however, remains unconcerned. Why? “When you are in a river situation, we’re dealing with current. That current is working the bait as much as you are – maybe more. So we are not too concerned with the line’s minute effects on the crank’s action in current. The lure hits the water and we start reeling.”
Favorite Crankbaits!
Ask our guide about his favorite crankbaits and he starts with just one word; “Rapalas.” He prefers models that run from 3 to 8 feet deep. In terms of body shape or profile, he admits, “I haven’t tried a profile type that I haven’t caught them on - curved bodies, straight bodies, fat bodies, skinny bodies – you name it.”
Tim's reasons for using Rapala's on these hard fighting fish is simple, “They work, and they don’t fail.”
A large salmon can destroy a cheaply built crankbait, leaving the angler with just the bill, or half the body. Often the hook pulls out of the crankbait. “That will not happen with the Rapala,” says Roller, “because of the way they are designed with the wire going all the way through to the body to the hooks. We’ve had cranks that have had the wire actually pulled through the balsa bodies and sticking out the sides, but we landed the fish.”
“I tell people, ‘You put in so much time, effort, and money to fish for these amazing fish, so to save $1.50, or $2, or $3 dollars on a crankbait is crazy. When you hook a trophy and then loose it on a busted crankbait – you’d pay $20 dollars for a crankbait in hindsight! So I tell people – don’t skimp on crankbait quality.”
Don’t get the wrong impression, not every hooked fish leads to a destroyed crankbait. “I may carry three or four hundred crankbaits with me in the boat, but I could probably go out there with just five and accomplish the same thing. In fact, it would be a bizarre day if I tied on five different crankbaits in a day.”
Other popular lures used on the Manistee river includes the hard plastic Thundersticks, and Thunderstick Juniors, (which Rapala now owns). “The Thunderstick Juniors are a very popular and good bait as well. We catch a lot of fish on Thundersticks.”
Size and Color?
In terms of crankbait size, “I will throw a Shad Rap in an 8 or 9, and with the Thundersticks I generally throw the Junior. With these fish you just don’t have to do a lot of adjusting in terms of size. They’re either going to hit it or they aren’t.”
“Likewise we don’t mess around with color a lot – it’s either light or dark, and that depends on cloud cover more than anything. But even that, we’ve had days when you shouldn’t catch them on dark colors, and that’s all we catch them on, and visa versa. The fish have to tell you.”
Among his favorite colors are “…the silver or the shad in the Shad Rap with the black on silver, or the black on white, that’s the old standby.” To that he adds black on gold, and firetiger. “Firetiger must be the most popular color here. Not necessarily with me, but a lot of people will fish it all day - all season. Firetiger accounts for more fish throughout the Great Lakes by angler who are casting crankbaits than any other color.”
When pressed for more size, shape, or color details, Tim strongly emphasizes “I don’t really believe this technique is about size, shape, or color. It’s all about instinct. You are preying on a genetic response. Those fish are programmed from the day they are born to eat and to attack – they are built to eat fish. That’s what they do. That’s what they spend their whole life doing. They don’t grow that big in that short amount of time by passing up too many meals.” Enough said.
<TO BE CONTINUED>
In PART II- our guide, Tim Roller, will discuss how to present crankbaits in moving current, casting patterns, and the proper retrieve. The proper hookset, rod position, and fighting techniques are next, followed the common mistakes beginners make. Weather patterns and their effects on fish activity will be discussed. Finally Tim shares the appealing characteristices of casting in rivers for migratory fish.
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Tim Roller started Ultimate Outfitters in 1993, guiding anglers on the rivers of western Michigan for Salmon, Steelhead, and Trout. Tim is regarded across the Great Lakes as bringing the technique of casting crankbaits for Salmon and Steelhead in river situations to the public with the release of "King Crankin", a dvd which focuses on the technique.
Tim achieved world-wide acclaim in September 2009 when he guided an angler to the new all-tackle world record Brown Trout of 41 lbs. 7 oz., caught while casting a crankbait for Salmon. When not guiding, Tim is either producing the next dvd in the "Migratory Madness" series (highlighting the Salmon and Steelhead river fishing across the Great Lakes), or hosting and producing "Tim Roller's Wild Addiction" outdoor television show which is seen nationally to over 22 million people on The Sportsman Channel.
You can contact Tim Roller at tim@ultimateoutfitters.com
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