Fishing Articles
Two-Pound-Theory Drift Fishing
Convincing fishermen that it can be done
is the hard part
Look at how thin the monofilament mainline is on the
rod setup! It’s running a eight-pound test mainline with a six-pound
test leader. It was good enough to hook into this outstanding huge native
salmon! I used a ten-and-a-half foot Lamiglas Rod, No. 2 hook, No. 10
corkie (lil' corky), hot pink yarn, and a dash of steelhead egg scent
to make it all worth striking! As hard as this fish fought is was no
match for the combination of necessary light tackle that it took to
hook and land it.
by Timothy Kusherets
The two-pound theory is about fishing with line that differs by only
two pounds while Drift-fishing for steelhead and salmon any time of
the year. The theory shows anglers how to fight fish on light line and
how to vary strengths of line by only, you guessed it, two pounds; but
the fishing line tops out at twelve-pound test and bottoms out at six
pounds. Ultimately, the light line and the ability to fight the ferocious
fish equate into more fish than ever before. It simply doesn’t
matter how large steelhead or salmon get, the two pound theory for steelheading
works. The first step to this fishing technique is to first address
river conditions, which in this case involves spring time fishing.
As rivers blow out fish go off the bite for the most fundamental reason.
Debris, as it flows downriver, threatens to crush and mortally wound
any fish so they gravitate to the banks where they hold. Seasoned anglers
know that they can still successfully fish the waters but because of
the turbulent conditions necessitates heavier test for the same reasons
Bassers do e.g., boulders, branches, and logs. Most Steelhead will run
in, under, and around structures close to banks rather than brave the
gauntlet sure to confront them in the open river and that’s when
the risk of losing fish really takes place and the reason for the heavier
fishing line but if you want more bites you’ll still have to use
lighter line…at least by comparison to most and that means the
first thing to consider after the test of the line is the drag of the
reel.
With light line it’s vital to consider the smoothness of the drag
because the first bump in the tension will be enough to snap it. Each
reel will have varying degrees of drag capabilities so it’s largely
up to each angler to figure it out; suffice it to say, making the reel
perform should be done in the comfort of a home with the help of a doorknob
and scale. Gear up your entire outfit as though you were about to go
out and fish and tie the end of the line to a hand scale and then the
doorknob. By tying line to a scale and knob you’ll be able to
set the drag to one-thirds of line capabilities; that is to say, if
you start out with twelve-pound test then set the drag to four-pounds.
There aren’t many steelies that can break that combination; but
you’re apt to hit into fewer fish than the angler with ten-pound
test and the same can be said for eight-pounds and so on. After tying
up, pull back on the rod and watch the scale. When the tension has been
perfectly set think about the smoothness of the drag. The ability to
decipher how smooth the drag really is set largely depends on the length
of the rod. Each time you pull back on the rod at least the length of
the rod and make the drag sing the same way it would if the end of the
line were hooked to a fish. If, while pulling back, there are skips
in the line that jolt you back and forth check to see if the reel needs
cleaning. If the reel is clean then oil or grease will smooth out the
gears, or washers of the drag system. After every precaution has been
taken to ensure that the drag is set and smooth then it’s time
to consider “thumbing” the spool.
Thumbing is largely a metaphor for applying temporary tension to the
spool with either the thumb or palm of your hand depending on whether
or not your reel is a bait-caster or spinning reel. The only time to
thumb the spool when fishing with light line and the varying need of
“thumbing” is done of the basis of line test, which is more
art than science so you’ll have to practice.
With your rod all geared up and tied to the doorknob and scale, continually
pull back on the rod. Each time you pull back, put the palm of your
hand on the side of the spool and look at the scale to see how much
tension is being added to the drag. Thumbing the line should be done
until you can maximize the line-tests capabilities; so, if the line
is ten-pounds then you should be palming the line until the scale reads
ten-pounds. The premise of the tension is to allow you to apply maximum
tension one hundred percent of the time without the threat of snapping
it and here’s how it works. Each time a steelhead makes a run
softly put the palm of your hand over the side of the spool and quickly
apply pressure for a few seconds at a time, usually about three to four
seconds before lifting the hand away from the spool. If the fish continues
to run routinely apply the hand with one to two second intervals with
the intervals becoming shorter as the amount of line on the spool pays
out. There isn’t a fish in the river, or lake, that can combat
this kind of fighting technique when properly applied; that means that
any angler wanting to test his ability to fight steelhead on light line
has a great chance of landing fish even on the first try. The reason
to even use this technique is because fish tend to hit lighter line
because it’s harder to see even when waters run turbid with limited
visibility. It’s true that with lighter line anglers run the risk
of losing fish but they also hit into more fish than fishermen with
heavy test, but light line isn’t the hardest thing about this
fishing technique.
The fundamental difficulty with this kind of fishing actually has nothing
to do with the fish or the line at all, rather, it’s convincing
fishermen that it can be done at all is the hard part.
While fishing a river known to house some very large Chinook there were
some fishermen who were using eighty-pound braided fishing line; yet
none were catching fish. Throughout the entire day any fish that was
hooked was consequently lost due to snagging, though not by design.
Near the end of the day I happened upon that river and got out the gear
to fish it with light tackle of course. Within half an hour I had the
first fish on the hook and the other anglers raced over to see how the
fight was progressing.
“What in the heck are you doing? Why don’t you just yard
the fish in and get it over with?”
“If I could I might just do that but since I’m using such
light line I’ll have to play her out on the six-pound test I’ve
got.”
“I’ve fished a lot of rivers and over for over twenty-five
years. No one would be certifiable enough to fish with that kind of
line so you must be one of those liars.”
And that’s how it went for most of the fight. It took about twenty-minutes
to bring the great looking hen it, and it was worth it. The moment it
I was able to tail it the hook fell out and we all made an “OOHHH”
sound as the small hook fell out. I snapped off a photograph and put
it back in the blue and then proceeded to show just how thin the line
really was. Wouldn’t you know it? Even in the face of abject fact
the other fishermen could not believe it. Over the course of the rest
of the afternoon I hooked and landed three more fish and all of them
were over forty-pounds! There wasn’t a fisherman there who would
come down to the necessary six-pounds and not even the size of the fish
could convince them that it worked. By the end of the day only one other
fisherman had successfully landed another fish and that was snagged
underneath the jaw; with the eighty-pound line he still had a struggle
to beach the fish. As the light began to wane yet another fisherman
came over, presumably to talk. Without saying a word he took his fishing
rod and broke it over his leg and left the banks of that great river
and I haven’t seen him since. So, I’d say, the hardest part
about using this great spring steelhead fishing technique is convincing
anyone that it works, in the field anyway.
Every person who has gone out to the water with me has gotten fish the
very first time they fished for steelhead and salmon. How many guides
and experts can claim that all their clients have gotten fish the first
time out? If a novice can get fish with the light line and palming the
spool then a seasoned fishermen will definitely get fish on the hook
and bank ultimately showing that the two-pound theory works very well
indeed.
© Timothy Kusherets, 2004/09 |
