Rouge River Rainbows

[Rayomatic]

Yesterday I was wading around in the Rouge and saw tons of big rainbows (I think) and carp hanging around a few pools (also saw a massive dead fish that I think was a salmon...see pic).

Came at them from downstream and cast a nightcrawler ahead of them, but no bites. Tried a Mepps Aglia, dropshot with plastic minnow, etc. and still nothing. Was using a bigger hook (#4 or 5 maybe?) and 30# moss green braid.

For fun I walked up close behind and dangled the worm in front of one fish's face, right around its mouth, and still nothing! It didn't flinch.

I also spooked something massive that took off upstream and thrashed violently in the shallow rocks before reaching some deeper water. Judging from its power, I assume it was a salmon. The carp and rainbows didn't spook like that at all unless I got really close or made a racket.

Amazingly frustrating to see so many big fish that I could get so close to I could practically touch them, yet not get a single bite. I'm really new to trout/salmon fishing...what can get them to bite this time of year?

[oldbronteguy]

(10-02-2014 11:21 AM)Rayomatic Wrote:  Yesterday I was wading around in the Rouge and saw tons of big rainbows (I think) and carp hanging around a few pools (also saw a massive dead fish that I think was a salmon...see pic).

Came at them from downstream and cast a nightcrawler ahead of them, but no bites. Tried a Mepps Aglia, dropshot with plastic minnow, etc. and still nothing. Was using a bigger hook (#4 or 5 maybe?) and 30# moss green braid.

For fun I walked up close behind and dangled the worm in front of one fish's face, right around its mouth, and still nothing! It didn't flinch.
Try approaching from up stream and drifting your chosen bait into the pool. As Elmer Fud once said "be very very quiet I'm hunting Trout" Try using salmon roe
I also spooked something massive that took off upstream and thrashed violently in the shallow rocks before reaching some deeper water. Judging from its power, I assume it was a salmon. The carp and rainbows didn't spook like that at all unless I got really close or made a racket.

Amazingly frustrating to see so many big fish that I could get so close to I could practically touch them, yet not get a single bite. I'm really new to trout/salmon fishing...what can get them to bite this time of year?

[Toasty]

Tell you the truth, those are probably not rainbows. They are most likely fresh salmon. I fish the rouge heavy, and from my experience, in the fall, most of the rainbows that make it up are small (12-16") and you usually will never be able to see them. They can be caught using great quality roe.

Some people may be surprised that there are 'fresh' salmon in the rouge, I found out the hard way by walking up and down from the mouth to hwy 7 more than a few times. I have caught most of my 'chrome' salmon on the rouge surprisingly, and into October no doubt.

Those big tank steelhead (16"+) usually head in the rouge towards Ice-in and zoom up through the river during Ice-out. Even then, they are sparse compared to some other tribs like duffins creek. Not to say I havent hauled in 16"+ from rouge though (LOL). During Ice-in it's great to use roe, and ice-out you can start to use pink worms as well as roe.

Tight Lines.


PS. Use 6lb flouro leader and 6lb mono mainline usually for targeting rainbows. Using braided line isn't so great because they can definitely see it under water, and are a line-sensitive fish. For Salmon, it doesn't matter much.

[Rayomatic]

Thanks for the reply. Here's another pic of what I thought were rainbows:

[MuskieBait]

Chinook Salmon, not rainbow trout.

[Rayomatic]

Knowledge being half the battle, I thank you fellows!

So any suggestions on how to fish for them? Line, terminal tackle/bait, techniques, etc? There seems to be a lot of info online. Too much, really. I'd rather trust some of my fellow locals! The fish congregate in a pool about 6" to 2ft deep.

(10-02-2014 01:18 PM)MuskieBait Wrote:  Chinook Salmon, not rainbow trout.

[Giuga10]

Those are Salmon. Don't use braid as the fish will see it. Use fluorocarbon line. To target them try beads, roe, and flies (wooly buggers work great).

[MuskieBait]

From over 15 years of personal experience, most of the fish caught with roe bags, beads and flies are flossed/lined. Only on the odd occasion do I see a salmon chase down a roe bag or hit a fly aggressively. Once salmon reached the rivers, they stop feeding.

To get some real bites, try fishing lures such as spoons, crankbaits and spinners to get the aggression response from the fish (usually males).

I don't buy the line shy theory that much anymore. If a fish is aggressive, you can still induce a violent hit with heavy line. During the spring, I was getting steelhead to smash spoons and spinners using 15lb mono (5 feet) and 30lb braid. Steelhead is much more line shy than salmon.

People tout light lines and fluorocarbon because these less visible lines are difficult for the fish to see, so they do not avoid the line when it is drifted toward their mouths. You cannot line/floss a fish if the fish swim away from the line, or roe bag or splitshots. In British Columbia, I was using 20lb mono leader on my fly rod and getting legitimate hits on the fly. I was also getting hits on spoon fishing 15lb straight mono without leaders.

Or...forget fishing in the streams all together and fish rivermouths and harbours for staging salmon. These are fish that actually bite. You can again use spoons and crankbaits to get these salmon to play. I was using 30lb mono (5 feet) with 30lb braid...but we fish at night so the line became much less visible at night.

[Rayomatic]

Thanks Giuga10 and MuskieBait.

This section of Rouge is 5 minutes from my house, so very convenient to get to if I only have a little bit of time to fish.
I'll tie a heavy fluoro leader to the braid and try my luck with the baits suggested above to try to get a reaction strike.

Might as well bring some corn to try for the carp as well.

[MuskieBait]

I don't want to entirely discourage you from stream fishing. There are rare occasions where I do get a salmon to chase down offerings...from flies to roe bag to worms...but that is very, very rare. If you do fish in the streams, be prepare to face a lot of non-responsive fish.

Even on lures, as per MA's experience, you will have many more spooked fish than fish that will play.

Keep your expectations low but be persistence...and eventually you will find a handful of fish that do cooperate.