How do I not get skunked

[FishingThePacNW]

So I haven't been skunked when river fishin this year until today, but the fish I was catching were not steelhead or salmon, I really really want a steelhead so I need to know where to go this weekend and what is killing them out there!!

Thanks,
Chandler

[Mike Carey]

I get skunked all the time. It's the nature of steelheading (either that or I must not be very lucky/good).

[FishingThePacNW]

Ya I guess so, when is peak of the skook run?

[lost360]

Easy put net across river wait till full.

[BentRod]

All you're guaranteed is a fishing trip. I too get skunked all the time. It can be a bummer if it happens a few times in a row, but it's just part of the game. Keep trying and the Steelhead will happen sometime. I've got a lot of empty trips to the river on the books in my quest to catch Steelhead. Took me three winter seasons to hook my first.
Hey, maybe your next trip out will be the one!

[RiverChromeGS]

keep trying, keep learning, you will find fish, and places where you will consistently catch fish. Hell, i was only catching like 20-30 a winter a few years ago, and just by getting out and learning, ive come a long way from that. Keep learning on the water and on this website, you'll be killing them soon!

[FishingThePacNW]

Wish I could drive haha I would be out on thee river everyday learning new things! I'm gunna be a guide when I grow up so I gotta get steelheading down!

[Brat Bonker]

Wish I could drive haha I would be out on thee river everyday learning new things! I'm gunna be a guide when I grow up so I gotta get steelheading down!

wow, wow, wow dude slow down there speed racer, don't get ahead of yourself there, not everyone can be a guide when they are older, I have always wanted to be a guide with my friends along with managing a tackle business but I relized I can not catch everytime I am out (unless it is salmon) and I would be giving up secrets that has took years and years of researching and learning only to share with anyone not to mention deal with other things that come along with the job but if you somehow have the magic touch like FF or ODH or anyother guide then go for it.
Back to the subject go to the skookumchuck this march and april and if you still get skunked then just give up and give me all your gear haha jk but seriously got to the chuck later in the season the river is packed with fish and plenty of holes to fish, PM me if you want to know more about that rier, it is where I got my first too.

[FishingThePacNW]

Ok, hey brat maybe we can hit the skook in march or April and you can put me on some fish! Are the fish so thick you can see them piled up like coho? And haha metal I knew something was up with that!

[Brat Bonker]

I am not saying you can't be a guide but not everyone can be a successful one and consistantly get clients on fish.
Yeah in april the fish are stacked in the tailouts that you can see them and in most holes they roll every 5 minutes at the most. But if you want to meet up I can show you the ropes and usual techniques that can put you on fish along with the standard holes.
Also I am not saying that I slay skookumchuck steel but if there are fish there I will hook them along with everyone else that is hooking up, just do not forget your nightmare jigs

[FishingThePacNW]

Just got done tying 3 nightmare jigs! Idk if you know but I actually have my own small jig company but I probably shouldnt talk about it on here cause I'm not a sponsor

[Steelheadin360]

Fish Fish Fish, pound water and you will find them, switch baits, lures, everything, they will come

[natetreat]

The most important thing in catching is fishing where the fish are. There aren't number in the Cascade right now, so we're not fishing it. They are migratory fish, they won't be there all the time. So you have to travel. When one thing isn't working, try something else, when that doesn't work, go somewhere else. But you will get skunked every now and again, ev en if you are a guide.

[Brat Bonker]

The most important thing in catching is fishing where the fish are. There aren't number in the Cascade right now, so we're not fishing it. They are migratory fish, they won't be there all the time. So you have to travel. When one thing isn't working, try something else, when that doesn't work, go somewhere else. But you will get skunked every now and again, ev en if you are a guide.

For the most part I disagree there were plenty of fish in the cascade before it closed that is why the hatchery did not get their eggs because they were being caught or bypassing the hatchery. And if you are guide you should not be getting skunked because that is what clients pay you to do is to catch fish not to know how to cast a rod. But I do agree on run and gun method, but there are those moments when should I stay or should I go times happen.

[Bodofish]

The most important thing in catching is fishing where the fish are. There aren't number in the Cascade right now, so we're not fishing it. They are migratory fish, they won't be there all the time. So you have to travel. When one thing isn't working, try something else, when that doesn't work, go somewhere else. But you will get skunked every now and again, ev en if you are a guide.

For the most part I disagree there were plenty of fish in the cascade before it closed that is why the hatchery did not get their eggs because they were being caught or bypassing the hatchery. And if you are guide you should not be getting skunked because that is what clients pay you to do is to catch fish not to know how to cast a rod. But I do agree on run and gun method, but there are those moments when should I stay or should I go times happen.

Wow...... I'm going to go with pretty short sighted on this one. Stating an absolute for a profession will only get you in trouble, absolutes just don't happen.

[RiverChromeGS]

The most important thing in catching is fishing where the fish are. There aren't number in the Cascade right now, so we're not fishing it. They are migratory fish, they won't be there all the time. So you have to travel. When one thing isn't working, try something else, when that doesn't work, go somewhere else. But you will get skunked every now and again, ev en if you are a guide.

For the most part I disagree there were plenty of fish in the cascade before it closed that is why the hatchery did not get their eggs because they were being caught or bypassing the hatchery. And if you are guide you should not be getting skunked because that is what clients pay you to do is to catch fish not to know how to cast a rod. But I do agree on run and gun method, but there are those moments when should I stay or should I go times happen.

Ok... For one. Guides, even the best guides have days with no fish. Its fishing dude, no human can catch fish every day. Its part of the game, if you think guides shouldnt ever get skunked just because theyre guides... Well you should know better. Secondly, there was NOT "plenty" of fish in the cascade. Steelhead bite. Especially hatchery brats, and only a handful are bring caught a week. In my sight fishing places on the cascade, there are 2-3 each day at most, compared to 30-50 a day last year. The numbers are super low, worst ive ever seen. Thats why they closed it. Sure theres a few. But the hatchery doesnt need a few. They need hundreds

[Bodofish]

[Brat Bonker]

yeah but there are still fish in it, enough to be caught by guys that now what they are doing. Also I do not think the best guides have got skunked in a while because they are constantly on the river knowing where the fish are day in and day out along with years of notes and maps of holes to fish. But I will say being a bank guide is a little different.

[Bodofish]

yeah but there are still fish in it, enough to be caught by guys that now what they are doing. Also I do not think the best guides have got skunked in a while because they are constantly on the river knowing where the fish are day in and day out along with years of notes and maps of holes to fish. But I will say being a bank guide is a little different.

Still pretty darn short sighted. Let me know how this opinon works out for you in a few years after you've joined the adult world. Absolutes are someting you want to stay away from they tend to bite back.

[natetreat]

yeah but there are still fish in it, enough to be caught by guys that now what they are doing. Also I do not think the best guides have got skunked in a while because they are constantly on the river knowing where the fish are day in and day out along with years of notes and maps of holes to fish. But I will say being a bank guide is a little different.

Still pretty darn short sighted. Let me know how this opinon works out for you in a few years after you've joined the adult world. Absolutes are someting you want to stay away from they tend to bite back.

Hahahaha! That's great, catching fish every time. That would be fantastic wouldn't it. From a bank, from a boat, it doesn't matter. Some days the fish won't cooperate. I have years of notes, maps, holes everything you say and I've marked too many fish to count, but there is no way that I can guarantee a catch. Guides get skunked sometimes too. I can't tell you how many times I went out on a charter, or floated with a guide until I grew up and realized that they call it fishing for a reason. If you caught fish everytime, they'd call it catching. When I'm fishing with clients, I'm teaching lessons, I'm showing folks how to fish, tie knots, rig up, where to fish, what to fish when. I'll hook fish and then hand them off so that my guys can learn to play a fish, even when they haven't hooked one themselves. And I give them the best advantage that they can get on any given day on that river. But sometimes there aren't fish there, or they're not cooperating. I'm sure that you've been skunked an awful lot Bonker, and I get skunked way less than you I'm sure, but yep, it's going to happen. True story, and I guess I'm letting the cat out of the bag here. But if I get skunked when I'm out with a client, I tell you what - everybody else is going home fish-less too. Because I work my A$$ off to get my guys on fish hands down. If there weren't days where people are going to get skunked, if it was easy to catch fish, than I wouldn't have a job. It happens to the best of us every once in a while.