Tweaking Your Presentation For Sluggish Steelhead

I recently hit the creek, with what I thought would be prime conditions, but to my surprise I encountered extremely dirty water. This is a common occurrence for many steelheaders in Southern Ontario, so there is much to discuss with regards to tweaks in presentation that can beach more trout. I will give a brief overview on a good plan of attack. Early Start A buddy and I arrived at the creek before sunrise to claim our favorite pool off the hop. With the freezing cold weather, I would generally like to start fishing later in the morning, as things warm up and fish become more active. However, when expecting other eager anglers to compete for prime spots, the early bird gets the worm! This well known tactic did not pan out for us, however, since we did not hook up until around 9am. There was a simple explanation for this, the water was just too dirty (less than 6in of viability). Tweak #1 Another well known tactic is to go 'Big and Bright' when fishing these conditions, which was our first thought when we got a view of the water. When the large, colourful roe bags weren't doing the trick, we decided to focus on using our smelliest batch of fresh, uncured spawn. This trick, that I picked up from fellow NPS'er Scott Powell, eventually began producing fish with the rising sun. Tweak #2 We knew that if we were patient, the water clarity would slowly clear up throughout the day, hopefully making the steelhead a more viable quarry. Sure enough, the action picked up significantly by the time the water visibility reached about 8in. Slowing down our baits with large weights and floats was key, since the fish were still not scrambling across the creek to hit a bait, by any means. Tweak #3 As the water continuously cleared up, we were able to hook into fish with a variety of the usual offerings for steelhead; roe bags, beads, pinkies, etc., as well as landing bonus fish by employing tandem rigs. The thing to consider, is that we have now been fishing the same 3 pools and runs all morning. Although it was cold on the hands, we had to switch up our baits regularly to entice the fish to hit. We even moved into a certain pool that had other anglers fishing it thoroughly non stop for several hours, once they gave up and moved on. Not more than 2 seconds into my first drift in that pool I was into fish. Do you suppose they were switching and tweaking there presentation up regularly??? Nothing out of the ordinary here, but it can be said that the best tactic is patience in these cold conditions. Just because the fish are sluggish, doesn't mean you should be too!