I am sure there will be many good fishing tips to come out of this thread but I think I will go in another direction. If I could impart one bit of "wisdom" it would be, don't go into this to catch fish. If you do, you will be much more often than not, disappointed.
Take up the sport with the goal of learning a process. As great as hooking a fish is, and believe me, there are times when few things in life equal it, the real reward comes in learning a river, mastering a presentation, becoming part of the family of steelheaders, soaking in the lore of those that went before us and finally becoming proficient enough to "do things right". I have hooked and landed fish on bad or lucky presentations and I have briefly hooked and quickly lost fish where I knew I did everything right. Believe me, the latter are much more rewarding than the former.
We often refer to steelheading as a sport but it is really a way of life. To adopt it, or more specifically have it adopt you, you need to learn to fish for the the incidental rewards it gives you: the pink of the sunrise, the murmur of the river, the knowledge of how rivers change constantly and the satisfaction of knowing how to fish a run the right way whether it be at low water and gin clear or high and turbid. Once you can drag yourself out of the rack at 0'dark-thirty knowing that the odds are against hooking a fish but you can't wait to get to the river anyway. Then you have found the true allure of steelheading. Catching fish is simply the frosting on the cake.
Of course, maybe I am just overly sentimental?
ST
Take up the sport with the goal of learning a process. As great as hooking a fish is, and believe me, there are times when few things in life equal it, the real reward comes in learning a river, mastering a presentation, becoming part of the family of steelheaders, soaking in the lore of those that went before us and finally becoming proficient enough to "do things right". I have hooked and landed fish on bad or lucky presentations and I have briefly hooked and quickly lost fish where I knew I did everything right. Believe me, the latter are much more rewarding than the former.
We often refer to steelheading as a sport but it is really a way of life. To adopt it, or more specifically have it adopt you, you need to learn to fish for the the incidental rewards it gives you: the pink of the sunrise, the murmur of the river, the knowledge of how rivers change constantly and the satisfaction of knowing how to fish a run the right way whether it be at low water and gin clear or high and turbid. Once you can drag yourself out of the rack at 0'dark-thirty knowing that the odds are against hooking a fish but you can't wait to get to the river anyway. Then you have found the true allure of steelheading. Catching fish is simply the frosting on the cake.
Of course, maybe I am just overly sentimental?
ST