Fishing for Steelhead

We’ve put together a good selection of Steelhead lures that will cover every situation you’ll find on our local rivers. From the best spinners and spoons, to plugs, jigs, soft beads, corkies, spin-n-glo's and more.

This trophy Steelhead slammed a Blue Fox Vibrax Spinner in a tailout.

Steelhead Fishing Lure FAQ’s

What are the best lures for Steelhead fishing?

We have a great selection of Steelhead fishing lures for boat and bank fishing. Here are some of the most popular lures for Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

1. Yakima Bait Spin-N-Glo’s
2. Yakima Bait Mag Lip 3.5
3. Yakima Bait Mag Lip 3.0
4. Steelhead Slammer Spinners
5. Blue Fox Vibrax Spinners
6. Yakima Bait Corkies
7. P-Line Pro-Steel Spoons
8. Aerojig Hackle Jigs
9. BnR Soft Beads

What are the best Steelhead lures to use from my boat?

The most boat-centric lures for Steelhead fishing are plugs. Mag Lip 3.5, Wigglers and Kwikfish K11X are some of the most popular plugs to use. During most of the season, you’ll want to backtroll them down a drift, but during periods of extremely high flows when Steelhead are travelling, anchoring on plugs on the soft edges of a swollen river can provide some really great fishing.

Aside from plugs, a Bait Diver with a Spin-N-Glo with bait can be a really good choice if you’re primarily fishing for Hatchery Steelhead. Use a sand shrimp tail or cured salmon roe if allowed, and you’ll increase your chances.

Drift fishing, side-drifting, float fishing with jigs are a few of the main techniques that work well from a boat and the shore.

What are the best Steelhead lures to use from the river bank?

There are a few different techniques and lures that work really well from the bank. If you find yourself in front of a fairly snag-free drift and the river speed isn’t too swift, casting spinners and spoons, drift fishing corky and yarn, a Spin-N-Glo, a BnR Soft Bead or Steelhead worm can be really effective. Float fishing with a bobber and Steelhead jig is also a great option, and is a preferred choice if you’ve got some boulders breaking up the current.

During periods of high water, plunking with Spin-N-Glo’s, Bait or Plugs on the soft edges of the current can be the best way to catch Steelhead.

What kind of rod and reel should I use for Steelhead fishing?

It really depends on the fishing technique. For the more popular lures like bobber & jigs, drift fishing corkies, Steelhead worms and beads, spoons and spinners, a rod between 8’6” and 9’6” is pretty universal. For those techniques, a medium or medium heavy action rod will give you enough power to land large Steelhead but still be lightweight and sensitive. We will go more in-depth with rod selection later.

What kind of line should I use for Steelhead fishing?

We like braided lines for most of our Steelhead fishing techniques, like P-Line X-Braid or EndurX. These lines are preferred for float fishing, drift fishing, plugging and are also widely used for casting spinners, swinging spoons and plunking. That being said, copolymer lines are still really popular and many people stick by their tried and true P-Line Cx Premium, Izorline and Maxima Ultragreen!