Tick-tick, drag... tick-tick, drag... tick, tick... Was that tick a steelhead? The drag? The tick? Set the hook? Now? Wait, wait... It is no wonder that steelhead used to be called the fish of a thousand casts, or maybe it was 10,000. The reality was that steelhead fishing in Pacific Northwest rivers was not child's play.
It was a matter of putting in a lot of time on the water. It was fishing and losing gear - and fishing some more. Steelhead fishing took time and experience to be able to tell the difference between the tick and drag from a rock or stick and the tick or drag from a steelhead. And considering that steelhead don't run in Great Lakes numbers in the Northwest, it could take a novice fishermen years before he beached his first steelie.
Again, we are talking years of fishing and hundreds of dollars of tackle, the bottom of freestone streams and hung into sunken logs and stumps.
I know - been there, done that, and anglers couldn¹t wait for sales on pencil lead, hooks and swivels. Notice the past tense? That¹s because things have changed dramatically.
The sticks and rocks and steelhead are still there. The change has come about with the use of Thill bobbers in steelhead fishing. No single technique has done more to make the pursuit of this feisty fish easier than the bobber".
Bobbers are the "easy button" of steelhead fishing, no doubt. Not only does a bobber keep your gear attached to the end of your line instead of stuck into a sunken log, but it also tells you when a steelhead bites. And, the top of the line bobber for steelhead is the Thill Turbo Master.
That¹s not to say that tying on a Thill Turbo Master makes steelhead fishing slam-dunk easy. You still have to know how to fish your gear correctly - you have to know how to read the water and find steelhead in the first place.
The Bobber 
The most critical part is getting your gear in tune with "The Force". To become a Jedi, er, Turbo-Master, you need to understand the way this float in particular was designed, as well as how it should be fished.
The Thill Turbo Master is somewhat unique in that it has a long wire stem sticking out of the bottom. The stem provides a measure of vertical stability, and the overall shape allows the fisherman to move and position the bobber in the current to get the best, drag-free drift. (More about ³drag free² later).
"This bobber is perfect for steelhead fishing because it is neutrally buoyant when matched with the right jig", says Portland native, Dave Eng. Eng works for Salmon Trout Steelheader and fishes like most of us wish we could. Of course, the fact that he lives on the bank of the Clackamas River in Oregon has something to do with it. It is hard not to fish before and after work when you've got a jet boat tied up in your back yard.
Eng says that the Thill Turbo Master is his go-to float because the TBM 2 matches perfectly with the 1/8-ounce jigs he prefers for steelhead in both winter and summer.
"When the water is really turbulent or fast, I might change up the jig to quarter ounce", Eng says. "But then I have to go up a size or two on the bobber. It's really important that the Thill Turbo Master float is weighted properly to make the bobber, (or float as it's called in the Northwest) work its best-- when it's most sensitive (which is what you want, by the way) the bobber should sit upright in the water with just the bright colors showing.
To get there, you've got to have the right weight lure or bait, or you have to add weight to the leader. If the bobber sinks beyond the yellow, then too much weight is the problem, and you need to move up a size (or two) to get the buoyancy to float the bait.
Conversely, if the Thill Turbo Master sits high or flips over on its side, you can change to a smaller bobber. However, it's better to add weight in that situation, and here is the reason why.
Shotting Properly
Steelhead inhabit fast flowing water and occasionally deep pools with heavy current. In order to get your bait or lure down where they live, you need to do so quickly, and you can do that by adding more weight to your leader.
This also why you need to add your weight in bulk shot. Traditionally, you can add weight to the leader beneath the bobber in two basic ways: the first is to spread the weight in several small shot along the leader. This allows the bait or lure to slowly fall to depth, a good thing when fish are scattered all through the water column, but not so good when they're holding deeper‹or when the current is fast.
Since steelhead generally do hold close to the bottom, often tucked in behind rocks or in slots or small pools, you have limited opportunity to get your bait in the right place. Mostly, your presentation has to sink down to depth "right now" (!), and to get it there, you need to fish bulk shot. Simply pinch the shot needed to set the bobber correctly in one clump close (within a foot or so) close to the bait or lure. This will sink into the fish zone quickly.
The Line
When fishing a Thill Turbo Master for steelhead, choosing the right line is very important. Straight monofilament work, but fluorocarbon does not. The best of the lot is one of the superline braids. There are even lines on the market now that are designed specifically for bobber fishing.
"I like braid for quite a few things, but it is really important for bobber fishing", adds Eng. "The main thing with braid is that it floats, and because it does, you can adjust the drift of your bobber better. You can easily mend the line because it floats, and it never wears out. How cool is that"! As Eng points out, the reason one of the superlines is the best choice to use with bobbers is because it floats on the surface of the water.
Fluorocarbon sinks faster than monofilament, and that is why it's not a good choice for bobber fishing as the main line.
Drag Masters
The Thill Turbo Master is especially good for adjusting the drift as you are fishing. The elongated shape moves easily through the water as you "mend" your line by flipping little loops upstream. Mending, a technique developed by fly fishermen trying for a drag-free drift, keeps the bobber from racing downstream as conflicting surface currents catch the line.
With a floating line and long rod, you can also lift the line off the surface and hold the bobber in place in the slack water behind rocks - a prime steelhead holding area. Rather than tie the superline directly to the bait or lure under your Turbo Master, run a length of fluorocarbon leader. Even though fluorocarbon sinks, it is very abrasion resistant and holds knots well. Knot on 10 feet of the stuff (using uni-to-uni knots), and you're likely to be able to use it all day.
Rod Choices
While virtually any rod will let you fish a bobber for steelhead, the hard-core steelhead fishermen like Eng have all opted for the longest rods that will fit the situation and river they are fishing. Most choose spinning rods because they are easier to lob or cast the lighter weight of a bobber and bait, but that's not the only reason. A spinning reel lets you dump line quickly with little effort, enabling you to extend the drift of your bobber considerably by feeding line.
Another key to a long drift is keeping line off the water, and that's where the longer rod shines. It also gives a better hookset at a distance, as does the limited stretch in a superline.
A light or medium-light action rod between 8-1/2-feet and 10-1/2 feet is the gold standard for fishing a bobber for steelhead. For the waters Eng fishes, he is sold on the 10-1/2 foot stick in medium light.
Bait, Lures and Whatevers
Just about anything that will catch steelhead while doing the traditional drift fishing thing will work under a Turbo Master - anything from tuna balls to a chunk of salmon eggs. However, arguably the best lure of all is a jig.
Jigs alone often are enough enticement for a steelhead, but occasionally, when the fish are picky, a bit of bait or scent is needed.
Sand shrimp are pretty much the tipping agent of choice, but pieces of prawn or squid work. And for summer-run steelhead, you can use sections of a nightcrawler, crawdad tails, grasshoppers and any natural bait that a river-bound steelhead might hit.
Jigs that have a tail of marabou are deadly. Lindy's Marabou Jig is a good bet as is the new Lindy jig head dressed with a Fuzz-E-Grub body or one of the most unlikely lures you might run across.
A pink plastic worm, roughly three or four inches long, will drive steelhead crazy. Thread it on a Lindy Head (especially in the pink/glow finish) or thread the leader through it, leaving the hook near the tail, and you¹ve got one of the very best steelhead baits going. As far as jig weight goes, it makes sense to balance your float with the weight of the jig because the jig will get down to steelhead zone fast.
"I'm pretty much stuck on 1/8-ounce jigs", Eng says. "These work well at getting down quickly, and they are large enough to get hits. However, if the water is turbulent or off-color and moving fast, I'll move up to a 1/4-ounce jig and a larger bobber to float it". Eng will also use straight bait, "little bitty chunks of (salmon) eggs" for those times when the steelhead just insist on bait and won't hit a jig or worm.
While the traditional methods still catch fish and occasionally work better than a float-and-whatever, this one method is responsible for transforming steelhead fishing, it has leveled the fishing field so that anyone can catch steelhead wherever the fish may swim.
SIDEBAR
Is Thill's Turbo Master the only float?Of course there are a number of different floats in the Thill line that will work well for steelhead. The Thill Premium Steelhead Float does just fine as do a host of the other designs. Even the Crappie Float with the designated jig weight printed on the side is good.
However, Dave Eng prefers the Thill Turbo Master for several reasons. First, because of the float's shape, it is easy to adjust its drift by pulling it back or across current to get to the proper spot.
"Another thing I like about it is the fact that when it's weighted properly, it's basically neutrally buoyant. You can tell right away when a steelhead has the jig in its mouth, but because the bobber pulls under so easily, the fish doesn¹t feel any resistance for a couple of seconds, and those two seconds often mean the difference between hooking a fish and not". Eng also says that the Thill Turbo Master helps him determine the proper depth to set his jig. "If the bobber is laying on its side pointing downhill (down current), you know you jig is dragging on the bottom. In that case, you need to shorten the length of leader below the float". The Thill Turbo Master is held on the line by two silicone sleeves, and adjusting the depth is as easy as grabbing the float and the leader and slowly pulling the float up or down the leader.
Eng also uses the Thill Turbo Master in a rather unorthodox way: he will pull an extra couple of feet of leader below the float and then let his jig or bait drag along the bottom. "It¹s just like drift fishing", Eng says, "but with the float above the bait or jig, I¹m less likely to get hung up than I would drift fishing normally".
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