A question that's been asked countless times by steelhead anglers all across the country and I would bet many hours have been spent trying to answer this very question. " What is better beads or bait?" With years spent steelhead fishing and guiding day after day, I can confidently say there isn’t a concrete answer to this question as each has its time and place. Now if you’re expecting the special formula on when to use each one and why then you might be disappointed to hear that there isn’t one, as the answer to this question is changing day to day, sometimes it changes throughout the day. What we will answer in this article is the process you need to follow to answer this question.

As mentioned above there is no secret formula to answer these questions but there is a set of steps you can follow to quickly get the answer while you’re on the water. You pull up to your first spot of the day and not sure what to float through there first. Start with whatever you are confident in, or the opposite of what your buddy is using. The best way to narrow this down is to run both beads and bait through water that you are confidently expecting bites out of and see what works. However, that doesn’t mean jump all in on one over a fish or two. If you’re fishing with someone you might find both are working and you can pick up extra fish having both in the water. Also, just because one or two of your bead colors aren’t working doesn’t mean there isn’t a bead bite. If you are fishing solo try to use a few spots as your test, if both are working you have a decision to make. Pick one and cover more water, knowing you are potentially leaving bites behind, or slow down and fish your best water with both beads and bait and shoot for effectiveness and efficiency.
A common statement I make is “ fish are a lot like people” and that applies to a wide variety of topics and conversations we can have. So how does that apply here, they are just fish but that doesn’t mean they want the same thing everyday, which means you can’t fish the same thing everyday. Also, one fish might not want the same thing as the one sitting next to it. Hence the reason there is no perfect answer to this question. It’s something you have to answer on the water and make a decision on how you want to approach the day and conditions. On most days, I find both bait and beads, if using the right ones, are equally effective and both have a time and place. You also might find that one works better in the morning and other in the afternoon. Again, something you need to figure out as you go. What you shouldn’t be doing is fishing the same thing all day without success, whether it be the same couple beads or fishing bait all day. Make changes to your bead colors if they aren’t working, put the bait down if necessary, just because they loved it yesterday doesn’t mean they want it today.
If there was a specific and set formula to follow to consistently catch steelhead, it was easy and everybody would do it. Learning the patterns and tendencies, and figuring these fish out from day to day is half the fun. Enjoy the process and your time on the water, and of course pull on a few fish while you are at it.
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