FLY FISHING WITH STEELHEAD FLIES
Years
ago when I was still in pursuit of my first Steelhead on a fly, I
met an old fisherman who looked to have had a good many years
fishing on my local river. He was heading back in as I was
heading out, and we stopped to exchange a few words. I ended
up asking what type of fly to use on this river and this is what he
told me: "Young man if you was to go to China what would you eat?"
When I had no answer he continued, "You would eat what ever they put
in front of you."
Steelhead might have begun their lives in our inland waters, but
they don¹t know what to eat here as they have been out to sea for
years. On a dark day you can use a dark fly and on a bright
day you can use a bright fly because they can find them easier.
The real problem is to put the fly in front of a fish that is
inclined to bite. So presentation is more important than the
pattern. I have remembered these words of wisdom through many
Steelhead seasons. But there are a number of common theories
for why certain patterns and sizes have gained regional and seasonal
popularity.
Indian Summer: This season of the year Steelhead can only enter the larger river systems that are open to the sea, most of the smaller systems have sand bars at their mouths or water that is too low. Some examples that I have fished would be the Sacramento, Klamath, Rogue, etc. The season is usually characterized by low, clear, and stable water flows.
There are a number of
hatches of large insects this time of year including the Isonycia
mayfly and the
October Caddis. Both of these insects are powerful
swimmers when they emerge. The traditional "swing" flies for
this season on these larger rivers are dull or dark colors.
Klamath River System:
Silver Hilton,
Brindle Bug
Mossback
Assassin,
Burlap.
Rogue River:
Tiger¹s Paw ,
Rogue Nymphs,
BH Black Stonefly
Fly size: In low clear shallow water smaller hook sizes are popular and as the water rises or is discolored larger hooks sizes are used. The larger the fish in a region, larger hooks are used.
-
Alaska and British Columbia #2 & #4.
-
Washington and Oregon #4 & #6.
-
California #6, #8, & #10.
For deeper runs and pools large (size #12 to #4) heavily weighted
nymphs are drifted near the bottom ( see bead head nymphs and stone
fly nymphs). Often times steelhead will not rise through a lot
of water to pursue a "swing" fly.
Another popular way to fish is to imitate salmon eggs.
Starting in September the salmon will be on their spawning grounds
and steelhead are suckers for a well presented egg pattern.
The key to success is the natural drift of the fly close to the
bottom near spawning areas. Different regions have their own
preferences for size such as Alaska which uses large patterns and
some tributaries of the Sacramento River in California, like the
Yuba, where smaller is better.
Late Fall And Winter: is
characterized by cold and off colored water. This is the
season for the traditional gaudy colored steelhead patterns.
These bright patterns are more visible and provoke more strikes in
these conditions. The fish in shorter coastal streams are in
for only short periods of time and respond well to this type of
pattern. In some of the longer river systems steelhead can
revert to trout-like feeding patterns responding to nymphs and
salmon fry.
The difference between a fact and a rule is that there are no
exceptions to facts but there can be many exceptions to the "rules",
especially in steelhead fishing. As the old man said, "they
will eat what ever you put in front of them." Some qualifiers
that I would add are: if they can see it, if you don¹t spook them,
and if they are in the mood.
These patterns and their variations were developed on the Northern California coast in the mid twentieth century. The traditional design used a down eye, nymph hook with the bead chain eyes tied on top. The other notable feature is the cocked up tail. All of these features combine to cause the fly to ride with the hook point up resulting in fewer snags and better hooking ability.
We have our flies tied this way instead of using the long shank, up eye black hook. The up eye and the bead chain eyes work against each other. And the long shank changes the proportions of the pattern.
The black of the BOSS silhouettes well in off colored water. The COMET is a fair imitation of an Alevan ( salmon fry ). The CHARTREUSE COMET uses chartreuse "edge glow" for the body. It is best used as a tidewater salmon fly. If you want to catch a salmon use a chartreuse pattern. For some unknown reason salmon will hit chartreuse more than any other color. The PINK COMET is a pink member of this series, popular with the angler who wants to fish with brightly colored flies.