Fineflies.com  
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 donšt 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, Assasin, Burlap.
Rogue River: Tigeršs 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 donšt
spook them, and if they are in the mood.
BOSSES and
COMETS
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.
For a complete look at our extensive Steelhead
fly selection begin with our Steelhead Index.
HOME
Š 2006 Fineflies.com
|