How to Catch Your First Fly-Rod Steelhead - Part 2
Great tactic here for getting your fly down to the bottom where these monsters are hiding!
Fly Selection: As always, in my belief...Simple is better...
-Michael
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How to Catch Your First Fly-Rod Steelhead:
"SINK-TIPS & THE WET FLY SWING
On larger water, water that is too deep to wade and too far to cast across, the wet fly swing is the most effective method of presenting a fly to winter steelhead.
The tactic consists of casting the fly at an angle downstream and letting it swing across the face of the current. When fished in conjunction with upstream mends, sink-tip lines and heavy flies, the wet fly swing lets an angler get the fly quickly down to bottom-hugging winter fish and work it slowly across the steelhead's field of vision.
Although many specialists have embraced long, two-handed Spey rods in recent years, a 9- to 10-foot single-handed 8-weight remains the classic winter steelhead fly rod. With it, an angler can cast the heavy lines and flies employed in winter and mend line to control the drift of the fly.
Sink-tips for winter steelheaders come in two basic categories. The shorter, lighter tips are designated by numbers such as Type III or Type 5, and sink at roughly the number of inches per second of the number (i.e., a Type 5 would drop at a rate of five inches per second). Heavier, longer tips, such as the popular Teeny Lines and Rio's Dredgers, are indicated by their weight-per-foot in grains, such as 225 or 350. Type III through Type 6 lines are usually most suitable for waist-deep runs, pocket water and tail-outs, while anglers who fish heavy water and deep pools favor longer tips. Leaders are short for winter steelhead, typically between 3 and 6 feet, and they are usually around 12-pound-test, without taper.
Fewer fly patterns exist for winter steelheaders than, say, for trout, but there are enough of them to confuse a beginner. As with steelhead lines, however, the novice steelheader can simplify fly selection by separating them into broad categories: traditional patterns such as the Skykomish Sunrise, marabou spiders, rabbit strip leeches and egg patterns.
Traditional patterns are effective over a broad range of water conditions, and their compact design and heavy hooks allow them to sink quickly and remain upright in heavy water. But marabou spiders and rabbit strip leeches have overtaken traditional patterns because of durability and their motion in the water. They are also easy to tie with inexpensive materials. Egg patterns, such as Glo-Bugs, are effective in cold, clear water."
Fly Selection: As always, in my belief...Simple is better...
-Michael
===============================
How to Catch Your First Fly-Rod Steelhead:
"SINK-TIPS & THE WET FLY SWING
On larger water, water that is too deep to wade and too far to cast across, the wet fly swing is the most effective method of presenting a fly to winter steelhead.
The tactic consists of casting the fly at an angle downstream and letting it swing across the face of the current. When fished in conjunction with upstream mends, sink-tip lines and heavy flies, the wet fly swing lets an angler get the fly quickly down to bottom-hugging winter fish and work it slowly across the steelhead's field of vision.
Although many specialists have embraced long, two-handed Spey rods in recent years, a 9- to 10-foot single-handed 8-weight remains the classic winter steelhead fly rod. With it, an angler can cast the heavy lines and flies employed in winter and mend line to control the drift of the fly.
Sink-tips for winter steelheaders come in two basic categories. The shorter, lighter tips are designated by numbers such as Type III or Type 5, and sink at roughly the number of inches per second of the number (i.e., a Type 5 would drop at a rate of five inches per second). Heavier, longer tips, such as the popular Teeny Lines and Rio's Dredgers, are indicated by their weight-per-foot in grains, such as 225 or 350. Type III through Type 6 lines are usually most suitable for waist-deep runs, pocket water and tail-outs, while anglers who fish heavy water and deep pools favor longer tips. Leaders are short for winter steelhead, typically between 3 and 6 feet, and they are usually around 12-pound-test, without taper.
Fewer fly patterns exist for winter steelheaders than, say, for trout, but there are enough of them to confuse a beginner. As with steelhead lines, however, the novice steelheader can simplify fly selection by separating them into broad categories: traditional patterns such as the Skykomish Sunrise, marabou spiders, rabbit strip leeches and egg patterns.
Traditional patterns are effective over a broad range of water conditions, and their compact design and heavy hooks allow them to sink quickly and remain upright in heavy water. But marabou spiders and rabbit strip leeches have overtaken traditional patterns because of durability and their motion in the water. They are also easy to tie with inexpensive materials. Egg patterns, such as Glo-Bugs, are effective in cold, clear water."
posted by The "Duke" at 1:09 PM
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