The Steelhead Angler

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One of the best parts of steelhead fly-fishing is learning the art of steelhead fly tying. While you can buy pre-made flies, there is nothing more satisfying than tying your own flies and being able to share with your friends the fact that you caught a 20-pound fish using a steelhead fly you made yourself.

Tying your own flies can be a very relaxing and enjoyable hobby as well as very rewarding when a steelhead decides to take the fly or jig you tied yourself. While it is not complicated, steelhead fly tying for steelhead fishing can be a very delicate art when tying some patterns. Jigs are some of the easier types to tie and may be a good choice for tying if you are just starting.

The first piece of equipment you will need when you start steelhead fly tying is a good quality fly vice. This will hold your hook while you are tying it together. You will want a vice that can hold all sizes and shapes of hooks, and one that is easily adjustable.

Get a bobbin this will hold your thread. A bobbin will keep your thread tight, and easier to use, while you are tying your fly. Bobbins come in a variety of sizes, but they all do the same thing. Spend just a little bit more money on a bobbin and you will not have to worry about it cutting the thread before you are through tying.

You need to have a good pair of scissors too. To start out with, one pair of scissors is enough, but as you get better at steelhead fly tying, you will want to have a variety of shapes and sizes to meet the needs of the flies you are tying. The loops should fit your fingers comfortably, and they need to be sharp.

Hackle pliers are small pliers with enough constant tension designed to wrap hackle feathers around the hook. As with scissors, they come in all shapes and sizes.

Find a good bodkin, which is like a needle on a handle. You can use a bodkin to not only tie the steelhead fly, but also for delicate work that requires a small, sharp point like separating out pieces of feather and fur.

Of course, you will also need a large selection of threads, feathers and fur to match the different types of flies you want to match. Mink fur, deer hair, elk hair, and pheasant feathers are good materials to work with as are peacock, and turkey feathers, along with a good selection of yarn and dubbing.

If you are just starting out, or maybe you have been thinking of tying you own steelhead flies for a while but just were not sure of what you needed. There are many fly tying kits available from a simple basic kit to kits with everything you may ever need for fly tying on the market to day.

Several books and websites available can teach you steelhead fly patterns for steelhead fly-fishing. It would be impossible to explain in just a few short paragraphs all the patterns and techniques. One such site with plenty of information and patterns is Salmonfly.Net. The best way to learn how to tie your own flies is to experiment and keep doing it. You will eventually find techniques, and patterns that work for you, and be well on your way to becoming an expert on steelhead fly tying for your steelhead fly-fishing adventures!

Take a look at some of the Fly Tying Kits available and start tying your own steelhead flies.

Here are fly Tying Kits available on Ebay too!!

In the Northwest, the rise and fall of river water levels more then any other factor determines the number of winter steelhead that are on the move. It will influence where they will be located, and determine which fishing method will produce the best results.

Float Fishing: Usually the best way to fish in low and slow moving river currents.

Being able to feel when a steelhead strikes is the secret to catching steelhead not only in the Northwest but also through out their range. However, a growing numbers of steelhead anglers are finding success by switching to their eyes. Float fishing will out-produce any other method when stream water levels are at their lowest and the water is crystal-clear. When fish hold in slow-moving water, it is extremely difficult to drift fish these area effectively. Float fishing is also a good way for fishing current edges or seams. These edges are a favorite place for steelhead to rest during their upstream migration.

Baitcasting reels combined with 9-to 10-foot medium-light or medium-power rods are the most popular. You may find that a spinning reel works better under certain conditions such as when casting light rigging. In addition, although monofilaments work, the super-lines, such as Fire-Line, float and make line mending easier. (Mending your line means that when the river current starts create bow in your line you pick up the line to remove this bow.)

You also need a selection of steelhead floats (long, thin types work best), split shot or egg sinkers, single hooks ranging in size m 2/0 to 2, and an assortment of jigs or baits. Although you can use cured salmon or steelhead egg clusters, many anglers employ a steelhead jig (this becomes necessary in crystal-clear water), or a scent-enhanced imitation egg cluster, steelhead worm or shrimp when the river has a little color.

When rigging, position the float so your bait rides two-thirds of the way to the river bottom. Since these fish typically lie in water five to eight feet deep, this will position your offering within easy reach, yet reduce hang-ups. Remember that fish cannot see below them.

Side Drifting or Back Drifting: from a boat is a good technique when fishing a river with medium to low flows.

Where boat access is available side, drifting is a popular way of presenting your bait. Anglers make parallel casts upstream of the drift boat or jet boat, while the operator backs the craft downstream at the same speed or a slightly slower speed of the river this way the line maintains an upstream angle.

Because you are moving with the current, it will typically take a small amount of weight to keep the bait near bottom. Many anglers employ a three to five shot slinky, one to three split shot or an inch of 1/8-inch pencil weight. Baits include small egg clusters, a drift-bobber like a Corky Drifter, and scented steelhead worms are becoming popular as well.

To facilitate easy casting and cushion the blows from hard-fighting fish, 9- to 10-foot light- to medium-power rod and reel outfit. You will want to use 10 to 12 pound monofilament line and 24 to 40 Inch fluorocarbon leaders the fluorocarbon lines are harder for the fish to see. When a steelhead hits, the bite is normally quite hard and requires little or no hook set. Using this technique the steelhead hook them self when they take the bait. You can just lift the rod up and start playing the steelhead.

Drift Fishing: This technique works best after rains when rivers are falling.
This drift fishing presentation works best in higher river flows; this is a good method to use when river levels are dropping after a rainstorm when the river starts to come back to a fishable condition. These conditions are when the winter steelhead is often the most abundant and mobile. The more fish you have on the move the better your chances of getting your line in front of ones nose.

Fishing from shore or a boat, you cast your rigged outfit, consisting of weight, 18 to 24 inch leader, drift bobber, imitation egg cluster or shrimp, across and slightly upstream. Since steelhead lie on or just off the bottom, use just enough weight so the rig taps the bottom every few yards. You do not want you bait to drag the bottom for two reasons one is that fish cannot see below them and the second is that if you are dragging the bottom you are going to be snagging all the time.

You will want to hold your rod tip about 25 to 30 degrees off the water and follow along you need to see and feel what is happening. Despite the fish’s strength and size, you can expect a bite to be nearly imperceptible. If your rigging stops or hesitates, or you notice that, your line makes a sudden yet gentle swirl set the hook hard.

Use a medium-to-medium-heavy, eight or eight ½-foot rod; combined with baitcasting reels and 10 to 15 pound line and do not forget the fluorocarbon leaders for this technique.

I was finally able to make a trip down to the Salmon River Saturday November 29, 2008 and had a great time. While I have missed the main push of steelhead that migrates up the Salmon River, I did manage to catch a couple of nice Steelies.

Steelhead fishing at Riggins is always a hit and miss type of deal you never know when the wind is going to blow. Saturday was a perfect day for fishing though, overcast with high clouds and not a single breeze. The river was crystal clear, I would have like to seen some color to it but this late in the year, and with no rain, it was what I was expecting.

With the clear conditions of the river, my fishing partner Randy and I both knew that it was going to be tough to get the steelhead that are leery to hit. Therefore, we both decided to try jig fishing for them. As it turned out we made a good choice and we both had fair success with this method.

I tied on a 1/8 ounce jig with a black body and orange head and since we have fished this spot for years, I knew I needed to be about six and a half feet deep so I adjusted the bobber stop for that depth. Randy who had just come back from fishing the Clearwater a couple of days before was setup and ready to fish so he was the first to get his line wet. He was using the same type of jig but with a white head.

As I turned to walk down to the river, I hear Randy say there he is, his second cast tied him into a nice buck steelhead that was thirty inches long and may have weighed nine or ten pounds. Since it is getting so, late into the season, head did not perform any of those famous aerial acts for us but it did give him a good tussle. Well maybe this clear water is not so bad after all ten minutes into the day and we have a steelhead on the bank.

We continued to fish for the rest of the day and while fishing is not what I would call hot it was productive we were getting a hit about every hour or so and ended the day with hooking into six fish. Yes Randy did out fish me this trip he hooked four to my two, I will make it up the next time we get a chance to go though.

While as the weather continues to cool off and less and less steelhead angler brave the conditions I find that steelheading will remain fair until we get the spring rush as the steelhead again start moving into their spawning grounds. If you want to be able to have the river mainly to your self these next three month are some of the best times to head out. The Steelhead will remain in the river and as long as there is no bottom ice, you will be able to hook into them every now and then.
Until next time!