You stop by your local fly shop on your way out of the city and they tell you which river is hot this week. The flows and water color is perfect for this time of year.
They give you the fly that hammered the fish yesterday and you are fired up to get on the water. They give you a few additional fly fishing tips on presenting the fly, and you are on your way.
As you finish up the last minute preparations for the gear, you can feel that hot fish on the line. You finally arrive at the river later that day with enough time to get 2 hours of fishing in before dark.
The explosion of the rod and reel in my left hand brought my heart into my throat. It was just the beginning of the greatest fishing experience of my life.
The canyon walls towered above on a typically cool November day on the Deschutes River. It was nearing the Magic-Hour, and I was set to meet a friend down-river for the last fishing of the day. I reluctantly climbed up the banks of and walked to my car.
There are a number of different ways to tie the Egg Sucking Leech. Whether a wooly bugger, bunny leech or other, this pattern is effective in many different situations. I will take you quickly through a sparse bunny leech tying demonstration so you have a feel how to get started.
Take a look at the video below and then check back in with me. I’d love to hear if you found this video helpful.
I’ve had many steelhead guests on the Wet Fly Swing Podcast who have told me that steelhead flies and the fly pattern you select for steelhead is not of critical importance.
More important are likely the presentation of the fly, the line you use, and whether you are getting down to the fish. I have many podcast episodes and blog posts that cover these types of steelhead fly fishing Tips especially if you are focused on the wet fly swing.
I had Adrian Cortes on the podcast in episode 169 to focus on dry line winter steelhead fishing and the flies he loves to fish.
He calls them his irons. There’s a lot of beauty in calling your fly an iron. His two favorite steelhead patterns and 2 that could easily be on this list are the Greased Liner from Harry Lemire and the Steelhead Bee.
I’m going to lay out 6 different types of flies below. All are effective, but all use a different style.
The point I want to hit home on is that there is no one size fits all. I could list 100 different flies from 100 different people and all would be good.
Some are personal preference and experience. Actually, a lot ends up being the fly that has been successful in the past.
This is really just a primer to get you thinking about what’s available to you. I know this will bring up more questions than answers and I’ll try to answer these as we go.
Let’s start with one of the easier flies to tie from the list above. The Egg sucking leech or similar wooly bugger style flies have three very basic parts.
The bunny strip and egg on the head make this fly. Remember, there’s never one way to tie these flies. That’s the beauty, you can experiement a bit.
Follow the video here to see how the fly is tied. Do you have any questions? If you do, send me a message here and I will find time to skype until we can figure it out.
2. The Stewart (Summer/Fall)
The Stewart is from the Max Canyon series and one of my favorite flies of all time.
3. The Glo Bug – winter steelhead
The glo bug fly pattern is as basic as it gets and as effective as it gets.
3. Greased Liner – summer steelhead
4.
Conclusion
Grab the basic tools and materials above from your local fly shop. Watch my step by step video again as you tie the fly. After you feel comfortable with the first fly, work your way through the other steelhead flies in the list.
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I’ve got another amazing first steelhead fishing story from Chris this week. There’s a great reminder for all of us who steelhead fish, and for life in general – The only way to Fail is to Quit. Take it away Chris!
Landing a fly-caught steelhead on the Deschutes River was a rite of passage in our family. It shouldn’t take long, I thought. But over a two year period, beginning when I was 13, this simple goal turned into a fight for survival. At least for my confidence.
Our first ever guest post for the Steelhead Success Story Series comes, appropriately from, my dad. He has a great story about fly fishing for trout and a lesson learned about fly choice and technique. Doug Stewart also has a blog at FlyFishingwithDougStewart.com.
He provides some good stories as we reflect about a lifetime of guiding.
Take it away Dad!
My first summer steelhead happened quite by accident. I was fishing for Redside Trout in the Deschutes River and as usual, the grasshoppers had invaded the dry sagebrush and grassy riparian zone during the sultry month of August.
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