Fly Fishing for steelhead

[NADO]

I am pretty new to fly fishing i started at the beginning of this summer. I was wondering when fishing the rivers for steelhead what line are you using and what is the lb and length of your leaders. Rod weigth and flies you use in certain situations would be good to know as well. Basically your whole setup and strategy lol.

I currently have an 8wt rod with floating line and what is now probably an 8 or 10lb leader. I have mainly been fishing with roe imitation flies with no success they show some interest but turn away in the end. I wasnt sure if it the wrong choice in fly or wrong leader...or both.

Come christmas time i will be getting waders, vest and a 4 wt setup, any input would be great lets make fly fishing the new theme! Too much float fishing going on around here and not enough pin reels in my posession lol.

 

[efka]

you are missing a tippet on your setup, thats the problem.

 

[NADO]

do you fly fish for steelhead efka? if so do you mind telling me your complete setup that you use from line to fly?
for example i saw some really big browns feeding off the surface last time i was at bronte what setup would you throw for that situation?

 

[efka]

i started few years ago, but noticed that catching steelhead on fly rod is not as effective as on float.
i do have a buddy who will beat my ass any day using his spey rod.

 

[efka]

do you fly fish for steelhead efka? if so do you mind telling me your complete setup that you use from line to fly?
for example i saw some really big browns feeding off the surface last time i was at bronte what setup would you throw for that situation?

fly line>loop>tampered looped leader>tippet>fly

 

[NADO]

im looking more for if you use dry/floating line, what lb/length leader and what sort of flies you use.

I know most people are into float fishing with eggs, obviously live bait is going to work better. Arent there any seasoned fishermen on this forum that take pride in tempting a big brown on an artificial fly?

 

Hey NADO, there was one guy at duffins today that was flyfishing and hooked three steelhead and lost all of them so I guess it's possible to do good on a fly rod, but I dunno if they were lined or not...

 

[NADO]

ya for sure it is, its just tough to find people who have spent alot of time on it and are willing to share their knowledge. From what ive seen i can tell that an experienced fly fisher will outfish any setup, its just so damn hard.

My casting is getting pretty good and i am starting to get good at avoiding the turbo feature with my drifts i just need more knowledge on what flies to use in certain situations and how to present them with floating or sinking line, strike indicators leaders and all that fun stuff.

 

[Joel52]

I fly fish often enough through the summer months. I prefer dry flies. I gave up on the tapered leaders - too much trouble. I just peel off about 9' of 6lb test and use that as a leader. Also, I have a small plastic container with a mixture of dirt and dish soap. I'll rub that on the first 6" of line from the fly. Seems the oils from our hands keep the line afloat, and that will help it sink a bit, leaving just the fly on the surface... if you get a little dirt on the fly itself it doesn't hurt things either. If you're fishing eggs below the surface, get some sinking line.
I have a 9wt for Pike, but mostly use a 6wt for bass, trout and salmon.
Never pump gas on the same day you're going fishing.

 

its just tough to find people who have spent alot of time on it and are willing to share their knowledge

Truer words have never been said....There are guys with 40 years of experience that don't post a thing

 

[Graham Bristow]

Hey Guys,

I have over 27 years of fly experience for steelhead and I guide and teach fly fishing for steelhead full time. Next spring I'm running a day coarse on fly fishing for steelhead that will cover a lot of what you're asking. The dates and details will be listed on my website in the new year. In the mean time I can probably help with your set-up now so you can get out ASAP.

Use a 9' or 10' rod in the 6wt to 8wt size. I prefer a 10' , 6 or 7wt or even an 11' , 7wt.

90% of the time you will be running a floating WF line. If you swing flies a sinking polyleader can be attached to your line to convert it to a sinking line if required and a non weighted or weighted streamer fly can be used.

Here"s a simple basic set up that works well for nymphing. Nymphing is a method that with will catch you the most fish.

Basic set up:

6 to 8 feet of 10lb to 14lb straight mono or florocarbon with a loop tied to the end to attach to your fly line. (You can also use a tapered 7' to 9' leader)

Surgeon knot a 14" to 20" tippet section to the tippet end. You will have 2 tags on the knott, only cut off the one tag that runs or points upwards toward the fly line. (leave the other tag on) Run your weights above the surgeons knott on the mainline or off the tag. Dont put you shots between the knott and the fly and try to keep it more then 14" away from the fly under normal conditions. 2 to 4 BB or AB sized shots work but you should adjust it based on current speed, depth and fly weight. You can run one or two shots on the main line above the knot and 1 or 2 on the tag end you didn't cut off. You can also run them all off the tag if you want. This way the shots on the tag are able to be removed easily and more added if required. Run you're fly at the end of the tippet.

Put a sliding or adjustable strike indicator up the line and adjust it to the apropriate depth of each spot fished. 1.5 to 2 times the actual depth is the rule of thumb for indicator placement.

Thats only the rigging, thats the easy part. now you have to figure out how to fish it effectively.. "DONT CAST IT"

If you want to learn more, consider going out with any good local steelhead guide. You'll likely learn more in 1 day with a good guide then you would after many days, months or even years trying it yourself.

The course i"ll be offering will include multiple setups and how to fish them as well and when and where to fish them.

There's still fish in the rivers and they hit flies any month tthat they're in the river, go get em!!

Graham
www.anglerspro.ca

 

[koneeleven]

hey graham? where you ever down in oshawa during salmon?

 

[Graham Bristow]

hey graham? where you ever down in oshawa during salmon?

No, I try to avoid all those eastern tribs when the salmon are in. I was busy catching steelhead on some of the huron and G-Bay tribs in september instead, No one around so it was very nice..

Why? how did you do?

Graham
www.anglerspro.ca