The pacific northwest is blessed with both summer and winter fish, each pursuit has it's nuances. Now would be good timing to discuss these differences, to the benefit of those who are planning to explore the fishery over the next couple of months - the prime time for winter steelheading on the fly as temps rise and water levels drop.
What are the primary differences?
For me the primary differences are (a) fly design (b) line type and (c) presentation.
Most of the time I fish more prominent size/color flies (although not always). Blacks, reds, purples, oranges, blues, cherises, and or combinations thereof. Not a lot of earthy tones when the water is colored for me, other than shrimpy pinks with tans and whites sometimes.
I use light tips, handmade to combine with the taper of a normal floating Spey head. I rarely if ever go with a full floater in winter, sad to say.
To some extent, I fish different lies than I would normally do in summer.
That being said, some flies work year-round as do lines and swings. But there's merit to the sayings "slow and low" and "hanging down" longer, letting the high water dangle to your advantage.
Where I have hooked many summer fish in riffles I rarely hook winter fish in them. Also surface flies, although by late March / April depending on river depth I am sure it's just my lack of faith because I barely get a mend into a cast sometimes and a big winter fish is cartwheeling on my line.
And where time of day is a huge factor in summer, I've had good late morning and mid-afternoon action in addition to the first light aggression that is undeniably high, perhaps because of the fish moving into a lie overnight.
Boulders are your friend. Boulder fields are your playground. Deep pools are oxygenated and not the stagnant voids or salmon holes that they are in summer.
I believe that generally fish don't move for the fly as much in winter as they do in summer, so painting their nose with the hackles will get more takes.
That being said, when a fish hits with a breakneck ferocity in 32.5 degree water and leaps like a mad tarpon down a tumbling rapid there is nothing subdued about it whatsoever.
Lastly use the best quality tippet and tie the best knots you know because when you hit the lottery any tiny malfunction will be your doom, and it could be another thousand casts for the next one.
To those who fish for numbers, this may all sound horrible... but to steelheaders, every fish is a lifetime trophy and no number of "smolts" (i.e. regular trout) could ever be combined to equal even one wild steelhead.
What are the primary differences?
For me the primary differences are (a) fly design (b) line type and (c) presentation.
Most of the time I fish more prominent size/color flies (although not always). Blacks, reds, purples, oranges, blues, cherises, and or combinations thereof. Not a lot of earthy tones when the water is colored for me, other than shrimpy pinks with tans and whites sometimes.
I use light tips, handmade to combine with the taper of a normal floating Spey head. I rarely if ever go with a full floater in winter, sad to say.
To some extent, I fish different lies than I would normally do in summer.
That being said, some flies work year-round as do lines and swings. But there's merit to the sayings "slow and low" and "hanging down" longer, letting the high water dangle to your advantage.
Where I have hooked many summer fish in riffles I rarely hook winter fish in them. Also surface flies, although by late March / April depending on river depth I am sure it's just my lack of faith because I barely get a mend into a cast sometimes and a big winter fish is cartwheeling on my line.
And where time of day is a huge factor in summer, I've had good late morning and mid-afternoon action in addition to the first light aggression that is undeniably high, perhaps because of the fish moving into a lie overnight.
Boulders are your friend. Boulder fields are your playground. Deep pools are oxygenated and not the stagnant voids or salmon holes that they are in summer.
I believe that generally fish don't move for the fly as much in winter as they do in summer, so painting their nose with the hackles will get more takes.
That being said, when a fish hits with a breakneck ferocity in 32.5 degree water and leaps like a mad tarpon down a tumbling rapid there is nothing subdued about it whatsoever.
Lastly use the best quality tippet and tie the best knots you know because when you hit the lottery any tiny malfunction will be your doom, and it could be another thousand casts for the next one.
To those who fish for numbers, this may all sound horrible... but to steelheaders, every fish is a lifetime trophy and no number of "smolts" (i.e. regular trout) could ever be combined to equal even one wild steelhead.