Selecting Your Steelhead Flies
Chasing chrome is some of the most exciting fishing you can do. Steelhead are among the toughest fighting fish, have epic leaps, and get you into your drag quickly. Steelhead aren’t easy to catch either. It takes having the right technique, strategy, gear, and the best steelhead flies to ensure your success. Steelhead don’t feed in the river on their way to spawn. They strike more out of irritation or aggression.
RiverBum offers a wide array of flies for catching steelhead. We carry new patterns, classics, and tried and true favorites. But which one should you choose? Here are a few tips.
Classic patterns
The ‘classics’ are those steelhead flies that have flash and bright color patterns like the Green Butt Skunk, Blue Charm, and Silver Doctor. These are tried and true patterns that are very effective on the swing.
With the right balance and color patterns, these flies elicite and aggressive strike. To make it easy for you, we’ve assembly a Classic Steelhead Assortment that can get you into fish quickly.
Nymphs
Even though the steelhead aren’t feeding, natural food items do work as well. Heavy nymphs dead drift on the bottom can be very effective.
I prefer colorful and bright, so consider a Steelhead Scud in red, chartreuse, or in orange. I also like the batman nymph.
Eggs
Steelhead crush eggs. It sounds strange since they aren’t feeding. The reason is somewhat sinister. Steelhead and salmon eat the eggs of other salmonids not just for the food value, but also to keep other species and the blood lines of their own species from dominating in any given fishery. So when a steelhead sees and EGG drift by, they instinctually crush it.
We offer a great selection of brightly colored steelhead flies to suit all color patterns and water conditions. A personal favorite is the Peachy King Unreal Egg Fly, which features a realistic roe pattern. Its 3D effect is attributed to the internal glass bead, so it resembles a fertilized egg. The color combination should work for catching fish in clear water.
That’s it for now my fishy friends, until next time…..
Tight Lines and Screaming Drags
Dave