How to prepare for your steelhead trip. Flies

I want to start this one off by saying, "Confidence is the best fly in the box." although I will put a condition on that. You must be able to cast that confidence.

As much as I am a fly guy, I'm not really a fly guy. Suppose I roll up to a run and I've got a perfectly good fly on. It happens to be blue, blue is now on the menu. In ways, I wish I held more of a strong opinion about fly patterns for steelhead, but I think as soon as you start trying to speak in definites about steelhead flies, you begin to sound a bit ridiculous. I think it makes a difference at times, but it's extremely difficult to prove this. It's too hard to maintain a control group for your experiment. It's easy to find information to back up your theories if that's what you are looking for, just like it would be easy to give yourself most any ailment if you start typing symptoms into google. If you look hard enough on the internet, or speak loudly enough around the fire. You will always find someone who agrees or disagrees with you depending on which it is that you are looking for.

When I'm selecting a fly to tie on, I'm not just looking at the size and colour. I am thinking about what it will look like to the fish and how it will move when wet. One of my best-selling flies, the reverse marabou, looks like total shit in the bin. Tie it on and throw it in the water, and it's tough to beat. Nevermind that it's a dream to cast. When it comes to fly selection, we are 100% going off of what we like as we have no idea what's going on in the mind of a steelhead when they decide to eat. As long as you like it and it works for you, that's all that matters.

Likely one of my best-selling flies. The Reverse marabou. I tie em in a variety of colours. Super swimmy and has a good presence in the water, yet casts and sheds water nicely making it easy to cast.

Another thing to think about, especially if you are lapping a piece of water or following someone down a run, is, What colour did they have on? not to say a fish may not eat your fly after they just swung the same offering. It just feels better to use something a little different.

Hobo spey tubes are great casting and fish catching tools. They are quite slender when in the water for a more subtle approach.

There are lots of great patterns out there which look incredible in the bin. Including any pattern with those pieces of shit, fake plastic jungle cock eyes on them. But how do they swim? Do those soon to been faded and mostly white plastic propellers stick out off the sides like little mutant fins? I don't know. Maybe steel digs on those. (I guess that's a bit opinion.)

Castability is a thing. Less material = easy to cast. It's pretty simple really, less to hold water, less wind resistance = less outside factors, which will amplify flaws big or small in our cast. Rabbit is one of my favourite materials used in the correct quantity. If you throw a bunny strip too large, it's like firing a sock. Too thin and your fly won't be durable enough to withstand the rigours of casting.

Pink Snakes incorporate a custom cut rabbit strip to balance castability and durability.

Next time you are standing in front of the fly bin in a shop, think about having to cast that giant dumbelled behemoth before you put it in the cup. Think about where or why you might use it. Ask the people in the shop about the area you are going to and the castability of the flies you are picking out. That's what they are there for and as a former shop employee, We love that.

Although small hairwing flies have fallen out of favour somewhat, they can still be very affective. Shown here is a “Ross Special” an Atlantic salmon pattern from Cape Breton

Another thing to mention is showing them something they may not have seen. If every other fly is blue or pink and 3' long. Maybe try a small drab offering. Trying something off the wall has historically worked well for me. My "Sparkle Dagger" It's kind of a hybrid between the popular "Prom dress" and a reverse marabou. It excelled a number of years back when the water was low and the fish were a little stale. I'm sure that if everyone was throwing them tho, you would eventually receive the same reaction.

The Black and Blue “Sparkle dagger” a great fly to shake things up. Also one of my top Chinook patterns.

In the end, if you are fishing blue all the time. That's what you will catch all of your fish on and that's great, but it still doesn't mean that steelhead like blue better than orange. It's part of the fun tho, isn't it?? the mystery, the uncertainty of it all. It's one of the things that keep you engaged in the sport when you are not able to do it and It's why fly tying is so fun.

This will be the last episode of my "how to get ready for steelhead trip." When I started it, it was meant to be a short morning write. It has since turned into a 5 part, 6000-word monster spanning over a month and at times has kept me from posting other things until this was completed. I've sunken hours into it and I still feel that I've only scratched the surface. Now that it's done tho, It will be here forever as a reference for whomever cares to read it.