Bamboo and the Winters Hope

Dave Westburg

Dave Westburg

Fish the classics
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Took my 14' Sharpes spliced bamboo fly rod on a winter steelhead outing last week. A snow covered Mt Baker peeked over the ridge on the way to the river.

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Bill McMillan lives on this river so in a nod to him I was throwing a Carron 75' 10/11 floating spey line, a 12' leader and a 5/0 Winters Hope. The 14' Sharpes has plenty of backbone and easily cast the entire head and leader and fly. The 5/0 Winters hope weighs 18.8 grams or about as much as a 1" copper tube fly. I worked the Winters Hope in long lazy swings down the riffle but no luck.

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Does anyone else fish a Carron spey line? It's the best long belly floating line I've cast. Sad to see that Carron has decided to stop making lines.
 
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I'm always a little envious how often you're able to get out there! I'm interested in trying a few of the more traditional patterns rather than the intruder style I typically use. Is a size 5/0 hook the norm? I'm using size 4 and 6 hooks on my intruder patterns with the occasional 2. Maybe they're too small.
Thanks,
Mark
 
Kado said:
Is a size 5/0 hook the norm?
Thanks,
Mark
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You need to remember that I was fishing a dry line so needed a big heavy hook to sink down. In Dry Line Steelhead, Bill McMillan recommended 3/0-5/0 Partridge M hooks. They are heavy enough to fish down in the water on a floating line swing. The 5/0 Partridge M weighs 19 grams which is about as heavy as a 1 inch copper tube.

When I fish a sink tip in the winter I use a smaller fly: 1/0 or size 2.
 
Here are the gram weights of the various hooks I've considered for winter dry line work...The two best hooks in terms of weight are the Partridge M 5/0 and the Partridge down eye size 2 10X long streamer hook. Everything else is a good bit lighter.

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The Winter's Hope is a beautiful fly. I fished it on the big 5/0 Partridge M "heavy salmon irons" like McMillan recommended in the past but a fish I hooked in the tongue bled like a stuck pig - the blood just pulsed out of its mouth with every cycle of its gills as I released it. It was the worst bleeder I can remember having. That was '98 or '99 and I haven't used those big hooks since. I still fish it in smaller sizes now and then.

It's too bad about the Carron lines. I never did fish one but heard they were good. Long belly lines just don't have much of a following anymore, I think that's largely because they're a bit more difficult to learn to cast. A beginner can chuck out a Skagit head and be fishing much quicker. I tried one once. I fairly quickly discarded it. While they're certainly effective for throwing heavy stuff, it wasn't as pleasurable to cast and fish and just seemed a little too much like gear fishing for me.
 
really like that first pic!

great report!
 
Pescaphile said:
It's too bad about the Carron lines. I never did fish one but heard they were good.
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I've tried several long belly lines (Gravity Point Spey, Gravity Point Spey DT, Carron and Triangle Taper long spey) and the Carron is far and away the best. The Triangle Taper long spey isn't bad. Long rods are needed to get the most our of the long belly lines. I fish midspey lines with my 12' and 13' Sharpes but like the long belly lines for my 14' Sharpes. I started two-handing in the days before the heavy short heads so stick to the old ways.
 
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Dave Westburg said:
View attachment 139756

Took my 14' Sharpes spliced bamboo fly rod on a winter steelhead outing last week. A snow covered Mt Baker peeked over the ridge on the way to the river.

View attachment 139752

Bill McMillan lives on this river so in a nod to him I was throwing a Carron 75' 10/11 floating spey line, a 12' leader and a 5/0 Winters Hope. The 14' Sharpes has plenty of backbone and easily cast the entire head and leader and fly. The 5/0 Winters hope weighs 18.8 grams or about as much as a 1" copper tube fly. I worked the Winters Hope in long lazy swings down the riffle but no luck.

View attachment 139758

Does anyone else fish a Carron spey line? It's the best long belly floating line I've cast. Sad to see that Carron has decided to stop making lines.
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I find that particular fly to be eye catching even though I never caught a fish using it.
 
Love that fly, like Smith said I’ve never taken anything on it but haven’t really fished it enough to say. I remember talking with Lee Spencer at the Steamboat Inn about his fishing a fly with the point cut off; He said it all started when he hooked a NU fish on a heavy iron that penetrated the roof of its mouth and killed it instantly. Can’t recall if he specified the size but I got the impression it was something in a 3/0 or bigger, wouldn’t it almost have to be? Regardless, he said he felt so bad that from then forward he fishes hookless, his point being it’s all in the take and the first few seconds for him. Maybe someday I will evolve to that point.
 
Where the hell does the time go. It's been 45 years since I caught my first steelhead on a fly on his old home river. I ran into Bill a couple times. Doubt he would remember me, but was always polite, and patient with questions. Even when I was carrying a gear rod. Hope he is doing well.
 
Sharp eyes SteelheadBee. The Paintbrush flies don't get much use because I prefer to swing flies. Last time I fished a Paintbrush was years ago on an upstream dead drift to pockets on the Hoko's fly fishing only water. Maybe some day I'll try fishing a Paintbrush on a twitched retrieve for milling silver salmon...
 
Dave Westburg said:
Sharp eyes SteelheadBee. The Paintbrush flies don't get much use because I prefer to swing flies. Last time I fished a Paintbrush was years ago on an upstream dead drift to pockets on the Hoko's fly fishing only water. Maybe some day I'll try fishing a Paintbrush on a twitched retrieve for milling silver salmon...
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I can understand the preference. Personally, it's just not as fun to deadrift a sunk fly for steelhead versus the swung fly. I do like the Bill's tinkering thoughts when he created the Paintbrush, though. Cheers
 
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