Dry Fly Steelhead

SteelheadBee said:
Dryfly steelheading indeed is a state of mind. I carry 1 or 2 wetflies in my summer steelhead box on the rare occasion that I fish a comeback wetfly (typically, all my comeback patterns are all dry flies)

Below are the only 2 boxes that I carry from June-November (I stop fishing for summer-runs in December):
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Yee Yee!!! #MakeSteelheadersWangAgain!
 
O' Clarkii Stomias said:
What was once considered a "damp" presentation, is now referred to as a dry fly presentation.
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There’s a lot of nuance there, are you talking about grease lining? Hitching a muddler on a classic wet fly swing?

There’s nothing damp about a Lil Wang! That’s kind of the point. Chug, downstream mend, get that thing moving especially through the top of a riffle. High and dry!
 
I've heard that 48F is the magic number for water temperature. Above 48F is floating line (wets or dries) and below 48F stick to sink tips and/or heavy flies down deeper.
 
FontinalisFin said:
Do winter steelhead take skated dries or is it more of a active summer fish thing?
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They can and do, Todd Hirano is one passionate advocate of pursuing them year around with dry flies and ties some nice flies. Check him out here:

DRY LINE STEELHEAD - OREGON

A Fishing Life Inspired by the Writings, Methods, and Conservation Work of Bill McMillan
toddhirano.blogspot.com toddhirano.blogspot.com
 
JS said:
There’s a lot of nuance there, are you talking about grease lining? Hitching a muddler on a classic wet fly swing?

There’s nothing damp about a Lil Wang! That’s kind of the point. Chug, downstream mend, get that thing moving especially through the top of a riffle. High and dry!
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Traditionally when a floating fly was fished dead drift, it was considered a dry. When it came under tension, it became damp.
 
O' Clarkii Stomias said:
Traditionally when a floating fly was fished dead drift, it was considered a dry. When it came under tension, it became damp.
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Indeed! Traditional is a funny word in this context.

In either case, there is no more fun way to catch a steelhead IMO than raising a steelhead to the surface…regardless of technique or semantics.
 
What's really cool, is whe you get very familiar with a certain piece of water where you can predict where the fish will be. Dead drift your fly through it, then swing it out of there. It blows your mind when it happens. It's only happened to me a few times in my tenure, but it is really cool.
 
O' Clarkii Stomias said:
What's really cool, is whe you get very familiar with a certain piece of water where you can predict where the fish will be. Dead drift your fly through it, then swing it out of there. It blows your mind when it happens. It's only happened to me a few times in my tenure, but it is really cool.
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I’ve never really tried to dead drift, primarily because I find the pattern of skating/waking/grease lining (depending on the water, and river) effective and super fun.

There are a couple of runs that I frequent that I think it could be done on, though, for sure.
 
Merle said:
I've heard that 48F is the magic number for water temperature. Above 48F is floating line (wets or dries) and below 48F stick to sink tips and/or heavy flies down deeper.
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My best session for dry fly steelhead was in water temps that the thermometer registered at 37.8°Fahrenheit. It was a November morning with ice on the banks (and this wasn't in an eastside river historically known for a large native return. It's a hatchery river west of the Cascades). The sole reason I went to fish that day was to prove/disprove common knowledge.

Upon hiking down to a river side channel (which wasn't even the best lie for steelhead in this particular stretch), I cast a surface muddler. What happened next was remarkably unexpected:

In one swing I rose 5 different steelhead. The first 4 surface attacks, missed the hook...as I noted where each fish was holding for a follow-up comeback attempt, I let the muddler dangle and a cock fish decides to inhale the fly directly below me.

When I mentioned it to Bill McMillan, he wondered if it was the same fish that chased down the muddler on the swing and finally inhaling the hook at the dangle. I told Bill, that this particular side channel was narrow and I could see each individual fish as it rose to the swinging dry.

After landing that steelhead, I decided to go home. I figured raising 5 surface steelhead on one swing with water temps of 37.8 F was all the research I needed.

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FontinalisFin said:
Do winter steelhead take skated dries or is it more of a active summer fish thing?
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I have raised winter steelhead on dryflies. The conditions required for success are in such a small window that I don't pursue this method too often in the winter.

In comparison, I fish dries all summer and fall because I know I can fool more steelhead than swung wetfly techniques. I am that confident in summer surface fishing. Summer fish enter river sexually immature and dawdle around the stream becoming more surface oriented as the year wanes. Summer/fall river temps/flows tend to be more stable allowing the steelhead to feel more acclimated to their surroundings. As we know summer fish don't spawn until the following spring.

Winter steelhead are sexually mature and bolt to the spawning beds as soon as the window allows them upstream (no lolly-gagging around and smelling the mosses like their summer counterparts). Couple that with volatile winter river levels it is tough to make a decent sport of surface winter fish. Plus, I like swinging Atlantic Salmon wetfly patterns for winter steel so I need a means to my pastime.

Our pal Todd H, is our fellow that is of a different mind with dryfly winter steelheading. I jokingly state that he has different brain waves that power his drive for surface steel even in the harshest winter conditions.

If you want the best window for surface winter steelhead: I would look for mild air temps, recent precipitation with rising/dropping water levels, and maybe early or late in the winter season. I have risen dryfly winter steelhead in late November and late March thru early May.
 
SteelheadBee said:
I have raised winter steelhead on dryflies. The conditions required for success are in such a small window that I don't pursue this method too often in the winter.

In comparison, I fish dries all summer and fall because I know I can fool more steelhead than swung wetfly techniques. I am that confident in summer surface fishing. Summer fish enter river sexually immature and dawdle around the stream becoming more surface oriented as the year wanes. Summer/fall river temps/flows tend to be more stable allowing the steelhead to feel more acclimated to their surroundings. As we know summer fish don't spawn until the following spring.

Winter steelhead are sexually mature and bolt to the spawning beds as soon as the window allows them upstream (no lolly-gagging around and smelling the mosses like their summer counterparts). Couple that with volatile winter river levels it is tough to make a decent sport of surface winter fish. Plus, I like swinging Atlantic Salmon wetfly patterns for winter steel so I need a means to my pastime.

Our pal Todd H, is our fellow that is of a different mind with dryfly winter steelheading. I jokingly state that he has different brain waves that power his drive for surface steel even in the harshest winter conditions.

If you want the best window for surface steelhead: I would look for mild air temps, recent precipitation with rising/dropping water levels, and maybe early or late in the winter season. I have risen dryfly winter steelhead in late November and late March thru early May.
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Word up!!! I feel the same way with summers. Not many wets left in my summer wallet, and they only get wet when I’ve raised a player multiple times and want to make the hook stick. Lately, I’m pretty happy with toothmark trophies though.
 
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