7 vs 8 wt for PDX area winter steelhead?

Grandpa Jim

Steelhead
I agree that a 13' 7 wt. will work well for OP winter steelhead. I have an Echo 3 that I have used out there since 2015. I fish unweighted flies with 4' of leader and usually a 10' T-11 MOW tip.
After swinging a 13' rod all day I found that my forearm got tired in the afternoon. I'm now using a 12' 8 wt. (Echo Short Spey) and find that it feels much lighter in my hand and I can fish hard all day. I use a 20' 500 gr. Skagit head on the 8 wt. compared to a 24' 500 gr. Skagit head on the longer 7 wt. I can cast a little farther with the 7 wt. but since most of my hooked fish have been under 65' away I don't need to chuck out a lot of line.
A shorter rod is easier to land a fish with when you are fishing alone. I also plan to use the 8 wt. to swing for fall kings.
 

brownheron

corvus ossifragus
I’m in the short 8wt camp.

My go to rod is the Method 8119. I originally got it for chinook but it works well with my casting style and I can do and it throws any line I want to fish.

Have had a bunch of 12-13’ 7wts, currently an Ignite but always grab the Method. It’s landed 20lb+ chinook to small steelhead and everything in between.
 

SurfnFish

Life of the Party
Forum Supporter
have tagged late run Kings while swinging for steelies on my fave OR coastal river a handful of times...same river regularly puts out double digit wild steel, so an 8 wt 11'6 switch with integrated sink tip and articulated Leech my go to. Easy to manage, lotta butt power.
My friend Rich Youngers with steel from that river.
1668789148382.png
 

clarkman

average member
Forum Supporter
have tagged late run Kings while swinging for steelies on my fave OR coastal river a handful of times...same river regularly puts out double digit wild steel, so an 8 wt 11'6 switch with integrated sink tip and articulated Leech my go to. Easy to manage, lotta butt power.
My friend Rich Youngers with steel from that river.
View attachment 41642
Off topic, but I hope Rich is doing well. A solid all around human.
 

DoesItFloat

Life of the Party
Forum Supporter
I'm in the short, heavier winter rod camp. Fishing PDX and the coast with a 13+ presents more challenges than advantages. I prefer a winter 8 wt under 12' to throw big flies in high water tight to the bank on a sunk line, and I'm not interested in overcasting the fish. 50'-80' is the winter zone. A lot of Oregon coastal rivers won't even give you that. The same rig works in the spring when the bright kings show and the big, wild steelhead that can hang with them are around.
 

SurfnFish

Life of the Party
Forum Supporter
Off topic, but I hope Rich is doing well. A solid all around human.
X2 on the fine human...upon retirement packed up and moved with Cathy to lakeside living in the midwest. Per his Instagram page, still tying those gorgeous flies which have been showcased within John Shewey's book 'Spey Flies, Their History and Construction.'
 

DerekWhipple

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
MOAL flies (anything big with bunny) are sticky and best thrown with a rod that handles a ~ 540/550 skagit.
Yeah, they are not the most fun to cast, but I can't seem to quit them. Otherwise I throw a Hoh Bo. I've also been messing with temple-dog/phatakorva style patterns, hoping I can get that length with less weight, I'm just having a hard time getting the tapering right.
 

skyrise

Steelhead
I fish two rods here. Have echo 7129 seven weight 13 foot which I struggle with every fall after fishing lighter rods all summer. And a echo 71010 seven weight 10 foot 10” rod which took some time to get dialed in but love it now but did struggle a bit landing a fresh chum a couple of weeks ago. The 71010 is nice for close quarters areas and using a commando head. Have to say the easiest rod to fish is my trout spey/switch echo 4 weight. Have landed fish up to 8-9 lbs with it no problem just won’t toss those heavier bugs like big intruders. Thinking of going to a 6 weight switch for casting ease.
 

gpt

Smolt
SAGE RPL 896 go to for steelhead, winter, summer, made no difference. winter fishing is always on the stones so a flat running line with a variety of heads, weight and length, to match the flows. no giant flies necessary for me, #4s are big enough to do the job in my estimation.

my first steelhead was a 'B' run headed for the N fork Clearwater, no longer available thanks to Dworshak dam. she was just under 27#s. have not seen one close to that size since.
 

Clam Gun

Just Hatched
The op seems to be asking a couple different questions, 7 or 8, 13'? PDX area?
There are a couple of rivers on the OR coast where it could be preferential to cast an 8 weight, but I never have. Also, my 7 wt is far more stout than my nooker bait rod, as is my 6. It seems like it's more about being able to cast t-14 and a heavy fly if needed, which a 7 weight is very capable of. As for a 13' rod, if you are fishing the pdx area, that means the Clack and the Sandy, and you will really limit yourself to spots you can fish and how you can fish them with a longer rod. Not to mention, the average weight for fish on these rivers is more in the 8-12 than the 18-20.
 
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gpt

Smolt
Must have killed it to weigh it. How long was it? What year?
it was a whopper. no one in those days even thought about not killing fish. had to cut it in half to get in in my 80qt ice chest but never measured it's overall length. and yes, mid 60s if i recall correctly. took several years to fully eliminate the A and B runs once that dam shut off the spawning grounds. so there were still some big fish around for several years.
 

Dustin Chromers

Life of the Party
Forum Supporter
8 wt. for winter....stick a pig, you'll find out why. And never know when a nook' might surprise the crap out of you

If I was to own one Spey rod it would be a shortish eight. You can cast anything you want, have all the fish leverage you need, and the shorter length would make it fish lighter all day. The actual rod counts as others have pointed out as one man's seven is an eight and vice versa. I'm talking about a light in the hand eight weight Spey capable of casting a 600gr line minus the tip.
 
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