ChrisK

Couldn't agree with you more Dozer. Where I fish there are limited pools that are deep enough to hold fish so I fish them exclusively. Thats how I came upon the black bugger after trying other presentations . The fish were there the hole time but I had to just give them what they really wanted the most and wham,fish on !!

Already a good amount of info above. Don't disregard the afternoon bite this time of year when the water is cold. The sun in the afternoon can raise the temps a couple degree's and thats enough to get steelhead in the feeding mood. I prefer the afternoons anyways cause most of the time I have the pools all to myself Also if your up for it experiment with different flies. They "can" out produce spawn or worms this time of year as well. Usually a black stone pattern will do the trick. See my reports from over the past few weeks and that may help you out making a decision whether or not to use artificials to natural bait.

Nothing better than smakin them on cleo's. Nice fish Frankie !!

Nice fish Brandon. Ive trolled right by that spot many times

The pattern that I use(skinny bead head bugger) is one of the easiest ones to tie. Takes under five minutes to do one up but thats only cause I take my time. If I can tie these up anybody could....Matter of fact I highly recommend any one who is thinking about getting into tieing there own flies to just go out and get a cheap vise and all the rest of the information you need is online and or right here. I'd be more than happy to help out anyone who wants to learn.

Art, Next fish I get pending if theres an audience

Good luck to your surgery Mike. I'm sure you'll be on the tribs in no time hookin up !!! Chris

Heres a good read.. http://www.fishonbc.com/articles/steelhead-floats/

Is is me or does this play a major factor in the stealth of our float rigs. One other question is why do some float manufactures paint the under waterline portion of their floats black when this color stands out like a beacon in most water conditions ? Your thoughts ??

I never thought of that Solo....But wouldn't the profile of a wrapped float stem be greater than the profile of the 4 bb's under the float ? These are 2 gram floats I'm using and have the diameter of a pencil. The stems are quite fine though. I'll give it a try and get back to you on that one.

I just can't believe they are so willing to take these flies. You would figure in such clear low water they would be spooky and be after something a little more detailed like a prince nymphs or hairs ear's but no they want woolley buggers,fine by me :)Trick is to scale way down and get rid of all the lead on your rig. Run floro carbon right up to your 2 gram float and stack 4 bb's splitshot directly under it) letting the weight of the fly/bead take it to depth which isn't very deep in the pools I'm running,like three or four feet...I'm sure I could fish alot deeper with this set up if I had to pending on current....So far I've fished this particular run in high dirty water,medium stained and low and clear and the fly that did it for me in all conditions was the woolley bugger in black and sometimes in purple pending...

Another weekend has come and gone. Two days on the river in low crystal clear waters. Looking out at the pools you would figure there wasn't a fish to be had but they were there appearing out of nowhere to crush an offering. I was lucky enough to witness a larger fish come up chasing something and then snatching it up going into a roll as it broke the surface...very impressive....

Sorry to here about your condition Mike. Like others have sad here the rate of recovery is quite high for this condition so keep hitting those rivers and doing what you love. I'll keep you in my thoughts every time I hook up and send karma your way.

Thats all I can think of when the steel goes to the air and its the afternoon bite.

It definitely separated the men from the boys.

Season is open until the end of December Brian. All you need now is a float rod or something comparable

You should, you took it Joey !! That was a great day we had on Nippissing. Matter of fact I don't think we ever had a anything but great days partner. Looking forward to doing it all again this coming June

Insert figure here

Here ya go Art !!!

Got to the river this weekend and found it low and clear. Ive seen it like this before and had great success in the past. Trick is to find the pattern that gets there attention and running light tippets and small floats with little to no weight on your rig. Most of the guys that came and went in the morning were using eggs and pink worms with marginal success but I'm into tossing flies so the pattern of fly and how big was crucial. What also was a big factor this weekend was water temps. Once fly pattern was established and the sun came out the bite was on. I first started tossing out smaller size patterns which included buggers and prince nymphs and a assortment of other types of attractors with no luck until a gentleman I met last week came to the rivers edge and started fly fishing with an unusual large size fly. Almost immediately he hooked up with a fish and it jumped cartwheeling into the air and spitting the fly back at him. Ok,so they want big eh ?? I tied on a #10 sized black bead head woolley bugger and ran the float through the pool. Float went down and my first fish of the day was firmly hooked and kicking up a fuss...The rest was history...Great weekend with 6 fish landed. Not bad for low clear water I'd say...

Suffix 8 pound clear for your main line is the way to go. Not sure how it will lay down on a spinning reel but it does great on a float reel. Virtually no memory and very abrasion resistant. All the qualities that I personally look for but that may change from person to person. This weekend I float fished beside guys with braided line and mono and the mono out fished everything hands down. Reason being ?? When the braided line laid in the water it looked like rope compared to the mono and I'm sure the fish probably thought the same..Stealth is the key to success with those tight lipped steelhead...

Time to think out of the box...Insert floatation wherever you see fit

Nice chromers there Laz. The fish in the second last picture looks like he's smiling for the camera

Sorry to here Wayne. She's young and strong and has the strong will to succeed.I'm sure she'll be fine...

Joey those are some sweet lookin baits. You have definetely come a long way since your first creations. I would put those up against any Grim Reaper out of my tackle box for sure. Really like your weighted bucktails with the replaceable treble hook option. Solid lookin,great job !!