thalweg

Love fishing with them on the fly and despite what some might think they do hit legitimately in certain circumstances(vs lining/snagging). I find that any black stone, wolly bugger, or bright single egg fly will work.(I'm partial to blood red) More importantly, bright sunny, clear water days, in deep holes and in early runs, seem best to me when they decide to hold up in pools. I find when its cloudy and the water is stained they are more focused on running the rivers and less likely to lash out a fly. As a result, normal stained, steel-head like conditions usually end up being more snags than legitimate hits..but not always. Usually when there's a number of males held up in a pool they are aggressive and will strike at anything. However the pools need to be fairly deep as they react like any fish would to anglers tromping down the rivers. If they see you, the hookup percentages decrease significantly. That said, you can sit in-front of a spawning pair, and they won't give a crap if you're right over them, but that ain't my type of game. I usually use a decent sized strike indicator. Often times the takes will be so subtle, as if they are just mouthing or chewing the bait. You'd swear it was a perch hit or small pan fish nibble. There are certain rivers where I find they fancy the fly more often. Usually if there's lots of wood in the water they'll be more inclined to take the bugs. Also some rivers see them running as early as late july if the conditions are right. In my opinion, salmon are one of the most fun specie to take on the fly. They'll test you're gear. Anything less then a 7 weight would be foolish or an experiment.

That...and the onus would be on you to prove that the fish were caught in US waters, which would likely be hard to do..and not worth the effort.

Yup and luckily I managed to fit the boat in the garage...no winterizing for me ever again(maybe a dash of stabilizer here and there)....Hallelujah!!

Fished with my dog basically his entire life until it was time to go. He was the best fish'n partner I ever had. Sure is a tough period to go through.

Have to say...I'm done throwing senkos. Used to be my go to. But lately it just doesn't do it for me anymore.

Sounds like a great day. Awesome to see they were hitting spinner baits that big. For sure on the winter feed. Great learning there. Thanks

Glad you've got the patience and discipline to start steel'n on the fly. Its tough, but man it beats all other methods hands down for the quality of the experience. Right now, instead of nymphing, with natural nymph patterns, I would use presentations that mimic single egg patterns on light leader and tippet setups. Globug, nuke bugs and my absolute favourite...the "frammus" Part nymph, part egg with a light wisp of cream egg yarn to make it look "fertilized". The salmon are still in and there's still roe floating down the stream. This is a good bet for the remainder of the year. As November continues...try a flesh worm - mimics the rotting flesh of the salmon. Basically it's 3/4 inch piece of flesh coloured yarn thats snelled on to the hook. Also certain rivers have certain strains of steelie's that are fly friendly. I can't name names lest I be chastized...but if you know your rivers and you throw the fly often enough...you'll figure out which ones they are. Also, coloured - higher water isn't really conducive to the fly. I find the best fly water is gin clear and the weather blue bird skys. They most often won't even sniff a roe bag...but they'll smash a small roe- attracter as I mentioned above. Late spring - drop backs, and early fall runs -late sept - early oct- then I'll use standard trout nymphs...caddis, stones, pheasants etc and wolly buggers in black and purple. If you want to talk ultimate challenge....skate a bomber on a dry fly swing on the lower grand for some ulitmate top water steelhead experience. I'll warn you now...it will take you 5-6 trips for one top water fish...but it will be the "end game" fish.. Everything else after that is...gravey.

Some really nice toads there.. Noth'n beats November Smallies! Well done..

A 7 foot medium action rod is ok if thats all you have. A longer rod provides for greater presentation control and enables you to use lighter line and finesse setups for wary steelhead. Mind you, if your just starting out...going light will help you get more hookups. 8lb mainline and 4-6lb flouro leader with 12-14 size trout hooks. As you become more experienced and really want to experience a great high impact fight...then you can move up to heavier setups with 11lb flourocarbon leader and 65lb braid mainline and size 6 even 4 hooks. If there is any piece of advice I can give you...is time on the water. Just go...as often as you can and keep your eye out on the other fishermen on the river. You'll see a wide variety of tactics and presentations. Its not as hard as you think it is...and it has more to do with timing your trips when fish have made the move up the river. Search some other posts relating to steelhead. There's some great info and methods from a lot of different perspectives. Cheers

As others have said, timing is probably the #1 element to consider. Knowing specific characteristics of certain rivers will give you an advantage. How fast do they clear after rain is probably key. (Some G-Bay tribs you have less then a day of opportunity as they shoot right up to closed water. Slower larger systems and they seem to hold a bit longer pending water conditions.) Then reading water and figuring out what the pattern is: Fast, deep slow pools, pocket water, head or tail, on the seam or right down the gut . Finally and generally less important, but of signifcance, is lure/bait: Colour, size, speed. Under heavy pressured water and when the fish have been in the system for a while...bait then becomes absolutely key. Get a fresh run in and tear a button off your shirt and tie that on...and you'll get em as well. Keep at it and eventually you'll just hit it right one day and you'll nail the snot out of them. After that the confidence level shoots right up and you'll have better results on subsequent trips. Should also mention that streamflow reports are your best friends...and speaking of best friends, having good contacts that live by your favourite rivers that you can call for a first hand report. Takes a while to build up that reference list...but boy is it worth it. Cheers

Now that... was a satisfying read. That wasn't simply a report...but an essay. Well written, with great anecdotes and fantastic shots. And goodness, those Speckies...works of art. Thanks kindly for putting out that piece. Cheers

Certainly a trophy Bull if you're into that sort of thing. I prefer the taste of calves myself and rather let those big fella's keep makin em!!

Like all techniques and steelhead fishing in general...you'll have good days and bad days regardless of your gear. Aside from what you use, knowing how to read water and what the fish want that particular day is the most important element. When I first started centerpinning it was really a massive advantage and it did improve my catch numbers, but I also believe it was just time on the water and getting to know steelhead well enough to have alot of confidence. I'm sure that if I went back to spinning gear I would do about just as well but miss those couple fish that you just can't get to because they require longer drifts or you miss as you open bail etc... Whats really tough but probably the most gratifying way to catch steelhead is with a flyrod...both nymphing and swinging. I find one good steelie on the flyrod worth ten on any other outfit. I usually bring it with me when conditions are perfect for the fly...super clear water and bright sunny days. After a decade or so with the float reel I would exclusively hunt them with a fly rod. It takes discipline I'll tell ya. Especially when your buddies around you stick with their float gear and nail them around you. But again the challenge of hooking them and an incredible fight on fly gear with a successful landing....doesn't get any better than that. Its by no means a numbers technique (occasionally you'll nail em more than the roe baggers particularily after they've seen a blizzard of roe bags come by them through-out the day). I just find the baitcaster a nice switch from the fly-rod (I'm in a numbers mode again) and a much more satisfying method to fish than the centrepin maybe becaust its just a new way...and I like changing things up now and then.

I haven't any experience with the spiraled guides so I can't say for sure but makes sense in theory. I think as long as you stick with medium and faster action blanks you shouldn't have a problem.

Get a baitcaster. Way better.

Creative..thats for sure and I can't see why it wouldn't produce. I've really come to believe that fish get conditioned to certain lures in high pressured waters and something new yet practical usually add's some fish to the count. Let us know how they work. Thanks

Very talented. Clearly a professional artist.

Also another slight drawback that I'm working on is casting with large obstacles like a tree or a wall bank directly behind you. You can't really do the flick cast, you need half a rod length for a bit of a swing. But its a minor point in most situations and I think with practice can get overcome.

For some reason only had problems with light power rods with moderate action as the bend was very pronounced. I switched up to a medium power with fast action 10.5 footer steelhead specific and don't have the criss cross problem anymore. The light rod didn't hold up well to fish over 8lbs, so had no real control anyways.

Ya ...just couldn't get the hang of wallace casting, mind you probably didn't give it the amount of time needed, however casting is only one of the many benefits I've discovered.

re: Being easy... Its super easy, if you're proficient with a bait-caster and I'll take performance increases any day. However, biggest challenge, for optimum performance, is the brakes have to be totally off the weights thus you need to be really good at thumb control. If you don't have your bait casting down pat...birds nest galore. Once you get over that, its a dream tool for approaching steelhead and I'll take any efficiency improvement I can discover. Unless of course I decide on those great days to hit em with a flyrod. Much harder, but again even more satisfying.

Ya...very good point and as the year wears on I like to fish slower water when it gets super cold. I'll have to see how it works out.

Ha good one... Just to be clear, don't want to start a bashing thread on float reels:) I was one of the multitudes who used a float reel and really did enjoy it over my spinning gear when I made that switch in the late 80's. It was kinda cool to get the looks when you came down stream with this monstrosity of a 13 footer and this alien round thing....It put a lot of fish on the shore as well... But since I've done the baitcaster thing (my second year) it is hands down the best, most efficient technique I've discovered for steelhead in nearly all conditions, and much more versatile. Never really cared about the look of the rod per-se. I'm more about practicality and efficiency of it. And i just LOVE muscling those fish in. My goal is to eventually shoulder flip a 15 pounder (without harming the fish of course). Super light lines are unnecessary in almost 90% of the circumstances I've been in, and just lost the desire to fight a big fish and having to be so ginger with it cause of light setups. Now I basically put the boots to them like I've never before. The fight is even more spectacular, amazing how strong they are if you give them a chance to really show it. Its just half the time to land and as they say, fight em fast and fightem hard to keep the fish healthy on release. In fact when they feel super strong resistance, they jump twice as much. You use a baitcaster for steelies? Cheers

HI, Don't get me wrong, been float fishing for 15+ years with a float reel and it in many instances is far superior to a spinning reel set up. But since I've discovered BC style float baitcasting with a 10.5ft steelhead specific bait cast rod...it beats center-pinning hands down in my opinion. Just wondering if any one here has made the switch yet. My observations: 1. I can cast clear across the saugeen if want to. 2. Line trots out as smoothly from the reel as a center pin on the drift. 3. Maximum drag control with BOTH backup reel drag and thumb drag. Many times lost fish because my hands we're wet and the drag would slip..or the fish would peel downstream and wet hands would dry and get sticky after friction and then lock up the reel. Use my thumb on the baitcaster and have the added security of reel drag when needed on a baitcaster now. 4. Sick and tired of line twist from side casting...never got the wallace cast down. 5. When the fish just simply don't want a float presentation, easily switch to tossing spinners and spoons. 6. With a high quality setup...lighter and less fatigue than a float reel setup with TONS more backbone 7. High retrieve ratio reel 7:1 I can get in 2 times more drifts. Mind you I've long ago stopped using anything less than 8 lb flourocarbon leader (usually 11lb) unless I'm fishing really super clear small streams then I'll go as low as 6. With my bait casting setup I can muscle even a 12+ pounder out of the sticks. Anyways just wondering again if anyone else is experiecing the same results (if they've made the switch yet) Cheers