Here is a secret... or several.
1. You are casting too far
2 you are fishing too deep
3 your fly is too big
4. Your angles are all wrong
5. There is no point in being the 5th person down the run unless you know new fish are moving in
6. Direct sun isn't the problem you think it is
7. You aren't covering the water like you think you are
8. If you fish deep to a visible fish long enough you will snag it... move on...
9. Your single hander is a better tool than you think it is in many cases better than your two hander. Especially for skaters.
10. Steelhead will hit dead drifted dries
11. None of this matters cause there ain't no fish.. that's the real reason you aren't catching them.
No it isn't. Don't get me wrong. A solid grab is a good thing. It just isn't as good as a grab followed by a landed fish.12. A solid grab is as good as a landed fish.
I fixed it for ya.12. A solid grab is good.
when steelhead were plentiful and i was hooking them regularly, i started cutting the hooks off at the bend. just a grab and a run was good enough for me. still lots of fun trying to make presentations that a fish would react too. tougher now a days so i probably won't be steelhead fishing any longer.No it isn't. Don't get me wrong. A solid grab is a good thing. It just isn't as good as a grab followed by a landed fish.
A grab is nothing unless the fish is hooked..No it isn't. Don't get me wrong. A solid grab is a good thing. It just isn't as good as a grab followed by a landed fish.
summer steelheading was a different story. floating lines, castings to fish in places i knew they would be found. i would agree that winter fishing is a totally different story with you fishing on the stones so you never knew what stopped your fly unless you hooked up.A grab is nothing unless the fish is hooked..
Lots of things can pull on your fly. Most of them are not steelhead but feel just like it. This is doubly true when fishing sink tips or weighted flies.
Beads for Mardi Gras! The best use for them!!I'm down with most beads.
Beads for fly heads - yep
Beads for drifting - definitely
Beads for crafts with my daughter - hell yes
Beads for beards (pirate style) - nice personalized touch
Beads for prayer - amen
Beads for guitar straps - rock on
Beads for Mardi Gras - no comment...
I can see some logic in the three types of steelhead you pose. For me, the bigger question is does the same transition to and from the three different types, depending on any number of factors they experience during their life? For example, if a fish is a non-biter type, does he/she remain in that phase their entire life? Can a Kamikaze be as such for a week, a month, or longer but then suddenly revert to a non-biter?They work. Are they the most efficient at hooking steel? Very debatable, and according to my anecdotal streamside observations, probably not. Like alot of our favorite flies and lures, there is a time and a place and efficiency related to water conditions. Like all Steelheaders we all have our favorite colors, sizes, and profiles for different water conditions.
I believe there are three types of steelhead, 1) Kamikaze - will strike almost anything as long as it's presented halfass decently and within 5'
2) Selective, not suicidal like #1 these are the fish the 5%ers get the most of
3) Don't care who you are, these fish won't bite anything and are the reason we still have steelhead on planet earth
I'd love another opportunity to fish the Methow for steelhead again, even if the water was in the low 30s and I had to swing a fly and not a bead.I wish I'd spent more time fishing beads than uselessly swinging in water that was in the low 30s on the Methow, when it was open.
I can see some logic in the three types of steelhead you pose. For me, the bigger question is does the same transition to and from the three different types, depending on any number of factors they experience during their life? For example, if a fish is a non-biter type, does he/she remain in that phase their entire life? Can a Kamikaze be as such for a week, a month, or longer but then suddenly revert to a non-biter?
I agree with your circumstances comment. It was more of a rhetorical question. Most unpressured, wild steelhead are great biters under prime conditions. But not always. There are rarely any absolutes in steelheading.I think it depends on the circumstances.
I think it depends on the circumstances.
On the Washougal what would happen is that
Fish would come in in May and June and they were decent biters but the water was high and cool. In late June to early July the water would warm and fish population would increase and the number of biters increased. In late July and August the fish would pod up deep in the big slow pools. Seeing schools of a hundred or more was common but they were in unfishable spots. That is to say unswingable spots.
Then after a fall freshet most of the fish would run for the Hatchery but those that didn't would move into shallow riffles and pockets and at that time they were nearly all biters.. lots of them you could raise to a caddis over and over again. Occasionally they'd move in behind chinook reds, presumably to eat eggs, though I never saw them do it, but they were easy to catch on a caddis.
There may be some fish that just don't bite like chambers creek winter runs , but as a general rule I think it's based more on conditions.
I might even fish a bead if they opened the Methow, I sure loved swinging flies there. Once upon a time, I saw a guy named Dave cast spoons.I'd love another opportunity to fish the Methow for steelhead again, even if the water was in the low 30s and I had to swing a fly and not a bead.