To weight or not to weight, that is the question.

[tightlines]

I have been tying a bunch of marabou streamers lately for steelhead and been having a blast. So fluffy and soft and pretty. My question is whether or not I should be weighting them. I have been tying with and without, I have a sink tip and a floating line. Does a dumbell or weight affect the action of the marabou? I guess I am looking for an ideal and would appreciate any feed back. Thanks....

[Les Johnson]

I don't often find additional weight on my marabou patterns other than occasionally adding bead chain eyes. I never use lead dumbell eyes on my steelhead flies. Usually a short leader and good sinking tip will put your fly in the fish zone. I have never believed that you have to be pounding the bottom rocks to catch steelhead, even in the winter. Steelhead, like all other trout, look up. So, if the fish is holding near the bottom or suspended about mid level a fly bouncing along below it won't be seen. Drift fishermen have known this forever. They use a short length of lead to get down but incorporate floating lures like Corkies or Spin-N-Glos which move along above the bottom within the limits of the leader length.
There is no single type of fly that will do everything for steelhead fishing. You'll need some that sink fairly quickly, some that sink a bit slower, small flies for gin-clear water and larger flies for colored water. I've just given you the tip of the iceberg.
Good Fishing,
Les Johnson