This is dryline season....why with the tips? Desperate?? amateur?? caveman?? I love throwing a longline and enjoy shorties too, but now is the time to single spey and snake roll...for get about the snap t's and dump casts. .small flies and hair wings abound. No shanks,double bunnies, or moal leeches. Nothing longer then 2 inches and sparsely tied. That's what summer fishing is to me....oh well
I don't even know what a single Spey or snake roll is. I do like fishing a floating line though. Especially with surface patterns. You would think with this low water summer we're having that I would be doing a lot of that. But I've actually fished sink tips most the summer as my main quarry (bull trout) and the water I've been targeting seem more suited for it. The closure of the local steelhead fishery has forced me into seeking out a new summer game plan. So far I've been having a blast and caught more bull trout this summer than I have in probably the last 15 years of fly fishing.
they are just doing what they we told by some expert.. did i mention there are too many experts??? steelhead fish for 25 years and you begin to start understanding the game..
Tailouts and heads of runs are a place for waking dries..no tips needed. That's where they are and that's where I'll focus my attention for steelface. Some expert told me that...I'll do the same
Not to get all kumbaya but a lot of dudes probably steelhead a handful of times a year at most, probably have 1 line for their rod, and probably cast like shit. If they're having fun, they're doing it right regardless of the line. I steelhead more than I should, have more lines than necessary and still mostly cast like trash.
Y'all would have loved the spectacle in "station" on the NU this morning... First guy through, frothing up the water with a skagit head and tip.
I'm not targeting people's fun..I'm all for fun! I'm leaning towards the poopy people who mean mug and boast. U know..the loud mouths....then come round the bend to see the SHITTIEST casts while tits deep in seasonally record low waters.. HALP!!!!! I NEED A AMBERLAMPS
No expert at all here....but there's gotta be a time and place for sinkers in the summer. Even this summer. Right now that perfect 6 foot deep run is an aquarium and the tailout has no water. What about using a sink-tip to put your fly in front of fish holding under the heavier water nearer the head of the run. Sink tip will get down faster and also slow the swing down.
Also, I'm not sure what a Skokomish sunrise is, but I'll bet it has a treble hook.
90% of what fish eat are bugs below the surface of the water. So why is fishing dries and skaters so important? The rush of seeing a fish leaping out of the water?
This being a steelhead thread, I'm posting about fishing for steelhead, summer steelhead specifically in this case. Although there is some opportunistic feeding activity, adult steelhead in freshwater don't feed much. So fishing for them is only somewhat aimed at provoking a feeding response; mostly we're trying to arouse them to strike. While it's generally, but not invariably, true that even through the summer more steelhead can be hooked by fishing deep, summer and fall provide the unique windows of time and opportunity for a steelhead angler to fish a floating line with either damp, dry, or skated flies with a reasonably high chance of taking a steelhead on or near the surface. Why is that important? Well, it's only important to anglers who would rather take a steelhead using a method known to generally be less effective than other means. If how you hook a steelhead is unimportant to you, you have many choices. You can dredge flies along the river bottom; you can dirty azz nymph and hook a bunch; you can fish bait; and you can toss blasting caps or dynamite in the river for fun and see what floats up.
In the civilized world the concept of sporting methods in hunting and fishing involves using gear and techniques that are not the most effective alternatives. Within the bounds of the law and regulations, you can choose how sporting, or unsporting, you want to be. When I'm confident that steelhead will rise, I'll choose a floating line. Especially after dredging the depths all winter long.
This thread reminds me of a couple summers ago when I went into the Grizzly Hackle in Missoula looking for some streamers. I couldn't find anything besides a couple buggers and zonkers so I asked the dude behind the desk where are they keep the big stuff.
He told me since it was summer they don't fish streamers and therefore didn't keep anything in stock. I laughed and went out the next day and had one of my best streamer days of the year on the Blackfoot.
This thread reminds me of a couple summers ago when I went into the Grizzly Hackle in Missoula looking for some streamers. I couldn't find anything besides a couple buggers and zonkers so I asked the dude behind the desk where are they keep the big stuff.
He told me since it was summer they don't fish streamers and therefore didn't keep anything in stock. I laughed and went out the next day and had one of my best streamer days of the year on the Blackfoot.
I don't know if I am steelhead fisherman but I sleep with beads under my pillow and I have a pot holder shaped like a trout that is gift I gave myself.
Ahhh the mighty cowlitz river. Steeped in angling tradition and grand sporting ethic. A true gentlemens river, with pristine and storied pools in a remote and wild setting. Dry line only for the elusive pond mutant. Preach Jeff!!!
I couldn't word it any better Steve! Opportunity leads me to fish a dryline..and if I'm lucky I'll hook a fish I won't soon forget. It has been this way since I started with my mentors encouraging me to get over the urge to dredge during summer and actually experience a true surface take from a wild steelhead. Did I mention I've never caught a hatchery on a waked fly? This method leans towards hot wild fish and there tendency for chasing down flies. I'm all over that! I've seen fish come up 10 feet off the bottom to chase a wet fly, if there is a player, it's on! To each there own, ,but if this thread someday down the line changes someone's approach on a hot summer day, and they swing a dry with success ..that's all it takes to convert them,, they too will tell of the sporting way to catch fish on top. Good luck
And if you really want to be sporting just fish ska-oppers, you'll get to look at every fish in the run and maybe even hook one...maybe.......
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