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Top 10 Favorite Steelhead flies

5K views 25 replies 23 participants last post by  FT 
#1 ·
Ok, so I am a little new to the whole steelhead game, I have been out a handful of times over that last few years with nada to show for it. However I want to put a little better selections of flies together, and before I get to randomly tying up steelhead patterns at the vise, I thought that I would see you patterns you guys suggest.

So what are you top 10 favorite producers for winter steelhead????
 
#2 ·
Mega prince came through this weekend. It is basically an oversize (sz 4ish) bh prince with rubberlegs.
 
#3 ·
I've caught nearly all my steelhead this year on a fly called the Kilowatt, a fly I picked up in FF magazine. Then again, I have used it for 90% of my fishing, so there you go. I've mostly been swinging with a spey rod. For nymphing I use a large prince like Mark with a dropper of some sort and have done well with that.

Then again, most people will tell you the fly doesn't matter as much as your confidence in it. You gotta "feel like the fly", in a zen sort of way. Hard to explain, but once you get it, you'll know.

Wayne
 
#4 ·
My top 2 favorite are a baby pink size 4 glo bug with a red dot and some dumbell eyes for weight with a little estaz hot pink wraped around the back for a little added attraction. And second a pink rabit leach on a size 2 steelhead hook with dumbell eyes and like an orange dubbing egg around the dumbells. I use 1 strip for the tail and cross cut up to the dumbells. I lost one on the pink leach today. :mad:
I hope this helps. :beer2:

Clint
 
#5 ·
For winter steelhead on the west side (Mark's fly was used on summer fish), I think you have about 7 too many flies.

For swinging or nymphing, here are my only 3 flies:
1. Some sort of eggs, in lots of colors. Beads, glue eggs or glo bugs all work.
2. General Practitioner in purple black and olive
3. Moal leach. Purple and blue/black, orange/black is also killer

I've caught fish nymphing and swinging all of these flies.
 
#7 ·
Ok, so I am a little new to the whole steelhead game, I have been out a handful of times over that last few years with nada to show for it. However I want to put a little better selections of flies together, and before I get to randomly tying up steelhead patterns at the vise, I thought that I would see you patterns you guys suggest.

So what are you top 10 favorite producers for winter steelhead????
i like whatever zen likes
 
#8 ·
size 8 wooly worm
size 6 franks fly
size 4 egg sucking leach
size 6 ginger bunny fly
size 4 electric king bugger
size 6 pink sparkle shrimp
size 4 bjorn super prawn
size 4 orange sparkle shrimp
size 4 general practicioner
size 10 copper john, red

I refuse to fish globugs they are disrespectful to the steelhead, one should at least take some time to make a pretty fly for them
 
#10 ·
Hear, hear Les. The classics will still catch 'em and probably as well or better than what Harry Lemire called "all this damned science fiction stuff". The classic of classics is, of course, the Skykomish Sunrise, but the Polar Shrimp, Purple Peril, Hellcat, Brad's Brat and a host of others are highly effective, and steelhead still find them attractive.
 
#16 ·
I probably got me first dozen or so fish on the Polar Shrimp, or the Kispiox Special which is a close relative. Then I realized it had to be more difficult than that so I started to tie flys that actually looked really cool. I didn't catch more fish with those fancy flies, it just made me stand on shore longer than usual trying to decide which fly looked best to me in my box.
 
#17 ·
For some reason I've never thought of the Green-Butt Skunk as a winter steelhead pattern though I've fished it a lot during the summer. the Green-Butt Skunk is a fairly recent variant of the Skunk (it's not even mentioned in Trey Combs' 1976 Steelhead Fly Fishing and Flies) and the origin of the basic Skunk itself is uncertain. It may well have originated as a summer-run fly on the Umpqua. An early pattern for the Skunk featured a white-over-black wing with the white applied as a narrow stripe.
 
#21 ·
My favorit flies I mainly fish are tube flies/rabbit leeches, and marabou string leeches in mainly black and purple. Sometimes Moals.

My new fun fly that seems to work quite well is a Metal Detector. It doesn't have alot of movement, and I'm not sure what the deal is, but it catches fish. The last fish I caught, I went through with a big marabou string leech and didn't catch anything, went through again with the metal detector, and fish on.
 
#22 ·
the bigger and nastier the better!!!
Not necassarly. I would agree for west side winter fish, but there is certianly such thing as too big and nasty for east side and west side summers.

I don't really have a go to fly. I kind of look in by my box on any given run-- based on the water and light, and pick what feels right at that time.

If i had to pick one fly though it would probably be a purple peril.
 
G
#24 ·
I fish classics almost exclusively for summer fish. Winter fish however are another creature entirely. I have experimented with pretty spey flies before and honestly I've not had too much success. Given the number of flies I loose I've decided to keep it cheap and dirty. My boxes this year consist mostly of marabous and lead eyed bunny leaches. If I want a larger profile, I will get a 45mm waddington, tie one marabou on the back half, dub the middle of the body and tie another marabou on the front half, sometimes I'll attach some ostrich herl or grizzly hackle for feelers too.

basically I think of winter steelhead flies as having three variables. size, color and weight (sink rate). Then I just tie every fly I can think of with those combinations. Colors that have been good to me have been orange and red, black and blue and purple and pink. I've also caught fish on purple GPs before so I've got confidence in their mojo too. Hope that helps, good luck in your quest for steelhead, it is tough but the payoff is huge.

Will
 
#25 ·
iagree with Will Atlas

I save the pretty flies and classics for Spring/Summer/Fall
 
#26 ·
Winter I use one of these most of the time:

Glasso's Orange Heron
Glasso's Brown Heron
Glasso's Sol Duc Spey
Glasso's Polar Shrimp
McLeod's Skykomish Sunrise (spey version)
General Practitioner (Orange)
Ally's Shrimp
Ally's Shrimp, Purple
Akroyd Dee (argus wing)
Avon Dee

In summer these I use most of the time:

Purple Peril (bronze mallard wing)
Ally's Shrimip
Lady Caroline Spey
Lady Caroline Low Water
Old English Iron Blue Dun
Night Dancer Shrimp (my fly)
Lemire's Grease Liner, Black
Lemire's Grease Liner, Burnt Orange
Bombers
Arnold's Spade
 
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