When the rivers are too high and off-color to fish I take that time to replenish my stock of flies and jigs, tie worm leaders, put fresh hooks on my plugs, whatever it takes to pass the time until I can be back on the water. All of my posts thus far have pertained to fly fishing, which is an oft overlooked or scorned method of catching winter steelhead. I read too often that with the water temperature down around 40 degrees the steelhead are less likely to bite flies. That might be the case if you are swinging. When the water is that cold, unless you are able to fish a heavy fly and shooting head in a run of appropriate depth, putting that fly close enough to entice a reaction, then you are better off indicator fishing. Here are a couple of my favorite and most effective flies to fish under an indicator for winter steelhead.
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1 comment:
Nate, I really like the realistic look of the top fly, but I always have trouble keeping the soft plastics on the hook. I know Adam (Castaway Guide Service) would always tell me about these "super bad-ass Otter's Soft Eggs" and how great they were for steelhead, but we were up in AK, where the bead is king.
I tie my Cab Eggs similar to yours, but I use Ice Chenille, Polar Chenille, or UV Ice Chenille for the "egg" body. I do not fish them as much as I would like to, but I am a bead junky.
I guess I read too many Herzog books when I started fishing for steelhead because I like my baits/lures/flies to be anything close to the shape and style of a Corkie, Oakie Drifter, or Gooey Bob. Are you still having success side-drifting those new/custom soft plastics?
Do you think we could swing flies on the Mystery Flat this weekend? I would like to try and hustle some chrome on the swing this weekend.
-Sam
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