Fly Fishing Techniques

There are several ways to fly fish for steelhead, swinging,
bottom bouncing, and dead drifting. I mostly bottom bounce and swing flies when steelhead are fast water and I dead drift with an strike indicator when steelhead are in deep slow moving pools.

Bottom Bouncing

When steelhead are in faster water, bottom bouncing is very effective. Bottom bouncing is letting your presentation bounce along the stream bottom. When bottom-bouncing, drifts will be short and precise. I mostly use egg patterns and nymphs. I will place a couple small BB split shots above the fly. If the current is faster, I will add more sinkers. When the river is slightly stained, I will place the split shots about 6" to 12" from the fly. If the water is clear, I will have the split shot about 18" from the fly. Then I'll cast upstream and begin to mend the line. When the fly reaches bottom I will slowly lift the rod up and try to keep all the fly line out the water. This is known as high stick nymphing.

During this time, I have the fly line between my finger and the rod to help detect any strikes. As the drift continues downstream I will gradually lower the rod and let out some of the line until the fly has gone through the drift zone. If I don't get any hits I will move downstream and repeat the process.

Dead Drifting

Dead drifting usually requires the use of a strike indicator. I mostly dead drift with a float when fishing pools or moderate runs. When dead drifting I use corkies, they are small round floats. Depending on the flow and amount weight used, I will use different sized corkies. All corkies come with a toothpick. The toothpick keeps the fly at the desired depth. I will cast upstream and immediately mend the line. The first thing I watch is the corkie. When the toothpick is pointing up, I have achieved dead drift which means my fly is directly under the float and drifting over the bottom.

If the toothpick is pointing downstream and that means there is too much line front of the indicator or the fly is dragging bottom. You may need to adjust the height and amount of split shots on the line to get the proper drift.

Swinging

Swinging is done when steelhead are in fast shallow water during the fall and spring. When swinging flies, I use streamers or nymphs such as zonkers, woolly buggers, caddis larva, stoneflies, and egg sucking leeches. I will sight a group of fish and position myself above the fish and cast quarter upstream. I will mend the line to get the fly to sink. As I mend I will swing the fly over to the fish and in front of them. When the swing is done, I will let the fly dangle for a couple seconds. Pay attention, because most of the time steelhead will strike at the fly very hard.

Mending

Drag is a dirty word to fly fishermen. It can be the biggest difference between success and going home skunked. An unattached artificial fly, dropped on the water will drift exactly like a natural in the same current. As soon as we attach the fly to a leader and large diameter fly line, the current of the stream has more surface area to push against, and the fly's drift is effected. Casting the whole system across currents of different speeds really adds to our problems, with "U" shapes forming in the line.

This is the biggest problem for an angler new to fly-fishing is learning how to mend fly line. Because there is friction near the stream bottom, (where we want our flies), the current is slower than on the surface, (where our line is floating). Even in a drift with even current speed from bank-to-bank, the floating portions of the line will eventually out race the sunken leader and fly, causing the fly to speed up.

Mending is done by flipping the rod in a half-circle. Start with the rod low over the water, lift and flip the line upstream. An airborne loop will form in the line, which will drop somewhere upstream of its original position, and allow, (at least temporarily), the natural drift we want. A wide section of intervening current requires a stronger mend than a narrow section. During the drift and swing, "mini-mends" will slow the fly and keep it in the strike zone. With practice a sense of touch will develop, allowing the angler to mend without disturbing the position of the fly. After all, what's the point of making a beautiful cast, and then yanking the fly off track?

There are frequent occasions when it's necessary to speed up the fly: very slow currents that let the fly drag the bottom, slots of dead water or eddy currents between the rod and the fly, and even times during low water periods when the fish need a bit of encouragement. In such cases, a downstream mend will add extra tension to the line, speeding it up and keeping the fly out of the rocks. This speedup is sometimes enough to convince a following fish to strike, so it's worth trying on those difficult days.

More Tips for Fly Fishing

    * Gravel is the main attractor for spawning steelhead. Look for gravel beds above deep riffles, heavy runs and long sweeping holes.

    * Look for smooth gravel with small areas of dark water. These pockets will usually be small. Fish these pockets thoroughly from as far off as possible with drag free drifts. Start at the head and fish the water closest to you first.

    * Colder temperatures and bright skies will move steelhead from the shallows to deeper water.

    * Always look at the edge of dark water very closely
      before casting. The majority of fish will be always near the deepest water and heaviest cover.

    * Slower side currents should be fished thoroughly. The heaviest concentration of fish will be in the middle of the main current and at the seams on both sides.

    * Pocket water is another area that steelhead seek because of the gravel and the sense of security of nearby deeper water.

    * Experiment with different sizes of flies. When the water is murky larger flies are more effective. Steelhead have very good eyesight. I've caught fish in water that had a visibilty of 8". As the water gradually clears, I will use smaller flies such as #16 and #18 sucker spawn or nymph patterns.

    * When you tie a tippet to the leader, you can use the tag as a slinky rig. This is effective when bottom bouncing. Whenever the line snags bottom, the sinkers will slip off the line.