North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine October 2015 | Page 43

During these types of water conditions,
I keep my flies on the smaller size and
maybe not too much flash. When I am
swinging flies I use streamers that are
under 2” in length. Also I try to keep
them weight free (or as little weight as
possible). I like to use flies that are small
in profile when wet. For standard wet
flies, I keep it small, like #8 or #6, and
tied sparsely. If you’re more inclined to
nymph, the same concept applies: keep
it small. I use pheasant tail nymphs
down in the #14 size range, and do
very well with them. For summer run
steelhead, if you treat them more like
trout then steelhead, you’ll have more
success.
You can get away with some of the
more
standard
medium-to-larger
steelhead flies for the first few days
of the opener, but soon thereafter the
fish will start becoming less receptive.
Unless the water levels come up, keep
your offerings small and sparse.

During these conditions, don’t expect
the runs to hold a lot of fish. I have
noticed from P.I.T. tag array data that
fish will come in and go out. Here on
the Methow River, I’ve seen where the
fish will travel back and forth from the
Columbia into the Methow. With the
lower water, there may not be enough
incentive for the fish to come into the
runs, and even if they do, that number
will be limited. The fish that do enter
into the system will be bombarded
with anglers trying for them. If you
hook one or two fish out of the run, you
have probably found the only players
in that run for the day. Move on and
keep trying different places. Try spots
that you normally wouldn’t try when
fishing the river. You never know what
will happen.
Just be a little sneakier then the other
guy, and you can have a rewarding
day on the water. Hope to see you out
there, and if you see me, don’t hesitate
to stop and say hi.