North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine September 2018 | Page 12

the fish to acclimate to lower temperatures.
Sometimes, you can get a steelhead to take
flies closer to and on the surface than what you
thought was possible.
When it comes to the bigger flies, I am a big fan
of using reduced weights and profile over bulk.
Flies like the hobo spey that allow for greater
cast-ability, allow for repeatable casts that won’t
wear you out after hours of casting. There are
plenty of anglers that prefer flies with weight
attached. In the end, it comes down to personal
preference. If you don’t have confidence in what
you’re offering, it’s as if the quarry knows it and
gives you the middle fin as it goes by you in the
river.
Finally, fishing “tip flies” from a fly tying
perspective is a lot of fun because you can sit at
your desk and become a steelhead alchemist.
Whether you’re tying on a tube, Waddington
shank or a cut off shank with a trailer hook,
you’ll want to work to create a fly that gives as
much profile as possible when it’s presented to
the fish. Ideally, you’ll want it broadside to the
fish’s holding lie. Materials that are alive in the
water like marabou, arctic fox, flashabou, blue
eared pheasant and others will really give the
fly life. Hopefully, it has that “something” which
gives the fish of a thousand casts reason to take
it for a ride. Steelhead are an inquisitive fish and
they eat a lot of different flies for a lot of different
reasons. So, making the offering is the biggest
part of the equation.
I’ll end with this small lesson in fly selection.
Early in my steelhead fishing career my father
and I were fishing an eastside river and he was
playing the role of fish vacuum while I couldn’t
get a bump. Frustrated, I kept changing flies.
I would second-guess myself in fly selection
only to have to get out of the run again and
again because someone else yelled, “Fish on!”
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