Fly fishing for steelhead is not always about catching, but it is about using the best steelhead flies and fishing rivers with good reports. I am excited to find new steelhead flies, traditional steelhead flies, steelhead fly fishing accessories and all things that have to do with spey fishing for steelhead. Winter steelhead fishing and summer steelhead fishing differ in techniques and flies, but are equally enjoyable.
Fly fishing was something of a fanatic obsession with my family. I am a third generation fly fisherman and steelhead fishing is considered the highest art.
Steelhead are anadramous rainbow trout, which means they spend one to four years in the stream where they were born and then move down stream to the ocean where they spend another 1 to 4 years growing up, getting big and swimming in the ocean. They travel an amazing amount. Steelhead native to Washington state have been found as far away as the Arctic Circle. Oh yeah, when they come back to their natal rivers to spawn, their sex organs swell and compress their stomach, so they are less likely to eat, hence less likely to hit flies. This lends credence to the explanation that they are the fish of 1,000 casts.
Like a Buddhist master, my Grandfather once told me that steelhead will hit any color fly as long as it is black, which over time, I have come to understand as not necessarily true. Although it is pretty funny and my friends like it when I pass on that piece of advice.
October is a great time to fish for steelhead on the Klamath as well as may other rivers on the West coast of North America. The winter run begins and the fish on good years will pour in. Also, the weather is still a bit like summer. So, it is really the last chance to fish for the steelhead without battling rain and cold.
I enjoy spey casting for steelhead all year round and hope that I can help you do it too. I created this site so there could be a single place to go for good information, great products and a gathering place for solitary types. Please let me know if there is something I can add or change to the site to make it better for you.
Emanuel Rose can be reached at emanuel@steelheadonly.com
