Swingin' Flies in the Pacific Northwest: Fly #50: A couple of winged steelhead patterns

Aug 10, 2009

Fly #50: A couple of winged steelhead patterns

Starting off with a flashy wing, this steelhead fly is tied on a size 8 salmon hook. Dubbing is arctic fox with oval tinsel ribbing. The tag is silver tinsel. Generally, I'd use this during high or off color water. Or in some cases, when nothing else seems to be working.

The second fly is made up of much more muted tones. I'd use this on clear water. However, if the water is really low, I'd probably opt for a fly that is more sparse than this.

I decided to use hare's ear for dubbing. I don't do this very often on steelhead flies. Not sure why, it really has great buggy qualities that would attract trout or steelhead that have been in the rivers for a while.

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About Me

My interest in fly fishing began as a teenager in my home state of Missouri. After years of fishing rivers in and around the Ozarks, I moved to California in the early 90's. Life continued on, I happily drove hours around to various streams hunting trout. Then it happened. One rainy fall morning, I landed my first steelhead.

Game over. Buh bye trout. Hello steelhead!

Fast forward to 2011. My obsession with steelhead was out of control. I convinced my wife and family, that we needed to leave California and head to the Pacific Northwest.

Now, I'm able to happily fish for steelhead almost year around in both Washington and Oregon. My now home-water is a quick 10 minutes away. Within two hours, I can reach the Deschutes, Klickitat, Wilson, Sandy, Clackamas, Hood, Lewis, Cowlitz, Kalama, and dozens of others. Many of those are within a half hour. Paradise.

Although I started out with single handed rods all those years ago, I switched almost exclusively to 2-handed rods around 2005. I find them to be more efficient and less tiring over those long days. Initially reluctant to give them a try, I've rarely looked back.

This blog is my little spot on the internet to keep record of my trips, fly tying, and thoughts on fishing. Originally conceived as a personal journal to help myself remember where I went and what flies were productive- for whatever reason, I decided to make it public. Hopefully you will get something from it.