Fishing flies can be frustrating at times. You must be persistent in offering different looks, until you find what the fish are after.
One way to obtain knowledge of what is flowing through the river is to make a thin mesh net. For less than two dollars at any fabric shop, you can purchase enough mesh to make two nets. I use white mesh with two strong sticks in a V shape. Simply place the net against the river bottom. Stand on the up river side of the net and kick up rocks and gravel, allowing the debris to float down into the net. The net may contain some eggs, aquatic insects, fish flesh, and even some crayfish. Examine the net carefully, and attempt to identify all the possible food for steelhead. If this happens to be a river that you fish quite often, keep a log of your discoveries and include the date, time of day, water clarity, section of river and of course, the air and water temperature. This information will become handy in the future.
As you become aware of the present forage in the river, a chance to clone the food will become an option. If there happens to be no apparent food in the net, an attractor, egg pattern or streamer will probably be your best bet.
Although one of the most popular fly fishing techniques, drifting flies / tight-line nymphing for steelhead can be very challenging. The reason being that in many cases, a steelhead will hit flies very lightly. Steelhead will eat small aquatic insects and eggs without moving an inch. The pickup will often be a quick breath in, almost like a sucking effect. If the angler doesn’t feel this, the fish will spit the fly out and will probably become spooked.
By adding split-shot to the leader, an angler can provide enough weight to be down where the fish are, down near the bottom. Casting slightly upriver from my position, I want the weight to graze the bottom of the river. The rod tip is pointed straight out, level with the water. The rod is practically pointing directly at the fly throughout the entire drift. You may say to yourself, “That’s crazy, the line will snap.” But the fact is that you need a direct line from your finger (on the line) to the end of your line, to feel those barely perceptible hits.
The angler will feel the weight touching the bottom and MUST be able to distinguish the difference between the rocks and a strike. It takes some time, but is definitely an achievable goal and comes with time.
Move the rod down with the drift, but as the rod moves in a down river direction, gradually direct the point of the rod down closer to the water. At the end of the drift, the rod tip should be pointing down river and about one foot from the surface of the water.
When in doubt, check it, it just may be a fish. Make sure to get a good hook set, especially with longer, whippy rods.
I will make my leaders about a foot shorter than my rod, eg. Nine foot rod = and 8 foot leader. I will place my weight approximately half way up the leader (check on rules and regs for leader length maximum / minimums).
Tight Lines
