THE FLY FISHING PLACE BLOG: TEN OF OUR FAVORITE STEELHEAD FLIES!

THE FLY FISHING PLACE BLOG

TEN OF OUR FAVORITE STEELHEAD FLIES!

According to The Staff at The Fly Fishing Place !

There are thousands of steelhead fly patterns out there today, and every one of them will convince a steelhead to strike at some point in time and on some given river. Here at The Fly Fishing Place we have always maintained that successful steelhead fly fishing is more about the fish than about the fly. Once an angler understands the rhythm and magic of anadromous salmonid migrations, and once an angler learns to read rivers that foster steelhead runs, and learns how to read tail, riffle, pool, run, and time of day, water temperature, turbidity, flow levels and light conditions on the water that influences steelhead to be where they are on a particular day in a particular year, and learns and lives the cycles of the seasons that influence their prey, and once the angler learns to present a steelhead fly in a manner that a steelhead in several different moods will approve of, only then (after a few lifetimes) is it time to worry a lot about fly patterns. Until you have a few seasons on the river, a few basic steelhead flies that can be fished with confidence are a necessity. Isn't it comforting to know that these are patterns that have taken thousands of steelhead for crusty old salts as well as for beginners? Yes, there are dozens of other great patterns that could go on this list, but that's the beauty of fly fishing, isn't it!

GREEN BUTT SKUNK
FERRY CANYON
POPSICLE CONEHEAD
PURPLE PERIL
SKYKOMISH SUNRISE
EGG-SUCKING LEECH
STEELHEAD MATUKA
STREET WALKER
SPAWNING PURPLE
UNDERTAKER