In the past month we’ve had Tom Larimer stop by our blog to give a 6-minute master class on spey casting anchor placement, and a 1-minute diatribe (well, for Tom it was a diatribe) on fishing your fly actively. Today we hear Tom’s thoughts on picking which steelhead fly to fish – especially which color to fish when.
Sounds like flies matter.
Note: If you’re viewing this in a newsletter or a reader, click here to see Tom talk about steelhead flies on YouTube.
Here are the highlights:
- Yes, fly color and design matter when you’re fishing for steelhead.
- Bigger flies work better in colder water.
- On a bright sunny day with color in the water, red is a great color. If you’ve got sunny skies and really clear water, muted colors are better.
- When the sky is darker or the water dirties up, colors like black/blue and purple are the ticket.
- Orange is underutilized today. Dirty water combined with bright skies makes orange a great choice.
Is this a good general rule to follow for both Winter run and Summer Run steelhead. I’m a novice and trying to learn as much as possible (this site is great, and I’m saving up to make it to BC West someday soon)
Thanks,
R
I want my softshell back!
Hey Russ, thanks for stopping by. There are lots of opinions on this topic, but we’d say yes, the general rules apply to both winter and summer fish.
We’d love to see you on the Dean!
Andrew
shouldn’t we know this?