Winter Steelhead

Winter Steelhead

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Josh Mills talks winter steelhead. Winter steelhead are the badder, meaner, more intense cousins of their summertime brethren. They come in in the coastal rivers sexually mature so they are looking to boogie and they don't over winter a long period of time. They oftentimes come in, in certain systems, on the morning tide and are in the river for a week or two and do their business. When going after them you are faced with a different set of conditions that often dictate what you do with summer steelhead. What you are looking for within a fly fishing perspective, you are getting down into the water column with bigger sink tips, the flies are presented closer to the bottom, often times are half a chicken as we jokingly say but it presents more of a profile and an irritant for the steelhead to come and grab hold of. Flies are definitely bigger, often times are dressed with dumbbell eyes to get an even further drop on them. The word that gets tossed around is the word intruder style which are a bigger form and profile. You can buy all of this type of gear at Sportsmen's Warehouse can't you? Absolutely. Yes, do a little research before you go to the store and take a peek at what are the things that are out there. Places like Sportsmen's Warehouse will have fly tying clinics. Depending on the store and region and where they are, they will have specific offerings that will tailor just what you need
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