Top 12 Spring Steelhead Flies

12 - Flies For Spring Steelhead
By Jay Peck
Once again, Troy has asked me to do another fly list. Last fall I did a list of 12 flies for the fall fishing. This time the list is for the spring Steelhead run. I like flies, and I enjoy tying and experimenting with different fly patterns. My list of flies that I like to carry and fish with is rather long, so once again with much effort, I have to cut the list to 12 flies.
The 12 flies that I have picked have survived the test of time. They are all proven fish catchers. The range of these sizes may surprise some people. Due to the conditions we find ourselves fishing in, the various sizes of the flies will help us to adjust to the conditions. As always, fishing through the steelhead run we will experience a wide range of fishing conditions. From high cold water of the spring snow runoff, to heavy fishing pressure, not to mention fishing to steelhead that are intent with spawning.

Here is my list of 12 flies:
L.E.D
Easter Egg
Glow Bug
Proxy
Copper Bug
Silver Hilton
Little Rain Bow
White Bunny Spay
Egg Sucking Leach
Stone Fly - Black
Spring Wiggler
Caddis Mike

Pre spawned - late water early spring
During the pre spawn phase of the steelhead run, we will be fishing to steelhead that have been sitting in the river through the winter. Occasionally we will have a few new arriving fish mixed in with the older steelhead. The main concern that we will have while fishing this time of the run is both water temperature and high water. There can be a few warm days in the late winter and the sun may feel really good. But that warm weather will fill the rivers with cold snow melted run off. This will take the water temperature and drop it. A river that was running as warm as 36 degrees, now filled with snow melt will drop that water temperature to a about 32 degrees, just warm enough to flow. Talk about putting a steelhead on ice, this will slam those fish right back in to their winter patterns. To make things worse, the water levels will rise and in some rivers the clarity can go bad.
This is when I do a lot of dead drifting. I like to slow down the drift as slowly as I can. Sometimes I will use a strike indicator to help control the drift and detect any soft takes. The flies I like to use for this type of fishing are the egg patterns in sizes to 12 to 8. Flies such as the L. E. D, Glow bugs and Easter egg. I will stay with the basic colors of Chartreuse, Oregon Cheese and Orange. I will add a little dot to my glow bugs, using red or orange for the dot. Nymph's are an excellent choice here to. Nymph's like the spring wiggler in sizes of 6 and 8, caddis mike in size 10 and of course black stoneflies in sizes 10 to 6. Both egg flies and nymph's are a good choice in the smaller sizes for steelhead that are suffering from heavy fishing pressure. Remember to avoid using the brighter colors with the egg patterns.

The Spawn
The water temperatures are finally warm enough to interest the steelhead in spawning. The water temperatures are finally reaching 40 to 45 degrees, and they are leaving the pools and are moving onto the gravel beds and riffs. It is spawning time for the steelhead, and the males are now very aggressive. This is an ideal situation for swinging flies. Now is when I like to use flies design to be fished on the swing. Flies such as the white bunny spay, egg sucking leach, both in size 4. Where a smaller fly may be called for, wet flies like the silver Hilton in sizes 6 to 2, and the proxy in size 6 to 2 are both good choices. The one fly that I have come to depend on for spawning steelhead is the little rainbow streamer in size 2 or1. This is a streamer that needs to be big. The little rainbow was designed to trigger a territory response from the male steelhead. I like to fish to the males and tried to avoid catching the females, and the little rainbow is designed to do this. When the steelhead get a little touchy, a black stone flies is always a good choice. So are the egg flies however, use the smaller sizes.

Post Spawn - Drop Backs
Despite what a few people may say about drop back steelhead, I enjoy fishing for them. Steelhead are now through with spawning and are looking for food. The water temperatures are now in the low 50s. Steelheads are now very active and spread out through the whole river. This is where swinging flies is at its best. The flies that I like to use are spey flies and some of the classic wet flies. For the spey flies: the copper heron, proxy, and the white bunny spey. I like to fish these flies in big sizes. Remember we are trying to raise the steelhead to the fly. The steelhead are looking for food, and they will go some distance to take the fly. The fly sizes I like to use for the spay flies are sizes 3 to 1. For the wet flies, sizes 4 to 2. The larger sizes seem to work just as well as the smaller sizes, but the young steelhead par will not hook them selves onto the larger sizes.
This is my pick of 12 flies. They are probably not what some people would have picked. But all of these flies are time proven, and will produce. And when added to the fall list of flies, all 24 fly patterns will make up an excellent selection of flies for fishing the tributaries. Once again, it does not matter how good the fly is supposed to be. What matters most is that the fly must be properly presented to work. But still, it is a lot of fun talking about the flies. Have a good spring of fishing

Jay Peck is a fly fishing guide fishing on the Lake Ontario tributaries; fishing the Salmon River in the fall, September through mid October for salmon, steelhead and brown trout. Fishing Oak Orchard, Lower Genesse and Sandy Creek in Monroe County, from mid October through December for giant brown trout and steelhead. Contact Jay at Coleman's Fly Shop at 585-352-4775 or e-mail him at www.colemansflyshop.com. He will be fishing steelhead on the Oak Orchard and the Genesee River all winter and the Salmon River in April.