The Spring Steelhead Season: Part 3 – Swinging Flies for Steelhead

So the steelhead are on the feed and willing to chase down flies. This is where swinging flies is the most effective technique as we now need to efficiently fish through a lot of water. For me, at this time of year, the spey rod and skagit line systems come into play. With this style of equipment, we are able to cover a lot of water very efficiently. For now, I will only cover the basics of spey gear and equipment as it’s a topic one can really geek out on (for more details, view this video I did a few years ago on setups for switch and spey rods). 

The keys are to have the correct line for your two-handed rod and a line system that will turn over sink tips (to match the water flow and conditions) as well as the flies we will be casting. Regardless of the line system you go with, you’ll want it to be easy to adjust and flexible to match the condition (in many cases, the sink tips will need to be adjusted according to the pool you’re swinging based on the conditions and water flows). It is not unusual to change sink tips half a dozen times during the day. Flexibility is always an asset when swinging through a river that changes constantly.  

Behavior of the steelhead has changed in comparison with the fall. The styles and presentations that we have been using since early fall now needs to change. Fortunately, at this stage, steelhead are actively looking for food and eating so it is more important than ever that your fly be visible for a long distance. It is best to keep the fly off the bottom and my best results are when the fly is swinging approximately 2/3 down in the water column - this keeps the fly visible for a great distance and makes it easier for the fish to intercept and eat the fly.  Even though steelheads are aggressively feeding, there’s no sense making them work any harder than they need to eat your fly. The speed of the swing is also important. Typically, steelhead do not like a fast-swinging fly. You can swing little faster than we do during the winter but, the more the fly hangs in the swing, the more effective it’s going to be. I describe this as hanging a chunk of chow out there and letting them eat it. Make it easy for them to eat the fly.  

The last consideration is fly size. As mentioned earlier, the steelhead diet has evolved to larger bites of food. The flies’ size should imitate what they are eating and I have found that flies between 2 ½ to 3½ inches long best match the size of most of what steelhead are feeding on. Often, it is the size of the fly that is more important than anything else. I also believe the silhouette of the fly is more important than color. 

There you have it. Tight lines and see you on the river. 

 
Jay