The almighty steelhead

[IdahoNative]

Let me start off by saying, I know that I ask a lot of questions, but I really appreciate the help you guys are offering.

I am a new fly fisherman and have decided that I want to try my hand at catching a steelhead this winter. I went to the local fly shop and figured out that I can get an Echo 9' 8# rod for $100 and an accompanying reel for another $100 or I can buy the basic beginners kit for $180. I think I will go with the two separate purchases because they are of better quality.This shop also offers casting classes which I figure I will end up taking sometime between now and going fishing. Now onto my questions:

TIME: I have heard that winter steelhead run between Dec. & Mar.. Is there any particular month where the fishing is better?
LOCATION: I have heard about the Wilson and Clackamas river. I do not want to travel too far but am willing to go out to Tillamook. I live in SW Portland. What rivers are good choices? Not looking for any ones special spot, just some pointers.
FLIES: Obviously, knowing what flies to use would be important. I like the idea of swinging flies, rather than nymphing, but am not opposed to it if you want to persuade me.
WEATHER: After doing some googling it appears to me that this is the situation: Wait for a period of steady rain to fill the smaller rivers, then wait for a few days for the mud to settle. OR fish the big rivers but have to wait for possibly a week for the debris to settle. What are your thoughts?

GUIDES: Does anyone know of a guiding service that is not ridiculously expensive? I have been looking but it seems like any steelhead guides are running $300-$450 A DAY. I don't know because I have never done it before, but that seems a little ridiculous to me.

Again, thanks for your help guys.

 

[GaryP1958]

Learn the Sandy its close and the Clack or if you are willing to drive a few hours the coast is good. As far as classes to learn casting , save your money just get a set up and go to any river and learn.In 6 hours you can learn how and as Arnold Palmer can attest its your own style that matters.Guides will get you on fish no doubt and they have drift boats to get to the spots for sure!If your banking it learn the access spots. Oh and buy a lot of flies in the beginning you will be offering many to the tree Gods!

 

[TimberTodd]

I have both the 9' 7wt and 10' 8wt Echo rods with Echo reels and really like them. Taking a casting lesson will help in learning the proper fundamentals, then take those to the river or backyard and practice. The last thing you want to do is invest in the equipment and then be frustrated on the river. You will hook branches and loose flies its inevitable. YOUTUBE has some good videos that are also very helpful. You will notice though that casting on the water is different than on grass, especially roll casting. Don't overlook egg patterns or beads. Coastal rivers usually start heating up Dec.-Jan. but rainfall can get some fish moving in by Thanksgiving. Fishing the river when its dropping after a healthy rain is ideal. Learn what level fishes best for the river you are targeting, that way you have an idea if it has too much flow. I have fished the Wilson when its reaching close to 7 feet and its tough. Good luck with your purchase and have fun!

 

[ChezJfrey]

A good overview for different fly fishing techniques: The Complete Steelheader by John Larison

If you lean toward swinging, check out Skagit Master I with Ed Ward for a good intro.

I think those two resources will help you figure out how to start approaching what techniques you might want to use. Though I will say, the technique is often times dictated by the water and where the fish lie.

Also, I have found it helpful to use a switch rod during winter on a bigger river like the Clack: covers more water with longer casts.

LOCATION: I have heard about the Wilson and Clackamas river. I do not want to travel too far but am willing to go out to Tillamook. I live in SW Portland. What rivers are good choices? Not looking for any ones special spot, just some pointers.

From SW, Wilson and Clack are good. So is Sandy. In Winter, from SW Portland, the Clack will have places that are closer, so I fish that quite often in Winter.

TIME: I have heard that winter steelhead run between Dec. & Mar.. Is there any particular month where the fishing is better?

A coastal river, like the Wilson will have more steelhead early on than the Clack or Sandy. For early fish, I'll fish the Wilson when I have time to drive an extra 30 mins. during Dec. and into Jan. When I don't have as much time, I'll fish the Clack in Dec. and Jan., but it's a littler tougher to find fish until late Jan. But, you can actually catch a fish in mid-late Nov., but only if you're a super-anxious, die-hard, never-say-never, fish-all-the-freakin-time type

But from Feb. through Mar., any of the rivers do pretty well, the Clack will fish well through June-July-August-Sept when the summers start coming in as well, because the winter/summer runs overlap, with early summers being known to arrive as early as March/April.

Possible rules of thumb for optimal fishing (you can can still catch fish higher/lower):

Wilson roughly 6 ft.
Clack roughly 12 ft.
Sandy roughly 10-11 ft.

FLIES: Obviously, knowing what flies to use would be important. I like the idea of swinging flies, rather than nymphing, but am not opposed to it if you want to persuade me.

Flies sometimes depend a bit on technique used, but so far, I've caught all my steelhead on the fly using either a MOAL leech or Hobo Spey, either greased-line style during the dead-drift, or swung; because that's all use the fly rod for. Since I also gear fish, I'll just toss a float/jig rather than nymph because being a pragmatic/far-from-purist type of guy, it's the same thing to me. Go ahead and stick solely to swing if you want, but nymphing would probably dramatically improve your odds/numbers of fish.

WEATHER: After doing some googling it appears to me that this is the situation: Wait for a period of steady rain to fill the smaller rivers, then wait for a few days for the mud to settle. OR fish the big rivers but have to wait for possibly a week for the debris to settle. What are your thoughts?

Ideally, yes, fish on the drop when the water is 'steelhead green'. But, it's not always optimal. The trick is to find the holding spots and how to fish them in as many conditions as you can. Rivers rising 'through the roof' in the matter of an hour, rivers that are blown out, yeah, almost impossible to catch them and I don't usually even try anymore, but other than that, I go whenever I can...can't catch 'em if you're not out trying

 

[TimberTodd]

[QUOTE can't catch 'em if you're not out trying [/QUOTE]

Probably one of the best pieces of advice given!:thumb: