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Fly lines

The transition from trout fisherman to Steelheader is not an easy one. Steelheading requires confidence. But it's hard to be confident if you don't have experience.

As many fishermen like to say, "dues are due." Hooking Steelhead is, at best, a random event. Most experts will tell you it's good fishing if you can get one a day. A Steelhead day is a long, hard round of fishing - up at first light, go till dark, with only a brief time out during the mid-day. That's a lot of casting. It equals a lot of fishing without a lot of catching even when the Steelheading is prime.

It's hard to get experience.

For beginners, self-doubt is a nagging problem. How do you cast and fish for hour after hour without questioning what it is you are doing? The trout fisherman, by his training, always believes there is something more he can do if the fish aren't biting. Maybe he didn't interpret the hatch quite right. Maybe a change the flies will do it. He asks over and over again. "What am I doing wrong?"

Steelheaders don't think that way at all. With them it is a search for a random fish that is at best unpredictable. It is a somewhat star-crossed event when the attractor fly and the active Steelhead cross paths somewhere out in the middle of the run. You fish until it happens.

You have to devote yourself to Steelhead fishing until you get it right. You have to set a goal and be willing to accept the hardship it implies. Don't ask for a quick fix and don't expect one.

Once you've set a goal, build a plan. Concentrate on basics in your fishing. Make sure that three things are correct: Get the right fly. Learn what a good Steelhead swing looks like. Use that swing in water where Steelhead are likely to be holding.

Step one is really easy. Go to a fly shop; buy two each of the three flies that the salesman likes to fish with himself. Fish with those without changing 'till you catch fish. Bottom line, the fly doesn't really matter. All Steelhead flies catch fish. Don't worry about the fly until you are a more advanced steelheader.

Step two: understand that the Steelhead swing is fundamentally easy. It does not require long powerful casts to be successful and it doesn't require some secret touch. You swing flies through the runs. Active Steelhead will respond if they are present. You don't even set the hook. The Steelhead are either on or they are gone.

Go with a friend or watch other fishermen until you get the idea. Then accept it at face value. It is as easy as it looks.

Choosing good water is the most important thing you can do to ensure success. On major Steelhead rivers like the Deschutes the runs are well known. Many of them have names - Signal Light, Cedar Island, Sixes or Sinamox. Talk to folks to find out where these runs are. Watch and observe. At first, fish where others folks are Steelhead fishing. Follow them through. Later - when you know where the runs are - you can lead.

Don't spend a lot of time outside the major runs. Granted, exploring is a way experienced Steelheaders find those odd fish in the nooks and crannies that others do not fish. But if you fish the fringe water at the wrong time, you run the risk of fishing where there are no Steelhead at all. It is better to stay on the main path and branch out latter.

Once you have taken care of basics, relax and fish. It is one of the joys of Steelheading that you don't have to concentrate quite so hard. There is time to enjoy the sunset and watch the flight of the birds while you are waiting for the star-crossed moment when your fly and the migrating Steelhead find each other out there in the depths of the river.

 

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