Steelhead and Redbull

Gary and I Watched the flows and regardless of the flows we were heading out to the OP on our day off. The water was high but fishable and the visibility was steadily improving as the day went on.


Fishing was pretty slow. We had worked over 2 good holes and I then remembered about my Redbull. I told Gary we hadn't caught any Steelhead yet because I wasn't drinking my red bull. I waded back upstream grabbed my Switch rod and Pack and waded back to the tailout where gary was fishing. Cracked my red bull and said "now we are going to catch some fish." Gary made two casts and hooked up with a Chromer! I feel that a properly drunk red bull triggers steelhead to bite. I have had this happen multiple times! Gary's fish was a Nice wild buck. Great to see some Wild fish in December.

Now it was on! After that fish, Gary made a few more drifts and hooked another fish, got a couple head shakes and then came off.

My Turn after I finished my red bull and started working over the hole with my rig. I worked the far side of a rock and a few drifts later hooked up with a fish. It was a weird take. My indicator went down and then started swimming upstream, as if the fish was moving grabbed my fly and continued to move up into the tailout. Then the fish freaked jumped and did exactly what I didn't want to do. Go Downstream. Fought it for a minute or 2 more and then it wrapped it self on a rock in deeper water right below me. I went down and tailed the fish, but it kicked one more time and swam off. It was another wild buck, slightly smaller than Gary's. I was glad to see him dart off after our quick fight.








I was able to fish my new Winston 12'3" BII X.
It couldn't have performed better! Fishing a rod is the only way to truly dial it in. I was using the Speydicator 8 which is 480 Grains. It loaded the rod very well. I was able to cast a XL thingamabobber, double fly rig with worms, eggs, and tungsten putty with ease. It was a big advantage to spey cast with the high water. The majority of the spots we fished had almost not backcast room. This rod still allowed me to cast and fish any spot I wanted on the river.

Over all a good day on the water. 2 wild Steelhead and used my Christmas present.

British Columbia Steelhead Photo Journal

After spending 4 months of guiding people on the various watersheds of western Alaska, I have made it a yearly tradition to take a little "me" time and venture to the last great steelhead mecca left on earth, northern British Columbia.

For two weeks I was surrounded by snow capped hills, the fading colors of fall, and the biggest, meanest, grabbiest steelhead left on earth. By way of picture, I'll attempt to share the experience!

Some days in the late fall get a little on the chilly side so you have to wait for the sun to rise and warm the air water and you up a few degrees before launching.

As you float down the river, as hard as it is, slow down and take in all the little things that add to how special this trip is.

But lets not kid ourselves, at the end of the day its all about finding some fish!





Big bright flies help wake these sleepy giants up when the temperatures drop in the late fall.





Just hooking these beasts is a privilege in its own, let alone getting to shake a tail with a 20lbr





This holy area is a place that allows an angler the chance to realize most every steelheader's ultimate goal; a 30lb steelhead (43.5"x23.4")





and when you loosen your grip on the tail, all you can do is stand in an awe and look around, realize what steelheading is all about and how lucky we are to be able to chase these amazing creatures! Hope you enjoyed!

Gray's Best 2010

Gray's Sporting Journal recently published their top new product picks from this last year. Among them is the Ambush Fly Line, which we have been particularly excited about. They also gave props to Patagonia Guidewater waders and Fishpond PioPod. 
I have casted the Ambush in almost all of the line sizes and have fished extensively the 5wt and the 8wt. When paired with a handful of Airflo Polyleaders, the Ambush becomes probably my favorite single hand fly line. The Guidewater waders I've been rockin since March and have been really happy with them. I'm especially stoked on the wool/polyester blend on the inside of the neoprene foot that keeps your feet warm.


To check out the Gray's article click here.

Winston Two Hander Review

We had the opportunity to demo the Winston two hand line up with Jon Covich, the Winston Rep.


12'6" 6wt BII X- This is a great rod for Summer Run Steelhead in Washington, but Justin and I both agreed this will be an amazing Rainbow rod in Alaska. We used a Scandi Compact that casted very nice. Then put on the Skagit Compact and a tip on. This allowed us to realize how great of an Alaska rod this would be.


12' 3" 7/8wt BII MX - This rod was on my Christmas list and I'm glad it was. Threw a Scandi Compact with no effort. I was really excited to try the new Airflo Speydicator line on this rod and found it to be a perfect match! This was my personal Favorite.


11'6" 6/7 BII MX - This is a great longer switch rod. I have been looking for a longer rod to nymph with. This is a faster action switch rod that allowed for nice overhand casting. Casted an Compact Scandi a mile without any effort. Tried the Speydicator and this rod really handled the line well. Great line control and mend ability with the added length.


11' 7wt BII X- This is a nice switch rod. A light rod that could be casted all day overhand without fatigue. Slightly slower action than the longer Winston switch, but still a faster action rod. This rod would be a good beach rod for adult silvers, pinks, and a good steelhead nymphing rod.


13'3" 7/8wt BII X- If I was to pick one Two Handed rod for Steelhead for the Winston set up this rod would be it. Casted the Compact Scandi with now effort and was bombing casts! I have fished this rod with Skagit lines, tips, and big flies. This rod was the favorite with the other guys in the shop.


The Winston Two hand line up is impressive. I enjoyed all the rods that I casted. You can stop by the shop and wiggle some of these rods. We can walk down to the city dock and you can demo cast these rods with our AirFlo compact Scandi and Compact Skagit kits.

Tying Intruder-style Steelhead Flies

Chris Ringlee is teaching a really cool class tomorrow night on Intruder-style Steelhead Flies. Ed Ward made Intruders popular and now with the amount of variations of the Intruder it has become its own style. The class is only $25 and materials are included. Chris is also teaching a Steelhead Nymph/Egg tying class coming up. Both of these classes will also be offered in January.
For info on either of these classes or to register for your spot check out our website.

Steelhead Tying Demo Instructions

For anyone who is interested in tying the pattern from Saturday morning.

Materials
- HMH Aluminum tube 2"
-Giorgio Benecchi's Iridescent Thread Blue
-Giorgio Benecchi's 12/0 Black thread
- Hareline Ice Fur Blue
- Ostrich Herl blue
-Peacock herl
-Lady Amherst tail Blue
- Rhea Blue
- Jungle Cock nails Large


Wrap the Iridescent Blue thread on the tube. Wrap to the front of the tube and secure and trim the thread.














Take The ice fur and secure it to the top of the tube.











Strip 6 pieces of blue ostrich herl and tie them onto the tub on the bottom.
















Take 5 pieces of peacock herl. Look for pieces that naturally curve with the fly. Tie them in above the ice fur.















Strip 8 lady amherst tail fibers off and tie 4 on each side of the fly. There should be material on all "4 sides" of the tube. The lady amherst gives a nice barred look to the side of the fly.















Rhea is amazing feather to work with. Stripping the feathers from the quill allows you to palmer the fibers. I will be posting on the blog about how to prepare and use rhea. For hands on training on the uses of rhea, you can sign up for one of my steelhead fly tying classes through out the winter at the shop.








Tie in the Rhea and palmer the rhea making sure to get the fibers to lay back. I wrap three times for this fly.
















Take two similar sized large Jungle Cock nails and tie one on each side of the fly. This gives a nice eye that I feel is important in this fly.















The fly is complete. I fish this fly for wild fish on the OP. All the materials move differently so this fly dances in the water. It produces some great tugs from fish!

Recent trip to the OP

Chris and I recently headed out to the Olympic Peninsula and it is looking like it is going to be a good season. Over to course of the day, Chris got a couple of salmon and hooked up with two nice steelhead and tied into one steelhead. Nymphing was the ticket and all of the fish were hooked on egg imitations.

A hen coho that Chris caught

Hooked up with some steel

I posted a full report on my blog and you can view it by clicking here.