Northern California Steelhead

[Dylan Cluver]

My grandparents live in the central valley above Sacramento, and I will be heading that way in early November. Does anyone have any west coast steelhead experience, such as flies, leaders, etc. These are not the same kind of steelies one would find farther north, they average 5 lbs with 10lbs being rare. Not exactly sure what to throw at them. will be fly fishing only!

[Quillback]

Used to fish for steelhead in Washington State, but I never fly fished for them. Steelheader.net is a forum you could check out, there's a separate forum topic for fly fishing, not much activity anymore on that site, but there's a lot of archived stuff. I know that the fly guys always talked about egg patterns for steelhead.

[cnr]

They seem to like some bigger gaudier patterns out west that we do not use in the Michigan tribs. I think a lot of that is local custom and tradition. Using egg flies and nymphs are common in both areas from what I read. If it is bigger water and there's enough room to effectively swing a two fly rig (egg and nymph dropper) with an indicator I would start there. They are still just trout and a good presentation of a natural food source imitation always works. If the water is colored up use bigger flies and if clear go smaller, pretty obvious but some folks seem to get in the habit of not refining their presentation. Oh, and make sure you buy your flies locally that are tied for Steelies, the standard trout hooks won't work for such a large fish. A lot of the flies you will use will be very similar to what you would use here in both size and color, but the hook needs to be heavier gauge material. Basically, just pretend you are nymphing for Missouri trout and you will do fine.

Never underestimate the value of a local guide though. That's the most valuable tool you can employ on new water!

Here's one from last Spring in Michigan.

Man I love to catch these fish!!!

And the infamous joeD minutes before he was busted by a really big fish in the run he was fishing.

Sometimes it's just as much fun watching others get a beating by such an awesome, hard fighting fish.

[Dylan Cluver]

thanks for the tips I really appreciate it! Maybe I should be heading north instead of west!