West Coast and Great Lakes Steelhead Flies
STEELHEAD FLY FISHING AND STEELHEAD FLIES
Steelhead are native to the West Coast of North America and to the Kamchatka Peninsula region of Russia. Steelhead were also planted in the Great lakes in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, and now there are several steelhead runs in the Great Lakes watersheds. Even though the Great Lakes Steelhead Alley steelhead are the same species as the West Coast fish, the methods and flies for hunting them have evolved along their own lines. This evolution can be observed just by comparing the popular West Coast Steelhead fly patterns to the equally popular Great Lakes Steelhead Alley fly patterns. However, both groups of flies and the methods for fishing them will often work on either coast, so don't get stuck in a "regional rut" when you're on your favorite steelhead river.
Steelhead are anadromous (living in the sea and spawning in freshwater rivers) fish that were long considered to be sea-run Rainbow Trout. However, recent reclassification of the species has established the sea-run steelhead as the normal state for Rainbow Trout. Steelhead have been reclassified as members of the Pacific salmon family, and have been renamed Oncorhyncus mykiss (formerly Salmo gairdneri). Fortunately for fly anglers, the Steelhead don’t know that they’ve been reclassified, so they still take the same flies.
Steelhead are anadromous (living in the sea and spawning in freshwater rivers) fish that were long considered to be sea-run Rainbow Trout. However, recent reclassification of the species has established the sea-run steelhead as the normal state for Rainbow Trout. Steelhead have been reclassified as members of the Pacific salmon family, and have been renamed Oncorhyncus mykiss (formerly Salmo gairdneri). Fortunately for fly anglers, the Steelhead don’t know that they’ve been reclassified, so they still take the same flies.
Ten of the Best West Coast Steelhead Steelhead Flies
There are thousands of steelhead fly patterns out there today, and every one of them will entice a steelhead to strike at some point in time and on some given river. We have always maintained that steelhead fly fishing is more about the fish than about the fly. Once an angler understands the rhythm and magic of anadromous salmonid migrations, and once an angler learns to read rivers that foster steelhead runs, and learns how to read tail, riffle, pool, run, and time of day, water temperature, turbidity, flow levels and light conditions on the water that influences steelhead to be where they are on a particular day in a particular year, and learns and lives the cycles of the seasons that influence their prey, and once the angler learns to present a steelhead fly in a manner that a steelhead in any given mood will approve of, only then (after a few lifetimes) is it time to worry about fly patterns. Until you have a few seasons on the river, a few basic steelhead flies that can be fished with confidence are a necessity. Isn't it comforting to know that these are patterns that have taken thousands of steelhead? Yes, there are dozens of other great patterns that could go on this list, but that's the beauty of fly fishing, isn't it!GREEN BUTT SKUNK
FERRY CANYON
POPSICLE CONEHEAD
PURPLE PERIL
SKYKOMISH SUNRISE
EGG-SUCKING LEECH
STEELHEAD MATUKA
STREET WALKER
SPAWNING PURPLE
UNDERTAKER
