Who else is religous on Hooking a steelhead on the fly? ?

[RightPlace-RightTime]

Who else is religous on hooking steelhead on the fly.  I know some great rivers.  On the coast but two that are very special and they are never talked about.  Im always looking for someone to tag along.  One is a wading river.  the other is only accessable with a pontoon.  Let me know if anyone is interested.  I fish thurs and fri only.
Hope to hear back
You can look at my profile to see some of them i have taken. 

[HawkenBob]

Looking at your pics I see you like those Glacial green ones too. Ive spent a serious amount of time out there fishing. Know the West end really good.

Have 3 pontoons, Drifter and a 8 wt. Never fly fished for them much but the alure is there. I know a few "parking garages" I could get a fly in.

Also have some private waters on the QIN that are pontoonable and very productive. 

I also must mention I have Fridays off too I guess. Although Im not highly skilled at the bug rod. I have a serious amount of knowledge of the Oly Penn and its piscatorial inhabitents. Im not a "purist" at all. Just love and respect the outdoors.

Maybe we could "trade" a trip.

[huntnphool]

I hit the fly section on the Kalama every once in a while, it can be fun spotting them first and trying to get them to take.

[jackelope]

i am religious about trying to hook steelhead on the fly, however as the old saying goes....thats why they call it fishing and not catching...or hooking. i have a 7 wt single hander, a 9wt single hander, a 9 wt spey rod and a 16' lavro driftboat. these are mostly used on the north sound -s- rivers. never fished the peninsula.

[ICEMAN]

Haven't tried with a fly in probably 15 years. Miss it...

Way back I met Jim Teeny in Lacey, then on the Toutle before St. Helens blew.... good role model at that time for fly fishing.

[boneaddict]

ME ME ME me me me em me me me!!!!!  I'm an addict.    If any user logs on here as addictedtosteel, it might be me. LOL   Now some lurker has their name.

[rasbo]

tried fly fishin in Idaho,kept snapping the fly off.Perhaps some of the fly guys could put on a school or session for us  :dunno:I would hike into se mountains and tie a dry stick on my line with a fly 36" below redneckish but it worked

[boneaddict]

Its all about practice and timing.  The best practice is out in the lawn with a bucnh of chickens and a piece of yarn instead of a fly.  If your rod is coming forward before your line is behind you, you will snap it and sometimes pop your fly.  You can also collapse it and it snaps on the rocks.  Same problem, no fly, or you bust your fly and don't know it and you have a fly without a hook.  Your  line needs to start coming forward just as it extends behind you.  Then your rod and kenetics do the work, not your arm.

[Intruder]

At one point I was an Islamic Extremist when it came to religious pursuit of steelhead on the fly.  I don't fish for steelhead nearly as often as I did 5-15 years ago and I sometimes even throw bait at em now in the dead of winter on the Clearwater.  Overall though, there's nothin like fly flickin for steelys.

[groundhog]

I haven't used anything but a fly rod for about twenty years. Most of my steelhead fishing lately has been in Alaska. I get a little spoiled up there but I love just gettin out on the water. I don't have to catch fish to have a good time. Using shooting heads like Teeny 200, 300,350 etc etc are very effective but I also like to use a WF floating line and split shot. Some of the purist (like Jim Teeny) give me a hard time for using split shot but it can really be effective! I also get a kick out of skating dries but it is not the most effective technique. What kind of lines are you using on the peninsula?

[Firstlight]

I love to catch heads on the fly rod. Its just not the way to play the numbers game. When Heads come back to the river they are obviously not feeding so your looking for a agression or instinct bite. It works the same with bait but you can cover way more holding water with it . I am not putting down fly fishing. I luv it. I just prefer to do it for feeding fish. ( Trout )  If my favorite rivers however went to fly only I sure as hell wouldnt stop fishin. Id be flickin flies just as much as I would throw hardware and bait.

[RightPlace-RightTime]

Well.  Christmas Eve day will be the start for me.  All the way through the end of March.  I tie all my own flies,  They are all articulating with trailer hooks, very cool production swimmers.  Im always down.  Thurs and fri are my days.  Some pm's and number exchaning can take place if any of you are really serious.  Hope to hear back

[jackelope]

teeny is a legend but i'm not sure i'd call him a purist with his borderline leaded lines and weighted flies....he's very good at what he does, and his flies and lines catch fish....but purist is probably not what i'd call him.

[walt]

Me too.  I haven't fished the west side much but if you ever want to float the ronde I know a thing or two

[fishseeker]

I have always wanted to catch a steelhead on a fly but have never learned to flyfish! Have a DB I built(only took me 12years to build LOL)and just recieved a custom Dan Craft 7wt. I will learn!!!

[bankwalker]

i fly fished 1 1/2 solid years for them, learned all the tips and trick possible and never even got a tug. it was really annoying when i would go nymph or swing flies through a hole and not get a bite then go back through with my float rod and nail fish out of every hole. lol

now im in a new "swing" of things with spoons. so far im 0-4...im learning the holes all over again and where the fish hit a swinging spoon and will pick up fly fishing again next spring. hopefully they will hit a swinging fly in the same general area as they do with spoons. i know they dont hit jigs or drift gear/bait in the same holes they hit spoons in.

[RightPlace-RightTime]

My sayin about flyfishing is. 

Your hands dont smell like fish unless you catch one!

[groundhog]

Jackalope,
You are right. I wouldn't call him a purist either. I misspoke on that sentence. In fact I can't believe I said purist and Teeny in the same sentence. I have flyfished for over thirty years but am not a purist. Not even close. Personally I don't see any difference between throwing a weighted line and throwing split shot. Another problem with the heavily weighted lines is that they snag a lot of fish.

Teeny is about promoting his products so he only fishes his lines, flies and products. I can't blame him from a business perspective but personally I think it really limits the amount of fun he can have. He is extremely effective at catching salmon but he has fished with us in Alaska for 25 years and he has yet to catch a rainbow on a mouse pattern.
 Too each his own. One minute I might be skating dries and the next I will be chucking split shot. I think as long as we are on the river having fun it is all good.

[Intruder]

While I wouldn't call Jim Teeny a purist I don't think that you automatically qualify for the bait chuckers club just because you throw a sinktip line.  If you look at the guys who developed the Skagit Spey casting techniques, they all throw sinktips and weighted flys.  They're about as hard core as it gets w/ a fly rod.  They are some of the best tiers, line builders, rod designers, and casting innovators in the world.     

[groundhog]

Intruder ,
I agree. Sink tip lines have their purpose and Jim Teeny is one of the foremost innovators of sink tips. When I think of a purist I think of someone that uses no weighted lines, lead, or weighted flies what so ever. A true purist is someone that knows they can catch more fish using other techniques but chooses to flyfish in what they believe is the purist form.
Personally, I just like to catch fish. I have spent many days skating dries for Steelhead but only when it was productive. Don't get me started on spey rods because you probably won't like my (single handed) old school opinion.

[jackelope]

i throw a 2 hander with a skagit line...although i suck at it. i'm not a purist at all...i love moal leeches.
 
i love to catch fish but the challenge is what gets me...if there is nothing to catch with a flyrod however, i will be the first to put it down and grab a gear rod if need be.  i respect mr teeny fully by the way....i don't think any less of him because of his tactics. he is a steward for a sport we all love...more power to him.

[huntnphool]

One of my all time favorite books is One Mans Steelhead Shangri-La well worth the read if you are into catching steelhead in Washington on the fly. Its not a how to book but rather memoirs of Ralph E. Wahl

Here is a little about this NW fisherman

http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/cpnws/wahl/Wahlhist.htm

[jackelope]

dec hogan's passion for steelhead is a great book. he's a skagit legend.
http://www.flyfishusa.com/newsletter/102206/

[tlbradford]

http://www.amazon.com/Steelhead-Fishing-Flies-Trey-Combs/dp/093660803X

This is still my all time favorite.  It gives about a 100 patterns with a little history behind each one.  It highlights some of the founding fathers of Washington Flyfishing too.

I love flyfishing, but not when I am casting sinking lines or splitshot.  It takes some of the joy out of it for me.

I love to catch heads on the fly rod. Its just not the way to play the numbers game. When Heads come back to the river they are obviously not feeding so your looking for a agression or instinct bite.

The smmer steelhead runs will actively feed.  They take their time coming up the river and it isn;t the mad rush like the winter runs.

[Intruder]

dec hogan's passion for steelhead is a great book. he's a skagit legend.
http://www.flyfishusa.com/newsletter/102206/

Dec and I used to be pretty good friends.... fished w/ him on the Sky and Skagit a number of times.  He ended up getting divorced and kinda got out of fishing scene a couple years later.  Last time I talked to him he was down in like Salt Lake City working as an EMT or Fireman or sumthin like that.  Took me a while to track him down.  I haven't talked w/ him in years now.

If you want to learn some good info on Spey casting try and get into one of Ed Ward's clinics.  Ed is a great caster and fisherman.  He's a super cool guy too.   

[RightPlace-RightTime]

I have fished with these guys and become buds with his son.  They are a great service and know a ton.  Take a look at this site.  I would recommend these guys to anyone. 

www.flyfishsteelhead.com   Dennis is the dad,  Mike is the son.  Great people.  Cool website

[RightPlace-RightTime]

Anyone want to go with me. Possibly split gas, but im heading over to fish one of my hatchery steelhead rivers on Christmas Eve day, im leaving the DesMoines area around 4 am.  Fish till noon then head back home. Be home around 330ish pm.  If anyone is intersted let me know.  Its a really good day to fish.  Less people and the fish are in.

[jackelope]

If you want to learn some good info on Spey casting try and get into one of Ed Ward's clinics.  Ed is a great caster and fisherman.  He's a super cool guy too.   

aaron from river run anglers in carnation holds  a free spey casting clinic in fall city or in carnation on a regular basis...like once a month or something along those lines. not sure if it happens during the winter, but a lot during the summer.http://www.speyshop.com/


i heard the same stories about dec hogan...i never fished with him but my stepdad has...mike kinney is also part of those classes, and he's also a local legend...you probably know of kinney as well.

dennis dickson is also another guy who knows his stuff...nobody probably knows the stilly system better than dickson.

speydays NW 2009 has moved from the sky to the skagit FYI...i've been once as it was held just a few miles up the road from my house...it is fun:
http://www.speydaysnw.com/

[RightPlace-RightTime]

I work with Aarron.  He is my lead at work, IM a mechanic for alaska airlines.  He has taught me alot and hooked me up with gear and such.  He is a good guy.  Small world.  His shop and business he does on the side.

[Intruder]

[ i heard the same stories about dec hogan...i never fished with him but my stepdad has...mike kinney is also part of those classes, and he's also a local legend...you probably know of kinney as well.

dennis dickson is also another guy who knows his stuff...nobody probably knows the stilly system better than dickson.

I've met Mike and Dennis but don't know them well.  John Farrar is another one of those guys that fishes the Skagit.  I've talked him a bunch on the river but again, don't really know him that well.  My buddy Ed knows John and Mike real well though.   

[Bearhunter]

Dec Hogan surely is a Legend.  Back in High School I interviewed him for a paper I was doing, very interesting fellow he was.  He used to spend the entire season up at Howard Miller Steelhead park on the Skagit guiding and fishing, a real flyfishing fanatic.  He has been gone for years now.  We just lost another Skagit river Legend, Rob Ensley.  He no longer guides for winter skagit river steelhead.  To wet and cold he went south and guides down in Mexico now in the Winter.

[BuckHunter23]

You could always call an old buddy to go fishin with ya, especially one that has nothing going on Christmas eve!  Just an idea?!?!

[RightPlace-RightTime]

With all this snow I dont think I can make it over there,  Im really bummed.  Then of course we have to deal with all the flooding after this mess of snow is done.  I have a couple of peeps that want to go.  I cant wait to head out.  Im good on thur and fri's for your plans if you want to go.  Just let me know