As fall rains arrive and Oregon's coastal rivers begin to swell, I start gearing up for winter steelhead. Though salmon fishing is hard to beat in October and November, I excitedly anticipate the first report of an early winter steelhead in the rivers. During the Chum runs on the Miami and Kilchis Rivers in November, occasionally a chrome bright steelhead is reported caught. However, the traditional steelhead opener for most anglers is after Thanksgiving. From mid- November thru December, most of the fish returning are hatchery stocks. The big natives follow these hatchery fish. In November and December during the hatchery returns, you will probably find the rivers crowded with anxious steelheaders. I've found that with the colder and wetter months of January and February the crowds thin down. This is when the big fish are returning but because the wild natives must be released, it keeps a lot of the guys at home.

Late January thru March is my favorite time for steelheading. The rivers are deserted and steelhead up to 20 pounds are lurking in my favorite holes. It's not easy fishing as winter steelheading requires time, patience and confidence. Attitude is important. You have to set out believing you will hook this magnificent fish every time you put on your waders and hit the water. If you're new to the game of steelhead fishing, I recommend starting with a good book or video on the subject. I recommend Trey Combs' "Steelhead Fishing and Flies" or John Shewey's "Flyfishing for Summer Steelhead". Lani Waller has three excellent video's on steelhead fishing, "Fly Fishing for Pacific Steelhead", "Advanced Fly Fishing for Steelhead", and "Fly Fishing for Trophy Steelhead".

Steelhead fishing requires a good rod. My personal choice is a 10ft. 8wt. with a medium-fast progressive action. This action will cast both floating and sinking tip lines accurately. Casting ease is critical as a steelhead angler will probably make hundreds of casts each day. A longer rod will allow better roll casting and line mending which is more critical in steelhead fishing than other types of fishing. The extra length helps steer the fly down and across after mending the line. A rod with a strong mid-section helps lift the line and set the hook solidly on upstream takes when fishing small pocket water.

A good disc drag is important when choosing a reel for steelhead. Your reel should be able to hold at least 100 yds of backing as these fish can be powerful fighters and a long run is not unusual.

Selecting a good fly line for winter steelhead is important and a key factor to success since winter water levels are always fluctuating. Different water depths and flow rates can cause the best steelheader frustration if they don't have the right line with them. I like to keep things simple so I tend to rely on a shooting head system and can highly recommend using one of Rio's systems. Their 15' Versi-Tip or their new 24' Dredger systems are super. Another advantage to shooting headsis that they simplify your fishing vest. Their's no need for extra spools or reels. I only need to pack one rod and reel, a box of flies, leaders, tippets and a shooting head wallet. The following is a list of what I've found to be the most effective tips: 15' Sink Tip Type 3 (3-4ips.), 15' Sink Tip Type 6 (6-7ips.), 24' Sink Tip 150 grain (4.75ips.), 24' Sink Tip 200 grain (5.25ips.), 24' Sink Tip 300 grain (5.75ips.), 24' Sink Tip 400 grain (7.25ips.). In addition, a long belly floating line could prove useful. Another important element of winter steelhead fishing is your leader choice. I prefer a hand tied leader as I feel it is superior to a knotless leader and allows better control of the fly. With a hand tied leader you can control the taper to the exact length. You will generally find me using a 9-12ft leader when fishing a floating line and a 3-6ft leader when fishing with a sink-tip line. Depending on water conditions, fly size, and the size of fish I'm after, my tippets will run from twelve to eight-pounds.

There are so many fly choices available and it can be challenging to select patterns to attract Northwest steelies. I love tying and admire all the different steelhead flies, but most flies are tied to attract fisherman's eyes more than the steelhead. Basically, try to keep your fly selections simple, specially when just starting. If the river is on the high or colored side, use bigger, brighter flies like the Pink Krystal Bugger, Winter's Hope, or a General Practitioner. When water is low and clear, use a smaller more subtle shade of pink such as a Cotton Candy or maybe a Steelhead Volcano.

Head for the coastal streams like the Nestucca, Three Rivers, Kilchis and the Salmon as these are consistently good choices from Mid-November through March. See you on the river!!!

Acknowledgements
Thank you to Rich Youngers (flyfish@creeksideflyfishing.com) for permission to reproduce this article on TotalFlyFishing.com. This article cannot be reproduced anywhere else without his consent.

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Rich and Kathy Youngers run www.creeksideflyfishing.com, the website for Creekside Fly Fishing in Salem, Oregon. More informative articles about fishing in Oregon can be found on their site here: http://www.creeksideflyfishing.com/articles.htm.

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