Winter Steelhead, Consistency Is King
Let’s be honest, winter steelheading is a pretty tough game.
Summer runs can get downright giddy in comparison to the cold, dark days of winter. Swinging flies in tough conditions, for migrating fish whose numbers are small, when they are there at all, is just not for the faint of heart. Although the odds are slim, the rewards are great. There’s nothing like the feel of a heavy winter fish on the line.
In every fishing challenge, we try to stack the odds in our favor. To do that effectively, we must first understand why the fishing is challenging. In the case of winter steelhead, there are a couple of factors in play, which make or job harder than normal.
Winter fish are on a mission. All steelhead spawn at the same time. The timing of the runs is just when the fish enter the river. Summer fish come in early and hang out in the river, becoming more like trout in their habits. They have nothing to do but hang out and grab flies. Winter fish come in hot to spawn. Fish entering the river in March may only be in the river for a week or two. They have a sense of purpose and that purpose does not include eating flies.
All fish are less aggressive in cold water. Hanging out in 40 degree water doesn’t put any of us in the best mood. It’s the same for steelhead. You will simply get fewer eats from any given fish in cold water than in warmer water.
Of course the biggest reason that winter steelhead are so tough to catch is there are just fewer of them. Fewer every day, it seems. The fish who do make the winter run are covering a lot of water quickly, so any time you are swinging the fly in winter you have to wonder if there are even fish to see it. Well, don’t give up. The fish are there and I’m going to give you a tip on how to catch them.
CONSISTENCY IS KING.
Swinging flies for winter steelhead is all about covering water effectively. It’s not just a matter of
Read More »4 Tips to Get You Roll Casting Like a Pro
You’ve just spotted a big head break the surface on the far bank, gulping down a struggling mayfly drifting in the foam. The excitement of discovering the trophy trout feeding triggers your body’s adrenaline glands, and almost instantly, you feel your heart begin to pound, thump thump….thump thump. With the confined quarters and lacking room for a back cast, you realize your only viable option to reach the fish is going to be with an accurate roll cast. As you quickly try to present your mayfly imitation in the feeding lane, hoping that the big fish will mistake it for a natural, your fly shoots left of your intended target and lands in an overhanging branch above the fish’s lie, immediately putting down the big fish. With the fishing opportunity blown and the disappointment setting in, you find yourself asking, “What did I do wrong?”
As an avid small stream trout fisherman, I’ve lived out this exact situation many times, and felt the disappointment followed by a poorly executed roll cast. It wasn’t until I took the time to understand and learn the mechanics of proper roll casting, that I began finding myself capitalizing on fishing situations that called for precise roll casting. Looking back now on my past roll casting insufficiency, it’s clear I wasn’t at all, alone. There’s many anglers that struggle with roll casting, and that’s why I’ve decided to provide a short list of tips that’s intended to get anglers roll casting like pros.
Read More »The Deschutes River Steelhead Camp, Sept 11-20, 2017
The Deschutes Steelhead Camp, operated by Jeff Hickman’s Fish The Swing, is one of our most popular trips and many anglers return year after year.
In order to accommodate more anglers we are excited to be extending this year’s trip with an additional group. The trip is broken into 3 groups fishing Sept 11-14, Sept 14-17 & Sept 17-20. You could choose to join us for 3, 6 or all 9 days. The cost for each 3 day session is $2200 and includes guided fishing, instruction, lodging and chef-prepared meals.
The Deschutes steelhead camp is a blast. Jeff’s operations, both here in the states and at his lodge in BC, have a fun mellow vibe. Just good times and good fishing, no attitude or pressure. The Deschutes is a beautiful river and has a fantastic steelhead run. We fish the lower river. The Deschutes is a major cold water tributary of the mid-Columbia, so steelhead bound for all of the rivers of the upper system stray into the lower Deschutes to take advantage of the cool oxygen rich water. You have a chance to catch steelhead that are headed for Idaho there.
The Deschutes is one of the best rivers anywhere to catch a steelhead on a floating line. Casting a dry line is a real pleasure, but when a big steelhead rockets up through eight feet of fast water to eat a small traditional fly, it’s anything but relaxing. The steep canyon walls offer us plenty of shaded water through the day to take advantage of the dry line bite, and even wake dry flies. It’s super fun fishing!
We run up river in jet boats to the campsite and use that as our base. There are only a few outfitters licensed to run jet boats on the river. The jets give us the ability to access fresh water any time we like, which is huge. After we get settled in at camp and have a bite to eat, we hit the river and fish until dark. The next two days we start fishing before first light and fish until lunch. We return to camp for a hot lunch and a big nap, then head back out in the afternoon as the shadows fall on the river and fish until dark. Then we have a big dinner (the food is awesome) maybe a drink or two, and hit the sack. The last day we fish until lunch and head back to the boat ramp.
Jeff and his crew set the camp in advance. You arrive to a big stand-up tent with cots and sleeping pads. All you need to bring is a sleeping bag and pillow. There is a screened dining tent, a tent with a camp toilet and a shower tent. There is electricity from a bank of solar cells and batteries. It’s ridiculously nice. There are also ample public composting toilets along the river if you prefer those.
The river is beautiful and the stars at night are amazing. You can see the milky way clear as a bell. The water is beautiful. There are great steelhead runs everywhere you look and dramatic rapids. It’s fishing
Read More »Sunday Classic / Gary Merriman Ties The Tarpon Toad
I’VE KNOWN GARY MERRIMAN FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS AND ONLY FOUND OUT ABOUT A YEAR AGO THAT HE WAS THE CREATOR OF THE TARPON TOAD.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Simon Says Streamers
Here’s an excellent streamer tutorial from Simon Gawesworth.
This video, part of RIO’s “How To” series, features two of my favorite people. Simon Gawesworth and Rob “Silent Bob” Parkins throw streamers on the South Fork and Simon does an excellent job imparting serious wisdom.
Simon covers virtually every technique you need to be a successful meat chucker. If you’re looking to up your streamer game, this is a great place to start.
WATCH THIS VIDEO AND LEARN TO FISH STREAMERS.
Read More »Strike Indicators, What Matters to Me
DO STRIKE INDICATORS SPOOK FISH?
There is a lot of debate over whether strike indicators spook fish. I’m not going to beat around the bush on this one folks. I truly believe that most of the time they don’t. Especially if you rule out calm and slow moving shallow water. Only when I’m dealing with really spooky fish, do I downsize and dull down the color of my strike indicators. The other 80% of the time I think the fish pretty much just find them interesting, possibly a tasty morsel, or just another piece of trash floating over their heads.
What I really think we should be doing is looking at the other side of the coin. In my opinion, we should worry less about spooking fish with our indicators, and worry more about matching the correct size strike indicator to the type of water and rig we’re fishing. That makes much more sense to me, anyway. Now I know there’s lots of you probably saying this is obvious rookie stuff, Kent. I hear you all loud and clear, but bare with me a minute, because I still find myself having to explain to anglers why it’s a good idea to carry different sizes and colors of strike indicators on the water. And as long as I’m doing that, there’s a need for this information to be out there for people to read.
HERE’S HOW I GO ABOUT CHOOSING WHAT STRIKE INDICATORS I USE ON THE WATER.
I Fish Big Bright Indicators For: High Turbulent Water, Harsh Glare, Big Heavy Flies & Split-Shot
It doesn’t make any sense to use a strike indicator that’s too small to stay afloat in turbulent water. Some will argue with me on this, but I believe it’s much easier to see strikes when the indicator is above the surface, not below it. Same goes for harsh glare conditions. If you can’t see your indicator how are you going to be able to see the strikes? Upsize your strike indicator and change to a bright color if needed. Lastly, when you’re going to be fishing big heavy flies or lots of split-shot, you’ll need to go bigger with your indicator to keep it afloat. It’s also important to remember that strike indicators aren’t just used for seeing strikes. We also use them to control and maintain the depth at which we want our flies drifting.
I Fish Small Dull Colored Indicators For
Read More »Sunday Classic / Streamer Retrieves For Different Current Speeds
I’ve talked in great detail about streamer fishing since I began writing articles for Gink & Gasoline. Most of my time has been spent talking about color and pattern choice, streamer gear/rigging for both big and small water and how to locate and target prime trout water with streamers. One area of streamer fishing I’ve yet to talk about in detail is retrieve speed and candor with streamers.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Michigan Fly Tying
Those boys in Michigan are taking streamer fishing to a whole new level!
Simply some of the most stunning streamer patterns I’ve ever seen. I’ll be whipping some of these babies up next time I hit the water. Don’t be a loser, tie some for your local trout stream and get out and catch that monster.
MICHIGAN STREAMER TYING
Read More »The Pregnant Scud: Tying Video
By Herman deGala
In the early 80’s I had a design professor by the name of Herb Kobayashi from Hawaii who tried to instill in us the concept of shibui.
Shibui has no direct translation into English but describes the aesthetic of simplistic, elegant beauty not only in design, art, processes and of course swordplay.
As I look at some of my favorite fishing flies they embody some of those same principles, Barr’s Copper John, Rim’s RS2, Mercer’s Twisted Nymph and of course Craven’s Jujubaetis. There are many more examples out there. They typically use very few materials and they mimic the behavior and profile of the natural. They are usually not very gaudy, but a good attractor has it’s place.
For my first post for Gink and Gasoline I share with you my favorite scud pattern. I kept in mind those concepts from Professor Kobayashi not only when I designed this fly, but also when I fish, produce videos, photograph and share good times on the water with friends and family.
WATCH THIS VIDEO AND LEARN TO TIE THE PREGNANT SCUD
Read More »Dreaming of Bonefish
I’ve just wrapped up what turned out to be one of the best bonefish seasons in recent memory, but it doesn’t stop me from dreaming.
As I write this I’m on a plane to Abaco for the last G&G Bonefish School of the season, and I’m already missing it. This was a great season and the anglers who joined the schools found themselves in the presence of some very big bonefish. A handful of them landed their biggest bones to date, a handful over 10 pounds. I can’t tell you how rewarding that is for me, especially when I have watched these anglers develop their skills and worked with them to make it happen. I caught some pretty nice fish myself this year, but it’s not my fish that make me proud. So after a season like that, what do you dream about?
I’m sure I’m far from alone in that I dream about fishing. I don’t mean aspiring to goals in fishing, I mean literally dreaming about it. I spend plenty of nights on the water, from the comfort of my bed, but over the years those dreams have evolved in interesting ways. I used to have stressful fishing dreams. Dreams where I’d be watching a strike indicator drift uninterrupted through the same run time and time again. Those were nightmares. I’ve had crazy fishing dreams, including one where I landed a fish who transformed into Kiera Knightly on the bow of the boat. Not a nightmare. Recently my dreams have been extremely detailed in the setups and presentations and most of them have been set on the flats of the Bahamas.
In these dreams, interestingly enough, I’m often not the one doing the fishing. Sometimes I’m just watching from the seat of the skiff, as I spend plenty of time doing when I’m awake. One of these recent dreams found me on the boat with my friend John Van Vleet of Scientific Anglers. John is as good natured a soul as you will ever find and you’d be hard pressed to find a better guy to spend a day on a boat with. No Ms. Knightly, but a great guy.
In the dream, John and I were way back in the back country with Andros South guide Torrie Bevins. John was on the bow and we weren’t actively fishing. I think Torrie was taking a leak off the platform, when
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