Tis The Season.........To Get a Chromer........Try, Try, Try, Try, Try....., Try, Try, Try, TUG!!!!

When water levels do this during the wintertime in Oregon, it means it it time to go steelheading

Winter steelhead have been reported in several coastal streams, and they are also in the Clackamas and Sandy along with a few other rivers. With a recent blast of rain the rivers have risen significantly, and now most of them are on the drop, or are about to crest out and start falling. That means that all of the steelhead that were itching to enter freshwater, or the ones that were stacking up down low in the rivers during the last low water event are going to scream on up to their destinations.

Wild Steelhead like this fish are really special creatures. Treat them well - you know they treat us right!

2012 Winter Steelhead - This fish was caught while my friend & I were fishing "high water". Water level was falling...

 There will be mainly hatchery run winter steelhead for the early run, but there are some really nice wild fish here and there. I saw a picture of a gorgeous wild steelhead caught on a coastal river right before the levels bumped up; so fish are in. It's time to go winter steelheading!

Swinging with a "low & slow" presentation will produce winter steelhead

 In order to catch winter steelhead on the "wet fly swing", you must alter your techniques to get your fly into the strike zone of the fish. There are various little nuances you can do with your rod/body stepping to alter your cast, mend, swing speed, etc to get your fly to the steelhead's strike zone, and those variables alone could be enough material for a chapter in a book. The main thing for winter steelhead fishing with a wet fly swing is that you need to fish with sinking tips that keep your fly down in the zone for as long as possible. You also need to fish with fly lines and equipment that helps you get that fly into the zone for that long duration, and also with ease while doing so. With the modern day of equipment it is easy to say that switch rods and spey rods get your fly out there with ease, and they handle your line  the best and with the least effort possible. Skagit heads are the lines that throw your winter steelhead flies with the most ease, and between the Rio Flight Head or the Airflo Skagit Compact, they are both great choices. You will want to have a variety of sinking tips ranging from T-8 through T-14, and that can be a whole huge topic in itself. The main point is to have appropriate sinking tips to get your fly down per the given spot. Otherwise you may be hanging up all day long or you may be getting your fly just under the surface and it is several feet deep in the spot you are fishing depending on sinking tip being too heavy or too light. Choosing flies can be confusing for winter steelhead, but it is more important to fish with three very different flies regarding color, profile, weight, materials, etc. For example a wise selection would have one large black with blue highlights large profiled fly that could be made of rabbit, ostrich, or rhea feathers. The second fly could be a orange and pink tube fly with a large bead head that is 2 inches long made of rabbit fur. The third fly could be a smaller marabou Spey style fly with no weight, or a marabou muddle minnow for that matter. Showing a fish three radically different flies, vs three flies that are all 2.5 inches long with pink materials will likely produce more while swinging. You can even use the same fly pattern in three or four different colors and sizes, and that would do the trick to make it simple. An easy setup for swinging for winter steelhead would be a skagit head looped to 7.5 feet of T-14 sinking line, and then a 4-6 foot long leader and a black with blue highlighted articulated ostrich fly. It produces for many anglers, and will work in a variety of winter steelhead conditions.  

Dead drifting egg patterns and other flies can be very productive for winter steelhead

Certain times, spots, and situations call for dead drifting flies. Many fly anglers condone it, and give an attitude to the fly anglers that chose to participate in this technique. Fact is that is completely crushes fish, and it can be a method that leads to numbers when done properly at the right place at the right time. My personal belief is that people should be open to it, and realize that it is a moral decision to put nymphing for trout as okay, but you are a terrible person if you use a Thingamabobber for steelhead. When nymphing for steelhead you can do it blindly to slotted defined water that you can assume a fish would be holding there. You can also rely on seeing fish from climbing above the river and looking into clear spots for fish holding in tailouts, heads of pools, and near boulders in runs and pools. Egg flies, trout beads, marabou flies tied for dead drifting, & steelhead style nymphs can all produce winter steelhead while doing a dead drift presentation. An easy setup that will produce winter steelhead dead drifting would be a Thingamabobber on your leader 3-5 feet above a weighted pinkish orange egg pattern with a weightless steelhead orange egg pattern tied off the first fly's hook bend. It works and it is relatively easy to rig up.

Hope you get out on the rivers; 

so you can get tight to a 

chrome bright winter steelhead!!!

Don't Let the Snow Keep You Home From Winter Steelhead Fly Fishing - March Brings The Natives

Yesterday I guided these two guys named Ken and Will, and they were a total blast to be with out on the water. They wanted to hopefully get into a winter steelhead, and the weather system the day before seemed to really threaten our possibility for getting that accomplished. We were determined to go through with our plan, and the water levels did not raise with the weather system; since all of the moisture was locked up in the form of low elevation snow. Would the cold water from the snow affect our fish catching possibilities? Getting out there and fishing would be the only way to tell.....

Admiring this chrome bright wild native Oregon winter steelhead

The first pool we fished seemed promising, but we could not muster a grab from any of the possible fish that may have been in the spot. We saw a few flashes, but nothing would make the Thingamabobber take a downward dive. The water temperature was right around 40 degrees, and I was confident that if it would raise a couple of degrees we could have some good action. They were fishing hard, thorough, and they were picking up the techniques and tactics very well; so it was just a matter of the inevitable.

What a chrome bright buck! Oregon Winter Steelhead

We got into a spot, and I set up Ken in a area where he was waded out in the middle, and I was with Will helping him with distance roll casting, when Ken yelled fish on! We both looked toward him to see a WHALE of a steelhead breach the water with a huge air. It was a total monster!!!! Literally the biggest steelhead I have seen on someone's line in person, and I was praying we could land this beast. Ken battled the fish, and got several big airs, and some insane runs. It was headed down a nasty set of rapids toward a pool with a cliff on our side of the river. It was not looking good, but you have to try. Ken worked the fish, and I was down by it close and personal. I could see that this fish would easily brake the 20 pound mark and was looking closer to the 25 pound range (especially after having someone land a 19.09 pounder last week). This fish looked well over 40 inches, and had the girth of a fall Chinook salmon, except it was a acrobatic wild male winter steelhead. Ken got the fish down to the only area where we maybe had a chance for me to scoop it with my rubber catch and release net. It was a little side pocket of calmer water above the cliff at the end of the line of being able to go downstream anymore. Unfortunately the fish went over the last ledge rock, and was in the last possible foot of water before the chafed tippet popped and the fish was free.....Ohhhhhh soooooo close......I was standing there with the net out, but never had a viable chance to scoop this fish of a lifetime for Ken. Ken, Will,  and I gave the manly bro handshakes after that insane moment! What a fish!!!!! Sooner or later one of those huge ones is going to get landed!! They are that big for a reason.......

On tight to a strong winter steelhead on a Oregon north coast stream

Now it was Will's turn to hopefully rope into something insane like that one. We fished one pool after and nothing happened as far as hookups or seeing any potential action. We went to the next spot, and I set up Will where I hooked a monster last Friday, and had a client two Mondays ago hook into a very huge fish. Will fished a few drifts through,and suddenly the Thingamabobber took a plunge. Will slammed the hooked into the corner of the fish's grill and it was game on! The fish gave a super deep sturdy battle and it seemed like it would never end. The standard big buck fight; where it just hunkers down in a fast current and wears you out. Will endured the battle, and eventually got the ocean fresh chrome bright buck to yield. It was a fish that measured at 34" long and was chrome as a dime. We admired this native beauty, and Will sent him back off into the chilly flows to continue his run upriver to this natal spawning grounds.

One stoked angler showing his awesome wild winter steelhead - Oregon north coast stream

We then went to the next spot, and it was Ken's turn to rope into some chrome. He took about three casts into the "hot zone",and he was into another chrome bright fish. It was looking like a "normal" sized steelhead, and we kind of joked how it looked small after the two previous fish. The fish fought very hard, and made some nice runs, and really put on a seriously long enduring fight. Ken steered the chrome bright native hen into the hoop of the rubber net, before we unhooked her, snapped a few pics, and sent her off into the mysterious green waters. I took the water temperature and it was now at 43 degrees; which was interesting to see how that lined up with more consistent action.  

Winter steelhead or cannonball landing in the water?

We fished a few more spots with no action, and then I decided to take them to another "honey hole". I was giving them a demonstration of where to fish the spot, and on my second cast of the demo, I got into a fish. I offered the hot fish off to one of the guys, but they insisted I kept the rod in my hand and wanted to see my fight the fish. I had a fun battle with the fish, as it ran through my fly line, and went deep in the back end of the long pool. I fought her all the way back in, only to have her zip the line away several more times. When I landed her, she was a gorgeous wild hen that was picture perfect and went about 7-8 pounds. I checked her beauty out, and sent her off into the steelhead green pool. What a day! I even got to catch a fish on my guide trip!

Steelhead of a lifetime launching an air on a downstream run

I set the guys up in the spot, and within a few casts, Ken was on tight to another chromer. It fought well, and turned out to be a fin clipped hatchery fish; so we bonked it. Ken now had some fresh winter steelhead to bring home for the table on top of the wonderful native wild winter steelhead we got to experience. What a day we had out on the water to kick of March winter steelhead fly fishing. These native winter steelhead are something you have to experience! Get yourself out on the water!!

Picture perfect hen - native wild Oregon winter steelhead

I have a few openings for the remainder of winter steelhead season for guided trips; so if you are interested get a hold of me. You can email me at fish@mckenzieangler.com or you can call me by phone (541)-232-6360.

Coast Winter Steelhead Rivers Are Getting Low.......

With not much precipitation, the coast rivers have been dropping and getting low and clear. With that, you can start putting your focus on the larger systems that take a long time to finally get into fishing shape. Smaller systems will become low and clear and the fish start to really feel the angling pressure much more easily. Recently, on my last guided trip, we faced these tough low water conditions where it was hard to not spook fish while walking down to the pools, and harder to land them once they got in the rapids and rock gardens. Between the two anglers, they battled with 5 fish, but all of them with the exception of 1 freed themselves on rocks, with headshakes, or areal acrobatics.

Fishing to several steelhead holding in a pool.......

  One fish was a large bright wild male that blasted a huge air right after the hookup, tore right between Dale and I, where I got a great glimpse of this specimen. Then it catapulted a huge air right on the leader where the impact broke the tippet, and it was back off to his early premature freedom. Right after that, Jenn struck to a Thingamabobber dunk with a bright chomer on, that released itself after a few big headshakes levered the hook from its jaws. With redemption from the steelhead gods, Jenn cast back out into the mysterious green flowing slot near the bushes with confidence from the brief chrome encounter, and the very next cast went tight! Fish on again! Yeah!!!

Fish On Tight - Winter Steelhead Fly Fishing In Oregon

It was a crazy battle with the fish, which luckily never ended as the fish "winning", by breaking the line off under the tree that was halfway across the pool. Eventually after many reel zipping runs, the fish yielded and Jenn pulled it in towards the rubber net. I scooped under it and lifted the hoop of the net around this wild beauty, but kept her in the water like an aquarium so we could check her out. 

First steelhead successfully landed! - Oregon North Coast River

We admired this acrobatic female wild winter fish, snapped a couple of pictures of Jenn's first steelhead that she has landed, and let her swim off to continue upstream. I was super stoked that her first steelhead was a wild winter steelhead. That makes it even better! We all gave each other high five's and were stoked! What a day to be out in the warm winter sunshine (oxymoron-but it was nice out for winter), and hooking up with winter steelhead!

Getting the hook out so this wild Oregon winter steelhead can swim on her way

An innocent bystander of the winter steelhead fishing

Dale on tight to a fish!

Don't Let The High Water Get You Down - Steelhead Still Take Care of Business

Swinging Through Swollen Flows

With all of the recent precipitation, I had come down with a terrible case of cabin fever, and the rains have kept the rivers full. Thoughts of how many steelhead that are just swimming by my favorite waters have been haunting me, and I had a friend visit  for a couple of days who is a fishing freakazoid. I was not going to let the swollen flows keep us on the couch thinking about chrome anymore. There is always a spot that looks like it would hold steelhead no matter how high the flows are, and we were going to put it to the test to find some of these potential spots, and hopefully hook into some winter steelhead.

Winter steelhead boiling on surface during a screaming run

We fished for two days, and the first day the river was 20" above the standard flows that everyone who fishes this river seems to prefer. The water color was a tad bit off of steelhead green, but not brown and blown out by any means. We searched for "steelhead water" and that was the hard thing to find with the bloated flows, but we knew somewhere would have water that was about "walking speed" and somewhere from 18" - 6' deep. It turns out that everywhere that fit into that water classification resulted in having a fish on, or at least a grab. In a funny way it was not to hard to figure out; since most of the water was a torrent of jet wash with heavy whitewater or boiling hydraulic pools that looked intimidating. Steelhead are not going to hold in water that would be too much work to hold in, and the slow water that we found was generally above and below rapids; so you can assume that steelhead should be holding there. Fishing with that equation resulted in 6 hookups, and only 2 fish were landed, but the high water was the reason for all of the long distance releases. All of the fish were hooked on dead drifted presentations under strike indicators, and we did not hook any fish swinging flies on this day.

Angler on tight to a large powerful winter steelhead

The second day of fishing was a totally different story. The water was still about 10" above what would be considered to be the optimal river stage, but after the day before it looked perfect. As for the fishing, it was pretty darn good out there. I hooked up with a beautiful chromer on my second cast in my second spot I fished, and the fish took the fly super aggressively. It was a beautiful wild steelhead on her way to her natal waters before I intercepted her for a brief moment of admiration.

Beautiful coastal Oregon native winter steelhead

The water was producing hookups in just about every spot we probed our flies in, but the swollen flows caused many long distance releases again. We had super amazing fishing for the last 1 1/2 hours of the day, as we both hooked up with a 9 fish, and landed only 3 of them again (one wrapped on wood and straightened the hook). All of the fish again were hooked on dead drift presentations, and none were hooked on a tight line swing presentation. We fished both methods, and the dead drifts were getting all of the attention. The high flows seems to aid in the fish ripping the hooks out during the battles; since the line pressure would be so intense. The best part is hooking up and playing these steelhead, but it is always frustrating wondering exactly what the fish may have looked like that escaped before you got to land them. Luckily, Eliot ended up successfully landing this coastal beauty to admire.....

Angler admiring this gorgeous Oregon coastal winter steelhead - January 27, 2012

The thing that this fish made us wonder about was how many more looked like this that got off.....? That is what keeps us angling for more.....

I Wish Tight Lines for All!!!

New Video - Winter Steelhead North Coast 1/9/2012

I have been a blog slacker lately (not posting as much as I should be), and I will be getting on board again. I have lots of footage and pics to display for you, and here is a video to start with. This is a video of last Monday the 9th of January 2012, and it is on a North Coast River on a day where the conditions were more or less "spot on" for good steelheading. Fishing was solid at the start, and as the light angles brightened, and the water level dropped that extra inch or two; conditions seemed to get tougher. We saw plenty of fish, but they were not cooperating for the numbers we fished to, but you have to be happy to hook one these wary fish in a day of fishing anyhow. Having several of them on, and landing a few fish is always a good day in my book! Enjoy watching the "big one on" battle!

If you are interested in trips that focus on swinging skagit heads on two handed / spey rods, using switch rods, nymphing / dead drifting to steelhead, or if you want to experience all of the above contact me for a trip. Many rivers close on March 31st for winter run steelhead, and January is already halfway over. This winter steelhead season has been providing wonderful fly fishing opportunities thus far; so get yourself out there!If you are interested in booking a winter steelhead fly fishing trip contact me at (541)232-6360 (phone) or fish@mckenzieangler.com(email). I can run trips for "Walk in and Wade" or on rivers that require either a drift boat or cataraft; so get a hold of me if you want to enjoy a wonderful day of adventure on the water!

Winter Steelhead Fishing Has Been Hot For the Start of the Season

Steelhead fishing has been hot on many Portland area rivers, and it has been more about what river to be at when. During the higher water, the smaller rivers were pumping out numbers of fish, and as the levels have fallen out, the larger rivers have come into shape and fishing has been good. Just about every coastal river has decent to good numbers of winter steelhead, and things should only improve with the next series of storms; so we'll see what the next water events bring in.

Beautiful Mint Chrome Winter Steelhead Taken on a Fox's Fertilizer

 Enjoy the pictures of the last few times out on the North Coast Rivers! I will be posting more, and I have plenty of video footage I need to edit and get online for your viewing pleasure. Stay tuned.....

Probing a Tailout To A Holding Fish Above a Heavy "Falls" Type Rapid

Fishing A Small Creek After A Large Dosage of Rain When Everything is Blown Out

About to Lose the "Big One" Through A Heavy Set of Rapids

Fishing Below A Serious Obstacle For Steelhead To Hurdle

On Tight With A Trophy Steelhead That Gave One Serious Battle

On Tight To A Chrome Bright Steelhead When Everyone Said We Needed Rain

Not Bad Hooking Up On Your Third Cast Of The Morning

Added Bonus While You're Out Fishing

Beautiful Rose Colored Cheeks on this Handsome Male Steelhead

Appreciating A Gorgeous Chrome Bright Ocean Fresh Steelhead

On Tight With A LargeWinter Steelhead

Chromer Taken on Pink Marabou Leech

It's Winter Steelhead Time - Officially!

There have been catches of winter steelhead for about two weeks, but as of now it is the time where you can go out and target them. Many of the rivers towards the coast are falling into shape, and should fish well for the next several days. My friend went to a coastal river west of Portland today, and the river was in perfect shape (steelhead green), and there were several fish that were taken from bank fisherman. My friend hooked up with a fresh winter chromer before it gave itself a long distance release. At least he felt some power on the end of his fly line! There was also a chrome bright Chinook that he witnessed someone battling before the person with them messed it up attempting to net it.

From here on out you can officially call it winter steelhead season, and that will remain the scenario until the end of March. Winter steelhead season is a time where you can get out and enjoy the outdoors; while most Oregonians seem to suffer from "Cabin Fever". Even on the days where you do not connect with a fish; you are still out in the dreamy Oregon mossy laden forests taking it all in. When you have a day to get out, go for it, because more often than not, you will find yourself gaining more knowledge about the fisheries, and that leads to more success in your steelheading.

Get yourself out there!!!

A Typical Oregon Coastal Winter Steelhead Stream