Bill Kiene semi-retired
07-27-2014, 09:37 AM
This is an amazing fishery that is made up of hundreds of rivers from Nor Cal up through OR, WA and I guess even AK?
A big problem with these rivers is the higher water temps we find at this time of year. Some rivers have cold springs and/or colder tributaries that can help cool off the water. Fish will hold in these areas and in the deeper fastest runs along with the salmon.
Mostly these fish would be coming into the "long rivers" like all our valley rivers, the Klamath, Trinity, Rogue, Umpqua, Deschutes and many others to the north. These rivers are open to Pacific ocean year round for the most part.
These fish are made up of the smaller Half-pounders and small adults with some larger Steelhead exceptions.
On the Valley rivers we swing a lot of wet insect imitations from about size 8 to 14 on 0x to 3x tippet depending on the rod size we are using.
Up north on the more famous Steelhead rivers many swing, on average, a size 6 dark winged classic Steelhead pattern.
Top Steelheader Al Perryman says that he doesn't like to go below 2x for even smaller Steelhead.
Mike at the Eureka Fly Shop has his customers swing small size 8/10 wets on 1x tippet on the Klamath River.
Jason Hartwick never goes below 8# Maxima UltraGreen when swinging for Steelhead.
In July/Aug/Sept we like to go our extremely early at first light for Steelhead. Most use a floating line, longer leader and a darker unweighted fly at this time. Some swing Muddler Minnow patterns on top to bring up fish. If it is bright and hot we will take a big break from around noon to 3pm. We learned this in the 1970s from legendary Steelheader Joe Shirshac.
When swinging flies on a floating line we are always looking for runs with low light levels. Naturally this is early and late in the day as well as shade from the way the canyons run. Over cast from fog , clouds and even smoke from fires can help.
If you can go out with someone who does this every year it can really help to be able to "read the water". Going out with a local fly fishing guide who will teach you how to swing for Steelhead is another way to get going fast.
I have been swinging unweighted wet flies on a floating line for Steelhead for almost 50 years now and I think it is some of the best fishing we have in Nor Cal and on many other rivers to the north.
The Klamath River is my favorite river for this type of fishing because it has lots of small fish, some medium size and a few larger ones too. The Klamath River fish can come in large schools that aggressively take flies.
http://www.kiene.com/portfolio-view/klamath-river/
.
.
A big problem with these rivers is the higher water temps we find at this time of year. Some rivers have cold springs and/or colder tributaries that can help cool off the water. Fish will hold in these areas and in the deeper fastest runs along with the salmon.
Mostly these fish would be coming into the "long rivers" like all our valley rivers, the Klamath, Trinity, Rogue, Umpqua, Deschutes and many others to the north. These rivers are open to Pacific ocean year round for the most part.
These fish are made up of the smaller Half-pounders and small adults with some larger Steelhead exceptions.
On the Valley rivers we swing a lot of wet insect imitations from about size 8 to 14 on 0x to 3x tippet depending on the rod size we are using.
Up north on the more famous Steelhead rivers many swing, on average, a size 6 dark winged classic Steelhead pattern.
Top Steelheader Al Perryman says that he doesn't like to go below 2x for even smaller Steelhead.
Mike at the Eureka Fly Shop has his customers swing small size 8/10 wets on 1x tippet on the Klamath River.
Jason Hartwick never goes below 8# Maxima UltraGreen when swinging for Steelhead.
In July/Aug/Sept we like to go our extremely early at first light for Steelhead. Most use a floating line, longer leader and a darker unweighted fly at this time. Some swing Muddler Minnow patterns on top to bring up fish. If it is bright and hot we will take a big break from around noon to 3pm. We learned this in the 1970s from legendary Steelheader Joe Shirshac.
When swinging flies on a floating line we are always looking for runs with low light levels. Naturally this is early and late in the day as well as shade from the way the canyons run. Over cast from fog , clouds and even smoke from fires can help.
If you can go out with someone who does this every year it can really help to be able to "read the water". Going out with a local fly fishing guide who will teach you how to swing for Steelhead is another way to get going fast.
I have been swinging unweighted wet flies on a floating line for Steelhead for almost 50 years now and I think it is some of the best fishing we have in Nor Cal and on many other rivers to the north.
The Klamath River is my favorite river for this type of fishing because it has lots of small fish, some medium size and a few larger ones too. The Klamath River fish can come in large schools that aggressively take flies.
http://www.kiene.com/portfolio-view/klamath-river/
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.