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Skaters
If any of you are passionate about fishing skaters for summer runs I'd love to hear some of your stories if you'd be generous enough to share. I've dabbled in it on the Klamath and Trinity the past two falls, but have a real hard time sticking with it when I know the run or riffle I'm in is full of them and if I tie on a wet fly and a tip I'll be in business:D I have only raised two so far and they were dinks.
Eager to hear about far away rivers too, not just the K and T, for those who have had the fortune of fishing BC etc thanks
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Chris Pasley told me one of the best bets he knew of is the Grande Ronde river in October because it has October Caddis activity.
Veteran guide and shop owner Herb Burton and his crew have skated muddlers for decades in the lower Trinity river in the Fall.
~40 years ago I watched Chris Pasley "dead drift" big Royal Wulff dry flies to Steelhead on the Dean river in British Columbia.
About 30 years ago one of our guides on the Deschutes river would come down behind us and skate flies with some success.
Here are dozens of videos on YouTube about skating flies for Steelhead.
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...+for+steelhead
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thanks Bill!! have seen a few of those videos but not all of them, appreciate it. Loved desert dries and everything by todd moen of course. that was on deschutes if i remember right.
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I was at WSU in the 90's and spent 4-5 days a week on the Grande Ronde and the Clearwater. Most of that time I spent skating a steelhead muddler. You would have incredible hits on the surface with this technique. Almost like a bass. You could mend and controll a slow swing or add some stripps to it. This is also when I started seeing the spey rods showing up and when I bought my first.
I also had some luck on the N. Umpqua. Would strip the fly pretty fast as it skated and picked up a few.
Good luck. Its worth a trip up to the Clearwater for this. The Grande Ronde has become a little private now at allot of the access I once fished and is quite a bit busier since WA state developed all of the public access points and posted it.
Russell
Here's a good video of skating flies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YER0kAjCBc
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Did some skating with clients this winter Dec Jan Feb and March with some decent success. It's all about timing conditions the right water and the right fish, the key out of all of that is the right fish. Some of the best times are Sept to Nov. My buddy's and fellow guides at the Trinity Fly shop love to skate, all they do is swing. Lots of knowledge in that shop and glad to be part of their crew. There's no bad time to skate, just better conditions to skate in/at. This being done on the Klamath Trinity Lower Sac Yuba and Feather for California waters, but also good success on North Umpqua Rogue and a few rivers in AK.
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Brian hit the keys, especially with the right fish. Also, the ability to swallow your pride helps.
I’ve spent more hours than I care to admit chasing surface steelhead ( mostly with a hitched muddler more than a skater) and don’t have huge numbers of fish to show for it - barely small numbers in fact. Its a matter of wanting to get that surface grab, and ignoring the fact that there may be a bunch in the run that aren’t looking up. I remember something about doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result…
Your best bet by far is the Klamath in September and October for surface fish, at least as far rivers close to Sac. The Trinity is better than it gets credit for, August thru October (and April). The Rogue is also good in that same time frame. The North Umpqua is in a class by itself, spectacularly beautiful with a surprising % of fish that will grab on the surface. That said, it has declined substantially in recent years, but remains the only river I’ve raised a 10#+ steelhead on the surface (notice I didn’t say landed). The American, except for when the caddis are hatching, has been a complete bust for me on the surface, and I’ve put in a LOT of hours trying when the river is above 50 degrees, which is most of the time.
Again, you have to REALLY want to get that surface grab to stick with it. I’d recommend a few things. One, find a copy of Bill McMillan’s Dry Line Steelhead, which will be pricey. Talk with Terry Thomas and Joe Punla at Fly Fishing Specialties, who are two of the best I know on surface steelhead. Book a day with Jason Hartwick on the Trinity - he shortened my learning curve by years in one day. Check out some of the ongoing surface steelhead threads on SpeyPages, it’s the surface steelheader’s version of an AA meeting (“Hi, I’m Wayne, and I’m a dry line fanatic…”). And last, just put in the time. It’s worth the payoff, even if it is a looong time between players.
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My best skating story.... We were on a BC trip 6 years ago fishing a trib to the Nass. It was our last day and I had been asking about a skating opportunity. Our guide mentioned he had one pool that we would have a decent shot at picking one up on a skate. We tied on ska-opper that I had in my box. We started working the pool and after 6 or 7 swings and steps it happened. Mid-swing and a huge blow up. Unfortunately, my "lightning fast" strike pulled the fly away. Total adrenaline rush! We went back to the top of the pool and started again. Get back to the same spot and she came up and whacked it again and I missed her again. But, the excitement of it was just so pure. We went back to the top with a little extra rest and went through again. Nothing. So, back to the top and we decided to tie on a non weighted intruder to get it just below the surface, this time we got her. She was hot and it was definitely one of the most exciting catches of my life. I'll never forget that fish!
Attachment 18046
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Great responses thank you guys! Very nice hen bump. My one winter steelhead this winter swiped at it a few swings in a row before finally committing, those are definitley the type of fish we are after. I am new to his videos but have been enjoying some of Loni Wallers stuff on youtube. Thanks again for sharing your expertise and stories guys
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Hey Hwchubb,
I had the opportunity to guide Terry a few days up on the T last Sept and we had one of the best 2 days particularly on skated flies I had all season, best 2 days swinging with numbers all season, it was epic. It was a great year for returning numbers and aggressive fish. Was able to get clients on skated fish (not all landed) each month starting in Sept to March.
Also I prefer muddlers over skaters and I feel the trinity fish prefer the muddler over the skater in most conditions.
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what is the "skater" I tied my allot of my muddlers with a tight packed head and trimmed them on the bottom to plane up. They skated very well. Also tied some more sparse that swung like a hairwing. Most of my fish on a skated fly were on a muddler.
Russell