Hello Steelheaders! What an amazing species of fish. Addicted for life.
Hello Everyone, figured I could introduce myself for one of my first posts since I'll be coming here for help! I am new to steelhead fishing. I have bass fished my whole life, swimbaits, flipping, pitching, crankin', basically, California Delta smashing. While largie fishing on conventional gear has my heart, I have found a new love, fly fishing for steelhead. I recently accomplished a life long dream of spending 4 days on the Trinity River. I brought it all, conventional gear, bait rigs, and a fly rod...I tried the conventional gear for about an hour and went straight for the fly rod with an indicator double nymph rig. All my techniques were internet taught! While I practiced overhand casting when I was a kid, it had been 13 years since I touched a fly rod. Got skunked the first day, which is to be expected, and went into the Trinity Fly Shop the following day to get new boots. Bought a new rod as well since my 6wt vintage fiberglass fenwick wasn't cutting it with the indicator rig. I had told the guy who worked there about the water I was fishing and how there was a nice big flat past a tail out that was not producing. Kit, the employee, told me to fish that slower water and not to be scared to take my indicator off my double nymph rig, put it across the river, do a nice mend, then follow it down...basically a swing. Not knowing how to get my nymphs across the river because there was brush behind me, I modified an overhand cast up and down river ending with a curve ball to make it go across the river! haha. 2nd cast after doing this...BOOM! Something on the end of my line, was it a german brown?? SPLASH!! A nice hen blasts out of the water and does a somersault about 30 feet in front of me and the fight was on. My first steelhead smashes the prince nymph on a swing! I couldn't believe it. Here is the video.
I am addicted. I hope to share more stories, photos, and videos in the future. What an awesome species of fish and it's very much respected. I also hope to share a beer or two with some others on the board and I'll see you on the water!
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Originally Posted by Bill Kiene semi-retired
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