
White roads mean white knuckles—and fewer people in the crew’s favorite runs.

The beginning—or perhaps the end—of a great day.

Slippery paths and greasy lies make for good steelheading.

A picture perfect British Columbia steelhead, ready for release.

Fly tying haberdashery in Vancouver, B.C.

A common site of fly evolution and analysis: hotel rooms near steelhead rivers.

Cheap streamside lodging; the views are great, but be sure to bring your own sleeping bag.

Wild steelhead ascent in British Columbia.

The winter crew thinking up a good heckle for a buddy in the bucket.
SWITCH
The beauty of a seven-weight switch stick is that it's big enough for steelhead, sea run dollies, sea run browns and all the salmon species (other than Kingy), yet not so big to completely blow past the western trout game in the Rockies and beyond.
WINTER STEELHEAD
When picking a good winter setup I think it’s important to find a rod that suits what water you normally fish. For instance, I normally fish deeper runs where getting a fly into the strike zone to trigger a reaction is very important. The 8130-4 X is the 'DO ANYTHING ROD'. It bends deep into the cork and has enough power to throw 15' of T-20 along with a huge Musky fly if you wanted it to.
- Rod:
- 8130-4 X
- Reel:
- SPEY 7/8/9
- Line:
- 550/575 Grain RIO Skagit Max
TRADITIONAL
After spending winter and spring fishing sinktips on coastal rivers, it’s a pleasure to swing a waker or unweighted traditional on one of the Northwest’s many desert rivers. Not only are the fish more willing to take a fly higher in the water column, many of the larger desert rivers offer the perfect opportunity to reach out and present flies at a distance. Long rods and long belly lines are incredibly efficient for this style of fishing because they allow an angler to present the fly without having to strip in line between casts. Big rivers are ideal for long belly lines because they offer plenty of room for a large D-loop and have enormous riffles to work through. Long rods are the norm there; some anglers are using rods as long as 17’. I find that the 9140-4 IGNITER offers plenty of length and power to punch a tight loop into the distance while still feeling sporty with a midsized steelhead on your line. I like to fish RIO’s 8/9 Long Head Spey taper and a 12’ hand-tied fluorocarbon leader with a long butt section starting at .025” in diameter. With a density that’s nearly twice that of nylon monofilament, a hefty fluorocarbon leader will provide a little bit of depth to a swung unweighted fly.
- Rod:
- 9140-4 IGNITER
- Reel:
- SPEY 7/8/9
- Line:
- 690 Grain RIO InTouch Long Head Spey