Favorite Steelhead dries

[D3smartie]

hey guys... i have been spending a lot of time tying lately and am trying to fill up my dry fly boxes for steelhead. I was hoping you guys might list your favorites with a picture if possible.
Can't wait for the late summer/early fall and some surface steel:smash:

thanks
david

[Slow and Low]

Are you talking dry flies like for trout or for dry lining?

[mgdfly]

I tie several versions of Harry Lemire's Greased Liner. One is Peacock bodied with Grizzly hackle palmered over it,one is yellow with a brown palmer and a red tail, and another that is rusty orange with a furnace or slate hackle palmer. I leave the butts of the deerhair wing a little longer than the original, and end up with what looks like a half-muddler head on top of the hook. If I want more surface disturbance, I saturate the head a SECOND time with head cement and squezze the butts between my fingers into a flat "plate" on top of the hook that throws a lot of water in the air and leaves a trail of bubbles behind. That's probably why Frank Amato named it the "BubbleHead" when the artcie I wrote was published in STS. Some of the new Foam backed skaters fish nearly the same, but I still like to fish FEATHERS. Either way, these work well in moderate to fast runs with a little chop to them. When fishing slower runs, I will often trim the hackle off the bottom of the fly so it rides a litle lower in the film. In the slowest of runs ( that still hold fish) the good old Steelhead Bee is hard to beat, and I tie it in two colors, Brown/yellow/Brown and Black/Yellow/Black. I do prefer to use Elk hock hair for the wings and tail because it is as durable as fox squirle,the same color, but floats like a cork. I use darker hock hair on the "Bumblebee" version, and like to add a little UV Black Ice Dub to the black bands. I find that the peacock/grizzly skater is best in the early and late season,the yellow (hopper) version best in mid-season, and the orange best when the October Caddis show up in the fall. For me, the "Bees" seem to work well from July until the first frost, then I leave them at home, it's usually Caddis time. Hope this is helpfull, I don't have a digital cam.,but will try to get some pics. Happy tying and Tight Lines! Mike

[D3smartie]

SnL- skaters for steelhead. dry line, dry fly

[D3smartie]

Mike- thanks for the info. I found a could pics of the greased liner online and it looks decent. How do you fish it? with a riffle hitch? I can;t imagine that it makes much "noise" on top with that small a head if you just tie it straight w/o a hitch.
A lot of the wets i have been using lately have a very buggy look to them and i like that a lot. hopefully i can incorporate that into my dries as well.

[Slow and Low]

I have to say I don't fish any of those flies (skaters). I actually fish moddlers with a tip.

There is a pretty extensive opinion in the Trey Combs book.

I do try to wake standard steelhead flies in the right water. 90% of the time I am swinging 2 flies 3-4 feet apart. It looks prety cool to see the flies cahsing each other around. And sometimes a stelhead rises. Most of my takes are in the film.

[B-RUN STEELIE]

Either the Bee or the bomber. Most fish that I have raised to the dry have been on the Bee

[mgdfly]

I originally designed the "Bubblhead" as an alternative to using a riffle hitch, as I found I missed too many fish "riffling". And yes,it dues create a lot of noise on the surface as the hard "plate" made from the deer hair butts plows the surface and forces air beneath the fly. One of the fshermen I met when first testing it said it reminded him of a motorboat throwing a wake, and was sure that no self-respecting Steelhead would take such a thing. About that time, the 4th ish of the afternoon inhaled it, and his jaw dropped, the fish was about 15lbs. and left a hole in the surface 2ft across when he took! As I mentioned before, I leave the butts of the deerhair wing much longer (1/2" and longer on a #4) than Harry's original, and also use about 50% more material for the wing/head. After finishing the wing, pull back the butts and build up a thread head to help keep them upright. Saturate the butts with head cement ( don't use water based, it won't come out right) and let it sit a few minutes (tie the next fly). Add a little more head cement, then flatten the butts between your fingers ( yes it's sticky/messy, but it comes off ) until you get a nice thin, solid "plate" of deerhair across (90 degrees to ) the front of the fly. Let it dry fully, add anothor coat of cement, and it's ready. Sometimes I will add a small bunch of white or yellow deer belly into the gap between the wing and head to add support to the head and increase visibility, and fish these in the fastest, choppiest runs. From my experience, the "bubblehead" version works BETTER when the sun is ON the water, perhaps the trail of bubbles reflecting the light is key? Don't know, just a guess. I fish it as close as possible to straight inline with the current to keep the head at 90 degrees to the current and create maximun disturbance, so I do a lot of mending, and fish a Double Taper line almost exclusively when fishing this version. It's fun to fish, but if you see the fish comming you have to remind yourself not to take it away before he actually has it, and it's actually best if you can slack the line JUST WHEN his mouth opens. I'm usually too exited (even after nearly 30yrs of fishing this fly, and many hundreds of takes ) to follow my own advuice, even though I know my hookup % will increase when I do it right! Good Luck PM me if you have more questions Mike

[D3smartie]

Thanks for taking the time to write that out mike. Sounds like a lot of fun to fish. I havent done well on surface oriented flies in the middle of the day, although i do usually wait for there to be a shadow on the water before I try a dry. I did have a client hook and loose one last year mid day on a dry. The guy had been fly fishing for about 2 days... i think he is hooked for life now after seeing that take :)
I will try to whip up a couple and get your opinion.

[Matthewc]

Lets not forget the Waller Waker

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/wallerwaker.jpg

This fly was designed by Lani Waller a very well noted Steelhead fly angler that spent many years exploring rivers and streams in B.C.'s Skeena system. There are a few films out relating to his ventures and he is now host of the Silver Hilton Lodge located in the same system. He was a big fan of rising steel to the dry and this was what he came up with to do so. Still widely used today anywhere steel will rise. Materials list would similar to the steelhead bomber, mostly bunched elk hair in assorted colors. Like the bee its double wings help to keep the fly stable during a surface skate.

Note: Photo was not taken by me.

[cphatts]

My favorite is a Lambroughtons skater. Many guys claim they dont work well but I have had my best success with them.

[FrozenFish]

mgdfly,
Can we get you to post a picture of the dressing you are describing? Sounds like a great system you are onto. Thanks -FF

[mgdfly]

I'll see what I can do. I don't have a digital camera, but my fishin' partner does. Will try to get some on this weekend, so check back. Mike

[TallFlyGuy]

The Shizz izzz

http://members.shaw.ca/pisces45/sedge.htm

[mgdfly]

Here are pictres of the bubble heads that I described above: The first is a side view, the second from below to show profile/size of head. Third is a peacock body/grizzly hackle palmer, with a small bunch of Deer body hair tied between head and wing for extra support. Last is a "Hopper" version with a yellow deerhair "indicator" topper that also adds support.

[D3smartie]

thanks mgd. Do you like it better with or without the hackle? I am going to try a few of these things... it could get pretty messy around here. ;)

[mgdfly]

I usually fish the flies with the full palmered body in the faster,choppier riffles. This is where I tend to find the fish during the middle of the day. At least that is where I get most of my mid-day takes. I think the extra hackle helps keep it on top in the heavier water,but they still make quite a ruckus. In slower or less choppy runs, too much hackle tends to "lift" the head of the fly above the surface,and reduces the amount of disturbance, so I use only a few turns of softer, webby hackle in front of the body to let it swim lower in the water and maximise the "noise".This is an aggressive skater,and that's how I fish it! It's the only surface pattern I have found that I can hook fish on in areas that are heavily fished. If I want a subtle presenation, I'll fish a Greased Liner (the original tie), a Steelhead Bee, or my Steelhead Bumblebee modification. Good Fishin' Mike