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Post by Chris C Crane on Aug 14, 2007 20:00:57 GMT -5
As most who visit and share on this site, I spend much of my spare time reading fly fishing magazines and books. John Gierach books can be found in every bathroom in my house. lol However, truth be told lately most of my reading has been around Great Lakes Steelhead fishing ...lately I'm really focusing in on this seasons Great Lakes Steelhead runs and targeting big aggressive fish, Steelheading is an area of fishing that I've paid the least amount of time with. I have 6 times the gear focused on resident trout and bass, that I do Steelhead rods/reels etc. Things are changing...I'm actually becoming a bit of a Steelhead junkie.
Anyways, so far I've picked up and read a few Steelhead books and enjoyed each for their descriptive sections and passion for the sport.
Steelhead Dreams - Matt Supinski Big Trout - Bernie Taylor (not just steelhead) Best Streams for Great Lakes Steelhead - Bob Linsenman.
All three book are great reads. Bob Linsenman's book references Oak Orchard and recognizes some of WNY's finest namely Rick Kustich and his works.
Does anyone have any Great Lakes Steelhead fly tying book suggestions? I
There are small sections in each of the books listed above, but I haven't found any comprehensive GLakes Steelhead fly pattern books. Specifically if patterns are considered Spring or fall run patterns or if the patterns are general purpose and should work year round. I am participating in a few Steelhead fly swaps with local fly tying clubs and I'd like to try some new patterns this fall.
Thanks
Chris
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Post by K_Bruce aka Phisherman on Aug 15, 2007 3:51:03 GMT -5
We all dream of steelhead, what a bad name for a book
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Post by Nick Pionessa on Aug 15, 2007 6:04:25 GMT -5
disregarding phishermans comment on titelage, i would have to say Rick Kustich's book Great Lakes Steelhead has some damn good fly patterns in it. it is getting a tad long in the tooth these days but the flies are still killer and yes this may be somewhat biased as some of my flies are in there! the other book i can think of offhand is John Nagy's book. i don't too much appreciate the kiss and tell nature of some of it but it does have a ton of patterns in it. keep an eye out here as well as the season gets closer we will have most everything we are using up. the nice part about the site is that we will have the most up to date patterns as i can't leave well enough alone ever. i would highly recommend any of the bunny strip/spey types such as the bunny spey or steelhead swinger, they have become staples for me for about the past decade. tubes for the bigger flies is also a somewhat newer developement with a ton of merit. the marabou spey/popsicle patterns are also very good and have the motion in common with the bunny stuff. whatever patterns you like make sure to have plenty of white ones, hint, hint.
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Post by Chris C Crane on Aug 15, 2007 8:09:27 GMT -5
We all dream of steelhead, what a bad name for a book lol. My dreams are more frequent now that Salmon are staging and being caught at the mouths. Maybe the title works? ;D Nick thanks for your comments. I'm trying to tie a few separate Steelhead boxes for this fall. I'm planning to fish in MI, NY, PA, and Ontario and I've found that each region has specific nymph patterns. Last year I didn't carry enough patterns. Cheers,
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Post by craig cox on Aug 16, 2007 10:01:34 GMT -5
Like ccc, I've been thinking about the lake run fishies too. And like ccc, my gear is all for trout from inland streams. If a guy were thinking of getting into steelhead fishing, what would a guy's basic outfit look like? My "stoutest" rod is an 8 1/2 6 wt, probably inadequate by far. What are advantages/disadvantages of long single hand, doublehand, spey, etc. etc... Also have to admit some of those gaudy steelhead/salmon flies are starting to look attractive, in a sort of had-one-too-many-beers way.
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Post by aelian on Aug 19, 2007 16:01:21 GMT -5
A switch rod is an option.
Single-hand rods sometimes fall short. Two-hand rods are one-trick ponies. They're not practical in the smaller streams that dot WNY.
Sage and Winston make great 11' switch rods. Other brands like TFO and T&T tend to be too stiff and heavy. Meiser builds nice rods as well. Some models are better suited for single hand use while others double.
I chose a Winston matched with a ULA Force 3.5. The combination is light enough to high-stick on trickle-tribs but meaty enough to throw d-loops in bigger water. Because the rod loads lower in the blank it's perfect for tight spots; point and shoot.
The ole' hand and a half is hard to beat in WNY tribs.
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Post by Nick Pionessa on Aug 20, 2007 7:18:19 GMT -5
Tom- i do like the winny 11' 7wt rod but i feel it lacks the power and action for spey casting with any amount of weight needed for our areas creeks. i find a 10' 7 wt will switch cast just as well and allow much better overhead casting than the long, soft winston 11'7 wt. the T&T 1107 is actually lighter in weight than the sage 11' two hander and both are built as true two handers not switch rods like the winny 11 footer. in a switch rod i would prefer an 8 wt a touch shorter such as the Scott 1088 it has enough backbone to skagit or underhand cast heavy tips but still overhead well, being a little shorter and stiffer. what lines do you like for spey casting that winston with the ULA force 3.5 on it? how many grains do you think it likes for overhead? underhand? skagit casting? i used one for a while but had trouble finding the correct line for spey casting on it. the lighter spey lines such as the WC 5/6 were still a bit heavy and too long in the belly for the smaller creeks. i went to the T&T 1107 and found the airflo scandi head just right on it or the 450 skagit head both these lines were too heavy for the winston. have you tried any scandi heads or skagits on your winston 1107 with the ULA 3.5 on it?
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Post by Chris C Crane on Aug 20, 2007 7:40:23 GMT -5
As you can probably see by my request for Steelhead information, I am always trying to learn more...
With respect to rods I tend to buy where I plan on using my rods most of the time. For example if I fished the Maitland, Niagara or lower Grand as my home waters a Spey set-up would be ideal for waters that average a few hundred feet wide. However, most of the waters I fish are 40-70 feet wide, so I find a single handed rod manageable for now. I've been eying a Beulah Switch rod and C&R Spey set-up and can see the potential there as well. Over the past few seasons my time has been spent with 2 different 9'0 8wts rigs. This summer I purchased a 10'0 7wt rod and after playing around with it on a few Bass trips this will be my go to rod this fall. I can chuck a ton of line and is a joy as a nymphing rod with lots of backbone for line mends and control.
Cheers and good luck.
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Post by aelian on Aug 20, 2007 20:42:12 GMT -5
Nick makes a good point. Spey casting a switch rod makes as much sense as switch casting a spey rod.
A lot of people have a hard time lining a switch rod. They assume they're just short spey rods. Switch rods perform better around a single-hand line configuration. For switch casting in bigger water long, gradual tapers are more appropriate than the typical spey rig. For indie or high-sticking a standard floating line works well.
Having learned to cast with bamboo and fibreglass I appreciate the action of the BIIx. It's also strong and very light, like the ULA 3.5. Both Winston and Lamson/Waterworks make great product. The combo balances well and is easy to fish all day.
In WNY a spey rod works in a few situations. A switch rod will take care of the rest.
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Post by Steve Dobmeier on Aug 20, 2007 21:29:33 GMT -5
Aelian,
What is your conclusion to gradual tapers? When I think of gradual tapers I think of triangle tapers, that are difficult to turn over tips with, and demand a longer stroke and more effort to get the fly to where it needs to be. How long have you been using switch rods in this area? Do you find them difficult to turn over sink tips and weighted flies? I find that switch rods can be tiresome when trying to cast sink tips and weighted flies with most fishing situations around our areas. What kind of line are you using on your switch rod? I have used several lines on my 11 6 and cannot find a line that can turn over tips. Are you strictly high sticking with it or are you swinging flies? If that is the case do you find it difficult to turn over a sink tip grater than 2.6 ips? I know that when I tried to use my switch rod with a 5.6 ips sink tip, the line and rod seemed to fail in it's effort to make the tip turn over. Are you having the same problem or is it just that I need to bone up one my casting? Is the Winston BIIX the best rod to handle sink tips? Have you fished your switch rod on the salmon river? Those casts are usually forty to seventy feet. Do you find that you can acheive this distance with heavy sink tips and a weighted fly? Thanks for the info if you have any experience with this type of situation.
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