Swinging for Pennsylvania Steelhead.

[sandfly]

I used these the past 2 years

 

[shakey]

keep in mind,dead drifting and swinging are not necessarily exclusive of each other.

you can always throw some slack,dead drift as long as possible,then swing.

you can vary the speed of your swing by pointing your rod in different directions ,instead of just following your fly with your rod tip.

maybe not for steel,but for trout,you can speed up your fly by starting a retrieve,such as a hand twist retrieve while the fly is swinging.

i often let the fly hang for almost a minute,lift my rod a bit,then drop it again after the swing.sometimes you get a hard hit that way.

 

[Rolf]

"I often let the fly hang for almost a minute,lift my rod a bit,then drop it again after the swing.sometimes you get a hard hit that way."


Yes you do!!!!!!!

 

[PennypackFlyer]

PennKev wrote:
Like a deer hair or rabbit fur mouse? Nah. Waste of time. You need something that'll sink easily. (Top-water actiom is wishful thinking BTW)

Take a look at intruder style flies. I've had a lot of luck with them in various color combos. Rabbit strip flies work well too. Wooly buggers are not a bad option as well and you've probably already got some.

Kev

Ok, thought I'd ask about the mouse one..love to see a trout or bass kill a top water. I do have some wooly buggers, and I definately use them.
You also mentioned something that sinks easily. I have this big nymph that has rubber legs to it, beaded brass head. Not sure what it's called or where I picked it up at. Heavy as they get it is. Best to use with my 10W rod. I have also been practicing with some small rubber bass lures (wiggly things and crawlers). I have caught trout on them - but not with any real consistancy. I think partly because of location.

Any suggestions are colors to use?

 

[dano]

[quote
geebee wrote:
has anyone tried.....or swinging traditional salmon flies like a GP or ally's shrimp ?.....
[/quote]

The last steelhead I caught this year on the Catt took a variation of Ally's Shrimp. It's called "Ally's Cascade".
Actually, it's my variation of the cascade tied on chartreuse plastic tube, added flash and a gunmetal colored conehead. Also, the materials aren't original to the fly as I used what I had available to me. Finn Raccoon was used in the winging instead of squirrel, etc...
Those two old patterns are just as effective today as they were back when Alastair Gowans first developed them.
The fish in the pic below was taken at the end of what was turning out to be, a fishless day. Water was somewhat clear and i spent most of the morning swing more natural colored flies.

 

[geebee]

The last steelhead I caught this year on the Catt took a variation of Ally's Shrimp. It's called "Ally's Cascade".
Actually, it's my variation of the cascade tied on chartreuse plastic tube, added flash and a gunmetal colored conehead. Also, the materials aren't original to the fly as I used what I had available to me. Finn Raccoon was used in the winging instead of squirrel, etc...
Those two old patterns are just as effective today as they were back when Alastair Gowans first developed them.
The fish in the pic below was taken at the end of what was turning out to be, a fishless day. Water was somewhat clear and i spent most of the morning swing more natural colored flies.

cool. i know the cascade well.

i was thinking of needle tubes with those kinds of patterns.

lovely fish, thanks for sharing.

 

[PennKev]

PennypackFlyer wrote:

You also mentioned something that sinks easily. I have this big nymph that has rubber legs to it, beaded brass head. Not sure what it's called or where I picked it up at. Heavy as they get it is. Best to use with my 10W rod. I have also been practicing with some small rubber bass lures (wiggly things and crawlers). I have caught trout on them - but not with any real consistancy. I think partly because of location.

Any suggestions are colors to use?

You don't so much want heavy per se. U just want somethinmg that lacks bouyancy. The only time you really need a heavy fly is if you do not use a sink tip system, poly leader or sinking line. With those, the line or tips does most of the work controlling depth.

You also should focus on flies that incorporate lots of movement. Marabou, ostrich herl, and soft synthetic fibers. And, for the most part they need not be heavily dressed. A good swinging fly will often look like a wet string when out of the water but expand and appear to have much more volume when it is submerged.

Black and white are good basic colors. Try to match the color to the water clarity and color. Lighter colors in clear water, darker and gaudy in dirty water. Black seems to work all the time. I also like to add blue and purple to mostly white patterns. Adding flash for highlights can make a really impressive looking fly, but again, less is more.

Kev

 

[PennypackFlyer]

dano wrote:
The fish in the pic below was taken at the end of what was turning out to be, a fishless day. Water was somewhat clear and i spent most of the morning swing more natural colored flies.

I have a few homemade jobies (streamer/wooly bugger combo) that look similar to what you used in the photo. Yellows and oranges. Were you using these colors all day, or started using closer to when you hooked up. NICE FISH!

 

[dano]

I used smaller neutral colored flies swung slow as the water I was fishing was on the clear side and temping out at 35 degrees.
On the last run of the day, I decided to throw something opposite of what I had always been taught. It was a desperation shot in the dark.
Tomorrow, I try the fly again as the River is finally fishable with about 6-8" of visibility and about a foot higher since I was there last.

 

[CatchingChrome]

I like to swing flys on the salmon, catt and have done it with some sucess on elk and even 12 mile too. However the smaller streams are when the water is really high and you need a decent space. Would I recommend it on the small tribs no, but I did it for fun when the water was up and there was little or no pressure. As for the catt and Salmon I agree that it is a great way to search big, deep water. Any standard wooly bugger or traditional streamer will work too. So don't worry about tying a bunch of exotics at first. You can even do well swinging big streamers on you local smallmouth river in the summer. It is a blast and gives you some great practice.

 

[krott243]

Swinging big meat flies up here is productive and lots of guys do it.