When Fishing For Steelhead

[allthingsfishing]

Normally when I hit the tribs northeast Ohio to fish for chrome I swing a streamer. I can cover a lot of ground and have good success. But when the temps (air and water) start to plummet it's tough swinging flies.

I will switch over to an indicator rig with either a nymph or egg pattern. My first problem is whenever I have more than two split shot I'll eventually have a tangled mess. I'm sure it is a casting problem, just can't figure it out.

The second problem is it takes forever to cover water. I'll start close, cast upstream, mend if needed, let it drift downstream, repeat. I can't seem to get more than 10'-15' of drift before drag sets in.

Today, I tried having my weight at the end of the leader with the egg pattern about a foot above it. I didn't tangle so I may try it again.

Anyone else have the same problems and how to fix them?

Thanks.

 

[ryc72]

No false casts. Just water load and then cast back up stream. And use Fluoro for tippet...it’s a lot stiffer than mono so it’s less prone to tangling and if it does tangle it’s easier to undo than mono. Just use seaguar Fluoro...much cheaper than the tippet spools of Fluoro...I just don’t get how or why Fluoro tippet spools are so absurdly expensive. those two things have cut down on my tangles a whole lot...especially not false casting...False casting two nymphs and shot with an indicator is just an utter mess. As you’ve already noticed, having the shot below instead of above the flies helps too. If you’re gonna do a lot of roll casting and mending get a nice roll casting line...long head or double taper and not a heavily weight forward taper. Good luck!

 

[ryansheehan]

Slow your casting down a ton, to the point where you think you have waited too long in the back cast. But as ryc said this is rarely the case, most of the time just waterhaul at the end of your drift and bam you're all set with no false cast.

 

[fritz]

Orvis has a video of the Belgian (oval) cast. Good article by Midcurrent also.

 

[timbow]

If you want to cover water with an indy rig you may want to look into how to rig a vertical indy rig. Basically, a Blackbird Phantom float with split shot spaced the entire length of the tippet below the float to create a completely vertical presentation. Cast slightly upstream, throw 2 big mends to let it sink and keep stack mending as it drifts downstream. You can drift 60-70' no problem. It's basically centerpin fishing with a fly rod. Some guys may give me some grief on here about it not being "fly fishing", yada yada yada.....I don't really care.

 

[moon1284]

The answer is to not nymph just swing. And when conditions aren't right stay home LOL.

 

[CLSports]

Simplify your leader. After many years of doing the chuck 'n duck thing I learned quite a lot.

I just used a very stout 25 or 30 lb butt section of about 5 ft. You can taper 30 to 25 if you wish. I attach a tippet ring to the end of that line with a clinch knot and leave a tag end of about 3" hanging off the ring. I will attach the split shot to this tag end and then add a section of about 4' of tippet in 6 or 8 lb fluoro.

The lead is attached to the heavy butt section and not the tippet and will cast much better. Also when you get hung up you only loose the lead and not the whole leader. Attaching new tippet is easy too if you get a fly break off. Just re-tie to the tippet ring. Tie a knot at the end of the tag too to keep your lead from slipping off too easily.

I now only swing flies and love just using sink tips on a switch rod instead of lead. Get the fly down quick and know where the fish are in pressured water and you will be successful.

And the water haul is the best advice as stated above. Just drift and fling your rig back upstream and repeat. No casting, just fling it back upstream. You can do a roll cast too if needed, but do it with a good water haul too.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

When you tie your fly to the tippet leave a bout 6 inches of tippet hang and attach the split shot to it. I've done the same thing using a swivel ,tying a piece of leader to the swivel and adding split shot to it. If it hangs up you lose the shot not the nymph. GG

 

[PennKev]

CLSports wrote:
Simplify your leader. After many years of doing the chuck 'n duck thing I learned quite a lot.

I just used a very stout 25 or 30 lb butt section of about 5 ft. You can taper 30 to 25 if you wish. I attach a tippet ring to the end of that line with a clinch knot and leave a tag end of about 3" hanging off the ring. I will attach the split shot to this tag end and then add a section of about 4' of tippet in 6 or 8 lb fluoro.

So is the fly 4 FEET away from the weight? Was this a substitute for a sink tip?I'm trying to wrap my head around why you'd want the lead so far from the fly.

I use a similar leader butt to build my nymph rigs but place my weight on a tag much closer to the flies.

 

[CLSports]

Yup. The weight drags the bottom and the fly suspends just off the bottom right in the strike zone for a large fish. If you put the weight too close to the fly then it just drags it down and everything gets hung up. You need to really have a good feel when bottom bouncing your weight to keep from getting it hung up too much. I played with many rigs and this worked the best for me. 4' may be the longest length, but no less than 3'.

Some guides on the SR use a lead bar with a hole drilled in it or what I think is called a slinky weight instead of split shot. Works well in good flows and deeper water, not necessarily best for the shallow drainage ditches like in Erie.

 

[timbow]

PennKev wrote:

CLSports wrote:
Simplify your leader. After many years of doing the chuck 'n duck thing I learned quite a lot.

I just used a very stout 25 or 30 lb butt section of about 5 ft. You can taper 30 to 25 if you wish. I attach a tippet ring to the end of that line with a clinch knot and leave a tag end of about 3" hanging off the ring. I will attach the split shot to this tag end and then add a section of about 4' of tippet in 6 or 8 lb fluoro.

So is the fly 4 FEET away from the weight? Was this a substitute for a sink tip?I'm trying to wrap my head around why you'd want the lead so far from the fly.

I use a similar leader butt to build my nymph rigs but place my weight on a tag much closer to the flies.

Another upside of a rig like this is that it keeps the weight away from the fish and shows them the fly first. Especially good for pressured fish in skinny water