I was just wondering… What is everyones favorite salmon/steelhead pattern. Personally mine are the pink bunny leach for coho, and the egg sucking leach for steelhead. I think it would be prettycool to see what everyones favorite patterns are, just incase you want to find a good flie that has been proven to be good. Also, i have a steelhead/salmon swap going on, and if anyone wants to join, i think it might be a good one.
JZ
I have not caught a Steelhead yet, but have tied some flies that have. Woolybugers, Clousers, and Nuke eggs or simple egg patterns. Favorite to tie would be the Clouser. Don?t think I?m spelling it right though.
Well I’m a bit dissapointed that you didn’t recieve more responses to this one as I’m always curious what patterns other people are using. I don’t know that I have one goto fly for steelhead but I use a lot of flies with zonker strips like the bunny leech you described but I like mine in all purple or black and I also like to use chartruese/black and chartuese/hot pink. I’m using spey style flies more and more in basically the same colors, I don’t know if they work better but they are just too cool and I just like to tie and fish them. I also like to use flies with a good amount of flash in all but the clearest water.
Turk
I like Green Butt Skunks, mostly because I like to say “Green Butt Skunks”… reminds me of some former bosses, mother-in-law etc etc… Uh, did I say that out loud?
Anyway, green butt skunks, freight trains, big stone fly nymphs, blurple marabou (black and purple), undertaker, sperm fly, sucker spawn, comets, spring wigglers and in clear water in winter size 12 stonefly nymphs. Eggs, estaz eggs, leeches too.
I mostly fish GL tribs in the east. I think the Allie’s Shrimp, and the RAT flies like the Rusty Rat look really great for steelhead but I’ve never fished them, and I don’t see many people back here using them except for Atlantics.
peregrines
Hey,
My go to fly for salmon is a green bomber with green wings and brown hackel i think its called the green macheine.
salmon man
Glo-bugd in orange, then egg sucking leech in black or purple. I also like a white wolly bugger.
I’m really supprised that no1 is really catching onto the steelhead/salmon swap, because it seems like alot of people like to tie steelhead/salmon flies, and like to catch them too. well, happy tying.
JZ
Except for fly size and bright vs dark; the fly doesn’t matter all that much. I use whatever pattern suits my fancy the morning I head out. I usually tie 1-2 flies in the morning with what ever idea I had from the day before and go fishing with them. Some days I go for the vintage spey patterns, other days I want to see if a new intruder or MOAL color will work. If I didn’t take a steelhead that day on a new pattern, Ill likely not try it again, especially if I know for certain that I presented it to willing fish. I often make 2-3 passes through proven water and switch flies starting with big bright flies working towards small dark patterns. If after 3 passes and the three fly switches failed to produce, its time to go home and go back the next day.
What fly do I have on when I start…something about a size 4 in purple.
http://www.flyfishnw.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=4&id=7&Itemid=28
You guys are looking for the magic bullet.I got over four hundred this year so far and ---------you won"t believe it but their Just rainbow trout. I catch them on size 20 to size 4.
Just fish
JaD
I don’t believe the green machine has wings, sounds more like a bomber. Regardless, you have enough green in there to bring the fish.
For winters an egg fly called a lifter or various rabbit leeches and Popsicle style marabou flies for swinging. For summers a Spawning Purple or any of the Skunk variations.
For Erie tribs in the spring, sucker spawn with a stonefly dropper.
I cannot post my favorite fly for steelhead/salmon because here in Tennessee where I live, we do not have steelhead/salmon, but, there was a Fly Of The Week that was suppose to be a steelhead pattern and I took that pattern and downsized it to a #12 hook and all last summer and fall here, that was the only fly you needed to catch a “boat load” of trout! The fly was called a Reverse Spider and downsized it was fantastic for trout! It might be worth the try for steelhead/salmon on a larger hook. The color for trout was a dark olive body with brown hackle collar tied in reverse so it pointed forward over the hook eye instead of back over the body.
Just a thought.
Hey,
Humber Brad i was refering to the wings on the front of the bomber im not sur if they are called wings or not.
Use this website www.wwdoak.com go to salmon flies and then to the bombers section its in the first coloumn and the 4th one down.
Reagrds
Salmon man