Steelhead Fly Fishing Close to Home

I live near the Mckenzie and Willamette Rivers. These rivers are good steelhead rivers, but contain mostly, if not only hatchery Steelhead. People who use weighted flies, nymphs and egg patterns, clean up on these rivers. But most steelhead flyfishers who believe the best way to fish for steelhead is with a surface, or near surface presentation, would tell you to go where there are wild fish to find success.

They are right to a point, but then those same steelheaders would tell you, it is not how many fish you catch, but how you fish for them is what matters. If you look at it in those terms, then there is no reason not to fish in the traditional dry line style employed on some of the more famous wild steelhead rivers, like the Deschutes, or North Umpqua.

This traditional style is actually the easiest way to fish for steelhead. It simply consists of quartering your wet fly, or waking fly down stream at various angles determined by the current speed. The faster the current the more you want to cast downstream. This is because you want your fly to drag as slowly as possible in front of potentially aggressive fish.

The person fishing does not have to worry about a perfect dead drift. They do not have to worry near as much about heavily weighted flies whacking them in the head. There is no worrying about proper depth placement of an indicator, or bobber. They simply cast their fly, make a mend or two, let the fly swing slowly to their side of the river, where they wait for a few moments to see if a steelhead may have followed their fly and is ready to pounce.

People will have major arguments, over what is really fly fishing, when it comes to steelheading. Many of the people who fish in the traditional way believe their way takes more skill. I have fished for steelhead in all the possible ways that have been devised and would say that swinging flies for steelhead does not take more skill, it may even take less skill than the other methods. The only skill you need over the other methods, is to be able live with failure and to keep confidence in the fact that the more trips and casts you make will ultimately lead to great rewards.


On the Willamette near Eugene and Springfield we now have what is known as "The Town Run". This run was created when ODFW, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife started planting steelhead smolts near city parks and boat ramps in town. At first, this experiment yielded only modest results. ODFW hoped these fish would delay their trip to the hatchery, resting in the area where they first started their journey. Instead the first plants still headed strait to the hatchery where they were born. Just when ODFW was ready to abandon the experiment people started catching large numbers of steelhead in town. The last year of the experiment they used fish from the South Santiam River hatchery. These fish had swam write past the South Santiam where they were reared and stopped where they were stocked. Once there, up stream from the flow of their natal hatchery they were lost. So they just mingled right in the shadow of our urban setting. It did not take long to change the plan and start planting South Santiam smolts on a regular basis and the, "Town Run", was born.

One curse of fly fishing near the hatcheries and the dams they are near, is everyone knows the fish are stuck there. This means everyone fishes there, one on top of the other. In traditional, fly fishing it essential to cover lots of water to find those few fish, which are aggressive and willing to chase down our flies. This is done, starting with short casts, lengthening them until you reach a comfortable distance. After which a cast and step strategy is employed. This is pretty hard to do when every section of accessible water is occupied by people tossing gear, or nymphing, for they do not need to move. They simply need to keep casting until their lure, eggs, or nymphs get close enough for the steelhead to eventually bite.


In the Town Run the fish are scattered much the same way they would be on a wild steelhead river. And because of this I would argue they act in similar ways to their wild brethren. There is a bike trail paralleling much of this section creating numerous areas for steelheaders to get down and cover larges swaths of water.

Those with drift boats have a distinct advantage here, because this is big water. A drift boat allows the steelheader to hit both sides of the river and a few slots, which can not be reached from the bank. But once again people who push this fact are doing a diservace. Not everyone can cover the investment of a drift boat. By reading books by people like John Shewey, who gives detailed instructions on reading water, one can find many places where a steelhead could be holding and cover them while wading. Just find some good looking water near one the urban parks and boat ramps and you will be in business.

I love to fish the North Umpqua and will continue to fish it as often as possible. It is a gorgeous setting, with cool clear water. But even though it is known for big aggressive wild fish, people will spend a week there, happy to have one, or two grabs during that time. This may be the only big outing they get for the year and they could go home without a touch.

I love traditional dry line steelheading too much to confine my outings to only fish my favorite way a few days a year. In thse hard economic times, when you figure in the cost of gas, the time spent driving, not to mention the extra carbon expended driving to our favorite far away destinations I believe it is worth the risk of a skunking on a close to home river to see if I can do what others believe impossible. May be the fish do not chase as readily as wild ones, but then again I can afford to and have more time to cast for them, until I find that rare steelhead willing to rise for my fly. I would bet, all things being equal, I could get as many fish to come play with less effort and money right in my home town.