One last popular method is bottom bouncing. Bottom bouncing works well in faster water, when steelhead are lying on bottom. It is, as name describes, bouncing your presentation along bottom. Cast your fly upstream and allow it to sink to bottom. Generally a couple of split shots BB sized placed twelve to eighteen inches above fly, will get fly down. But sometimes more weight is needed. Once bottom is hit, lift fly line out of water by lifting your rod tip up, keep excess line in your free hand. As fly moves downstream away from you gradually lower line and let more fly line out.

All above methods work with nymphs, streamers or egg patterns. More on fly selection will be presented in upcoming articles.

Steelhead fly fishing is becoming more and more popular and with good reason. When conditions are ideal a ‘chromer’ will smash a fly and treat fly angler to a treat that is hard to duplicate. When steelhead enter river we are getting them at their biological prime. Loaded with survival instincts that include territorial and sexual aggression, they can rip into your fly and go off on a terror of a run, that will often leave uninitiated limp lined and open mouthed. But angler will be hooked.

In upcoming articles we will delve more deeply into techniques of inducing strikes from this terrific game fish.