PRECISION STEELHEAD FISHING

These Are The Deschutes River Spey Fishing Fundamentals

By Guide Evan Unti

It is all to easy to get stuck fishing in auto mode where you cast, mend, swing, step with little regard to how your fly is actually fishing particularly when the fishing gets tough. But auto-mode is the worst predicament to find yourself in when you are hunting for one fish a day. Tough fishing demands a higher level of concentration to ensure the fly is fished with precision and consistency from one cast to the next. Close attention to detail is what separates the angler who finds a fish or two from the one that doesn't. So what does it mean to fish with precision and consistency?

1.) Make sure you are making consistent casts where the leader turns over in a straight line everytime. If your leader lands in a pile don't think you can just mend and make everything come straight. When you are able to watch an anglers fly and swing from the bank you will quickly notice that a bad cast results in a lowsy swing where the fly only covers a fraction of the water it was intended to. When you make a bad cast, simply strip in, roll cast back downstream and make the cast again.

2.) When using a floating line make sure the cast is quartered downstream at 35 to 45 degree angle which will allow the fly to start fishing sooner and will minimize mending. Typically the fly doesn't start cutting through the water at the right speed until 35 degrees. If you have a hard time casting at steeper angles and typically cast more across it is important to not mend the line right away. Let the line drift until the fly is about at a 45 degree angle from you and then mend.

3.) Mending the line is a crucial part of setting the swing up and it needs to be done with control to maintain tension on the line. Ideally you want to make no more then one mend after the cast lifting only the part of the line that needs to be mended and moving it upstream. After you make the cast DON'T just automatically throw a huge mend. Let the line settle on the water take a good look at how the line is laid out and mend only the portion of line that needs to be mended. Sometimes you don't have to mend at all and other times you will have to mend all the way to the fly. To mend and maintain tension, lift the portion of line that needs mending and slowly move the rod tip upstream then slowly lower the rod to back down to the water. It is important to think of your leader as part of the fly line so if the fly and leader make a u-turn upstream during the cast be sure to mend all the way to the fly. If you mend only to the line-leader junction the fly will be racing across the current to catch up with the line at least through the first half of your swing.

4.)The rod tips position in relation to the fly dictates the speed and consistency the fly will swing with, so it is important to pay attention to your rod tip during the swing. After you make your mend leave the rod tip pointing across the river perpendicular to the line until the line and fly are fairly straight then slowly begin bringing the rod tip across the current. For the most part you want the rod to stay with the fly rather then leading or lagging behind the fly. Of course different river currents will dictate where you want the tip throughout the swing. If it looks like a current is going to cause the fly the stop its swing, try to anticipate the current and start leading the fly before it reaches that particular current. If a current looks like it is going to cause the fly to accelerate, again try to anticipate the current and lag behind the fly before it enters that particular current. Once the fly has passed through one of these currents return to staying with the fly through the rest of the swing.

5.) The last critical point is to let the fly swing all the way in until it is straight downstream of you. It is so easy to overlook this part of the swing and yet it can make a huge difference between having a fish-less day or a multiple fish day. Most people are fishing 15 to 20 ft. leaders on there floating line set ups and it is important to think of that leader as an extension of the fly line. In order to let the fly swing all the way in you have to give the leader time to come around. So when you see the end of your fly line come straight down stream of you wait an additional 5 to 10 seconds to allow the leader and fly catch up. I can't tell you how many fish I see missed because the angler thinks he or she as finished his or her swing and begins making another cast while a steelhead is following the fly.

If you put all of these points together and stay focused on fishing while avoiding auto-mode you will ultimately be hooking more fish on a more regular basis. It is hard to maintain this level of concentration all day so when find yourself drifting into auto-mode just take a break and pick it up after a good snooze (maybe the best part of summer steelhead fishing).

A Wonderful Deschutes River Steelhead Specimen