Great information Jason. As the old saying goes: 'First find a river that has fish in it, then find the fish in the river'. Once know you where to look there are some basic steps that anyone can apply to dramatically improve your chances. I primarily fly fish for Steelhead and there are a number of reasons I do so but a lot of this information applies to any method.
The primary reason I use a fly rod is that you can cover a lot more water in a shorter period of time. With a fly rod you can drift through a run, lift the line (the amount of line is predicated on your casting skills) and recast, all in one motion. With a spin or bait casting setup you need to reel in the entire line before you recast. And given that you can't catch a fish when your hook isn't in the water the fly rod just improves your time in front of the fish. A Spey rod also really helps your presentation as the longer rod allows you to slow down the fly by mending large amounts of line in one shot.
Steelhead bite for entirely different reasons than a Salmon. If you find a river with fish, find the fish in the river, and deliver a fly, lure, spoon, plug, etc. in front of it them you have a VERY good chance of success. Steelhead are not that particular and serious Trout fisherman need to forget all you know about 'matching the hatch' as it doesn't apply. My rule of thumb is if you know a specific fly has caught a fish in the river you're fishing, in the same time of the year, under similar river and weather conditions, then tie it on and LEAVE IT ALONE. The biggest mistake new Steelhead fishermen make is go through every fly in the box when they're not getting hit. Trust me, if you're if you're not covering the water, presenting the fly in the right place in the water column, and at the right speed, then it won't matter what fly you have on. Once you know you're covering the water in the proper manner then start trying a few different flies.
Water temperature also makes a big difference. Ever wonder why summer fish are generally easier to catch than winter fish? The water's colder in the winter and it slows down a fishes movement which means your presentation becomes more import. A summer fish might move 5-6 feet when it sees your fly or lure but a winter might only mover a foot or so. If you do the math you'll see why better fishermen catch more fish in the winter. They know how to get something in a fish’s strike zone not near it
The last thing is how to cover water. I prefer a Spey Rod in the 12'-6" range. It's long enough to have all the spey rod benefits but can still be overhand casted if the situation warrants. I ‘m not a fan of the so called 'switch rod' and think they're nothing more than a gimmick to sell rods. With a 'switch rod' I think you end up with rod that doesn't do anything very well. Anyway, that's just my opinion. As to covering water, my approach is to first find the section of water I want to fish. I'll start at the top of the run and cast slightly upstream into the closest fishable water. I go through that 2-3 times, pull out 1 foot of line, and repeat the process until I've gone as far across the river as either I want to fish or can cast to. Sometimes I'll wade out the center of the river and work both sides, one after the other, in the same manner. Once I've covered the entire section I'll take a step or two downstream and start all over. If you follow this process you will cover all the water and if there are fish in there you should find them.
I think way too many people make way too big of a deal out of the difficulties involved with catching Steelhead. I personally think that if you follow the proper steps that it's actually easier than catching Trout or Salmon. The 90% that don’t catch fish don’t follow these basic rules. Follow Jason’s tips on finding the fish, use the tips I’ve provided, and you’ll be a 10%er in no time. It’s really not that hard.
Duane
