Fly Tying

On a recent trip to the Great Lakes I had the opportunity to sneak in a little fishing. Normally November is "prime time" for swinging flies for steelhead... The weather is usually decent, the water is fairly warm and the fish are aggressive. However, this year mother nature decided to bring winter early. The forecast for my first day on the water was for a high temperature of 22 degrees with the morning starting out around 11 degrees. Needless to say, breakfast lingered.

I'm headed back to Cleveland, Ohio on February 23 to give a Spey casting and fly tying clinic. The class is being hosted by Chagrin River Outfitters and Steelhead Alley Outfitters. I'm looking forward to fishing "Steelhead Alley", from everything I've heard the rivers and their steelhead are amazing. Come join us for a day of Spey casting and fly tying if you're in the area.

In todays post we're talking about rigging lead or tungsten worm weights on unweighted steelhead or salmon shank flies. This is an extremely useful fishing system that can greatly reduce the number of flies you tie or carry. First, you'll have to know the "saltwater loop knot". The most useful size weights are 3/16 oz and 1/8 oz although I have thrown up to 1/4 oz weights for super deep slots.