Rogue River still producing Winter Steelhead chrome.

The Rogue Steelhead are acting like it's summer. We hit fish early in the morning, fished all day without a single grab, then at the last run, when the sun got off the water we found ourselves with on fish after another. Good fish, one little hen taking us to our backing twice. Fishing for the bigger winter steelhead in summer conditions has been a kick.

Getting Bent!

This fish was the little engine that could, it had us in our backing twice

Going Back!

The Rogue is still producing steelhead.

There are a good number of fish in the upper Rogue. Of course nymphs will always work...stick with big stones at the top and a egg pattern below. Once the sun warms the water enough to get the bug activity up you might switch to a smaller nymph below.

Swinging has been bringing some results as well. I like to find the water the sun hits first.  Then swing it low and slow, using up to a 5 foot fluorocarbon leader to keep my tips away from fish in the clear water the Rogue is experiencing now. I match the color of fly to conditions.  I have been fishing my wired flies.

The Rogue is fishing well, but I predict it will explode in the next month as we get spring rains, so get out there.

How to tie one of my favorite Winter Rogue River fly... "Punch in the Face!"

I have tried a bunch of patterns over the years, some worked some didn't. Those years of experimentation taught me there are several different characteristics that lead to catching fish on the Rogue.

 The most important characteristic is weight. I have found that I can adjust the depth of weighted flies by line tension, but its hard to control a neutral buoyant fly--even on the end of a sink tip. You will never catch a Steelhead if you can't present the fly in a way that will produce a strike regardless of color or movement. This is where the wire came in. In the early days I couldn't match conditions as the only color I had was copper,but nowadays, with all the colors on Uni Wire you can tie a fly to match any condition.

This is the second most important characteristic...Color. The fish has to be able to see your offering. There are times when fish will  key on one color or another, but most of the time I have found that color plays an important role in what the fish can see.   From Silver for bright and sunny days, to black and blue for low light conditions and everything in between Uni has it covered.  

Besides weight and color, movement is an important characteristic. Steelhead can be like your house cat at times...to get your cat to attack you have to add more movement to your taunting. The thin body profile that the wire allows helps the hackles pulsate...they are unrestricted by the thick chenille bodies that traditional patterns boast.   

Now that you have seen some of the thought behind my wired patterns tie some up and give them a try....you'll be surprised how they will become one of your go to patterns. I have included a video showcasing my favorite high off colored water wired fly, Punch In The Face. Its Black and Blue color provides the shadow and low light color that the fish can see. Its one of my alternative flies for people who don't like to cast intruders....Get out there.....