North Umpqua River · fly box
The home of the greased-line swing, and one of the last rivers with a fly-only steelhead reach.
| Pattern | Imitates | Size | Technique |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Butt Skunk | Steelhead attractor | #4 | Greased line: floating line, no weight, cast 45 degrees down and across, mend twice. |
| Umpqua Special | Steelhead attractor | #4-6 | The local standard; swing it slowly through the tail of a pool, step down 60 cm. |
| October Caddis Dry | Dicosmoecus adult | #8 | Dry-fly steelhead: fish it at dusk on a floating line and let it skate. |
| Sofa Pillow | Stonefly nymph | #6 | For resident rainbow in the fast chutes above Steamboat. |
The dressing plate
On this river
The greased line swing
Fish a floating line with no weight and a single wet fly. Cast 45 degrees downstream, mend once immediately to control the sink of the fly, and once more 10 metres into the swing. The fly should travel broadside to the current at a walking pace. A take is usually a single heavy pull rather than a series of taps.
Where in the pool to stand
Steelhead sit in the upper third of a pool and in the seam where the fast water dumps into it. That means your first cast should land near your own bank at the head of the pool, not across it. Working a pool from the head down with short casts covers the fish you can actually reach and leaves the middle alone.
Fishing the October caddis dry
For two weeks in late September and early October the large orange caddis returns at dusk and steelhead will rise to it, which is unusual enough that people plan whole trips around it. Use a #8 dry on a floating line, cast across and let it swing, and resist the urge to set the hook at the first splash — wait until the line comes tight.