yeah, use a sink tip line, when i fish i often carry 2 rods, 1 rigged with a sink tip set up and the other a floating line that i can use for nymphing or dry flies. I usually only dry fly if i see rising fish. if you cant do 2 rods, then get an extra spool and switch your lines on the reel or you can get a loop tip and then add that to your line. Rio makes some nice tips and line set ups.
i also use a loop/streamer knot which allows the fly to have more action by not being tight to the hook. i caught this fish in a tailout on the hang down, i waded out about 10/15 feet into the river, cast across, mended, then did a classic steelhead swing. the fish was sitting below me about 10 feet out from the shore on the inside slot. i vary the length of my casts to work the inside areas first then sweep wider arcs with more line.
on this river there are a few other techniques that I want to experiment with more such as nymphing streamers. the key is getting your fly down early enough so its in front of the fish but also not snagging rocks and logs, i was snagging moss and pulling moss off my fly quite a bit before i finally got this fish. it was after i made quite a few casts before i stuck this buck.
when i fish streamers i work the water and mix up my presentation style, such as low and slow vs quick stripping
this river is very challenging for casting with all the trees, i have a short compact "streamer express" type line that allows me to load my casts and have a shorter back cast, then shoot line.
my home river in washington is the Cedar River (renton,WA) which i find to be very similar in almost every aspect to Putah Creek, river size/ flow rate, etc... only big difference is cedar has a nice stone fly hatch.
i was using a black cone head JJ wolly bugger with a lot of green and blue flash in it. it mimmicks a small bait fish. the water was faster moving in this area. but not the fastest water in the run.
-- Edited by DeckDog on Wednesday 20th of May 2015 10:55:21 PM
-- Edited by DeckDog on Wednesday 20th of May 2015 11:00:13 PM
-- Edited by DeckDog on Wednesday 20th of May 2015 11:06:19 PM
