Dennis Lee

Types of Steelhead If you fish for the shrewd and tantalizing California steelhead, you may have heard them called either summer or winter steelhead. But what does that mean and is it easy to tell them apart? In this blog post, I explain the difference between these two ecotypes. These are groups of fish that have adapted because of different environmental conditions.  Winter steelhead are fish that mature in the ocean and enter freshwater ready to spawn. They usually arrive… Read More »the shrewd & tantalizing california steelhead

Steel · head · er – noun, a person who fishes for anadromous rainbow trout, commonly called steelhead, often with fly fishing tackle. Early History The California Gold Rush brought immigrants from all over the world to California. It is likely some of them were anglers who brought fishing tackle and techniques with them. Others were longtime residents whose families were early California pioneers. Some of these individuals were to become the first steelheaders.  Living was difficult in the 1800’s… Read More »the first steelheaders were amazing anglers

Background California’s Trophy Trout Program was started in the late 1960’s. At that time, the Department of Fish and Game maintained a Field Station. It was originally located on Jed Smith Drive near the Sacramento State University. The Field Station later relocated near Nimbus Fish Hatchery in the early 1980’s. Personnel assigned to the Field Station were often involved in developing new strategies to maintain and enhance California fisheries. Robert R. Rawstron was an Associate Fisheries Biologist at the Field… Read More »california’s trophy trout program provided great fishing opportunities

‘Twas the night before Christmas, the year nineteen hundred and thirty-six. Unfortunately, California’s North Coast had not received any significant rainfall since the previous April. As a result, lower Eel River stream flows were less than 100 cubic feet per second. Fortunately, a light rain was beginning to fall. The rain continued and on Christmas day Eel River flows had doubled to about 200 cfs. The rain continued and on the day after Christmas flows had increased to 400 cfs. Fortunately, in… Read More »a fly for a gigantic Christmas steelhead

Early History Early records and newspaper accounts support the contention that fly fishing for steelhead likely began on northern California’s Eel River in the late 1800’s. Flies used by early California steelhead anglers were often imported Eastern trout wet flies and occasionally Atlantic salmon patterns. These include the Royal Coachman, Parmacheene Bell, Red or Scarlet Ibis, Grizzly King, Professor, Kate, Jock Scott, and Alder. Most were likely used for late summer/early fall steelhead although some may have also been used… Read More »early California winter steelhead flies – some unique information

American shad tips for where and when to fish are a game changer. American shad are a popular fly rod fish and fun to catch. Interestingly, shad are not native to the West Coast. Shad were first introduced to the Sacramento River in the late 1800’s. Introductions were highly successful. By the early 1900’s shad migrated as far south as Los Angeles County. Some even migrated as far north as Puget Sound, Washington. Over 100 years later, many Central Valley… Read More »american shad best tips: where and when for greatest results

Anglers tie thousands of summer steelhead flies for the Rogue and Klamath rivers. Interestingly, some have become popular while others have fallen from use. However, I have listed eight awesome proven flies for the Rogue and Klamath rivers. First, let me discuss the must have flies for the Rogue River. Not surprising, the Rogue has long been known for its half-pounder and adult summer steelhead. In the past, early flies were often small and dressed on double hooks. In addition,… Read More »Eight awesome proven flies for the Rogue and Klamath

How Tie A Perfect Spey Fly – Part 3 In this blog, Perfect Spey Fly?, I discuss the hooks, materials and techniques I use to tie Spey flies. Original Scottish Spey flies were simple constructions. Furthermore, they often omitted a tail (the one exception was the Lady Caroline above). The body of Spey flies was constructed of wool with a Spey cock or heron feather wrapped as a body hackle. In addition, several tinsel wraps were added. Finally, a teal… Read More »perfect Spey Fly? How to tie the easiest way

Bees and Wasps for Steelhead 2 Bees and Wasps fly patterns that will make most steelhead take notice are: Bees, and Wasps. My July 8th, 2020 blog mentioned two fly patterns designed to imitate a specific natural insect. One, the McGinty, a bee imitation originally tied as warmwater wet fly. The second, the Steelhead Bee, a wasp imitation, tied for specifically for summer steelhead. Both bees and wasps steelhead patterns make great wet flies for half-pounder and summer steelhead. the… Read More »2 flies that will make most steelhead take notice

Pet hair dubbing explained… For many years, fly tyers have used a variety of animal furs for dubbing. Small patches of various furs can be purchased in fly shops. Rabbit fur is one of the most readily available furs while blends of animal fur and synthetic material are popular. Several years ago, a friend of mine owned a pet Abyssinian cat. It was a beautiful animal and had a great personality. He often combed and brushed the cat as it… Read More »why fur for pet hair dubbing – new proven techniques

Steelhead Fly Lines At a certain time of the year a river is reported to “go over” to the floating line. British Columbia writer and fly angler Roderick Haig-Brown said it was when the water temperature reached 55oF. This axiom might be true when seasonally switching from winter to summer steelhead fishing. In some regions, the California winter season is long past when anglers begin fishing for our late summer/early fall steelhead. In California summer steelhead means fishing the Klamath… Read More »how to easily use floating lines and sink tips

American Shad Flies Introduction of Shad American shad were first introduced to California by Seth Green, an early fish culturist. Green established the first fish hatchery in the United States in Caledonia, New York. The introduction was made at the request of the California Fish Commission. The commission, established in 1870, was part of “An Act to provide for the restoration and preservation of fish in the waters of this State“. Green transported the juvenile shad from his Hudson River… Read More »why american shad flies are pretty awesome you see!

Steelhead bites a fly – Why? When selecting an artificial fly for trout fishing, anglers often attempt to “match the hatch”. Many at least offer some trout food representative in the river or creek. This makes fly selection somewhat easier but, unfortunately, this does not guarantee success. So, what about steelhead? Most angling literature tells us that like Pacific salmon, steelhead do not feed while in freshwater. But is this completely true? The answer is “not exactly”. Steelhead fly anglers… Read More »never underestimate why a steelhead bites your amazing fly

fly fishing tips In this blog I provide fly fishing tips for catching spring steelhead. In a previous blog, I described the spring steelhead that often show up in Central Valley anadromous rivers.  Anglers often report catching these small steelhead that ranged from 12 to 20 inches in length although some anglers have reported catching steelhead as large as 6 pounds. A few local anglers refer to these late entering steelhead as “bluebacks,” late entering members of a winter steelhead run.… Read More »fly fishing tips – how to swing for awesome Spring Steelhead

Fish counts Estimates of the historical American River spring steelhead run are available. Prior to construction of Folsom and Nimbus dams, counts of adult steelhead were made at the Old Folsom Dam. Although the number of fish counted was small, the majority (81%) of steelhead were counted during the months of May and June.  In 1956, James A. Hinze, the first manager of the Nimbus Fish Hatchery, prepared the hatchery annual report. He wrote some steelhead passed the city of… Read More »number of exclusive facts about amazing american river spring steelhead

American River winter steelhead American River winter steelhead are an important recreational resource. Construction of Folsom and Nimbus dams on the American River blocked historic runs of Chinook salmon and steelhead. No provisions for fish passage were provided. As an alternative a hatchery was constructed and began operation in 1955. During the first seven years of operation, Nimbus Fish Hatchery personnel trapped only a few hundred adult steelhead each season. The low adult fish numbers prompted managers to transfer steelhead… Read More »why it’s a challenge catching an american river winter steelhead

What is it and how does it work? Pacific salmon and steelhead demonstrate an anadromous life history. The word anadromous comes from Greek, meaning “running up”. Anadromous fish spawn in freshwater. The juvenile progeny rear in freshwater and then migrate to the ocean. They eventually return to freshwater to spawn. Most anadromous salmonids return to the stream where they reared as a juvenile fish. Juvenile salmon and steelhead undergo a process called smoltification at the end of their freshwater rearing… Read More »introducing the miracle of Smoltification of anadromous salmonids