North Umpqua Steelhead Flyfishing 

TY Bigfoot. Just fished it a few weeks ago. Unfortunately the fires, particularly Archie, really devastated that very area where I had hooked a steelhead. Can’t say I did well, only one 25” steelhead in 5 days. That’s not so great. Felt like I was fishing it well. I hope the best for the NU, but it has it’s challenges right now. Pray for a slightly better than average precipitation year. Last thing it needs is a deluge of water in all that burned area. Again, thanks for the comment.

Thank you Eric. I made this really for my family; my way explaining why I’m on this river so much and away from them. My home rivers are the very ones you play on. Your channel is great! I literally just got back from here. It was tough to see. The Archie fire devastated so much of the fly area, I had a helluva time at first knowing where I was without the trees guiding me. I was watching one of your videos ( your pod of steelhead….smile….if people wanna know where you were, they’ll have to put a little effort into it…not that hard). Damn these fires. But it was fishing well. Great effort on your production.

Thank you for your concern. Perhaps using your own channel to promote the preservation of wild steelhead would be beneficial as well.

That’s a great question. There’s a few variables here. Most of the time these fish, especially when use pressure, will move at night, hole up during the day. Sometimes a steelhead may hole up in the same run for several days. With that said, you may glass a steelhead in a run, get down there, and find they are just unwilling to take. Or, they may be asleep at the wheel. Either way, that fish is not going to take. I’ve seen guys get into a run, and just stay presenting flies over fish, and then get, in some cases, quite frustrated that they can’t roll a fish. Meanwhile, the folks that are really in the know approach it more like hunting. Waiting for an errant fish to come to you is unproductive. After a morning of fishing, head to Steamboat, listen in. The Frank Moores, Joe Howells, John Sheweys, and Scott Howells of the world ( just to name a few), are always on the move. They know that river far far better than I. RIP Mr. Moore. Thank you for your service to both our country, and to the preservation of the North Umpqua.

@@rodbillings54 Thanks for the thorough and thoughtful response. Hope to make it up that way again soon!

Hey there. The honest best advice is to learn how to read steelhead water. Water 3-6 feet deep, moderate current is perfect. Every pool I filmed in is holding water. When you look at the holding water, they all have a certain look to them. Look for this water. My opening shot is fantastic water, and even though I didn't roll a fish in there that day, I can remember one incredible evening hooking three darn near back to back. Above all else, don't get disheartened. Trust me, it's easy to do. I remember when I first started fishing this river 25 years ago. Made three trips before I finally rolled a fish. Once you learn to read good holding water, here's a couple more tips: 1) Don't worry about your fly selection!!! Guys get so hung up on this. Carry your favor dark fly size size 2 and a skater all day long and forget about the whole notion of " Is this the right fly?" 2) Presenting the fly properly waaaay more important than the fly itself. More often than not an upstream mend will be useful to allow the fly to sink a few inches and to slow the swing. Yes there are downstream mends here but not usually the case. 3) Casting 80 feet is common. 60-70 foot roll casts are common too. Spend some time with this. 4) Move! I will not spend more than 45 minutes on any hole, regardless of how famous that pool is. If I've made good presentations I'll maybe change flies once, but then I get off the pool. Either the fish is asleep or not present at all. Heres a great strategy....starting at Deadline Pool, stop at every turnout, get out, and look for a trail. If there's a well worn trail, odds are you're headed for a good pool. In one morning, I'll hit 10 or 11 pools by the time I get to Steamboat Inn as I make my way east. Unfortunately The Blue Heron fly shop no longer is open

because at the end of the day Joe Howell was such a great source of info. I'd tell him the approximate mile marker I was at, described the pool, and he'd know every detail of where I was. If you see me, I'm very approachable. I'm very humbled by this river but I'll tell you what I know. I hope this gives you a starting point.

COLIN >>>> Rouge River : Get a hold of me when Your back up in southern Oregon, I spey - fish the upper Rouge about 3x's week wading and know the very best UN-crowded public access wading - swinging water on the river. ..... I work at Sportsman's Warehouse in Medford in the fishing dept..........North Umpqua >>> Anywhere from a few miles down stream of Steamboat Inn all the way up to a few miles up river from Steamboat Inn is prime water.....cheers, Steve

niall441 Hello there. Thanks for the comment. I love spey casting, especially when using those techniques with a one handed rod. I like the challenge of being able to roll cast 70 or 80 feet using my one hander. Trust me, I'm not a snob when it comes to using my Spey rods, but there is something about the challenge that this river poses with a standard rod. One bitchy place, among many, is McDonalds. The casting stations are awkward and the tree limbs are literally right behind you. If you can execute that cast, getting your fly out to that underwater boulder from the upper station, using a one handed rod, then I'd feel like I've accomplished something. I may not roll a fish, but I'll still leave the water confident. But, after about the 6th or 7th day in a row, fishing 10 hour days, yeah, I got nooooooo problem breaking out the Spey!

Have you tryed commando skagit head want to get one for my 9.6 7wt rod which would be about 300 grains, could be fun!

Lots. Favorite coastal river is the Gualala River. Concentrate on the 2 1/2 miles of water below the North fork. You can get into the long lines of guys that will cast shooting heads to the well known pools like Miner, Thompson, Donkey, Snag, Switchville. It's always entertaining. But I like the little hidey spots in between. Those fish like to roll. See them, go get them. Closer to my home is the American. Start with a river map, start at Nimbus and work your way down. I don't waste time on what fly to pick. Look at any steelhead book and what do you see? Pages and pages of flies that all work. Your presentation is far more important. On the Gualala a buggy size 8 Wooly Bugger black will do. On the American I've caught those steelhead on larger trout flies like a size 6 or 8 PT, to standard hair wings. Pick a water and learn it well. Thanks for responding!

Thanks for both the response and the local intel! I live in Roseburg, so most of my fish stalking occurs around the North Umpqua above the deadline. I'll be broadening my reach as time goes. There is so much water to explore here. Right now, I'm spending time learning to read the currents and the behavior of the fish. Predicting a fish is behind a specific rock, then walking up to that rock and seeing the fish you predicted swim off is a cool feeling. I feel like I'm zeroing in on things a bit. Hope to have videos of more that just scenery and casting soon!

Hope it comes back!

@@philipmorphew6301 And again we are at a point where we hope it comes back. My heart goes out to all of the people displaced.

Hello Hao Ly. Congrats to you and your family on Dry Creek store. Sounds like it’s been a long time dream of owning it. Too busy on the lower river these days. Upper is the place. I’ll see you folks in late August/September.