I am currently looking into buying alot of new Steelhead flyfishing gear. Ive trout fished for along time but only steelheaded for the last year, always using borrowed gear. After I caught my first fish on the Sauk last winter, I just cant get enough and so am now looking for my own equipment. I just finished building myself a 9'6" Sage RPL+, but still do not have a reel or line. I am wondering if anyone has any sugestions on a good flyreel (Under 200) and what kinda flyline I should get. (Shooting head, sink tip?). The rivers Ill be fishing the most are the Nooksack,Suak, and Skagit. Im also wondering if anyone has any sugestions on a good pontoon boat? For all the guys that do fish the Skagit, Sauk, and Nooksack any flies that I should use? Thanks for all help-
JR

Look on Bob's bulletin board. There is an Outcast pontoon fly fishing boat for sale. Sounds like it's just the boat you are looking for. fp

Ross makes a nice reel that would fit that rod for the price your looking for. Don't worry about what flies to use, stick with the standard winter flies, the goal is to get the fly in front of the steelhead and he will eat it. Lines are most important in getting your fly in that zone. There are two options in lines 1. shooting line with loop to loop connection of various head lengths & densities. 2. spare spools with lines of various sinktip densities. Each has pros & cons and is a matter of personal preference. My opinion is that a shooting line w/ loop to loop system is best from a budget stand point. I believe Aeroflo has a line system that seems to be a pretty good deal.

Flyguy- The Teton Tioga reels are hard to beat for the money. They are machined from a single block of aluminum and have a very effective disk drag. I purchased one last fall for my 10wt and then did some serious battle with the chums...No problems at all I think they are still running about $140 and you have the option of standard or large arbor spools. As far as lines go, I and couple of friends use the Rio VersiTip setup. It's very convenient, performs well and stands up to a fair amount of abuse. I think they are running about $125-130 now but the money you will save in lines and spare spools is well worth it. Good luck

Call me old fashioned but I've always used a weight forward floating line on one spool and a type 4 or 5 sinktip on another. These cover most situations and are pleasant to cast.

Welcome to the club. Repeat after me, "My name is ___________, and I am a steelhead addict. Seriously though, you have a few options available to you. I agree with the post that hyped the Tioga. I currently fish two Teton's and love them. They are the pricier version of the Tioga but have the same drag system. On my single handed rod, I fish a large arbor 8-10 which balances nicely with my 10' 8 weight.

As for line setups, there are various schools of thought. I fish a SA Mastery Steelhead taper with 18' cut off the front. To this I loop tips. For tips, I use a Type 3 or a Type 6 15' Rio sinker and the 18' floater I cut off for summer work. These three tips cover most of my fishing needs year around. The advantage of this line setup is the steelhead taper has a long enough belly to allow mending out to the fly. This is not possible with conventional shooting heads and running line. I have not fished the Rio Versi-tip or the Airflo but have heard good things about both.

maybe im the cheap bastard, but I picked up an Orvis Rocky mountain And it works great for me. Its very durable, and has spare spool disks you can pick up for fifteen bucks a pop.
this is my own personal opinion but I cant see paying over a hundred bucks for a reel that is going to be banged around on rocks (in the heat of fish passion).
Check them out, there a value at sixty five bucks

Hey Sinktip,

That's a great idea! Can you get the sink tip tips by themselves or do you have to buy an entire line and cut the tip off? How do they cast? Also, do you just nail knot a heavy mono loop onto all the ends? I like it!
Thanks

Hey guys, forgive my gratuitous commercial plug but a good college buddy of mine located in Corvallis, OR recently launched www.riverwire.com. A great flyfishing website with lots of awesome gear. If nothing else I recommend spending 30 seconds registering for the top of the line graphite rod he is giving away.

------------------
ExtraStout

I use to make my own changeable sink tips, but I had a terrible problem with hinging and the sink tips were always level. What a bear to cast!!
Technology seems to have changed some of these problems....longer rods, better tips,and the new mono loops would really make a difference.
I have a 9wf floater that I could hack up. Should I or just buy a new line system?

------------------
Marty
www.steelheader.net
marty@steelheader.net

Lots of good fly rods out there. In the reel department, you would do well to take a look at FLY LOGIC. They have an awsume reel that comes in just over 100 bucks. The higher priced one that they make is around 200.. The drags on these reels are very good. They have a web site, take a look and you will probably like what you see. Jim Teeny has your fly lines. They have worked well for me in a lot of different situations.. Good fishing

Stinkfoot:

You can buy the 15' Rio tips by themselves in various line weights and sink rates. It has been awhile since I bought one but I think they go for around $9.00. They come with a small stiff loop already on the butt end. For the flyline, I use kevlar loops you can get from either Kaufmans or Patrick's in Seattle. They are stiffer than other braided loops and the stiff loop to loop seems to cut down on the hinging problem. As for the tips themselves, if you are near Seattle, try picking them up at the Outdoor Emporium as they are cheaper than your local flyshop.

Flyguy,

You almost cannot go wrong choosing a reel in your price range. Although not the best value for dollar these days, I'm still partial to Hardys. I've been using them nearly 30 years and never had a failure after hundreds of steelhead. That kind of dependability develops some loyalty. If I was looking for a new reel on a budget, I'd probably get a Ross Colorado - no disc drag. Never needed one and I like to keep my gear simple and close to traditional.

As for fly line, well I cast tradition aside since a silk flyline severely limits the places I can effectively fish, and I do want to fish. The simplest, most effective, entry level option is to buy a WF_F in your line weight. Cut 15' of the front and splice stiff loops for rejoining when you want a floating line. Buy 30' sinking shooting heads in type 3 and 4, cut 'em in half, and maybe even a piece of Deep Water Express - but don't expect that to handle so well. Splice a stiff loop to one end so you can join it to your floating line. I use a 15' type 4 sink tip for well over 90% of my winter fishing, and it's served me very well. It may do so for you.

Flies matter about this much. I always try to have one that still has a sharp point tied to my tippet. Patterns matter way more to fishermen than to steelhead, especially winter runs. I fish mainly size 2 for winter (easy to cast) sometimes smaller or larger, not that it matters all that much. I favor bright or dark patterns and usually select my fly based on hunch, and that works very well. You could select based on solunar tables and do just as well most of the time. I like marabou, flashabou, bucktail, polarbear, and other bright or dark materials in my flies. I think you should choose the ones you like the best, because then you will use them, and then you will catch fish on them, and then you will think you made the right choice without ever knowing that another decision would have also been the right choice.

In order of importance for successful steelhead fishing, the fly line is far and away the most important. A dependable reel is next, cuz a hot steelhead can melt a junk reel - I know; I could show you a couple. A servicable rod will cast the line and get your fly into steelhead territory. And lastly, you need a fly, any fly, that you can believe in. Oh, and a piece of leader material would be a nice addition between fly and line.

Good luck. See you on the Skagit.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

I've been using a Ross Cimmaron C-4 for over 5 years and have had no complaints. I think they still retail for under 150 bucks new, but you can find any number of the above mentioned reels and spools in some of the for sale sections on some flyfishing websites at pretty good prices (if you take time to monitor them).
My Ross has stood up to tons of salmon in Alaska every year (and the occasional retarted steelhead that is desperate enough to take one of my feeble offerings).
As for lines, I normally fish smaller streams with a full floater, long leader dead-drift presentation. Sounds like you have larger waters pinpointed, where as the other guys have mentioned, the interchangeable tips are the ticket.

------------------

Flyguy- Just in case you are still deciding on flylines you may want to check out the latest (March/April 2000) FlyRod&Reel. They list and describe what has to be all of the major sinking lines on the market. Good luck.