I don't fish for salmon enough to offer a qualified opinion. I don't know about sea-run cutthroat in saltwater; in freshwater the fly pattern does seem to matter some, but not a lot to me, although I use about 3 patterns for cutts.

For steelhead, I believe fly pattern is all but irrelevant. An undisturbed steelhead, with suitable water temperature, will hit the first properly presented bait or lure it sees. So I match my fly selection to water conditions more than anything, favoring larger, brighter flies at winter flows and smaller, darker flies during the summer and fall. Unfortunately, this makes fly tying pretty boring. I could get by with 3 patterns for the whole year, in sizes 8 to 1. So to keep my mind from going numb, I tie whatever garish assortment of materials I pull out of the jars and material grab bag.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.