Gregor,

I'm with Rob on winter fly selection. In crazy years gone by, I'd tie and fish full dress Syd Glasso spey style flies and even the occasional full dress Jock Scott. Crazy because a half-hour's tying effort could easily hang a rock on my first cast and be lost. I use cheap but serviceable Mustad or Eagle Claw 1197 hooks and tie simple marabou streamers and a kinda' quick and dirty General Practitioner or prawn fly - a mix of orange and red materials. These fish are not choosy. I doubt the steelhead fly has been tied that won't take a fish, although it ought to be in a suitable size. Find patterns that strike your fancy and don't take more time to tie than you're willing to throw away, as winter steelheading results in a lot of lost flies.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.