Lets face it, most everybody would rather swing flys than nymph for steelhead. The problem I find is that the best swinging water is the tailouts. Now take the Sol Duc in mid April, how many aluminum boats clank across the tailouts each day? It dosnt take many to spook the fish out of the prime spots. So you can either sleep in your boat at the ramp to get first water, or you figure out a way to fish the "non fly water" with a flyrod. Nymphing is the awnser. I will fish two lead eyed glowbugs 16 inches apart under a yarn indicator(BOBBER) I like the yarn better than corkies, more sensitive to the light take. I like the lead eyes better than split shots, less to foul up. Put the flys out parallel to the boat, get your boat to the same speed the float-Indicator-bobber and have the caster mend to maintain the dead drift. It works!
I get alot of greif about this method, which is accepted in every other trout fishery in the country. It is not any diffrent than the way guys fish with jigs and floats. I have heard all sorts of reasons that this way of fishing is unethical, but I boated more fish this winter than ever before. I hear "you might as well gear fish" and my fav "Its not about how many fish you hookup" said by a guy who is a guide and has to convince that to his clients every day. I like casting a flyrod and fighting fish with a single action reel. Its a little harder to cast this rig, but it hooks fish