So the gage on my river has been dropping at a pretty good rate. Now when it drops back into shape will the discoloration put the fish off for a few days till it gets back into shape, clarity wise? Start using the Dark patterns? It is my understanding that Black is the first and most dominate visible spectrum of colors that a fish see's. Even though black really isn't a color!!!! With this said, many guides and experienced anglers have told me Black is the color that a fish can see at the longest distance away. Other sites say different. Bright in colored water and Black in clear. Whats your take on this?

just shooting it out there, I'm bored

Any fly's good, . . . as long as it's black.

I don't use black much in the winter. I'm partial to chartruse and orange patterns in off color water, or alternatively, red and orange. I once caught a steelhead on red and black in water with 10" visibility. Not much logic here. My best conclusion is that fish can see better than I can in dirty water.

Sg

Hey Chuck what better way to show me those OP's then by a trip out on that kick butt sled of yours.

I like darker flies and bigger flies with off colored water. Black and purple or blue, tossing some bright color in with black always looks cool to me, not sure they fish have a preference. For winter runs I think putting the fly in their face is way more important than the color choice.

Come out of the closet dbl spey and let everyone know that you switched to the dark side for winter fish.

Its true Dave. I spend 95% of my winter fishing with a spey rod but 2/3 of my catch total for the last 2 winter seasons has come with a gear rod in my hand. It sucks, but there it is.

Not that there's anything wrong with that (besides lack of fish).
I was just funnin with ya man.
Hopefully the nates show up. The whole hatchery show has been weak.

I'm with Salmo g. - my experience too is that the fish can see much better in off-color water than we think I have caught fish when the water was so dirty that I could not see the stream bottom when the tops of my boot toes just awashed (less than 4 inches of vis).

Generally I don't think the fly color is extremely important though black is as verstible as any being a go to color in both very clear or dirty water. Just generally small profiles in clear water and big in dirty water. Typically when faced with visibilities of 1 foot or less I fish nothing but dark flies (black with maybe a hint of another color). With 18 inches or better typically change things up as the mood strikes me.

In high and dirty waters I think the most important factor in success is where you fish. On dropping water I focus on moving fish putting my fly through those traveling lanes which can be pretty shallow. In such conditions I have caught more than a few fish in less than 18 inches of water. The location of those fish are very predictable and in such circumstances one can fish very efficiently.

Tight lines
Curt

[quote=salmosalar]dbl spey,
If you fished 100% with a fly rod 100% of your fish would be caught on the fly.
Catching a steelhead with gear is like renting a hooker.


Not that there's anything wrong with that, I suppose.

I had that same mentality a for years...

[quote=salmosalar]For the record, I fished gear for steelhead once......once.

Go Sox,
You sound like you think that makes you better than others? Just kiddin around....

Tim

TFF,

Not at all. Charles just knows what he wants. And he wants a steelhead yank on the fly rod. It's pretty simple, really.

I've tried gear fishing, and it's a lot of fun as long as I'm hooking up every 20 minutes or so. But no matter what the method, the majority of every fishing day is spent not catching fish. At the end of the day, I've had more fun if I was fly fishing instead of gear fishing, regardless of the number of fish caught. If that doesn't make sense to you, fly fishing for steelhead isn't meant to be your thing.

Sg

Damn, thats the Money post right there!

I guess I tie on a black fly -- with maybe some other color mixed in -- in off-colored water because it's a confidence issue.
Geez, I sound like one of those bass pros on the TV fishing shows.
Anyway, I can see the fly better, so I feel like the fish can see it better. I'm no expert on winter steelhead -- I flog the water to a froth and don't catch too many -- but I always, always, always tie on a black fly in Oregon's Deschutes River when the White River pumps color into the stream. I like a combination of black and bright yellow or bright red.
This may be slightly off topic, but my catch rates for bass in colored water go way up when I tie on a black woolly bugger....