Common size flies used for summer/fall run steelhead are generally light, sometime sparsely dressed hair wings style flies, similar to a Green Butt Skunk or Silver Hilton. Flies of this size and design can easily be cast using more gradual tapered head similar to a RIO Scandi. A monofilament leader can be used to fish close to the surface or a sinking RIO Light Scandi VersiLeadercan be added to the end of the Scandinavian head to fish the fly deeper. The longer, gradual tapered Scandi Head and lightly dressed hair wing flies are very enjoyable to cast. For me it’s similar to casting a small dry fly on a floating fly line for trout. This spey line set up usually works well until the rainy season begins and river flows increase.
As water clarity degrades a larger fly silhouette is often required. Now is the time to put away the summer steelhead box in exchange for larger, heavily dressed winter-style flies with lots of movement. These same conditions regularly occur during the summer in many British Columbia steelhead rivers influenced from melting glaciers and or heavy rain. These conditions might require a 4 to 6 inch heavily dressed leech or Intruder-style fly that is more visible to the fish. Casting these flies can be like trying to cast a ”wet sock” which is no job for a Scandi head or similar taper. That’s where my RIO Skagit Max head and InTouch MOW Tips will make easy work of casting these larger, more air resistant flies. The issue now becomes the MOW tip that I attached to my Skagit head. If the MOW tip I’m using doesn’t have enough grains per foot, fly delivery will be difficult or next to impossible.