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[tburns]

Hey all,

I'm looking to start fly fishing the vedder for steelhead starting tomorrow.  Would anyone have a suggestion of a good starting spot to park and go?  I'll try to make my way from there based off what i've read on these forums

cheers!

[Sandman]

Lower river is your best bet, the canal and runs just up from it.  There is good fly water in the upper river but the runs are smaller and more spread out.  Mid river (tamahi to the crossing) has some fine water but you need to hike more and is more hit and miss on what you will find.  If you stick to the lower river (between Yarrow and the mouth) you can park and walk and wade all day there is probably more fish in there this early too, although I have only seen one fish yet, and it wouldn't take my offerings.

[Britguy]

are you single hander or Spey, can make a difference as to best water to fish
Sandman is right though mid to lower is your best bet and try all spots you can fish, you never know where is good until you try it, try the shallows and work your way out, I got my first on the Spey right at the end of the swing in two feet of water and it had been fished by a couple of gear fisherman just before me, they did not fish the shallows
Good luck

[tburns]

Thanks for the tips guys.  I ended up at the vedder around noon and felt like a space cadet not knowing where to cast or anything.  I spent much of my time observing and talked to a couple guys.

As per your recommendation Sandman, I went to Yarrow and worked my way down to past the bridge.  Didn't have any hookups .  It seems like there isn't much structure to the water there.  When there is not much structure, where should I be casting?  Or would it be better to walk to a place that looks like it would have more cover?

[tburns]

Forgot to mention that I'm using a single gander btw.  Currently out here right now and found what looks to be a promising run across from pilings

[Sandman]

Forgot to mention that I'm using a single gander btw.  Currently out here right now and found what looks to be a promising run across from pilings

I do single handed as well, and that run has shaped up nicely over the last couple of years.  Used to be narrower and deeper, tough to swing a fly through, but now is one if the nicest fly water on the lower river.  I haven't seen any taken in there yet, but surely is just a matter of time.  I do fear the fish won't hold long in there, so it will be a chance encounter most likely.

[tburns]

No bites again yesterday, but I did arrive to a spot right after a guy caught a small 5 pound steelie.  He was just leaving and was nice enough to go back to the spot with me and show where he caught it.

[tburns]

Hey guys,

So I just had my fourth trip out to the vedder and have yet to hook into a fish (i'm doing it on the fly though so I have realistic expecations).

What flies do you guys rig up with?  I've heard from many people that these winter steelies are aggressive biters and will bite if they see your presentation.  By that logic should I be using one of the popsicles that I was using for chum at the squamish?  I've also got some purple leeches, but I didn't know whether I should be tossing something brighter.

As well, do you believe in the bright day = bright offering, dark day = dark offering logic?

Cheers, hope to see some of you out there

[HOOK]

If you only had to fish one fly all season, especially using a single handed rod as you are. I would fish an EGG SUCKING LEECH in purple with a hot orange egg. You can fish them in black with either orange or chartreuse egg or even lighter like pink with orange/chartreuse egg.

These flies are very easy to tie, not overly large so as to not spook pressured fish, easy to cast and can be weighted heavily or not at all depending on how you tie it.

very basic instructions that can be tweaked of course or changed completely

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw/102599fotw.php

for example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP0RJ5nPgm0

[Sandman]

If you only had to fish one fly all season, especially using a single handed rod as you are. I would fish an EGG SUCKING LEECH in purple with a hot orange egg. You can fish them in black with either orange or chartreuse egg or even lighter like pink with orange/chartreuse egg.

These flies are very easy to tie, not overly large so as to not spook pressured fish, easy to cast and can be weighted heavily or not at all depending on how you tie it.

very basic instructions that can be tweaked of course or changed completely

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw/102599fotw.php

for example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP0RJ5nPgm0

Good advice Hook, I had posted a reply too (at least I thought I did), but I am not sure what happened to it.  I had also suggested the egg sucking leech (Purple and Orange is my personal favourite as I got my first Vedder steel on it), in addition to single eggs dead drifted under an indicator (great for picking up other trout species too) and the every popular intruders (I am liking your Lady Gaga although I have yet to hook one on it).

[HOOK]

Good advice Hook, I had posted a reply too (at least I thought I did), but I am not sure what happened to it.  I had also suggested the egg sucking leech (Purple and Orange is my personal favourite as I got my first Vedder steel on it), in addition to single eggs dead drifted under an indicator (great for picking up other trout species too) and the every popular intruders (I am liking your Lady Gaga although I have yet to hook one on it).

another easy to tie fly that's very effective are MOAL leeches. they are more involved tying wise than an egg sucking leech but still pretty basic. I got a fish on Saturday using a pink/purple version of the MOAL that I tie which is infact easier to tie and fishes better than the original.

scroll down to my picture
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=34928.msg333118#new

[tburns]

Interesting...  I had a short discussion with Andre at pacific angler and he was of the opinion that if a fish sees it, they'll strike and that the bells and whistles are simply unnecessary. 

Another quick question: What sink tip are you using?  I was thinking about how I could have upped my chances once I got home yesterday, and was thinking that possibly using a type 3 tip was not heavy enough to get down to the fish in some of the deeper runs.  I have a type 7 type that i'll be trying next time.

[HOOK]

I was using 12 feet of T11, it sinks about the same rate as a Type 8. my leader was around 2 1/2 - 3 feet in length of straight 12lb

Its a bit different comparing using a single hander to a two hander though so your best to play around with things. use a tip that you can find bottom with then adjust your casting angle, put on a slightly lighter tip, maybe use the same tip but with an unweighted fly, lighter tip with weighted fly...................as you can see the variables are many.

best thing to do is find bottom then adjust so your 1-2 feet off the bottom. remember fish look ahead and up but you also don't want to be too high above their heads in cold water temps because they wont move far to strike usually.

[tburns]

Thanks for the tips hook.  was definitely finding bottom a bit too frequently today so I will make sure to put your words into practice this weekend. 

I was also having some awful troubles with hitting myself with the fly due to the downstream wind and casting on river left.  I looked up how to do a double spey and a snap-t cast, and will practice these two the next time I'm out.  Do you have any other suggestions about how to cast with that downstream wind? 

[nickredway]

Lots of ways to skin a cat but in that river left, downstream wind situation you could either swap hands and cast left handed which is hard for most or you can learn to cast backhanded, basically you keep the rod in you right hand but cast over your left shoulder instead of the right. This keeps the line and fly downstream of your and your head and neck out of danger!
Basic explanation here..
http://www.lovetheoutdoors.com/fly-fishing/Te-Z/Type-of-Casts.html