Steelhead Poopah

The Steelhead Poopah pattern is effective for one simple reason; it is a close approximation of natural caddis found in many of our rivers throughout California. For steelhead, I like to add flash to most of my patterns, and on the Steelhead Poopah I’ve substituted Olive Krystal Flash for the antennae. Secondly, hook selection for steelhead is critical. For this pattern I’ve chosen a size 12 Tiemco 2457 scud hook. I like the scud hook because it allows me to stick with the smaller size for this fly, but maintain a wider gape allowing better hooking of these magnificent fish. Additionally, the 2457 is a 1X heavy wire hook. I tried a lighter wire hook initially on this pattern and learned quickly that steelhead can bend a light wire hook without any problem! For the bead I will often use Tungsten Beads when I anticipate fishing deeper of faster water. But I also don’t hesitate to add weight to the leader if I need to get down.

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