The Giver And The Maker

The quest for steelhead on a dry fly has been an inescapable passion that has held me in it's grip for the past three decades. Among the joys of this journey has been becoming friends with like minded souls who share the common obsession with getting steelhead to rise; those that speak the same language where a special bond is made.

I became friends with Rick Fielder in 2016 after he reached out to me through my blog Dry Line Steelhead-Oregon. I realized that Rick was living in Idaho, but was originally from Oregon. I quickly knew that we spoke the same dry fly steelhead language and that Rick had a remarkable history of dry fly steelhead experience.

Rick decided to make a trip to Oregon in May 2016 to meet up in person and to fish my local homewater, the Middle Fork Willamette. We launched in my drift boat and not long into our float, I managed to get hung up in a root wad. The boat went down in seconds and we were fortunately able to climb onto the root wad until help arrived. I guess nearly getting us killed during our first fishing trip sealed our friendship.

Fast forward through subsequent safer fishing trips in the ensuing years and our circle of common fishing friends ever expanding, we are coming through the pandemic and experiencing diminishing steelhead returns. We weather through the ups and downs of fishing and life with the help of an ongoing text thread that includes Rick Fielder, Adrian Cortes, Rick Harrington, Bucky Buchstaber, Mark Stangeland, Lee Lashway, Jeremiah Bawden, Keith Tymchuck, and Tony Torrence. This text thread was initially set up by Adrian for "event planning ", but took a life of it's own and continues to this day. Stories are told and life is shared in this special platform.

So one day, in the text thread, Rick says "hey Todd, what do you think of bamboo?" I'm thinking that Rick was going to suggest a rod that I should start saving for. It was late and I went to bed after reading that message.

The next morning, I saw that our text thread was going again so I opened it up and found that Rick has posted a picture of two identical David Reid cane rods. The text below the picture read, "the rod on the left is yours". I re-read the text a few times and it started to sink in that Rick was gifting me a David Reid 11'6" 5/6 Fall Run cane rod!

Rick mentioned that he was getting himself a retirement gift by ordering a cane rod from David Reid and he decided to order the same rod for me as well. He had David utilize English Oak from Rick's father's farm for the reel seat and handles.

I was also in communication with David Reid directly a few days before he put the rod in the mail to me. We discussed lines for the rod and he talked of how he was blessed with being part of this surprise gift that Rick was presenting to me.

As things turned out, Rick and David planned a trip to come fishing for steelhead in Oregon a couple weeks later and I was able to spend a day with the giver and the maker of this special rod. It was blessed Fall day, with perfect overcast, but no dry fly steelhead showing. The company and fellowship were more than enough as Rick and I celebrated breaking in our twin cane rods.

David shared insights on rod design and he was interested in where I would land as to line matches and casting feel with the 11'6" 5/6 Fall Run. It turns out that I found myself "uplining" to get the load that I liked. An older Rio AFS 460 gr 37' was nice as well as the Beulah Elixer 33' 450gr. My favorite match on this rod has been the Beulah Aerohead 510gr @47'. This could be due to the longer line phase I have been going through.

As I thanked Rick yet again for this generous gift, he mentioned that our friendship had helped to rekindle his passion for dry fly steelhead during a time when life was providing distractions. I am truly blessed when my dedication with dry fly steelhead can provide encouragement and inspiration to others. 

- Duke Ellington

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Inevitability

 

With the poor steelhead returns in recent years, the odds of encountering a surface friendly player can seem like a near impossibility as I ply my favorite steelhead waters time and time again. 2020 was my worst dry fly steelhead year to date, with just a small handful of steelhead risen and hooked, and none landed.  I went the entire 2020/2021 winter season with nary a grab nor a rise.  As I write this,  the 2021 summer returns appear to be a bust as well, at least on my local waters

The current downward trend in steelhead returns appears to have begun in 2015, when the run size was only about 15% of average on my homewater.  With the exception of the 2016 season,  summer steelhead returns have been down significantly. 

So what's a dedicated dry fly steelheader to do in the midst of all the doom and gloom?  As for me, I continue making regular trips to steelhead rivers, regardless of the lack chrome feedback. Casting and swinging through favorite runs is always worth doing for its own sake. Even after prolonged periods of unanswered casts, I still feel that juicy anticipation as my waker swings over familiar holding lies or through areas with features that my instincts have taught me could give up a crushing rise.

I was recently corresponding with Bill McMillan about the low returns we have been having over the past several years. Thankfully,  Bill was encouraging optimism:  he recalled a period of low returns in the early nineties and then came a rebounding trend in the later nineties.  Bill's words reminded me of the resiliency of steelhead and optimism coming from Bill, who has studied steelhead for most of his life, restored hope within me as well.

I know that many folks won't bother fishing for steelhead if the odds of hooking one is poor.  I am actually thankful for those who are mainly concerned with actually catching fish, because low returns gives me much needed peace and quiet on the river.  The solitude renews my soul.

I just recently engaged in a discussion on Speypages regarding the question of why we continue doing what we do, presumably in the context of the new normal of low returns.  That question made be realize how all encompassing dry fly steelheading is in my life.  I have a cycle where I love tying steelhead dry flies and I am abundantly blessed that there are people who value my flies enough to purchase them from me.  This allows me to maintain a stash of mad money, which in turn allows me to purchase some new equipment every year.  New equipment leads to constant tinkering with gear and every new setup I obtain requires tweaks in my casting technique.  Seeking a pleasant rhythm of consistency with my casting is a constant pursuit when I am out on the river.  This ever evolving cycle keeps me totally immersed in dry fly steelheading where I always have something that is keeping me engaged in various aspects of the pursuit.  In the end, the whole process is so enjoyable in and of itself, that the lack of steelhead feedback does not ever prevent me from seeking regular river time.

I suppose as I continually participate in this dim witted endeavor, I have come to mentally count on "Inevitablity".  That is, the warped thought process that says if you continue to fish a dry fly for steelhead you will eventually come across a steelhead that is dumb enough to rise up and crush your fly.  Nevermind that numbers are as low as they have ever been, that even the gear guys haven't been getting them and no one else is mentally unstable enough to bother fishing for them.  Oh, and it's been over nineteen months since I landed one on a dry fly.

On July 11, 2021, I hit a local steelhead run as I often do through the course of the summer season.  It was a morning like any other:  I arrived in the early glow of dawn where it takes some time for there to be enough light to see my surface fly with consistency.  It is for this reason that I choose to start my morning's fishing in a run that flows smoother and slower where it is easier to visibly track my fly in low light.  I fished through this greasy run with my typical anticipation especially in the areas where rising steelhead have been encountered in seasons past.  As usual, no risers in this water.

By the time I completed fishing that first run, there was enough light to more easily see my fly in the morning shade so I headed to another run with more chop.  I started higher than I normally do, just out of impulse.  As mentioned about new equipment, I recently acquired a beautiful Flywerks Quantum 16' 7" 7wt made by Steve Godshall and a modern Hardy 4 1/4" LHW Perfect.  Not surprisingly, I want to fish this dreamy combo at every opportunity.  Anyway, I must have figured that with the longer casts that I make with the giant rod and 65' Ballistic Vector XL line, that starting higher in the run would allow me to cover the upper parts of the run with a longer cast.  

I had extended casts until I got the head and 5 strips of running line out as I made the distance I was satisfied with for this water, about 110'.  I then started stepping down the run with each successive swing.  When I was just a few steps down from where I started, I watched my black "bivisi bomber" as it came to the edge of some choppy water closer to shore.  I had been wondering if the high water of recent winters had filled in the areas near shore where steelhead held consistently in the past.   Just as I pondered my uncertainty with the water I was fishing, a sudden explosion came to my fly and my line drew tight instantly.  (Gotta love steelhead surface attacks like this where a guy can do no wrong!)  The steelhead quickly put a satisfying bend in the long rod as it took off on a run and then leaped clear of the water.  I could see the perfect form of a moderately sized steelhead in the arc of it's jump.  A few more runs and jumps ensued until I was able to draw the stubborn steelhead close enough for me to draw the long rod up and over me where I could get a hold of the leader.

I led the spunky hatchery buck into some quiet water near the bank and was able to get some photos before I dispatched it by slicing it's gills to allow it to bleed while I entered my catch on my electronic harvest tag and then went back to fishing for a few more minutes.

Not surprisingly, there was no companion steelhead in the area that would rise to my fly so I had likely found the lone needle in the haystack.  I mused over how the surface attack and fight of  a steelhead just never gets old.  The mechanics of wrestling with a steelhead on a two handed rod came back to me readily, even with my long dry spell.  

Before leaving for home, I grabbed my folding knife out of my wader chest pocket and went to work gutting my steelhead.  Being in sight of passing traffic in the distance,  I made sure to nestle against backside vegetation with my back facing any public eyes to conceal my activity.   I then walked back to my rig, holding the steelhead along my side in hopes obstructing it from view.  No one was at the parking area so I placed the steelhead on the ground at the back my rig while I tore down my rod.  

Just as I was prepared to leave, an older gentle man pulled in. I couldn't tell if he was a fisherman,  but to play it safe,  I kept my back to him as I grabbed the steelhead and threw it in the back of my rig.  Turns out, this guy was a fisherman who lives close by but just realized that this was an area people fished.  He asked if I had done any good and I automatically replied "nope", then immediately felt ashamed of lying to a stranger.   

I just get a crazy sense of cageyness when I have found dry fly steelhead success while having the river all to myself, with no one else fishing due to the dismal returns.  I have even been known to disengage the clicker on my reels to remain incognito when other anglers are around in hopes of quelling the racket of any hooked steelhead I am lucky to encounter.   Engaging in this quirky behavior involves securing the reel handle with a rubber band to the rod.  I have had steelhead break the rubber band on it's initial run as I then fumble with a free spooling reel.

Of course, even with my good fortune of finding this dry fly steelhead, I fully realize that such encounters will be few and far between this season and I'm good with that - I trust in the inevitability that if I just keep trying, I will find another one.......

   

Dry Fly Steelhead On The Wetfly Swing Podcast

I had the wonderful opportunity to talk about my favorite subject on the Wet Fly Swing podcast. Thanks to Dave Stewart for having me on!

https://wetflyswing.com/summer-steelhead-fly-fishing-todd-hirano/

Bivisi-Bomber Step By Step

Chartreuse Explosion Bivisi-Bomber

It's been a while since I have posted here so I figured it was about time to put up a step by step  on tying my latest surface steelhead pattern, the Bivisi-Bomber.

I developed this pattern in the fall of 2019 as I went through a phase where my goal was to come up with a steelhead dry that used all natural materials, but that stayed on top consistently, and was highly visible.  My unconventional and deviant pattern,  the Little Wang, has proven itself many times over, so I was ready for a new challenge and my buddy Adrian Cortes may have given me a complex with his in hand, traditional,  all natural tying.

I had experimented with Bombers and found that I could get them to stay on top sometimes, but they often bobbed under.  Due to my tendency to want constant eye contact with my bug on the surface,  aka the dry or die mentality, the bobbing bomber frustrated me.  

I realized that with my goal of "holding the foam", I needed more stiff surface area at the front of the fly to keep it riding on the surface. My thought naturally went to incorporating cow elk into the pattern as it is the stiffest and highest floating natural material that I could think of.   

As I pondered how to incorporate cow elk into a bomber, the idea came about to cinch down a bunch of cow elk at the front of the fly, squeezed between the spun deer hair body and forward facing split wings of calf tail.  I was hoping that the stiff butts of cow elk pushing forward against the calf tail wings would provide the rigidity needed to keep the fly planing across the surface under tension.   The cow elk would also add more visibility and contrast to the pattern. 

A couple prototypes were quickly whipped up just in time for an evening session on my local ditch. As I had hoped, my newfangled contraption floated like a cork and waked like a champ under tension.  I was thrilled that I had finally achieved my goal of devising an all natural pattern that wakes consistently without relying on foam or glue.

Of course, over time, I have come up with numerous color variations in tying this pattern along with some additional color combos that have been requested by folks who have bought flies from me.   Most recently,  I have added hot butts of fluorescent yarn to my Bivisi-bombers and once a guy starts doing that, these flies seem naked without them...  Anyway,  you get it, the possibilities for color blends on this pattern are endless so for those who tie up their own renditions of this fly, show me what you come up with.  You can email me at toddhirano@yahoo.com and I could post up your versions of the Bivisi-bomber. 

Materials list:

Hook:  Mustad S82 (1xl, nymph hook) or the Gamakatsu bait hook with shank Barbs flattened, or your favorite bomber hook.  I typically tie these flies in sizes 6 & 4.

Thread:  100 denier Veevus gel spun, typically black

Tail:  Squirrel tail, color of your choice

Hot butt: fluorescent wool yarn,  I most commonly use chartreuse or orange 

Body:  spun deer, trimmed to a tapered shape, flat on bottom. 

Front facing wings:  calftail or squirrel tail, split and divided. 

Over wing:  cow elk, color of your choice. (Nature's Spirit has been the best source of cow elk that I have come across,  good quality and good selection of colors).

Body hackle:  appropriately sized saddle hackle.  Whiting Wooley bugger packs have been perfect  - nice long hackles and lots of feathers in the size range needed for this pattern. 

In the step by step below, I am tying the "Bleached Blonde" version of the Bivisi-Bomber, but as mentioned, color combos are endless so have fun with this pattern.

Steps:

1.  Start with a tight base of thread, starting from the eye, down the shank just past the hook point, then back to a position just behind the hook eye.  To prevent the thread and materials from spinning on the hook shank, I roughen the hook shank with an emery board prior to laying down the base of layer of thread.  I love gel spun thread for it's strength,  but it can be slippery stuff.  Applying zap a gap to the base layer of thread can also help prevent the body from moving on the hook shank after the fly is completed.

2.  Take a bunch of calf tail or squirrel tail and place in a hair stacker to get the tips as even as possible.  Measure the length to be a bit short of the length of the body.  Tie in the bunch of hair facing forward, leaving just a tiny bit of space behind the hook eye.  Because of the need to push materials forward, this pattern calls for "crowding the head".  Cut the butts about halfway down the body in a slant and tie over the butts and back to the front.  Part the hair in half and put some figure 8 wraps through the hair to split the wings.  Alternately wrap up each wing post with 5-10 thread wraps to reinforce the divided wings.  Figure 8 a couple more times to lock down the divided wings and push them forward.

3.  Take a bunch of squirrel tail and place in hair stacker to even the tips.  Measure the tail to be equal to the length of the body.  Tie down and cut butts where they meet the butts of the forward facing wings.

 

4.  If desired, tie in the hot butt at this point.  Tie in the flourescent yarn starting at the end of the butts of the forward facing wings, and to the end of body, wrap thread forward.  Take 3 wraps forward with the flourescent yarn and tie off, cutting the yarn even with the starting point.

5.  In preparation for tying in the deer hair body, take masking tape and tape over the forward facing wings and tail, if desired, for protection when the time comes to trim the deer hair body.

6.  Tie in deer hair with bunches about  a half inch in diameter, remove underfur and spin / flare each bunch on the shank starting just in front of the hot butt.  I typically end up using about 4 bunches of deer, packing each bunch tightly against the other.  Maintain firm thread tension once each bunch is spun/flared around the shank.  Add deer until you are at a point just behind the forward facing wings, leaving a little room for tying in the body hackle and over wing.  At this point, I do a manual 4 wrap whip finish at the point between the deer hair and the forward facing wings.  This keeps the thread secure while I trim the body in the next step:

7.  Trim the deer to the tapered shape as seen below and trim the bottom flat to keep the hook gap open.

8.  Select a saddle hackle sized appropriately to the size of the hook.  I like Whiting Wooley bugger packs for the hackles on these flies due to an abundance of appropriately sized hackles for these flies and their luxurious length.  Strip off some of the webby section of the saddle and tie in by the stem, right behind the forward facing wings.  Then take your thread and spiral wrap through the spun deer body to the point just in front of the hot butt.

9.  Spiral wrap the saddle hackle through the spun deer body to the point just before the hot butt.  Take a wrap around the tip of the saddle and spiral wrap forward through the body hackle to the front of the deer body to secure the body hackle.  Trim the tip of saddle hackle and trim the stem of the saddle as well.

10.  Take a bunch of cow elk, remove underfur and place in a hair stacker.  Measure wing to be even in length to the body.  Take 3 firm wraps around the cow elk, seeing that the butts run between the forward facing wings.  Bring thread forward and take 3 wraps behind the hook eye.  Then, while pulling upwards on the butts of the cow elk, do a 5 turn whip finish, then do another 5 turn whip finish to ensure everything is secure.

11.  Gather the butts off the cow elk and pull upward.  Trim the butts of the cow elk so they will just short of the length of the foward facing wings.

12.  Remove tape, cut off thread and take in the view of your completed, labor intensive dry fly steelhead killer that will stay skating, sans foam, for guilt free surface fishing.

Top View:

Bottom view:

Completed Bleached Blonde Bivisi-Bomber:

Some other versions of the Bivisi-Bomber:

Orange Butt, Oregon Duck Bomber:

Celestial Bivisi-Bomber:

Green Butt Skunkbomber:

Rodeo Clown Bomber: