Winter Steelhead Fly's are primarily attractor patterns representing in profile a forage base of the Steelhead. Coloration of the patterns generally determines the type of water it is to be fished in, this is not a hard and fast rule but generally the heavier and more colored the water, the bigger and brighter the fly.

Winter Steelhead fly's are typically dressed much larger and fuller than the Summer Steelhead counterpart.

There are five primary designs regarding Winter Steelhead fly's. The top wing hair and hackle/plume patterns such as the venerable "Skunk", "Skykomish Sunrise" and "Winters Hope".

The Spey and Dee patterns such as the "Lady Caroline" "General Practitioner" and the "Sol-Duc Spey". The Palmered Plume Patterns such as the "Popsicle" and "KJP Bleeding Prawn". The Leech and Matuka Patterns such as the ever popular "Egg Sucking leech", "String Leech" and "Claret Matuka", and finally there are the egg and dredger patterns.

Materials used to create these patterns range from common poly yarn to exotic tropical plumage.

Summer run Steelhead fly's are much more sparse and rather diminutive when compared to the Winter patterns. They can range from absurdly abstract to exact reproductions of the main entrée.

The most popular and productive Summer-Run patterns here on the peninsula so far have been patterns such as the ones on either side of this column and in shades of black, purple, blue/green, and vibrant orange and fuscia.

Patterns such as the cone head "Wooly Buggers", "Coastal Skunks", "Bubble Head Skaters", "Air BC", "Thunder and Lightning" and the like have also proven their worth.

Our Sea-Run Cutthroat are always on the prowl for an easy and substantial meal. Patterns that suggest larger macro invertebrates or small fry and bait fish such as Sculpin will get noticed.

Bettig and Knutsen Spider patterns also work very well in a variety of subsurface applications. Dry fly patterns that represent Caddis and Sedge are very effective and the old standby's, the "Royal Wulff", the "Stimulator" and "Griffith's Gnat", are excellent surface patterns when searching for the "Cutties".