The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah

(8 votes)

Written by Phillip Fischer
Sunday, 02 November 2008
T his fall I’ve been spending a lot of my free time loading up fly boxes with favorite steelhead patterns for the Klamath and the Trinity. A fly that I’ve had very good success with during the past several years is the Steelhead Poopah. This is an adaptation on the Tim Fox’s Caddis Poopah that I tie specifically for nymph fishing steelhead. Tying the Steelhead Poopah There are two primary techniques for fishing steelhead; swinging and nymphing. In the early season when river temperatures are warmer, steelhead will willingly take a swinging fly either under the surface, or skated on the surface. But as fall wears on and water temperatures chill down, nymph fishing usually out produces swinging techniques significantly. Year’s ago on my very first steelhead trip I fished the Rogue River in Oregon. At the time I had no idea how to fish for steelhead or what patterns to use. A friend told me, fish for them just like you do for trout. For that trip I tied a few of my favorite trout nymph patterns and tried fishing them under an indicator. The guide that day thought I was crazy, as he’d never seen a nymphing technique on the Rogue. But after landing 7 fish I was hooked on steelhead fishing and the guide was a convert to nymphing. The top producer that day was a size 8 Hare’s Ear Nymph, which was an excellent imitation for some of the stoneflies present in the river. Ever since that time, I have been experimenting with adaptations of my favorite trout nymph patterns and the Steelhead Poopah one of the results. Pattern notes: 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. Steelhead Poopah Pattern Recipe: Hook: Tiemco 2457 Scud Hook in sizes 10-14 Bead: Copper or Black Thread: Brown or Black Underbody: Olive Krystal Flash Body: Cinnamon Medium Vernille Rib: Copper Wire Legs: Partridge Antennae: 4-5 strands of olive Krystal Flash Thorax: Mahogany or Black Ostrich Tying Instructions: Step 1: Fit the bead onto the hook, place the hook in the vice and tie on thread at the thorax position. Attach a 6 inch piece of fine copper wire and wind to the point of the hook just above the barb. Attach 4-6 strands of fine olive Krystal Flash. Step 2: Take a piece of Vernille and singe the end with a lighter to form a slightly tapered body. Pass the material into the flame very briefly; too long and it will catch fire! Step 3: Wind the Krystal Flash over the hook to form the underbody and tie off at the thorax. Attach a ½ inch piece of the Vernille at the thorax leaving the tapered end extending slightly beyond the hook bend. Step 4: Wind the copper wire over the Vernille to form a rib with 4 to 5 wraps. Tie off at the thorax and clip the excess. Step 5: Attach 4 strands of Krystal Flash at the thorax and trim slightly shorter than the length of the body to form the antennae. Strip a quarter inch segment of a partridge feather. Tie on at the rear of the thorax and allow the material to rotate to the underside of the hook to form the legs. Step 6: Attach a strand of two of ostrich herl at the thorax and wind forward through the thorax. Tie off, clip the excess and whip finish to complete the fly. The Finished Steelhead Poopah. Give one a try this season!
Last Updated ( Monday, 03 November 2008 )

Discuss (15 posts)

Phil

Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 04 2008 04:17:33

This thread discusses the Content article: Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah

I've just added a new fly tying article to the home page at the following link. Enjoy!

#11542

The_Keeper_of_the_Light

Re:Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 04 2008 15:24:22

Phil,

You're the Prince of ALL Piscatorial Pursuits! A true master with the rod, the pen and at the vice! Outstanding young man!

The Shepherd

#11546

Pound

Re:Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 04 2008 18:10:45

Have you experimented with different colors (olive vs. tan vs. burnt orange) for the chromer poopah? Or do you usually stick with the color shown?

Pound

#11550

Anglernut

Re:Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 04 2008 21:03:00

That is one nice looking fly. I typically tie them on
a 200R hook, but now you have me thinking...since 200R's
aren't the beefiest hooks, I think I will switch to 2457's
for steelies.

Gracias Phil!

Anglernut

#11553

Phil

Re:Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 05 2008 05:04:47

Pound,

Yes I have tried a tan and olive. Tan and cinnamon have been more successful than the olive. I've also fished an oversized (Size 8) in orange to imitate an October Caddis. They work well also.

Phil

#11556

NCL

Re:Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 06 2008 13:15:21

Phil,

When you tie this pattern as an October Caddis are the materials the same other than the body being orange? I have been looking for an October Caddis pattern and this would seem to fit well.
Mitch

#11569

Phil

Re:Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 06 2008 16:19:49

I would use a different hook, and stay with a lighter shade of Vernille......even pale orange/tan to light rust. I would probably use a TMC 3761 hook, 1x long and 2x heavy. I might even tie it as a soft hackle. If I get some time in the next few days I will tie an example and post.

#11570

Dicosmoecus

Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 07 2008 03:50:49

A wise man once said....
Beware of those who weep with self realization ,for they realize nothing.

I wonder ,does your rotator give you troubles?

moe

#11574

NCL

Re:Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 07 2008 13:10:47

Phil,

Thanks, looking forward to the picture.

Mitch

#11576

fishhawk

Re:Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 07 2008 17:50:05

The_Keeper_of_the_Light wrote:
Phil,

You're the Prince of ALL Piscatorial Pursuits! A true master with the rod, the pen and at the vice! Outstanding young man!

The Shepherd

The shepherd has exposed himself as a the greatest fraud fraud in flyfishing history. If he was truly the keeper of the light he would be ripping on people for fishing for steelhead with flies that are for trout. He would also have shamed them for using bobicators And jigs.

If he was truly the keeper of the light he would have shown them their ill ways and shown them true flies for steelhead. Thats right you claim to have fished with that poser from Arizona Barucie. Here is what a real steelhead fly looks like.

#11580

Pound

Re:Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 07 2008 18:16:25

Thanks Phil,

I also was thinking about the Oct Caddis and I look forward to those pics as well.

LB (Pound)

#11583

Miken

Re:Favorite Flies - Steelhead Poopah
Nov 10 2008 21:11:21

Phil,

I have been tying my pupahs on 2457 and 105s for a while. I used to straighten a lot of hooks on half pounders when using 3761s or 200s. Nice bug, btw.

MN