It is possible to fish flies with spinning gear and as a river guide that does this all the time for trout, steelhead, and salmon I will tell you the 2 most effective ways to fishing flies with spinning gear.
To fish flies with spinning gear, you will need at least a 7-foot rod, a spinning reel with good line, and a proper leader setup. The most important thing when you use spinning gear to fish flies is the presentation. I use float fishing and bottom bouncing methods when I fish flies.
Flies are a great bait for trout and steelhead but there are 4 key things you will need to know and you will need to do well if you want to catch trout and steelhead consistently when you fish flies with spinning gear.
How To Fish Flies With Spinning Gear
At times, I will use a single fly, a double fly rig, or a combination of bait and a fly, regulations permitting.
The best methods for fishing flies are Float Fishing, Bottom Bouncing, and Drift Fishing and I will discuss these in more detail below.
Once you have figured out the best method you need to be sure you have the right gear, and use have an effective setup for the method you want to use.
Lucky for you I cover all of that on this website and share effective guide setups and flies.
After your gear and setup are good and you have decided on the method you want to try, the next step is to choose effective flies. FYI, Not all flies are good!
I remember doing a river raft guide trip along a private stretch of river and came up to a bend and there was a guy standing there trying to catch steelhead with a fly rod. As I approached, I saw it was the landowner and I knew him.
He had been seeing how many fish we were catching near his house, so he went out and bought a full fly fishing setup and waders and some flies and started trying on his own.
He told me he was out for many days and had not caught a single steelhead yet, however, nearly every day my clients were catching 3 to 6 steelhead through his stretch of river.
I glanced at his fly, and his setup, and knew right away that even if he was fishing it perfectly that he would not be catching fish with the fly he had on his line.
The fly you use can be a critical part of your success and there are seasonal flies that just won’t work out of season. However, there are also flies that will work 90% of the time regardless of the time of year, the conditions, or the species of fish.
The Best Flies
Almost all trout and steelhead living in rivers will eat flies, and for many river trout, these small aquatic insects are their primary food source.
This makes flies a good choice for trout anglers.
Flies for trout and steelhead can be small or large. Flies can imitate small aquatic insects but they can also imitate fish eggs, minnows, leeches, crayfish, frogs, and even mice.
To some anglers, a nymph can also be a worm pattern, an egg pattern, or even a sunken beetle, or just about anything that might fall into the river and then drift along under the surface.
To fish a nymph effectively you will need to either float fish with them or bottom bounce with them which I will discuss below.
My most used nymphs for trout are size 14 and size 16 and for steelhead or salmon, I will use size 8 through size 12.
I use a lot of nymphs with bead heads when fishing for trout and steelhead because they seem to attract the fish more.
If I had to choose between a non-bead head nymph or a bead head nymph I would choose the one with the bead most of the time. The bead also helps get the fly into the strike zone which really improves your catch rate.
My favorite nymph flies for trout and steelhead are the ones below – if you click the link you can see or buy them at Bass Pro Shops:
- Pheasant tail nymph – One of the best nymphs ever invented.
- Stonefly nymph – Good for trout and steelhead
- Mayfly Nymph – Most rivers have mayflies so a good mayfly pattern is a must
- Caddis Larva – Some rivers have a lot of Caddis and these are good to have.
- Hares Ear Nymph – One of my all-time favorite general-purpose nymph flies.
- Prince nymph – An attractor pattern every trout and steelhead angler should have.
- Czech Nymphs – A caddis imitation type fly – Czech nymphs are a heavier fly that gets down fast.
- Worm Pattern – My favorite colors are pink, brown, and red.
- Egg Fly Pattern – All trout, steelhead, and salmon eat eggs and eggs can the most effective bait at certain times of the year.
Fish Flies With Spinning Gear Using A Float
Using a float, which is also known to some people as a bobber, is the best method when fishing spots that are over 3 feet deep, and using the float fishing method is likely the best way to fish flies with spinning gear.
If the river is less than 3 feet deep the best method is the bottom bounce method.
I use floats all the time when I fish for steelhead and salmon as well as when fishing for trout. If you use the right floats combined with my float fishing leader set-up and then get a great presentation you will start catching more trout and steelhead.
Using the right leader strength and setting it up properly is really important if you want to catch more trout and steelhead. I also discuss this on my best leaders page.
Float fishing in rivers with flies is no different than float fishing with other baits. If you are interested in how I float fish as well as how I set up my leader, and what size leaders and hooks I use go to my page How To Float Fish For Trout.
Using the right float can make a big difference and since some other websites will tell you to use the wrong floats, you are wise to get your advice from a pro. So for information on the best floats check out my page on the 5 Best Floats For 2021
Fish Flies With Spinning Gear Using Bottom Bouncing
Bottom bouncing is the best way to fish flies with spinning gear in shallow and faster water. You can also bottom bounce in all types of water up to 20 feet. I bottom bounce with Spinning rods, Centerpin Rods, and Fly rods.
Bottom bouncing can be equally effective for trout, steelhead, and salmon in rivers but only if you know how to do it well.
Bottom bounce can be extremely effective and if you use my advanced bottom bouncing method it will allow you to easily fish 12 inches of water or 8 feet of water without needing to make any adjustments. Check out my page Bottom Bouncing – 5 Proven Guide Tips For More Fish
Other non-fly fishing methods you can use flies with include:
- Drift Fishing
- Bobber Doggin
Covering The Water
Something I get asked about a lot for all of these methods is about covering the water effectively, or how do I cover the water when I’m fishing or guiding clients.
When fishing any type of water with a float, I will always cover the spot from the top of the spot down to the tail of the spot. I start at the top of the pool at the first drop.
I will almost always my drifts in the area that should be the most productive or that should hold the most feeding fish, that might be a bubble line or current seam, or a deep slot. This is where reading the water well is important.
I will then spread the float drifts out systematically to cover the entire spot from the inside out.
And, I would cover potential snag areas or hard to get to areas last.
Covering the water well is critical to success for trout, steelhead, and salmon. For more information on covering the water, check out Effectively Covering The Water When Float Fishing.
Best Spinning Rods To Use For Trout.
While you could fish flies for trout with a general-purpose 6 or 7-foot fishing rod, a longer rod that is designed for river fishing is often better because the longer rod provides extra height off the water which allows you to keep your line up and off the water during a drift and that allows you to control your presentation better.
The longer rod also acts as a better shock absorber when fishing for trout on light leaders.
I might use a 7-foot rod in very small creeks that are less than 6 feet wide but for most rivers and creeks over 6 feet wide, I prefer a rod over 8 feet long. My go-to rod size on trout rivers over 20 feet is a 12-foot rod but a 9 to 11-foot rod will work too.
I have an entire page on the best float rods with a chart that will help you choose the best rods for the type of river and type of fish you will be fishing. Check out Best River Fishing Trout Rods.
If you are interested in all the best gear for river fishing check out this page called The Best River Fishing Products.
Got A Question About This Fish Flies With Spinning Gear Article
That concludes my article, I hope it helps you fish flies with spinning gear better. If you have any questions about fishing flies with spinning gear or you have any ideas or tips about fishing with flies with spinning gear just leave them in the comments section below.
Tight Lines
Graham
