In a particuarly slow and bleak February afternoon on a big Northwest steelhead run, a friend once commented that there are times when he'd rather face a pod of impossible trout on a Montana spring creek than fly fish for winter steelhead, and at times I agree. Winter steelhead are certainly one of the most difficult freshwater gamefish to take on a fly.

Winter steelheading tests an angler's tenacity and resolve, and anyone new to the sport must be prepared to invest a great deal of time, with few tangible rewards, while waiting for the pull; even experts have stories of fishless weeks.

ADVANTAGES EFFECTIVE: Your home-made line will give you greater control and help keep your fly in the strike zone more consistently. VERSATILE: Your custom system allows you to match your tips to the water types you encounter and the techniques you employ. INEXPENSIVE: It's much cheaper to build an entire system from one base line and some altered shooting heads than to purchase a number of complete lines and the spools to go with them. COMPACT: It's easier to carry a variety of sinking-tips and one main line than carry spools with complete lines for every water type.

The catch phrase for winter steelhead is "low and slow." To be successful, your fly must be presented near the bottom, and kept there through the drift. Fly rodders need the confidence that comes from a flexible tackle system that allows them to keep their fly in this strike zone. Early on I discovered that "off-the-peg" lines didn't allow me to do this consistently, and I set about finding a better solution.

Many commercially available lines are of a weight-forward design not suited for both the long casts and the long-distance line control required for winter steelheading--especially Spey fishing--in the Pacific Northwest. Even if you do find commercial lines that meet your needs, carrying a full assortment of those lines for every situation and water type is prohibitively expensive and inconvenient.

For my single-handed rod, for example, I would need at least three complete sinking-tip lines, three shooting heads, plus shooting line and extra spools to carry it all. I'd need a daypack in addition to my vest in order to carry all that extra weight around--not much fun on a winter river.

Since I don't use my single-hander much in the winter anyway, I would have to rely on the few (and costly) systems currently available for Spey rods. I've found that a better solution--one that gives me complete flexibility and enough of that elusive confidence--is to design and construct my own winter fly lines.

Getting Started
Creating your own line is not difficult. You need a few simple tools, a willingness to chop up a few expensive commercial lines, and some basic knowledge of line construction. Some tackle dealers will do the work for you, but I prefer to make my own.

To create a basic system for winter steelhead you'll need a floating line in either a double-taper or long-belly weight-forward configuration, two shooting heads, a type III and type IV, both one line size less than your main line. For example, if your main floating line is a 9-weight, purchase 8-weight shooting heads.

You'll also need Kevlar loops (buy the smallest ones), monocord tying thread, a bobbin, scissors, and a tube of waterproof Super Glue. If you plan to do any major surgery on the belly section of your main line, you should also get your hands on a micrometer.

Dana Sturn chases steelhead from Mack's Canyon to Martel. In his spare time he teaches high school. The companion piece to this article, Winter Steelhead Rivers, can be found in the May 1999 issue of FLY FISHERMAN magazine.