How to Choose the Best Steelhead Flies

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Steelhead are often called the fish of a thousand casts, but the right fly can turn those odds in your favor. Whether you're swinging flies through a coastal river or dead-drifting nymphs in a Great Lakes tributary, fly selection plays a crucial role in your success. Steelhead are known for their unpredictable nature; aggressive one moment and lock-jawed the next, so having the right patterns in your box can make all the difference.

In this guide, we’ll break down the best flies for steelhead fishing, covering the must-have patterns for both summer and winter runs. From classics to modern intruders, you'll learn when, where, and how to fish each fly for maximum results.

Grillos' Boilermaker

The Boilermaker is a topwater take on the Green Butt Skunk. Nothing compares to the excitement of seeing a fresh steelhead boil (pun intended) on a skated fly, and the Boilermaker is one of the best at inducing takes. The Boilermaker is a great choice for the dog days of summer when river flows are down and the water is clear. This fly has caught Steelhead from BC to the Great Lakes, and also makes a great Atlantic Salmon pattern in places like New Brunswick, Quebec, Labrador, and Newfoundland.

Silveynator Tube

Tube flies are great for anglers who fish in varying water types throughout the season. With a tube, you can easily change out hooks for a different size or style, or adjust how near the pattern you want the hook to sit. The Silveynator Tube is a proven pattern from the Skeena River in British Columbia to the Salmon River in New York. The hot head triggers strikes from egg-chowing bruisers, and its flowy zonker tail gives the pattern plenty of movement during the swing. We like this pattern for quicker runs where some additional weight and a pop of bright color are required to get a fish's attention.

Dirty Hoh

Designed by renowned Steelhead angler Jerry French, the Dirty Hoh is one of the deadliest patterns for Steelhead and Salmon in BC and the Pacific Northwest. Hardcore Steelhead junkies love this pattern for its predictable sink rate, its movement underwater, and its hook orientation, which results in a high hookup percentage. We love this pattern in pink and orange for fresh fish or stained water, and in black/blue for clear water and late-season fish that have been in the river system for a while.

Stu's Ostrich Intruder

The Intruder platform, developed by Ed Ward and Jerry French, is the quintessential Steelhead fly for many anglers around the globe. The pattern consists of two stations of flared, flowy materials and a trailing hook that can be looped on with wire, or using a tube-style body with a replaceable trailing hook. The result is a lightweight pattern that is easy to cast, but gives a big profile that fish can see from far away. If you're heading to BC's Skeena or any of the major tributaries, this is a pattern you'll want in your box in various sizes and colors.

Stu's Metal Head Tube

Another weighted tube fly that offers tons of movement and some heft to sink quickly is Stu's Metal Head Tube Fly. This is a simple pattern that has the liveliness and profile of a single-station shank fly, but with the adaptability that a tube offers. Stock up on purple, black/blue, white/pink, and olive/orange to cover your bases regardless of flow or water clarity. One of our BC favorites!

Summer Iron

The Summer Iron is a smaller pattern that's perfect for - you guessed it - summer Steelhead. When the rivers are low and clear, a more drab pattern with a smaller profile can be extremely effective at enticing wary fish. Most summer fish have been in the river longer than their winter (spring) counterparts, so chances are they've seen a few flies and won't be enthusiastic about taking a giant intruder in gin-clear water. As an added bonus, the Summer Iron is a great Atlantic Salmon pattern as well, so you can take this fly from coast to coast and find success.

Senyo's Artificial Intelligence

Sometimes you need FLASH! Greg Senyo designed the Artificial Intelligence fly (A.I.) for Great Lakes Steelhead, but it's proven successful in the Pacific Northwest for Salmon and Steelhead as well. This pattern utilizes synthetic flash to reflect tons of light on bright days. Keep a few AIs handy in various colors to be ready for bright conditions or in fast runs where fish need to make a quick decision to attack.

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