Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.
This specimen appears to be of the same species as this one collected in the same spot two months earlier. The identification of both is tentative. This one suffered some physical damage before being photographed, too, so the colors aren't totally natural. I was mostly photographing it to test out some new camera setting idea, which worked really well for a couple of closeups.
Ashtonr on Oct 11, 2015October 11th, 2015, 9:15 am EDT
Hey guys new to the forum here! so upon my greys 7wt tip snapping im back the using my 6wt tfo for steelhead. im not in a position to buy the replacement tip for the 7wt. Just curious what your guys steelhead set up is like for small tributaries. Im in the process of adding a fighting butt much like a two handed rod to my 6wt. basically turning it into a 2 hand rod.
Partsman on Oct 11, 2015October 11th, 2015, 3:09 pm EDT
Ashtonr, I got back into steelheading last year, and went with the Echo fiberglass ll ft. switch rod. I have two of the echo reels, one with 320 grain spey line, the other with rio switch line for indie fishing. I would love to catch a steelhead swinging a streamer, but realistically indicators and nymphs, or egg patterns are more productive on the rivers I fish.
Ashtonr on Oct 11, 2015October 11th, 2015, 4:58 pm EDT
Man the only time i ever get steelies on the swing is around spawn time in the spring. other than that the only way is nymphing for these great lake run steelhead. i tested out my modification of adding an extended but on my 6wt and it performs pretty good as a 9 ft switch rod. it has a wf line on it which isnt the best for switch style casting but on small rivers im quite pleased with it!
PaulRoberts on Oct 15, 2015October 15th, 2015, 5:35 am EDT
I've used rods of all lengths and weights for steelhead/trout on GL tribs, bc tribs vary so much in size and flow. I have a few 6wts I used for small GL's and for FL's (Finger Lakes) tribs and I too added a fighting butt to them.
Wbranch on Oct 19, 2015October 19th, 2015, 11:16 pm EDT
Adding a fighting butt to a single hand rod is not really going to make it a two hand rod. It is only going to provide you with some added leverage to turn and land bigger fish. Of course though if your #6 weight rod is 10' or longer well then the butt will help it become a two handed switch rod. I fish small Erie creeks with #6 and #7 weight rods and bigger rivers with a #8. I fish mostly 9' rods with 3" butts on the smaller Erie creeks and a real 10' 6" switch rod for bigger water where I want to swing flies or high stick nymph is riffs with multiple currents.