17 Best Flies For Ohio Steelhead: Proven Guide Flies

As a steelhead guide for over 20 years and a fly tryer and steelhead angler for over 37 years, I’ve tested hundreds of steelhead flies under all different conditions. Because of this, my perspective on the best flies for Ohio steelhead might be very different than other anglers.

Even though I’ve tested many flies, I still catch 90% of steelhead on less than a dozen fly patterns. I also know other guides that say the same thing! This is because steelhead fishing guides have figured out which flies are proven and consistently effective.

Make sure you have these same flies in your fly box the next time you hit the Ohio steelhead stream. As a bonus, I’ll list all the flies recommended online so you can stop searching.

Best Flies for Ohio Steelhead

When I grab a fly out of my fly box it’s not random. I and other steelhead fishing guides choose flies based on the conditions. And, although I said I use less than a dozen flies, often I only need 4 or 5 fly patterns to get the job done. Except, I do need multiple colors and sizes of each pattern.

Before I tell you what my 5 must-have steelhead flies for Ohio Steelhead are, what makes a good fly is its ability to first get the attention of the steelhead, and then trigger them to bite. To get their attention, you need to use the right size and color based on the conditions.

In gin-clear water, smaller flies and natural colors often work better. When fishing dirty or off-colored water, larger flies and often brighter flies will do the job.

Also, when fishing dirtier water, adding flash to your fly get increase its ability to attract the steelhead, and trigger bites. Flash can an be gold or silver tinsel or wire, or metallic beads, or other shiny materials.

Pro Tip: Often, a nymph pattern with a bead will do better than one without, which is why 90% of the nymphs in my fly box have gold, silver, or copper beads.

So, the four best flies for Ohio Steelhead are:

1. Egg Patterns: The simple round egg pattern known as the Glo Bug or Yarn Fly will be found in just about every steelhead guides box. This indicates that it’s one of the best steelhead flies for Ohio Steelhead. This basic Yarn Egg has accounted for more steelhead in the net than any other egg pattern. Make sure you have multiple sizes and colors, which I will discuss below.
2. Stonefly/Mayfly Nymph – Steelhead are opportunistic feeders so a well-presented nymph pattern like a Stonefly Nymph Fly or Pheasant Tail Nymph in black, brown, or tan will often get the job done. Add some flash, a bead, make it bushy and buggy-looking, and it could be even better.
3. Worm Fly – A three to four-inch San Juan Worm tied in pink, red, or brown is hard for most steelhead to pass up. Presented well, the worm fly has resulted in thousands of steelhead in the net for me and my clients, and under off-colored or green water, this is always my go-to fly.
4. Woolly Bugger – I’ve caught thousands of steelhead on Woolly Buggers. This is a fly that just triggers a strike response in steelhead. I’ve used Buggers when nymphing with an indicator, swinging, and stripping them in. Have them in three or four colors. Add a hint of flash, and have them from 1 inch long to 4 inches long, and you will catch steelhead anywhere.
5. Hoh Bo Spey – If you swing flies, you will need a fly that gets the steelhead’s attention and has what it takes to trigger a strike. Most guys overthink flies and despite the many spey flies, the Hoh Bo Spey fly presented well will catch fish as well as any other fly. Have a few different sizes, multiple colors, and some with and without flash.

Based on my experience, if there are steelhead in the pool, one of these four standard steelhead flies will get the job done in any conditions and at any time of the year , especially if you have the right size, color, and most importantly, you fish it well.

Other Great Steelhead Flies For Ohio Steelhead

There are times when a fly with a slightly different look, or some flash will out-perform those four basic flies.

Prince Nymph

Hare’s Ear Nymph and Variations

Copper John

Egg Patterns

• One of my favorites is the Jeff Blood “Blood Dot Fly which was made popular by PA and Ohio steelhead guide Jeff Blood.
• Estaz Egg and the Bead head Estaz Egg
• Sucker Spawn
• Crystal Meth Egg
• Nuke Egg

I use steelhead eggs in sizes 8 to 12 and will change sizes and colors based on the conditions. In dirty water, I go bigger and use a lot of Chartreuse and Red.

I will use light pinks, light oranges, peach, and yellow in clear water, and I will use size 10 and 12. White can be very good in winter. One of my favorite colors for clear water steelhead fishing is known as Oregon cheese.

Steelhead Worm Fly

I tie my worm patterns in 3 to 4-inch sizes but I will usually have some 2-inch worms for very clear water and pressure steelhead.

My most productive fly in all water clarity is the pink seen in the picture. However, there have been days when the red or brown will be more effective.

Beadhead Pheasant Tail Nymph

There are variations like the flashback pheasant tail, as seen in the pictures above, the No-bead pheasant tail nymph, The very effective Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail Jig Head Fly, and the Soft Hackle Straight Pheasant Tail.

There is one other variation that I discuss below.

Rainbow Warrior

Frenchie Fly

A great variation is the Tungsten Bead Hot Spot Pheasant Tail Jig Fly, which looks identical, but the hook point stays up so you get fewer snags.

Polish Pheasant Tail Nymph

Micro Buggers

Sexy Walts and Regular Walts Worm

Many years later, I found out about a fly called the Walts Worm, and it was identical. Now there is the Sexy Walts Worms which is a flashy version. Both of these patterns have been very effective steelhead patterns on every river that I fish around the great lakes region and are both some of the best flies for Ohio steelhead flies.

Other Great Ohio steelhead flies for Euro nymphing include:

• Tungsten Stonefly – Size 6 to 10
• Peeping Caddis Jig Fly – in sizes 8 to 10
• Mop Fly – A new fly to the steelhead game but one that seams to work well.

Best Flies for Streamer Fishing

The Woolly Bugger imitates a steelhead’s natural food, such as minnows, crayfish, leeches, sculpins, and many others. This streamer comes in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes with great action.

Ohio Zonker

Swing zonker flies across the current in front of some steelhead trout and watch them trigger elbow-jarring steelhead strikes or nymph them. Zonkers are a “go-to” streamer for Ohio anglers looking for a highly productive steelhead fly.

Sculpzilla

The Sculpzilla Streamer pattern can be tied in several colors. However, the common variations that exist are black, white, olive, and tan.

Best Flies For Spey Fishing Ohio Steelhead

Here are some effective flies for Great Lakes steelhead:

1. Ho bo Spey: A simplified version of the Intruder Spey Fly, recommended by a local guide. It’s easy to tie and works well in Olive, Black, White, Yellow, and multicolor.
2. Intruder Spey Fly: Originally designed for west coast steelhead but effective in great lakes. It’s bigger and bulkier, taking longer to tie. Colors include Olive, Black, White, Yellow, and multicolor.
3. Woolly Bugger Spey Fly: A simple and effective fly that sinks better than bulkier flies. Easy to tie in Olive, Black, White, Yellow, Chartreuse, Orange, and multi-color.
4. Egg Sucking Leech: Easy to tie, available everywhere, and comes in various colors like black, olive, chartreuse, pink, orange, and red heads.
5. Bunny Leech Fly: Effective for steelhead with pulsating movement from rabbit fur. Tie it longer with magnum rabbit strips, or keep it shorter. Colors include Olive, Black, White, Yellow, and multicolor.

These flies have proven successful for Great Lakes steelhead fishing, but check out more great flies in my article Best Spey Flies For Great Lakes Steelhead and Salmon.

Recommended Flies From Other Websites

So, what do others recommend for Ohiode Steelhead flies and Lake Erie steelhead flies? This is a list of flies being recommended on other websites. I’m not necessarily in agreement with all of these, personally, I think many are mediocre at best. But, I’m just listing them so you don’t need to keep searching.

1. Stone-fly nymphs
2. Clouser minnows
3. Bleeding Shiner patterns
4. Emerald shiner
5. Yarn flies
6. Egg-sucking leech
7. Sucker spawn
8. Pheasant tail,
9. Dark hare-eared nymph (that’s how they wrote it – Which is why i say becarfull who you get your info from) Also, known as a Dark Hare’s Ear Nymph
10. Egg Patterns (Various)
11. Stoneflies (Nymphs)
12. Streamers (Wooly Buggers)
13. Beadhead Nymphs (Copper John, Prince in sizes 10-14)
14. Sucker Spawns and Single Eggs (Yarn, estaz in various colors)
15. Articulated Leech (Black with a silver head)
16. String Leeches (Grapefruit head versions)
17. Black Stoneflies
18. Minnow Pattern Streamers
19. Prince Nymphs
20. Pheasant Tails
21. Sexy Walt (Fire orange thread, silver tungsten bead, size 14 jig-style hook)
22. Sexy Walt (Purple Micro UV Polar Chenille collar, gold tungsten bead)
23. White Hare’s Ear Nymph
24. Y2Ks (Size 12, Pink/White, Pink/Cheese, Chartreuse/Orange)
25. Eggstasy Eggs (Size 10, Fluorescent Oregon Cheese, Fluorescent Salmon Pink, Chartreuse, White)
26. Glo Bugs with Blood Dot (Size 12, Late Pink, Cheese, Pale Blue)
27. Nuke Eggs (Sizes 10 and 12, Chartreuse, Cerise, Orange)
28. Estaz Eggs (or Cactus Eggs) (Size 12, Chartreuse, Pearl, Hot Pink, Salmon, Orange)
29. Crystal Meths (Sizes 12 and 14, Pearl, Orange, Hot Pink, Chartreuse, Blue)
30. Egg Sucking Leeches (Black/fire orange/red head, black/chartreuse head, purple/shrimp pink head, size 6)
31. Squirminator (Fluorescent Green, Chartreuse, Hot Pink, Roe)
32. White Beadhead Crystal Bugger (Sizes 6-10)
33. Micro Nuke Egg (Fluorescent orange and pink, size 12)
34. Jellystone Nymph (Black, chartreuse, pink, size 8)
35. Lynch’s Double Dot Egg (Tangerine, orange, pink, size 12)
36. Psycho Prince (Orange, dirty pink, sizes 10-14)
37. BH Flash Zonker (White, olive, sizes 6 & 8)
38. Senyo’s Ice Man Minnow (Blue/pink, chartreuse/olive)
39. Vitso’s Psycho Spawn
40. Al Green
41. Senyo’s Shaggy Minnow
42. Antron Egg
43. Milky Nuke Egg
44. Ultra Maggots
45. Egg Sucking Worms
46. Flash Candy Fly

Best Flies For Ohio Steelhead Q&A

If you have any questions or personal insights to offer about the best flies for Ohio Steelhead fishing, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Tight Lines,

Graham