RIO Cocoa Puffs Steelhead Flies
Knowing we are all a little "Coo Coo For Cocoa Puffs", this fly is a little crazy to match. Designed to fish like a mini Squidro, this fly has more movement than just about any pattern. Designed for steelhead, this fly works exceptionally well on salmon and trout as well. One of my clients compared the Cocoa Puff to a larger version of Mike Duley's Joe Girt fly that is very popular on the Deschutes River.
The Relevance of Color
Fly color selection is often based on light levels and/or water turbidity or clarity. Some colors show up in water that is turbid, others don't. Some colors are notorious for spooking timid fish when water is clear or in bright sunlight. The chart below is based on years of experience, but is too some degree also theoretical. The old formula of dark day dark fly and bright day bright fly does apply.
| COLOR | FISHING CONDITIONS |
| Black & Purple | For low Light conditions at each end of the day, or caused by cloud cover or rain. Also shows up well in moderately dirty water. |
| Hot Orange | Possibly the single best color combination for winter steelhead, in the widest range of water colors, but especially when the water is dirty. |
| Olive | For Summer and winter steelhead, often the top player during the hours with bright sunlight and clear water is olive. Olive can be very effective for trout and small mouth bass as well. |
| Pink & Orange | An early winter steelhead fly when the water is cold, this color will move fish when nothing else will. |
| Purple & Pink | A great summer steelhead fly for rivers east of the cascades. |