StreameradvancedPacific Northwest
Popsicle
$12.95
Available Sizes#2 - #1/0 (articulated)
Color Variations
Orange/CerisePink/OrangeRed/Orange
Ed Ward looked at the Intruder he had already created and apparently decided it needed to be louder. The Popsicle takes the same articulated platform and dresses it in layers of orange, cerise, and hot pink that would make a sunset feel self-conscious. In the green-gray water of a Pacific Northwest winter, these colors create a thermal signature that steelhead cannot ignore. Science has not fully explained why a chrome-bright ocean fish that has stopped eating responds to something resembling a melted popsicle, but the catch records speak for themselves. Sometimes the fish know things neuroscience does not.
Quick Facts
TypeStreamer
Difficultyadvanced
SeasonsWinter
Target SpeciesSteelhead
Sizes#2 - #1/0 (articulated)
Best LocationsSkagit River, WA; Hoh River, WA; Sandy River, OR
Where to Fish It
Skagit River
WA · Spey River
Hoh River
WA · Coastal Stream
Sandy River
OR · Coastal Stream
Map unavailable. Locations for Popsicle: Skagit River, WA; Hoh River, WA; Sandy River, OR
Related Reading
region guide
Pacific Northwest Steelhead: The Complete Guide
Steelhead are the fish of a thousand casts. In the Pacific Northwest's rainforest rivers, anglers swing intricately tied flies through emerald runs for the chance at one explosive take from a chrome-bright sea-run rainbow. This is the complete guide to the pursuit.
species science
Chrome and Current: The Science of Steelhead
Steelhead are rainbow trout that went to sea and came back transformed — chrome-bright, ocean-strong, and wired with a grab reflex that makes them eat flies they have no biological reason to eat. Understanding the science behind the chrome changes how you fish for them.
species science
The Great Migration: Pacific Salmon Life Cycles
Pacific salmon are born in gravel, grow in rivers, vanish into the ocean for years, then navigate thousands of miles back to the exact stream where they hatched — to spawn and die. Their lifecycle is the most dramatic story in freshwater biology, and understanding it makes you a better angler.
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