We provide a comprehensive list of necessary tackle, clothing, travel notes and essential items in our pre-trip PDF which is forwarded to all our guests, but the following notes provide a basic overview:
Fly & Tackle Information

Damdochax is a small to medium sized river, and usually flows with great clarity; therefore, our fish often prefer smaller, sparser flies. With that in mind, bring flies smaller than you might fish for Steelhead elsewhere, as well as your regular Steelhead patterns. Traditional Spey or soft hackle style, sparsely tied, low-water patterns are very effective in sizes from 2-8, particularly in normal or reduced river flows.
We use tube flies as our primary choice for larger and deeper water, generally after having gone through with either a dry or sparse Spey inspired fly first. We do not fish stinger style flies on the Damdochax, as they are often too large, and easily spook the fish.
We use a combination of single hand and double hand rods at Damdochax, dependent on the runs and pools we fish, and in conjunction with angler preference. The ideal and most versatile rod is a 12-13’6″ double hand rod, capable of casting modern Skagit style/compact heads. Reels should carry a minimum of 100 yards of backing. For high water events and to fish deeper, we recommend interchangeable tip systems (such as the MOW system) as the quickest and most efficient solution.
We fish a lot of floating and intermediate tips at Damdochax but recommend guests always have other sinking tips in their leader wallet. A useful addition to tackle is a spool of T-11, (or equivalent sinking line) so that tip lengths can be constructed according to conditions.



Gear Information
Damdochax is situated in a virgin, Pacific Northern, coastal rain forest, and as the name suggests it can get wet out here! We suggest the use of high quality, lightweight modern clothing designed for layering, with fleece tops and leggings as undergarments.
Gore-Tex chest waders, studded boots (either felt or rubber) with gravel guards, and a multi pocket short fishing jacket. As much of our fishing is walk and wade, we suggest that you do NOT bring neoprene waders, as they are not breathable.