Why does no one strip flies in for steelhead?  When I didn't know any better, I caught a decent wild steelhead in a remote river in Norcal on a crayfish pattern stripped in. I saw the take and duplicated the scenario again. I fish for lots of different species and imitate lots of prey and have learned to imitate what they do. Whether it's a crawdad fleeing in quick, foot long movements , or
 tiny twitches of a nymph or injured baitfish, or long, fast even pulls   to imitate  bigger bait, they all work .  I've been hesitant , as it seems to  also imitate a stealthy snagging motion. I find it no different than retrieving a spinner, jig, or plug.  I researched it, and even some Spey guys use it, especially if they can't get fish to hit. I would think it'd be good around frog water.  I've watched steelhead prowling around slow water looking for easy meals. The only Atlantic I've got in the SR  hit as I stripped  a bugger into slow water.  There's line management issues after the take, but  at least this is an active method where aggressive fish would have to commit. I also liked using jerky strips when trout fishing  when there's tons of leaves. Kind of makes your fly stand out. Thoughts?  I labeled this a thread a dumb question, because I've seen no one doing it, so there's got to be reasons why that I just ain't getting.

Here's my dumb response, yes, I have used this technique with streamers and muddler minnows on waters other than the SR but is it permitted on the SR?  I'd rather not take the chance of finding out due to the fact that some DEC officer may misinterpret my intent. 

That's reasonable logic, I would argue with a DEC guy  that spinning rod retrieves are the same exact thing.  I wouldn't use long strips, just impart some movement with hand strips, not  the rod tip. Really not enough to set the hook, you'd still have to strip strike.  Good point, though.

Not a dumb question at all, possibly some dumb responses such as mine..
I would not be worried at all about an issue from the DEC, actually if they were to observe you it would be easily recognized as fly fishing.
So here are my thoughts :
It's all about the time when it would be effective.. I base that on water temps and how long a fish has been in the river..
It is and would be effective towards late march through drop back season.. You all know my feelings as to why the SRS is effective..  In the spring (anywhere from late march -April ) the salmon smolts and fry are in the system, steelhead key on this as it will provide a much larger substance then say a caddis larva..
Also water temp plays a role, Now when the temps are still up, the fish are more actively moving and not just hunkering or moving when necessary.. Downside to this time such as now, is that thy are keying in on salmon eggs so your competing with the natural food source.
I find it very hard to get a fish to move very far to "chase" food down during the lethargic times from late November -mid march.. Typically they are wintering over and using fat reserves or feeding tight to the bottom on insect life..
 
This is all just some B.S. through my observations..
 

Just to add a little more:
WAY back in the day, plugging (back trolling) was the method most used by the few drift boats on the river , even during winter.. Now there is just to many boats/fishers to use this dying art..
When we would plug a hole or run , these fish were lethargic and the method would be to put a good size meal holding right in their face digging .. 2 things would happen,
1-they would hammer it
2- they would just move slightly to the left or right out of the way..
When I was a bank angler I always LOVED when a drift boat would plug a hole I was working.. If I was not getting results , the pluggers would "shake" up the fish and it usually resulted in a hook up from the bank due to repositioning of the fish , hence they are seeing my bait/fly from a different vantage point..
 
Today , with the river full of drift boats and bank anglers, Most drift boaters just anchor up and start bottom bouncing or float fishing from the boat.. This does not create the same effect as plugging, it only adds to an extra amount of lines all doing the same thing

.
 

If I'm fishing a zonker, or a big intruder, I strip back once in a while as HT says to maybe wake them up.  But most of the time I'm fishing smaller wet flies, or concoctions designed to have some action on a dead drift and swing, so I just mends and swing.  Good article on this (active presentations) in the new Flyfisherman, though.

A point to The reply Gerry gave .
On some adk waters I will rip and yank a rapala through pockets and runs that would make a SR snagger look like a saint.
It's a totally effective method to rip-jerk-pause the lure causing a reactive strike , as opposed to a follow and mostly refuse ,we watch the fish in action.

Are we snagging fish , heck no . We are intentionally provoking a reaction .

Lucky13
If I'm fishing a zonker, or a big intruder, I strip back once in a while as HT says to maybe wake them up.  But most of the time I'm fishing smaller wet flies, or concoctions designed to have some action on a dead drift and swing, so I just mends and swing.  Good article on this (active presentations) in the new Flyfisherman, though.

According to that article you send your dog for a swim in the pool,that stirs them up and then they get interested in your strip retrieve,if you don't have a dog throwing rocks at them works too!Since my Boxer dog doesn't care for swimming I guess it's rocks for me

hot tuna
Just to add a little more:
 
 
When I was a bank angler I always LOVED when a drift boat would plug a hole I was working.. If I was not getting results , the pluggers would "shake" up the fish and it usually resulted in a hook up from the bank due to repositioning of the fish , hence they are seeing my bait/fly from a different vantage point..

^
This
 
I do it for coho.
I don't do it more since it can give the impression of stealth lifting and I would rather not catch anything than even appear to be trying to "hit" the fish rather than have the fish hit.
 
Good question!