Puget Sound

I was out of town and missed opening weekend in MA 9, but rearing to go at first light tomorrow before work.

Hope to see some you you beach bums out there I only get to chat with from mid July to September. Kind of like back to school when I was a kid ;).
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Just an FYI if you need to get on the board with your first 2023 humpy or can’t wait for the the other 4 million to show up.😉
6,600 + came back there in 2021.
SF

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Nick Clayton said:
Ira and I will be out there somewhere today, looking for signs of sea runners

If you see us please don't throw buzz bombs at us.
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Good luck.
Please remember, rezzies run deep and sea runners run shallow.
It may be hard to stare at the water in the dark looking for jumpers, but I know you two can pull it off. If you don’t hear or possibly see any jumpers, please head home…. but again, you already know that.
SF
 
Slowish 2.5 hours for me this morning. 1-3 , two fish I never saw but they felt heavy-ish before they released themselves. The other was probably 3ish pound fish with a fin. He freed himself as well right as I got him to the beach which I appreciated. A couple other fly guys next to me hooked some fish while I was there but only saw one caught by gear guys.
 
Outside of a few incidental rezzies and one fluke chinook hooked while SRC fishing, I've never caught a salmon on the fly, but I'm gonna give it a shot from the beach this year. I'll throw what I have: a 9' 6 weight with an intermediate shooting head line and some pink/chartreuse clousers.

I've got a couple of questions.

1. Is daylight or tide timing more important? If I want to maximize the time spent, us it better to target first/last light or specific tides?

2. Do you take a cooler w/ ice on to the beach with you? What is the process if dumb luck strikes and I manage to end up with a clipped coho on the beach?

3. When wading, how far out/deep do you typically wade when targeting coho/pinks?

4. What is the spacing/distance etiquette if there are multiple people fishing the beach I'm on?

5. What factors do you consider most important when selecting a beach to fish from? Is it similar to picking an SRC beach?

I'm sure I'll have more along the way, but that should get me started
 
Gary Knowels said:
Outside of a few incidental rezzies and one fluke chinook hooked while SRC fishing, I've never caught a salmon on the fly, but I'm gonna give it a shot from the beach this year. I'll throw what I have: a 9' 6 weight with an intermediate shooting head line and some pink/chartreuse clousers.

I've got a couple of questions.

1. Is daylight or tide timing more important? If I want to maximize the time spent, us it better to target first/last light or specific tides?

2. Do you take a cooler w/ ice on to the beach with you? What is the process if dumb luck strikes and I manage to end up with a clipped coho on the beach?

3. When wading, how far out/deep do you typically wade when targeting coho/pinks?

4. What is the spacing/distance etiquette if there are multiple people fishing the beach I'm on?

5. What factors do you consider most important when selecting a beach to fish from? Is it similar to picking an SRC beach?

I'm sure I'll have more along the way, but that should get me started
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Hey Gary,

Tide timing is important and some beaches fish differently. I have most confidence in outgoing and overcast conditions but that’s just me.

If I catch a keeper fish I generally string it to my wading belt after bonking and bleeding.

How far out you wade depends on the beach. On certain beaches coho and pinks will cruise really close in and it’s almost better to cast from the beach. I’ve seen coho swim right behind me parallel to the beach crashing bait on multiple occasions. I’d say get a feel for what others are doing and follow suit. Same with spacing on the beach keeping in mind that fly folks need more room than gear folks.

I don’t often gamble with unfamiliar and lesser known beaches this time of year. Points are always a good start but there are lots of other options to choose from and not all points are productive. There is a fair amount of beach specific info out there if you dig around. I’m happy to PM with more specific info.

Hope you get out and give it a shot! It’s a pretty awesome fishery IMO.
 
Gary Knowels said:
Outside of a few incidental rezzies and one fluke chinook hooked while SRC fishing, I've never caught a salmon on the fly, but I'm gonna give it a shot from the beach this year. I'll throw what I have: a 9' 6 weight with an intermediate shooting head line and some pink/chartreuse clousers.

I've got a couple of questions.

1. Is daylight or tide timing more important? If I want to maximize the time spent, us it better to target first/last light or specific tides?

2. Do you take a cooler w/ ice on to the beach with you? What is the process if dumb luck strikes and I manage to end up with a clipped coho on the beach?

3. When wading, how far out/deep do you typically wade when targeting coho/pinks?

4. What is the spacing/distance etiquette if there are multiple people fishing the beach I'm on?

5. What factors do you consider most important when selecting a beach to fish from? Is it similar to picking an SRC beach?

I'm sure I'll have more along the way, but that should get me started
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Gary,
Here would be my answers.
1. While early is good, I’d rather fish a good tide in mid-day bright sun than a lousy first light tide.

2. I pop a gill then throw them in a Costco garbage bag and attach it to my wading belt or pack. I always have a cooler with ice in the rig but don’t want to waste fishing time running fish to the rig if the bite is on.

3. Not always, but generally knee to waste deep. If you are the only one on the beach, you don’t need to wade that deep. Most the time you have to based on how far other anglers are waded out.

4. It can be pretty close at times on popular beaches but you’ll get a good sense of the spacing once you are on the beach.

5. For coho, moving water. You can catch coho on searun beaches, but most searun breaches aren’t the best coho beaches. As mentioned, think points of land.

I hope this helps and good luck out there.
SF
 
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Stonedfish said:
Gary,
Here would be my answers.
1. While early is good, I’d rather fish a good tide in mid-day bright sun than a lousy first light tide.

2. I pop a hill then throw them in a Costco garbage bag and attach it to my wading belt of pack. I always have a cooler with ice in the rig but don’t want to waste fishing time running fish to the rig if the bite is on.

3. Not always, but generally knee to waste deep. If you are the only one on the beach, you don’t need to wade that deep. Most the time you have to based on how far other anglers are waded out.

4. It can be pretty close at times on popular beaches but you’ll get a good sense of the spacing once you are on the beach.

5. For coho, moving water. You can catch coho on searun beaches, but most searun breaches aren’t the best coho beaches. As mentioned, think points of land.

I hope this helps and good luck out there.
SF
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When SF says “pop a hill” he means cut a gill with your knife to achieve a quick bleed. Rub along the spine as it bleeds to squeeze a little more blood out.
 
NRC said:
When SF says “pop a hill” he means cut a gill with your knife to achieve a quick bleed. Rub along the spine as it bleeds to squeeze a little more blood out.
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You can also pop the gills by your finger as well if you don't have a blade handy. I string them up to my wader belt and continue fishing.
 
Not much to add to what is already said. I am trying a different method of managing caught salmon this year. In previous years, I put the fish in a garbage bag after bleeding and then into my waterproof backpack. It works…and slimes everything in your back pack since garbage bags tend to break. This year I bought a dry bag that goes in backpack to hold salmon. I also throw a refreezable block in the backpack to keep it cool and have a cooler in my truck to ice them for the drive home.

Buy the ice after you catch fish or you’ll jinx yourself :).

Also, as far as etiquette. Most folks are pretty cool. You’ll make mistakes. Apologize and move on. I made one this morning. Stepped into a spot at dawn only to see a guy standing behind me after I made my first cast. I said “hey”…he said “I was fishing that spot”. Never saw him. He was sitting on some rocks and blended in with the beach. I just said “my bad, did not see you there”, scooted over and kept on fishing. Not the first or last time that will happen….
 
I like most use a trash bag, bonk, bleed, put in bag bury in sand and mark with rock or stick. If no sand wet seaweed and cover bad with wet seaweed. If you’re lucky you will land another before the school goes by. If I don’t get a hit in 15 minutes or so I will clean the fish and replace in my oaky cooler. I no longer drag all my fish up the bank in a no wild area. I just reach down and feel for no fin then I drag it up the bank
 
I've read here that the preferred fly line for SRC is an intermediate or floating line. Are these the same lines you use when coho are around? Or do you switch to sinking or sink tip lines?
 
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