Puget Sound

I had a school of a half dozen Coho swim under my fly rod while retrieving my fly. The water was fairly murky and they did not seem to notice me.

I was not able to get any of them to bite. Still an interesting interaction as I was in waist deep water but not far from shore. It was a steep slope.
 
Hit a couple of different MA’s for coho yesterday. 0-0 at the first and 1ish…for 3 at the second. Somehow foul hooked a 6+ pounder after getting nipped twice on my retrieve. Either he swiped at it or my strip set on a nip put the hook into a different fish also after the fly. The two others I hooked were really good quality as well but both jumped and spit me. Aggressive, hard fighting, good sized fish. The action was very spotty though. Those three hookups and a couple of other taps in a 45 minute window mid incoming and then dead for the next two hours. Based on the quality of fish and color of the one I actually got to hand, I assume new bright fish swimming through and I just happened to be there when they did.
 
I had a school of a half dozen Coho swim under my fly rod while retrieving my fly. The water was fairly murky and they did not seem to notice me.

I was not able to get any of them to bite. Still an interesting interaction as I was in waist deep water but not far from shore. It was a steep slope.
Love when they go under the kayak, if they are in a small bay shore dent or backwards current they may loop a bunch of times around. Almost as though they have to get the collective courage up (or wait for a tidal convenience) to cross a shallower faster moving section to get beyond the rip. At least I assume it is the same school, often the path is not linear or relentlessly towards upstream. Part of the trick I think of shore based salmon fishing is to get on one of those sites where they loop a few times, preferably as close to the site where they ultimately have to commit to crossing.... Others with more experience probably have this better figured...The other thing I speculate about is whether the place they loop may be a feeding site from years prior, when they hung there and fed as say residents or smolts or whatever. When they return they probably have that Madonna song "This used to be my playground" running through their tiny heads as they check out the old hood...
 
I explored a new area and had some success at one beach. I went to three total beaches but left two when I got there because there were other people fly fishing. Plenty of other beaches available out there. I think this one may be one of the biggest I’ve caught so far since starting IMG_7932.jpeg
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I also saw a nice healthy elk herd crossing the road. It’s been great spending more time in new areas I have not spent much time in as a lifelong Washingtonian.
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I explored a new area and had some success at one beach. I went to three total beaches but left two when I got there because there were other people fly fishing. Plenty of other beaches available out there. I think this one may be one of the biggest I’ve caught so far since starting View attachment 85320
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I also saw a nice healthy elk herd crossing the road. It’s been great spending more time in new areas I have not spent much time in as a lifelong Washingtonian.
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Nice job getting out and good looking cutts.
It is a lot of fun to explore new places to fish the salt around here. Sometimes it takes a few trips to figure them out as far as the best tides. Having some solitude is always enjoyable.
Some nice oysters there as well. 😉
SF
 
Nice job getting out and good looking cutts.
It is a lot of fun to explore new places to fish the salt around here. Sometimes it takes a few trips to figure them out as far as the best tides. Having some solitude is always enjoyable.
Some nice oysters there as well. 😉
SF
Thanks SF. Yes I’m definitely taking notes of the tides and how they’re affecting each beach.
On a side note, I dropped by a beach next to my house on the way home and caught this. Is this a resident coho?
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Hit a local beach looking for coho for about an hour today. More of a test to help dictate fishing plans later this week. 1-2. This probably ~2.5 lb coho and another lost adult salmon that gave me a nice silver underwater flash before swimming on. Not the quality I was looking for today but still some fish milling about…

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Thanks SF. Yes I’m definitely taking notes of the tides and how they’re affecting each beach.
On a side note, I dropped by a beach next to my house on the way home and caught this. Is this a resident coho?
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Nice job.
Looks like a typical rezzie, but hard to say these days what the origin of some fish are.
Was it clipped?
SF
 
Pretty cool how as soon as the fishing for the mature rezzy's winds down, next years mature fish are already catchable size

I assume you are talking about the rezzies planted in the spring of 2022?
SF
 
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