Leland Miyawaki
Steelhead
Here’s why I fish my Miyawaki Beach Popper off our Puget Sound beaches for searun cutthroat and coho salmon – These fish are always looking to eat especially when they swim close to the shore so I give them a crippled baitfish – one that is struggling slowly on the surface. My primary go to strip is long and slow with an “amphipod hop” while the fly is swinging across the current.
My gear is simple: A 9’ 6wt Sage SP rod; Orvis Mirage LT III reel; Cortland 200 grain Compact Float line; 9’ 1X tapered leader; and my fly which I use close to 100% of the time.
Casting to coho is easy. Cast as straight out as far as you can as often as you can. By far, I mean 50 feet or more. If you can cast all 90’ of your flyline, do it. That’s why I use the Cortland short head.
Casting my fly to searuns takes a bit more finesse. Most of the time, you’re simply fishing the water in the hopes that you and a hungry cutthroat will intersect. It pays to cover the beach. Pick a spot and cast and step your way down the beach. I look for morning tides – flood or ebb it doesn’t matter so long as I get some tidal movement. If there’s a breeze less than 8 mph, all the better. I position myself upwind of my end point and position my back to the wind and wade in mid-calf. If the tide is high I make my first cast 40-50 feet straight down the beach a couple feet off the water’s edge and strip. Imagine that cast was to my 9 o-clock. My next cast is to my 10:30. Finally, I make one to 11 or 12 before taking a few steps down the beach. I have found that the money cast is the one to 10:30 but I have caught my largest trout on the 9 o-clock straight down the beach at high tide. Of course, the reason is because searuns like to move in over food that they otherwise cannot get close to and when there are chum or pink fry around they are usually within inches of the water’s edge. My popper will always bring fish to strike. 100% of the time. No lie. They may not stick but they will always come. It’s in their DNA. They are too predatory not to. If you work the beach as I say and your casting and presentation skills are up to par, you will always know if there are searuns on the beach. Conversely, you will also know if there are no fish. And you know, of course, that they can be here tomorrow.
Leland.
My gear is simple: A 9’ 6wt Sage SP rod; Orvis Mirage LT III reel; Cortland 200 grain Compact Float line; 9’ 1X tapered leader; and my fly which I use close to 100% of the time.
Casting to coho is easy. Cast as straight out as far as you can as often as you can. By far, I mean 50 feet or more. If you can cast all 90’ of your flyline, do it. That’s why I use the Cortland short head.
Casting my fly to searuns takes a bit more finesse. Most of the time, you’re simply fishing the water in the hopes that you and a hungry cutthroat will intersect. It pays to cover the beach. Pick a spot and cast and step your way down the beach. I look for morning tides – flood or ebb it doesn’t matter so long as I get some tidal movement. If there’s a breeze less than 8 mph, all the better. I position myself upwind of my end point and position my back to the wind and wade in mid-calf. If the tide is high I make my first cast 40-50 feet straight down the beach a couple feet off the water’s edge and strip. Imagine that cast was to my 9 o-clock. My next cast is to my 10:30. Finally, I make one to 11 or 12 before taking a few steps down the beach. I have found that the money cast is the one to 10:30 but I have caught my largest trout on the 9 o-clock straight down the beach at high tide. Of course, the reason is because searuns like to move in over food that they otherwise cannot get close to and when there are chum or pink fry around they are usually within inches of the water’s edge. My popper will always bring fish to strike. 100% of the time. No lie. They may not stick but they will always come. It’s in their DNA. They are too predatory not to. If you work the beach as I say and your casting and presentation skills are up to par, you will always know if there are searuns on the beach. Conversely, you will also know if there are no fish. And you know, of course, that they can be here tomorrow.
Leland.
