MoreQuestionsThanAnswers
Smolt
I have to imagine that the tide is ripping in that area. I have a 16 foot swampscott dory row boat. Would it be foolish to row out to the kelp beds?
Hoochie Fly Patterns
- Thread starter Wetswinger
- Start date
You might also try some of spawn fly 60 degree jig shanks. Any deciever, (bulkhead or not), or clouser with a large tungsten bead with that articulation seemed to work wonders for jig type action.
Chris Bellows
Steelhead
I wouldn’t and I was launching the kayak from the Tongue Point side which is a long row from the Freshwater Bay boat ramp. For chinook along the kelp beds you could row from that ramp but be cautious about strong currents. I don’t know how fast your dory rows, but if you can’t row it at least 4 mph for a long period I would not use it unless you can put a small outboard on it to get you from spot to spot and row around silently to fish. Feel free to PM me and I can be a little more specific. I may take a few days to respond but you’ll get a response by salmon season
Chris Bellows
Steelhead
Most of the Strait is offshore for silvers minus a couple spots that I have occasionally found them. Neah Bay is definitely a rip game outside of Swiftsure. The rips vary too. My favorite are the hard currents N of Tatoosh that you fish by drifting down current and casting to the side. It is like riding river rapids and requires a good boat and steady legs (don’t try to stand in the bow). The other type of rip is the seam where currents meet. These can be fishy but imo are less productive. You can also start fishing the current during lighter tide swings (half moon phase) to learn. But the rips form much like a River run just on a bigger scale. A large tail out feeds into standing waves which then mellow out into a smaller choppier area before flattening out or connecting to a seam (further into the Strait). The rough water seems to really hold the coho as they let the current bring them food. I wish I could explain it as well on paper as in person but that’s a start. When the current starts mellowing and there’s a ton of coho around it’s a great time to fish poppers/sliders although if you have confidence and don’t need to see your fly 100% of the time poppers can be effective in the rough stuff.
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I dont have close to half the experience that Chris does in those waters, but I've found coho on top many times in that area. I was lucky enough to have Chris on my boat for a few days a handful of years ago and learned a ton. I cant think of anyone else I'd listen to more when it came to fly fishing for salmon in the western straits and that part of the ocean.
IMO he is spot on regarding flash tail clousers. I've never seen anything come close to out producing one.
I also can't think of a single time where I had to match the hatch for ocean or straits coho. They just aren't that picky. When they are really thick it's much harder to find something they WON'T eat. Puget Sound can definitely be a different story as they get closer to freshwater.
IMO he is spot on regarding flash tail clousers. I've never seen anything come close to out producing one.
I also can't think of a single time where I had to match the hatch for ocean or straits coho. They just aren't that picky. When they are really thick it's much harder to find something they WON'T eat. Puget Sound can definitely be a different story as they get closer to freshwater.
Chris Bellows
Steelhead
I remember having a well known fly fishing author on the boat with a couple buddies. We were at Swiftsure on one of those incredible krill bloom days when not only is the fishing great but it's almost sensory overload with the humpback whales, birds, and coho all over the surface. The writer had to catch one with a krill fly. He finally hooked one but his friends were hooking coho hand over fist during the twenty to thirty minutes it took him to hook a coho while matching the hatch. After he landed that fish, he promptly switched to a Flashtail Clouser.
If the bait is larger in profile, another great fly is a Flashtail Half and Half Clouser.
Chris, you used to run out to Swiftsure in a pretty small boat right? Would you recommend that or would you typically fish the currents closer inshore if running a 16ft Arima?
Chris Bellows
Steelhead
I once came back to the marina after a relatively rough day out fishing and a friend looked at me sideways and couldn’t believe that I was out in that slop. I mentioned another charter I saw out there and he said, “but he’s crazy.”
Just wanted to lay that out there so you know where my comfort level was offshore and I was mostly fishing a 26’ Almar which was a beast in rough water.
When I moved back in the early 2010’s I did run out to Swiftsure occasionally in my 16’ Arima. I was careful to pick my weather and tides carefully. I never went out if it was foggy as I didn’t have radar or the newfangled GPS’s that now can show big ships. I’ve written about weather conditions to look for before but I’ll say it again. If the weather forecast is getting worse in the next day or two, don’t go as you don’t want to get surprised. Look for a declining swell and higher interval days past when you want to run out there. Avoid big tides as the run from Tatoosh to Swiftsure is the roughest in the area. The benefit is that big tides don’t fish as well in my experience out there anyways.
As with any ocean fishing, make sure you’re boat is in tip top mechanical shape and you are comfortable should minor problems arrive. Of course a GPS and radio. Also a Canadian license is a bonus as you’re not stuck on the tiny part of Swiftsure in the USA.
Thanks!
I've become a very big fan of Half and Halfs the last couple of years. I've fished them off and on for a long time but since discovering this guy and the way he ties them they've become a favorite to tie and fish. They have become serious go tos for albacore and src especially. No doubt they'd crush coho, I just dont get many chances to fly fish for them these days.
He didn’t happen to call that krill pattern a ”Green Winnie“ did he?
Chris Bellows
Steelhead
I don't recall the pattern at all, I was too busy watching the National Geographic special and unhooking coho.
