Local Saltwater Essentials

Stonedfish

Stonedfish

Known Pluviophile
Forum Supporter
There seems to be a lot of folks interested in getting started on our local saltwater fishing, especially searun cutts but this could apply to salmon as well.
I thought it might be helpful to start a thread that can be added to by others as kind of a reference to look back on if needs. Gear, rods, reels, lines, leaders, tides, weather, tips, beach structure, you name it. Feel free to add to this as you please.

I’ll start with a look at stripping baskets.
Stripping baskets are a very useful line management tool. They help keep your line out of oysters, barnacles, seaweed, current etc.
They can also help you improve your distance.
Some popular pre-made brands available at local shops are Linekurv, Orvis and Take.
There are some good Youtube videos out there for folks who would prefer to make their own.
I personally wouldn’t fish the local salt without one and feel lost not using one.
I’m not a fan of baskets with holes in them for fishing the sound. If I fished the surf, I’d have holes in my basket. Puget Sound is not the surf nor the ocean…. ;)
SF
 
Last edited:
I completely agree Brian. To me the two pieces of gear that will up a PS fly anglers game the most are integrated shooting head lines and a stripping basket.

Standing on a beach on the sound is simply not the place for long headed lines, 29 beautiful false casts, and all the beautiful, poetic and useless parts of fly fishing. As you've long said, PS fishing is a numbers game. The more casts made, the higher the chance of fish. Shooting head lines and stripping baskets help to that end in a huge way.

The only time I find a stripping basket to be a hindrance is when I'm running like Usain Bolt for hundreds of yards down the beach chasing those fast moving 20" sea run cutthroat. Man if I had a dollar for every time Ive found myself in that scenario. Pro tip....while I'm not a fan of holes in baskets while fishing, the holes really help the aerodynamics when you're at a top speed run on a rocky beach.
 
Another really simple and obvious tip that I think a lot of people kinda don't focus on is that your eyes are the most important tool you have at your disposal out there. Use them!

Its easy to get tunnel vision and have laser focus on where you're casting, but pay attention to what is going on. Look around. Watch what the birds are doing. Watch what the current is doing to your left, to your right. Look for rips forming, but also look for those micro rips and little tiny current seams. Keep an eye out for jumpers, slashes, subtle sippers etc and don't be afraid to move locations on the beach, change the direction your casting etc when these things appear.

More than once I've watched beach anglers from my position in the boat and see them blindly casting to the water right in front of them while there are fish showing themselves to the left or right of them. I know it's easy to fall into a trance out there but doing so will cause you to miss so many opportunities at fish.

Keep aware of your surroundings and use those two tools you were born with!
 
Hey @Stonedfish -
I'm always impressed with your success rate on beaches where I struggle during salmon season. I suspect one reason is your two-handed retrieve, but I figure staring at you while you fish is probably rude :)

Would you mind describing how it's done?
 
Northern said:
Hey @Stonedfish -
I'm always impressed with your success rate on beaches where I struggle during salmon season. I suspect one reason is your two-handed retrieve, but I figure staring at you while you fish is probably rude :)

Would you mind describing how it's done?
Click to expand...


I consider SF to be the best overall fly fishermen I know in the PNW. I have long looked up to his skill and experience, and have an immense amount of respect for his abilities. Watching him read a beach is a sight to behold. At first I used to think it was luck that he would show up to a coho beach, watch for a little bit, then pick a spot and start fishing and within a few minutes the water right in his casting range would set up perfectly. After a while I figured out it wasn't luck at all, but his own experience, knowledge, and perhaps sixth sense to what the current was going to do. It is quite impressive.

Oh, and staring at him is perfectly acceptable. If you can throw in some mocking of his stripping speed, all the better. He particularly enjoys that ;)

We are all extremely fortunate to have SF on this forum, and for his willingness to share so much great info.
 
Northern said:
Hey @Stonedfish -
I'm always impressed with your success rate on beaches where I struggle during salmon season. I suspect one reason is your two-handed retrieve, but I figure staring at you while you fish is probably rude :)

Would you mind describing how it's done?
Click to expand...

Sure thing and stare away. 😂
I’m actually a fairly recent convert to it after watching @DimeBrite rope many coho using the two handed technique.
Everything is the same up to the point that you begin the retrieve. Tuck your rod under your arm and use two hands while stripping the line into your basket. Which arm you stick the rod under is just personal preference. Under the left arm works and seems most comfortable for me but I seem to be in the minority from what I’ve seen.
You can easily vary your speed and stripping motion using this technique. What I like about it most is it can turn bites into hook-ups. This is especially true with late fall coho, where you get those bites that feel like your fly is ticking eel grass. @DimeBrite really drilled into me to just keep stripping and when you feel the fish come tight, don’t stop stripping! Keep stripping until you feel you have the fish solidly hooked. I owe a lot of my success to him, @Nick Clayton, @Wolverine and others on this board for the information, techniques etc they’ve been willing to share with me and others.
SF
 
Last edited:
Nick Clayton said:
I completely agree Brian. To me the two pieces of gear that will up a PS fly anglers game the most are integrated shooting head lines and a stripping basket.

Standing on a beach on the sound is simply not the place for long headed lines, 29 beautiful false casts, and all the beautiful, poetic and useless parts of fly fishing. As you've long said, PS fishing is a numbers game. The more casts made, the higher the chance of fish. Shooting head lines and stripping baskets help to that end in a huge way.

The only time I find a stripping basket to be a hindrance is when I'm running like Usain Bolt for hundreds of yards down the beach chasing those fast moving 20" sea run cutthroat. Man if I had a dollar for every time Ive found myself in that scenario. Pro tip....while I'm not a fan of holes in baskets while fishing, the holes really help the aerodynamics when you're at a top speed run on a rocky beach.
Click to expand...
When it’s time to run, drop the basket. With any luck it’ll still be there when you get back to it.
 
i'm not usually one to gush but i'll say this since we're talking about "Local Saltwater Essentials." if you're into Puget Sound beach fishing and following along here you should make it a point to read SF's and NC's posts.

we're lucky to have many talented anglers and tiers here and SF and NC are certainly at the top of the list. i've fished with both and one thing i've noticed and admire about them is their thirst for knowledge - always asking questions; learning new techniques; exploring new spots; trying to get better and broaden their knowledge of the sport.

gush over. carry on.
 
Stonedfish said:
Sure thing and stare away. 😂
I’m actually a fairly recent convert to it after watching @DimeBrite rope many coho using the two handed technique.
Everything is the same up to the point that you begin the retrieve. Tuck your rod under your arm and use two hands while stripping the line into your basket. Which arm you stick the rod under is just personal preference. Under the left arm works and seems most comfortable for me but I seem to be in the minority from what I’ve seen.
You can easily vary your speed and stripping motion using this technique. What I like about it most is it can turn bites into hook-ups. This especially true with late fall coho, where you get those bites that feel like your fly is ticking eel grass. @DimeBrite really drilled into me to just keep stripping and when you feel the fish come tight, don’t stop stripping! Keep stripping until you feel you have the fish solidly hooked. I owe a lot of my success to him, @Nick Clayton, @Wolverine and others on this board for the information, techniques etc they’ve been willing to share with me and others.
SF
Click to expand...
The beauty of the two-handed retrieve besides it being the fastest way to strip a fly is that it forces you to strip-set. Most neophytes to the salt trout-set which is a no-no. Do not lift and use your tip to set the hook.
Leland
 
Wading and Casting: Learn to cast a minimum of 50 feet. Searun cutthroat do much of their feeding 30’ or so off the waters edge. That doesn’t mean you wade 10’ out and cast 20’ out. You shouldn’t need to wade past mid-calf. Cast 50’ or so diagonally down the beach. For salmon cast 50’ or more straight out. Wade as deep as you can and can still cast. You’ll find that the deeper you wade the more difficult it is to cast. You’ll also find that fishing the beach will force you to double haul for 1) distance and 2) fewer false casts. In the end I found that the further I cast the shallower I need to wade.
Leland.
 
It's been said other places, but don't go light on tippet material. They don't seem to be leader shy, and it's easiest in the fish to get them in and back on their way as quickly as possible. Heavier terminal gear eliminates the need to play them to exhaustion. I use 12# flouro for everything except silly small flies (where I'll step down to 8#) and never break off unless *someone* screwed up the knot.
 
Nick Clayton said:
I consider SF to be the best overall fly fishermen I know in the PNW. I have long looked up to his skill and experience, and have an immense amount of respect for his abilities. Watching him read a beach is a sight to behold. At first I used to think it was luck that he would show up to a coho beach, watch for a little bit, then pick a spot and start fishing and within a few minutes the water right in his casting range would set up perfectly. After a while I figured out it wasn't luck at all, but his own experience, knowledge, and perhaps sixth sense to what the current was going to do. It is quite impressive.

Oh, and staring at him is perfectly acceptable. If you can throw in some mocking of his stripping speed, all the better. He particularly enjoys that ;)

We are all extremely fortunate to have SF on this forum, and for his willingness to share so much great info.
Click to expand...
Well said Nick.
 
In my limited experience, another essential, especially for those wading a beach, is the understanding that if nothing happens (no bird activity, no bait presence, no jumpers/sippers/rolling fish, or no hits) in the first 20-30 minutes it’s probably time to try a markedly different location or different beach.

If you’re determined to stay at that beach, it may be time for a smoke or a beach nap as you wait for things (tide or activity) to change.
 
One things folks run into often when they start saltwater fishing is line cuts. As you strip the line across your figures, it will wear a groove in your finger to the point of bleeding.
There are a lot of options out there for helping to eliminate this. Stripping gloves and finger sleeves both work well. You can also use various types of tape. Duct tape or waterproof tape will work. This is my personal favorite.
SF

D5759539-636F-46F4-8A4E-E19BED3E68A0.jpeg
 
Not much to add. Lot of great info here, some I plan to put into use this year. One point for a person new to fishing coho from the beach, is the importance of fishing your fly/lure ALL the way back to the rod. Casting distance can help put you on fish at times but, coho in particular, like to follow your lure before committing. So many fish are caught within a couple feet of the rod tip. I've also seen coho (and pretty nice ones at that) cruising right along the little shelf/drop-off that forms during strong tidal flows (a couple of feet from the water's edge). I've even seen chinook chase candlefish right out of the surf and onto the beach. I guess the boiled-down message is "don't neglect to fish the water directly in front of you".
 
Probably more relevant for salmon (I've never really targeted them on my trips out there), but when you get to a beach with a lot of others already there, take some time to watch what they're doing. There will usually be a couple of folks catching (or consistently catching) when no one else is. It's probably not because they're lucky - they're doing something right. Even if they are using conventional gear (or bait), you can learn from them by trying to figure out why. They might be focusing their casts in a particular area related to the flow or structure, they may be retrieving faster or more slowly, they may be using a smaller or larger lure, etc.. Seeing and understanding what stands out as successful will significantly shorten your learning curve. I try to do this a lot while striper fishing here in NJ.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top