Pocket water coho

[SilverFly]

Hit a falling SWW river this morning hoping hatchery coho would be on the move, and they were.

Same pocket water I fished a couple weeks ago for Tule fall chinook. Water was significantly higher though. Due to the white water I fished a 12wt with floater and long leader. I don't like using shot or added weight, but basically impossible to get down in water this turbulent without.
Wasn't encouraged when the first salmon I saw move through the slot was a small, but surprisingly not-nasty looking chinook. Didn't take too long to see a few black back chromers moving up. Absolutely love N-type coho. They show up chrome, snappy, and when the river is fresh.



First fish landed was the only clipped keeper. Didn't want to cracker this fish when beaching like several chinook I did a couple weeks ago. So, I had a dumbass moment and highsticked, snapping the tip section of my 12wt Echo 3S. Sucks, but I have another 10 months before next tuna season. At least this 6# hen is headed for the smoker.



Switched to the 8/9 weight with an intermediate I brought to fish the pool. Didn't make much difference when high sticking, but a big difference in fish control. Hooked/lost a couple more before landing a smaller, unclipped fish (very brief, barely out of water shot).



Briefly hooked another bright fish that went aerial and threw the fly. Next cast into the same bucket connected with a beast, hook-nosed buck that took me on 200yd boulder scramble through this shit.



I was bummed to see an adipose, but still grinning from an epic fight I wont forget anytime soon.



Ended the day going 3 for 8, using variants on the same pinkish/orange pattern.

 

[mcswny]

Damn, that looks like fun.

 

[SilverFly]

Damn, that looks like fun.

It was, but had a few "I'm too old for this shit" moments when negotiating that bank, with that buck well into my backing. Still can't believe I landed that fish.

 

[speedbird]

Gorgeous

 

[SilverFly]

Crappy pic but this is the basic pattern. #4 tuna live bait hook, blended orange/pink egg yarn, lateral scale tag/ribbing with holographic pink flashabou legs (hackle?) . Most hookups were on the versions with gold dumbbell eyes. A polar shrimp with gold ribbing has been a good pattern for this pocket water stuff, so essentially this a nymph version.

 

[bashovia]

So sick

 

[Jim F.]

It was, but had a few "I'm too old for this shit" moments when negotiating that bank, with that buck well into my backing.

Heck, I had to wrap both ankles & apply a couple bandaids after reading your account & viewing the photos . . .

 

[Matt B]

I was thinking of going trout fishing this weekend, but…

 

[SilverFly]

I was thinking of going trout fishing this weekend, but…

Just like nymphing for trout ...

 

[Divad]

Split shot above the fly or are those pocket water holds shallow enough to get that fly down? Jealous you don’t have to use double tungsten rocks.

Nice fish!

 

[Chucker]

I Love that sort of fishing. Wish I still lived within easy range of water like that!

 

[troutstalker]

Very cool! What a beautiful river/spot to fish.

 

[SilverFly]

Split shot above the fly or are those pocket water holds shallow enough to get that fly down? Jealous you don’t have to use double tungsten rocks.

Nice fish!

Depends on water level at specific spots. Extra weight is necessary in the water I've been fishing at the levels in shown in the pics. I pinch shot to a short mono tag attached to the leader with a Uni knot. Length adjustable and usually doesn't break the leader if the shot fouls on a rock.

 

[SilverFly]

Went again late this morning. Water was down several inches from yesterday. Very clear green. Easy to see fish moving through in some spots. Got there around 11. Still a few coho moving up in small pods. Mostly 2's and 3's but did get a couple half dozen or so schools. Also a handful of much "less dark" chinook. First fish to hand was a spunky chinook jack.



Shortly after that I hooked a couple coho that managed to free themselves in ways that coho seem to excel at. Salmon traffic slowed to a stop after 1. Wondering if there were any fish holding unseen in the plunge pool, I committed sacrilege by probing it with a cluster of fresh coho eggs (on the Spey rod no less). Hooked a decent looking chinook that was about 15#. Was guiding it into the shallows where it found a hidey-hole between two rocks. I tailed it but couldn't pull the whole fish out through the narrow gap. Got my egg-loop attached fly back and didn't hook another fish.

Fished this spot a bit downstream for a while, but only saw a single coho move through.



Probably done until the next good flow spike. Hopefully after the river drops for a few days to build up the supply of fish for next rain event.

 

[SilverFly]

Timing is everything with this. Hit it this AM but hooked zero and only saw 1 chinook jack. Should've went yesterday but was stuck at stupid dumb work.

 

[G_Smolt]

That last pic looks a LOT like some of my favorite steelhead stretches up here. I love fishing that stuff upstream on the dead drift and downstream with a heavy fly / long light leader, just throwing it out and letting it hunt through all the pockets.
Looks like fun!

 

[SilverFly]

That last pic looks a LOT like some of my favorite steelhead stretches up here. I love fishing that stuff upstream on the dead drift and downstream with a heavy fly / long light leader, just throwing it out and letting it hunt through all the pockets.
Looks like fun!

Good to know I'm not the only one fishing stuff like this. A few inches up or down can make good buckets turn off and new ones start fishing well. So far this has been the best spot at the current levels

 

[G_Smolt]

SameSame.

 

[EB590]

I grew up fishing water like this. Where and how many shot you use always seemed to be the biggest factor between catching fish or not. It's a lot of fun and you can hook a shitload of fish. Landing a shitload isn't as easy.

I'm not going to lie, I found hooked a ton of fish in spots like this (not on purpose). As far as foul hooking fish, you know it right away and have basically zero chance of landing one.