That's adorable!
Puget Sound
- Thread starter Stonedfish
- Start date
That is a GREAT day of salmon fishing, kind of a super slam in a senseGood morning with @Kfish. The plan was to hit some hot spots where gear guys have been doing well. Jig rods in hand, we headed that direction. Well, also, the night before, we had this exchange…
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Well, the diver work. Really well actually. I think we hooked 5 or 6 and landed 4 or 5 in a couple hours using it (we only had one). Lou got one on a jig he also released. Good morning though. Lou had to call it at 11 so we headed in with three fish. Lou kept two, I kept one because…well, I had other plans for the afternoon.
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After dropping off the boat at home, I headed out to a local spot with the fly rod to rinse that nasty gear stank off my me..ha. Hit the incoming about perfectly and landed a couple in about an hour of fishing. I love fishing, pretty much any kind of fishing but the take of an aggressive fish on a fly rod is unmatchable IMO. 2-2 on the beach with the fly rod. Kept one. Let the other go. Puget Sound is a cool place indeed…
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Let this guy go.
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Two keepers for the day.
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Learning how to gear fish on my new boat with a little success. Have been flyfishing for salmon & steelhead since college, but the downrigger game is brand new to me.
To make it a tiny bit more fly like, I’m tying on a tail of Krystal Flash on the lead hook of my hoochie, and snelling the whole rig myself.
My daughter has been out with me and she is a very happy and successful coho catcher.
Next challenge - find the places where I can cast to coho on the fly! My Scout center console is itching for some flyrod action
To make it a tiny bit more fly like, I’m tying on a tail of Krystal Flash on the lead hook of my hoochie, and snelling the whole rig myself.
My daughter has been out with me and she is a very happy and successful coho catcher.
Next challenge - find the places where I can cast to coho on the fly! My Scout center console is itching for some flyrod action
Attachments
Last night fished for a few hours through sunset. No salmon, think this year is going to be a bust for me. But, I was treated with one of the biggest cutthroat trout I have ever caught. Trophy size for my neck of the woods for sure, chunky 16".
However, now comes a question; this boy was covered in sea lice, perhaps 100 or more, never seen a fish so covered in them. I didn't release him right away, let him recover before he swam away. But, should I have attempted to remove the sea lice? Or leave him be?
(FYI. I did let him be, I figured I would expose more unprotected skin on him if I started removing the lice, and make him more vulnerable to infection)
However, now comes a question; this boy was covered in sea lice, perhaps 100 or more, never seen a fish so covered in them. I didn't release him right away, let him recover before he swam away. But, should I have attempted to remove the sea lice? Or leave him be?
(FYI. I did let him be, I figured I would expose more unprotected skin on him if I started removing the lice, and make him more vulnerable to infection)
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Short, unplanned outing today motivated by a bit of insomnia. It was VERY foggy in central Puget Sound. Hoping fish would be up top early and unable to see much to focus casting due to fog I started bucktailing into the pea soup. Change of plans when I was almost hit by another boat, who ran over my line even if it was only 20 feet on the prop wash, had to scream at the guy to stop to try to recover my fly/line which was peeling at a fast rate from the reel. The other guy said he saw me but assumed I was not fishing...went our separate ways after recovering gear and wishing good luck to each other. While checking for damage on the line (ended up being fine), switched to full dirtbag trolling. Caught and released a mid-sized coho and two nice sized kings, surprised they are still around, followed by another mid sized coho, a bleeder so it was kept.
Similar to other outings this season, most salmon marks on the fish finder and bait were quite deep 80ft to 150ft, very little surface signs. Found a decent tidal front, a kayak fishing friend told me he saw a few coho swimming by on the surface so switched to fly again. Looked around the front and eventually found a pod of about a dozen and a half coho cruising by, got a couple good casts in front of them in two stops but they were not in slightest interested, very cool to see anyways!. A first for me: I caught a rhinoceros auklet in one of the fly stops, very weird take, could tell it was no fish, luckily for both of us the hook ended up outside the auklet's mouth, barely hooked on the skin between beak and top of its head, so the long dehooker stick did the trick on the first try. The auklet was fine, shook its head a couple times, quickly dove, resurfaced and flew away, too shaken to take any pictures of the affair! I resumed bucktailing on the way to the ramp and was rewarded by another unlucky fellow, a nice coho with a fully healed prior hook injury on the upper jaw, my guess from a "shaker" encounter years ago. Good outing, good numbers of salmon marks on fish finder and some on surface, they definetly seem less bitey.
Similar to other outings this season, most salmon marks on the fish finder and bait were quite deep 80ft to 150ft, very little surface signs. Found a decent tidal front, a kayak fishing friend told me he saw a few coho swimming by on the surface so switched to fly again. Looked around the front and eventually found a pod of about a dozen and a half coho cruising by, got a couple good casts in front of them in two stops but they were not in slightest interested, very cool to see anyways!. A first for me: I caught a rhinoceros auklet in one of the fly stops, very weird take, could tell it was no fish, luckily for both of us the hook ended up outside the auklet's mouth, barely hooked on the skin between beak and top of its head, so the long dehooker stick did the trick on the first try. The auklet was fine, shook its head a couple times, quickly dove, resurfaced and flew away, too shaken to take any pictures of the affair! I resumed bucktailing on the way to the ramp and was rewarded by another unlucky fellow, a nice coho with a fully healed prior hook injury on the upper jaw, my guess from a "shaker" encounter years ago. Good outing, good numbers of salmon marks on fish finder and some on surface, they definetly seem less bitey.
Fished a a west side beach today, first time I’ve been there this year. Wind was not blowing in my favor and was stronger than forecasted early in the morning. The heavy marine layer and scenery made up for it though. Went 2-2 on a clipped and unclipped fish. First migratory hatchery fish PS fish for me this year. Got to see the unclipped fish follow my fly and eat it a few feet from the beach on the sideways retrieve.
Hi @Merle, not a tube fly, but a variation on Anil Srivastava Shock and Awe fly. Below a step by step of the inspiration shock & awe. This one uses a hook shank or a Waddington shank and a no escape hook stinger looped onto a 20lb mono loop. I learned the fly pattern from another forum member (@Chucker) and we called this fly variation dazed and conefuzed, or something like that. Works great on the troll, dead dropped on a fast sinking line, jiggy action on a floater, fast stripped, etc. Casts reasonably well on my 8wt (no dazed and conefuzed yet, but careful casting it on windy days!), it has become pretty much all I use for most saltwater species around here, links below to some fly variations and fish that fell for it.
Hope it helps!
Funny how different people’s approaches to flies for PS salmon are. The only thing I have fished this year is this:
5 times the size of your fly, and a completely different color. I think it just shows that they will eat anything.
That thing is kind of a half assed version of Anil Srivastava’s shock and awe fly. We call it the dazed and confused; because that’s how you feel when you mess up your cast and that massive cone hits you on the back of the head…..
Not sure if pretty enough, but as the saying goes "some flies catch fish, some flies...." and @Chucker's pattern catches fish! I started fishing it this year after getting one from @Chucker, I tied it in different colors (different combinations of chartreuse, white, pink) but the all-white seems to work best. All in the 5- to-6-inch range matching this year's Puget Sound green label sized herring and WA coast surf smelt. As shown below, it seems to imitate a half digested herring best
Some of the fish that fell...
oakbrookjeff
Smolt
Got skunked in Areas 11 & 13 today, but got to see some Orcas.
Went 1/2 on coho, on the same dull gold fuzz fly that worked great two weeks back. This one was a follow and eat after casting to a roller...
Working on my photo technique of how to make a small reel look big and a big fish look small
Seals were heavily working waters that looked a little froggy, I paddled around a bit here too but without current and wind and with seals lurking, whatever pods were cruising here were sure to be easily spooked
Working on my photo technique of how to make a small reel look big and a big fish look small
Seals were heavily working waters that looked a little froggy, I paddled around a bit here too but without current and wind and with seals lurking, whatever pods were cruising here were sure to be easily spooked
Late weekend salmon wrap-up. Hit the sound pretty hard from the boat with jig and flies Saturday with @mtskibum16. I caught a tan (forgot my sunscreen) but he got two on the fly. Ehh day. Still working out boat strategy for coho. Sometimes all that water impacts success at this point for me. The ability to move to multiple places that “might” be better versus fishing through the better parts of tides in less spots is part of what I need to work through to have more consistent success with salmon from the boat on the fly.
Sunday I was headed to Westport for tuna in the afternoon so hit a closer spot for a few hours and went 2-5. Kept one decent fish.
Beautiful sunrise Sunday morning…
Sunday I was headed to Westport for tuna in the afternoon so hit a closer spot for a few hours and went 2-5. Kept one decent fish.
Beautiful sunrise Sunday morning…
The locks are always a good time. I could spend hours there. Not big numbers today but enough to keep us entertained.
Some good looking bruisers in the window there!
JayB
Steelhead
When I got my boat I was sure that working a clouser past the outside edge of kelp beds would be the ticket but alas...Learning how to gear fish on my new boat with a little success. Have been flyfishing for salmon & steelhead since college, but the downrigger game is brand new to me.
To make it a tiny bit more fly like, I’m tying on a tail of Krystal Flash on the lead hook of my hoochie, and snelling the whole rig myself.
My daughter has been out with me and she is a very happy and successful coho catcher.
Next challenge - find the places where I can cast to coho on the fly! My Scout center console is itching for some flyrod action
Personally I bucktail anywhere from 4 mph to 7 mph and 20ft to 40ft back from the boat. I use an 8wt, sinking line and shortish (4-6ft) leader. Days when the sun is not on a calm water (foggy, early, late, cloudy, nice coho chop wind/wave coditions) seem to work best. I look for birds, edges of surface bait, foam wakes of larger boats/ships, tidal/weed lines. If I can, I hold the rod on my hand with the tip pointing to the water, every so often I either lift the tip up or strip a bit to sort of hop/skip the fly a bit. If busy with something else it goes on a rod holder pointing straight back and I try to make some U, S turns to keep it interesting. I use large flies that won't spin at speed, so not clousers for me, either traditional bucktails or the conehead fly of the earlier post. Whatever I use, it has to work for casting too in case I found some good action to quickly transition to casting instead of bucktailing without changing gear. Some useful links below. Hope it helps!
Bucktailing For Coho—A Vancouver Island Tradition - Island Fisherman Magazine
Bucktailing was invented and developed in the Georgia Strait. How to catch coho salmon on a bucktail: techniques, gear, and history.
islandfishermanmagazine.com
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