Coho from the beach fly suggestions
- Thread starter Gary Knowels
- Start date
Interesting (to me) to note the difference in fly preference in different areas. In my area (mid-Vancouver Island), the overwhelming fly of choice for Oct/Nov beach coho is the California Neil....usually tied in charteuse green, in sizes 8 - 10, usually no more than 1 1/4" in length. Local varitaions include red, copper or rainbow (twisted red/silver/green/blue krystal flash) bodies as well. I tie mine with a small brass bead, which allows me to control depth.
Agreed. I switch up my kit depending on what side of the border I'm on, but I wonder if the fish would care.
That being said, in my limited experience in late fall in BC, the salty coho were staging and not actively feeding. I've always thought to go smaller/more subtle on the stagers and bigger on the feeders, but I'm far from an expert.
Totally agree. Here, feeders don't often come in close to shore, but boat fishers target them with the usual clousers/baitfish patterns. Most of our beach fishing seems to be for staging fish.
what's the line of choice for casting said flies, floating, intermediate, tip..?
I use the same intermediate line that I use in WA (Arctic Silver Compact 2.0 6wt) but a floater would work too. I use a straight 7'-10' 10# fluoro leader, and I vary the retrieve from slow to fast depending on what's working that moment. Basically I don't change a thing from WA to BC except for flies.
speedbird
Life of the Party
That is a gorgeous fly
I use a Snowbee XS switch line with a 5' clear int sink tip, with 5' fluoro tippet. The 31' head has a more delicate tip than most "beach lines" Ive seen..which are designed to turn over bulkier flies. Ive gone away from using a switch rod on the beach, as I (and the coho) dont like the commotion of ripping the line out for waterbourne casts. ( I built a 9'10" sh using the top 3 section of a 13' two-hander blank) The sh lets me strip the head in as far as I want, then false cast and fire out w/o disturbing the water. (I dont consider myself the ultimate expert, but this works for me..so thought this might help you on your journey)
G_Smolt
Legend
My brush-and-craft fur "Show Poodle", at rest and at work. Purpose-designed and -built for mature saltwater beach coho.
This iteration of the platform combines "proud-ness", or the tendency of the scant materials to stay fluffy and present a large profile (and push some water around) and impervious materials which shed water on the first false cast, making it pleasant to cast.
Craft fur double wing, EP brush body and head, eyes tied under an upturned shank and a 1/0 octo trailer.
This iteration of the platform combines "proud-ness", or the tendency of the scant materials to stay fluffy and present a large profile (and push some water around) and impervious materials which shed water on the first false cast, making it pleasant to cast.
Craft fur double wing, EP brush body and head, eyes tied under an upturned shank and a 1/0 octo trailer.
The only place I have fished for Coho that 'wogging' outfished the more typical presentations one day. They just wanted to chase things on top, and stuff under about a foot of water held no interest.
Most fun you can have clothed...
