Freshwater coho flies

I’m almost there Master Curt ( no insult intended). IMG_0462.jpegI’m just not strong enough yet to go with the Force.😉

I’ve given up carrying multiple boxes of the next best fly to the river. I know some stretches fish better than others. It’s just my competitive, thick headed OCD still tells me that if I do this, or maybe try that, or stand just so, or wade in just a little deeper, maybe today it will make the difference and I’ll unlock the secret.🙄

Gotta share another little tidbit of information tho…..Knowing When to Move On can be very important….

Day Two of I So Got This was no bueno. Nothing I did made any difference and still I tried to force the outcome.

About 3 hours into it, treaty fisher guy comes up to do his first set upstream of me. He’s traveling solo today.

At the bottom of his first set, I turn to see if I need to move or whatever and he’s literally no more than 30 or 40 feet up stream from me. I then see he’s not only got his net deployed but he brought along his fishing rod and he has a friggin’ fish on! 💩

THAT my friends is a sign telling you to move on 😜

1790445476015.gif

Ha!
 
Last edited:
still looking for a fly that snohomish coho will bite ?
Hate to put on a dick nite out of frustration, but sometimes. Have tried the tiny stuff some use on the stilly with no luck.
 
skyrise said:
still looking for a fly that snohomish coho will bite ?
Hate to put on a dick nite out of frustration, but sometimes. Have tried the tiny stuff some use on the stilly with no luck.
Click to expand...
Wait until October when the river is up and off color. Then work a heavy fly with a twitch - pause, twitch - pause retrieve.
 
the_chemist said:
I mean any lure fished long enough will eventually catch a fish. There are just certain presentations which make that time significantly shorter.

Swinging flies vs stripping is one of those situations for coho in my opinion.
Click to expand...
I agree!
I have caught freshwater coho on swung flies and even October caddis skated on the surface (great takes) but when it comes to target coho my choice (more than 90% of the time) will be a small (1 inch or less in total length) buggy/shrimpy pattern in variety of colors.

In regard to the Snohomish coho -without a doubt that run of fish can be as difficult as any to target with a fly. Decades of heavy exploitation has reduced the over-all aggressiveness of the fish as they enter the river. Early in the staging process a majority of the fish have ceased feeding long before entering the river resulting a significant reduction of the portion of the run that might be likely to respond to a well-presented fly. Once in the river the heavy fishing pressure quickly reduces that portion of potential "biters" even more.

In clear water it was common to see coho move to a fly only to turn away several feet from the fly. To contra this behavior I would try to reduce what I called the ambush distance (reduce the distance/time that the fish can see the fly). Fishing with only 1 to 2 feet visibility or tight to cover are a couple methods of reducing that ambush distance. In tide water I had good success by fishing that short window where the tidal bore reaches my chosen location.

Once the fish have been in the river for a month or two, they tend to stage near spawning areas and their behavior changes becoming more aggressive and more willing to chase a fly. I can not offer much advice for those fish as I typically avoided those fish while chasing other target species.

Curt
 
Smalma said:
Fishing with only 1 to 2 feet visibility or tight to cover are a couple methods of reducing that ambush distance. In tide water I had good success by fishing that short window where the tidal bore reaches my chosen location.
Click to expand...
Awesome little tidbit….thanks


and yet I had such conditions yesterday💩😖

maybe I’ll blame it on the seal that was hanging around 🤔👍
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top