I've had this idea in my head about fly fishing for humpies since the previous humpy year. With August fast approaching, the thought of catching humpies on the fly is beginning to feel more real. If any of you have fished for ocean-run humpies with a fly rod, how'd you do? I have a pretty good idea of what gear I'd use and tackle I'd throw, but I'm curious if anything worked particularly well. Happy fishing.
Ocean-Run Humpy Fly Fishing (MA 7)
- Thread starter geoffreyvolk
- Start date
Pink Nighty
Legend
Humpies in the salt are notoriously impossible to catch. Hard to find, small numbers, fickle creatures honestly. Your best bet is blind casting and prayer
Lol! And you played it off so straight, too!
@geoffreyvolk MA 7 wouldn’t be my pick, but they’re usually pretty eager and willing on the southwest side of Whidbey and can be had from the beaches. In the past they’ve been easy to spot due to jumping. Pink or green is what a lot of people swear by. I like pink and white stinger clousers, my kid likes chartreuse buggers. I have yet to see a preference.
What part of MA7 would you be fishing, from the San Juan Islands? Boat or beach fishing?
A 6 weight fly rod casting size 2, 4 weighted pink & chartreuse/pink flies work. Use a periodic jiggy style strip to entice a strike. Pinks eat the fly as it drops in between strips. A stripping basket helps for beach fishing. A floating or clear intermediate fly line works.
Pinks travel in schools easy to recognize as many jump as they travel. Higher tides push Pinks close into certain beaches where they are easily targeted by fly fisher folk from shore. In western, central MA7 a small boat might be necessary to reach schools of Pinks.
Wow. That's a lot. Can the Fraser support that many returning fish? I know it's a huge basin and we're talking pinks, but couldn't a number like that cause problems for the river ecology when they all die? And if that's not a concern, couldn't the sheer numbers of the next generation overwhelm the north Sound when they migrate out, leaving the kings, coho, and chums competing with them without enough food to sustain their numbers?
It’s my understanding that they have a different dietary focus than the others, which is part of why there are so many of them.
I'm sure that will be a significant effort to thin the numbers by the commercial interest prior to reaching the river. In today's world there always is the chance of another heat wave resulting in elevating stream temperatures and lower Dissolved oxygen and we will see in river mortalities.
It has been reported that 1 billion pink fry left the Fraser last spring. If we see anything close to the forecasted returns to Puget Sound, then it would appear that abundance did not affect this year's run. As always it will be interesting to watch nature in action.
Curt
Not sure what you mean. The pinks returning this year aren't those fry from last spring.
Pink Nighty
Legend
Laid in fall 23, outmigrate spring 24, return fall 25
I do most of my fishing off the rocks or beaches on San Juan Island. I had envisioned due to casting obstructions that this would have to happen on a boat. I’ve had success of landing salmon from shore on multiple occasions, but that success was most in part to a traditional spinning set up with 1oz buzz bombs. The last humpy run was great, and I figured if the 15 minute interval of migrating schools stayed the same this year, I would have no trouble finding fish and putting flies in the right place. I’ll definitely keep my eyes peeled on the flies you recommended. Thanks for the advice.
Not quite what I'd meant, but I see how you got there. I'd meant that the returns to the Puget Sound (thinking of Washington State from Fort Warden/Fort Casey line South) wouldn't really be the fry coming out of the Fraser, but I wasn't very clear and I was also forgetting this is a thread about MA 7 and the finger of the Sound (you know, Marine Area 7) that stretches from Mid-Whidbey to East Sound. Sorry for the confusion.
Stripping flies like these from a boat with either a type 3 or an intermediate sinking line with a leader that's longer than you think it needs to be, like 6' to 8' feet will work just fine. Remember to vary the strip because that changes from school to school or at least that's what I did in 8-2 until I got sick of the boat launches and quit going out for them.
