I finally did it! I caught my first salmon on the fly. Overslept and missed the early morning ferry. Got there around 9AM. I saw a small school of Pinks surface and jump right from the ferry too. I planned the trip avoiding combat beaches. Beach #1 had a few scattered fishermen. There were what looked like small Blackmouth or Rezzies jumping well out of casting range, but I hooked into a small sculpin. One of my favorite things about fly fishing is that even with a six weight fly rod, small fish are still fun. A school of shiner perch swam right past me, even brushing up against my leg. I wasnβt seeing any tide rips or fish activity closer to shore, so I decided to pack it up and try somewhere else. At this point I was still targeting Pinks, so seeing no pods of fish rising or jumping was discouraging. I picked another beach on the map and started driving. The parking lot was crowded, but fortunately the most promising part of the beach on the map was quite a walk, so most swimmers, dogwalkers, and suntanners werenβt in the way. I found a nice tide rip off a point and starting casting towards it. Within ten minutes of casting, I am stripping my fly back in and pause; That pause and drop is all it takes for a fish to chomp down on my fly savagely. Watching a salmon bite a fly ten feet away from you is something else. It quickly puts itself on the reel, and makes a run. Probably the most fun I have ever had fighting a fish. At one point the fish starts quickly running towards the beach! I was still expecting to be connecting with Pinks, but my first real look at the fish showed round spots on its back: Coho or Blackmouth. I get a good look at the tail and gums, and then see the tail confirming that it is a resi. The fish makes one last run pulling a little line, and i bring it onto shore.
I am generally a pessimist, but especially about shore fishing salmon, so I didnβt pack ice. This was a mistake because it meant I lost around 30 minutes buying some, probably missing some chances at connection as this was just around tide change. When I got back, slack tide meant a good serving of Puget Sound Garden Salad, so I did some exploring. I saw a smaller fish jumping well within casting range up the beach, so I decided to look for some more spots.
I was rewarded with some more marine diversity. As I made my way back to my original spot, I learned the hard way to never give up on a retrieve, when I pulled my fly out to backcast right as a 1-2lb resi was about to commit. One more sculpin decided to play, and then I got another chance at a smallish resi! This time he committed. Unfortunately I still need practice fighting fish while stripping them in, and this one was too small to put itself on the reel. I put too much tension and it got off. Iβd call it a long distance release, I probably wouldnβt have brought him home.
I have a small collection of buzzbombs but those are probably staying in the drawer from now on
