Puget Sound

I'm a few months into fly fishing, no experience in fishing in general, and have been able to get in on the humpy crazy thanks to a Pacific Fly Fishers outfit I picked up last week. I can't cast very far but still have been able to land some when I hit the tides right. From a beach much further north than most are fishing it seems.
1/1 this morning before work. This is the first one I've landed that had began growing it's hump. I ended up giving this one to someone next me.

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Nice work!

Sweet set up as well... Nautilus reel on an Echo Boost Blue. And looks like a Rio OBS?
 
Not Puget Sound specific. Have bought different seafood there in the past many times.
Sad to see old places like this go out of business. Not that far from Linc’s, which is now also gone.
SF

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8-11 this morning. All fish landed were coho. No giants. Everything in the 2.5 - 4.5 range. I saw two fish landed that were probably 5+. I caught 3 in the dark and one right at first light using a glow in the dark fly. Since I tend to get to the beach early to grab favorite spots, I always give it a shot but a usually it’s just casting practice so that was cool. Still not seeing a lot of big fish getting caught though. Even by the herring guys. At least at the beaches I am hitting. No pics since I kept nothing. Getting into high grade mode as we enter September.
 
+1....... 2023 maybe a good year for Puget Sound rod sales and repairs.

My Redington Pursuit 6 weight remains in play and entirely reliable, easily one of the best $130 I've spent. If it did go probably pitch in for a Vice. Mainly because I like the green, the Vice 5wt is great, and budget side of Redington stuff seems to work just fine for me. (I am not a Redington rep but am open to it :p )
I have the Pursuit in 5, 6 & 7. Haha! The 5 feels like a 5. It's my backup 5wt and often has a uniform sink type III on it. Cork has been great, but it doesn't have many hours on it.
The 6 feels like a 6 and was my primary 6wt for years. It's been a good beach rod. It's often my type 6 rod on the lakes. The cork isn't great, but seems to have finally stopped degrading. It's got a bunch of hours on it.
The 7, which I used yesterday (2 for 2 on pinks) feels like a 8wt. It's a bit of a stick. However, it threw my 444SL Rocket Taper WF8F pretty damn well, despite a 11' leader and fairly heavy cone-head hoochie fly. That thing can also launch a 250gr Commando head a country mile. It's a great smallie & small carp rod.
All 3 are well worth the clearance prices I paid. And their pretty darn handsome.
 
Not Puget Sound specific. Have bought different seafood there in the past many times.
Sad to see old places like this go out of business. Not that far from Linc’s, which is now also gone.
SF

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I remember Linc's tackle shop, bought a few things from them back in the early 90s. They had some pretty cool antique fishing gear hanging on the walls.
 
4 for 5 this morning after a late start courtesy of a tardy WA ferry system and an empty gas tank. 3 coho and a pink to hand. The coho were on the slender side.
 
I'm a few months into fly fishing, no experience in fishing in general, and have been able to get in on the humpy crazy thanks to a Pacific Fly Fishers outfit I picked up last week. I can't cast very far but still have been able to land some when I hit the tides right. From a beach much further north than most are fishing it seems.
1/1 this morning before work. This is the first one I've landed that had began growing it's hump. I ended up giving this one to someone next me.

View attachment 80902
What weight and length Echo Boost Blue fly rod did the shop sell you?
For being a novice, nice job catching some salmon.
 
What weight and length Echo Boost Blue fly rod did the shop sell you?
For being a novice, nice job catching some salmon.
Thank you! 9ft 7wt is what I ended up purchasing. I was torn between the 7wt or the 6wt. I have a cheap 5wt already that I use for trout (not to be used in the salt) so I thought the 7 might be more versatile in the future? I hope to try and land a Coho but need to switch up my flies since I’ve only been using pink minnow clousers so far. I picked up a few new patterns tonight so we’ll see what happens. Not even sure if the Coho are around where I fish though but I’d assume so.
 
Thank you! 9ft 7wt is what I ended up purchasing. I was torn between the 7wt or the 6wt. I have a cheap 5wt already that I use for trout (not to be used in the salt) so I thought the 7 might be more versatile in the future? I hope to try and land a Coho but need to switch up my flies since I’ve only been using pink minnow clousers so far. I picked up a few new patterns tonight so we’ll see what happens. Not even sure if the Coho are around where I fish though but I’d assume so.

Really no need to switch up flies.
Coho will definitely eat a pink clouser.
SF
 
Solo day in the boat. Started out prospecting for Coho, hooked up on first cast and landed an average size rezzie on my second cast.

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Lots of bait at this spot. Bait shown here pushed up against the drop off.

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Despite the quick start, the fishing didn't end up red hot, but there was action with fish occasionally busting bait, some (a lot) missed grabs, and a couple other cookie cutter Coho landed. Fished one other spot where I saw some larger fish clearing the air and just ended up with another cookie cutter.

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It's been a stellar year for Pinks, and when the Coho action slowed down I decided to make a run to humpy land for a last hoorah. I eventually found some small schools moving through and tagged a bunch of pinks in what I'm assuming will be my last Humpy fix for the season. I'm surprised at how many are still coming through, but it's definitely slowed down from the last couple weeks.

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After a while I noticed a couple of the fish I hooked up on and lost felt less "Humpy-like". I was casting at what I thought were just travelling schools of Pinks, but turns out there was Coho mixed in with them. Ended up with this healthy 5-6lber that got the bonk, and was definitely of the ocean going variety with its orange flesh. Of course after fishing a flashy baitfish pattern all morning for Coho, with some really nice cloud cover to boot, this one ended up taking my small Pink fly in the middle of the day with the bright sun directly overhead.
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Casting at some of these schools of fish, I could watch the fish react to the fly, and the fish were reacting differently than the Pinks normally do, which makes me wonder if there weren't some schools of Coho moving through with the schools of Pinks. Watching from the boat, Pinks seem to almost always follow from behind the fly and basically just swim up and swallow the fly. But watching some of these fish react to my fly reminded me of fishing for rezzies in the winter, with multiple fish swiping and swimming circles around the fly, darting all over. I didn't land any more fish from these schools of fish as I couldn't seem to get any more solid grabs and I ran out of time. But I would really have liked to see if my hypothesis was correct that there were actually schools of Coho moving through and not just a few random fish mixed in with the Pink schools.
 
"Pinks seem to almost always follow from behind the fly and basically just swim up and swallow the fly"

From the kayak you can watch the follows really well, I would agree with this FFB, have had much better success when casting head on to a pod of pinks and stripping upstream in the direction the fish is swimming, particularly a jig strip from below up into their zone >> cross current >>>>downcurrent strip opposite direction of swim....

Sometimes no strip at all needed if up current or ahead of the pod and drop the fly in front of them. It's fun to watch the majority ignore the fly and then one or two seem to clue in and go a little bonkers
 
Hope they enjoy retirement! They were our go-to place for seafood, and always had a great experience shopping there.

I do as well.
Lots of changes going on in that area with places I’d frequent that are no longer there.
Add the Oberto’s outlet and Borracchini’s to that list. :cry:
SF
 
I do as well.
Lots of changes going on in that area with places I’d frequent that are no longer there.
Add the Oberto’s outlet and Borracchini’s to that list. :cry:
SF
I agree, sadly there is not much reason to go in the area anymore. I shopped at all those places on occasion. Used to buy my fishing license from Linc’s Tackle, birthday cakes from Borracchini’s, fresh fish and shellfish from Mutual Fish and pepperoni ends and pieces from Oberto back in the 1960’s to 70’s. The only long lasting business is Stewart Lumber and Hardware.
 
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I left a little panko beach crust on one of the eyes only today for good measure. More beginners luck today as I was able to hit the beach early this morning for close to two hours before work and went 2-4. I lost two really close to shore as I kept tension too strong and didn't allow the fish to run. All of the fish I hooked up on this morning weren't hooked as far as all the gear anglers were casting to and I seemed to be one of the few anglers who was hooking up on fish despite the fish jumping around a lot further out. I didn't wade in quite as much today in comparison to other days and noticed my casting was a lot better as I had more left hand movement. The left hand, or your non rod holding hand, seems to be way more important and when I focus on my left hand and managing the line my casts are a lot better. I bought a stripping basket when I got my rod but I still haven't used it because it felt incredibly annoying. I'm starting to think I need to use it though unfortunately. I'm also learning how to properly gut/filet the fish as I've never done that and I have work to do.
You're killing it man! You're spot on that your left hand is at least as important as your right, especially on the beach.

Give the basket another shot. You'll love how easy you can cast when you're not overcoming the drag of the water or picking up seaweed
 
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I left a little panko beach crust on one of the eyes only today for good measure. More beginners luck today as I was able to hit the beach early this morning for close to two hours before work and went 2-4. I lost two really close to shore as I kept tension too strong and didn't allow the fish to run. All of the fish I hooked up on this morning weren't hooked as far as all the gear anglers were casting to and I seemed to be one of the few anglers who was hooking up on fish despite the fish jumping around a lot further out. I didn't wade in quite as much today in comparison to other days and noticed my casting was a lot better as I had more left hand movement. The left hand, or your non rod holding hand, seems to be way more important and when I focus on my left hand and managing the line my casts are a lot better. I bought a stripping basket when I got my rod but I still haven't used it because it felt incredibly annoying. I'm starting to think I need to use it though unfortunately. I'm also learning how to properly gut/filet the fish as I've never done that and I have work to do.
Love the self-reflection here, you're going to improve rapidly if you keep up with that. Once you get used to a stripping basket, life on the beach improves greatly.
 
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