Stacked Fish
Article by Chad Keller

Maybe it's just me, but when I think of "stacked fish", I immediately think of dolly vardens. Like I said, maybe it's just me?

OK, back on topic. Most of us have found a spot on a river (or even in lakes or saltwater such as Hoodsport) where the salmon are stacked up. It is hard to cast through them without snagging fish.

I've had this same discussion on this board and a few popular 'gear' boards in the past, and I plan to keep pounding on this pet peeve of mine. Whether fly fishing, drift fishing, float and jig fishing, spoons\spinners - if you are snagging\flossing more than 1 in 10 fish, you are doing something wrong and need to change your approach or move on. The 1 in 10 is just a ratio I’m throwing out. For others, maybe it's 1 in 100 or even 1 in 5. But I see so many fly and gear guys try to say that when fishing in certain places at certain times, snagging 3 fish to every 1 legit hooked fish is just the game. Or even 50/50. That is just not responsible sportsmanship and I want to help others learn how to avoid it.

For gear fishermen who love to drift fish with corkies and yarn, this is a big battle. But it applies across the board as well. Most guys I’ve come across think ‘incidental’ snagging is acceptable are just too set in their ways or prefer to follow the crowd. The easy answer for gear fisherman is to add a float and jig (or float and bait). Then fish well above (NOT THROUGH or BELOW) the fish and let the aggressive fish rise and voluntarily strike it. This is deadly when done right. But I'll focus on fly fishing here...

A safe technique for fly fishing is actually to use the approach as noted above. Float and jig - or fly and strike indicator. Regardless of how you view the tactic, it can work well, and when done right, can nearly eliminate snagging and flossing. The key again is to keep the fly well above the fish. With an indicator and weighted fly, you can set the depth very accurately. If you happen to snag a fish, move your fly up. I was able to use this approach for some Chum salmon in 2 feet of water; I set my fly about 6-10 inches below the surface and let them lift their heads up to take it. When the fish were in the biting mood, this was extremely effective. It’s the same thing in large deep runs and pools. If the fish are truly in a biting mood, they will not hesitate to come up off the bottom 3, 5, and even 10 feet. I’m sure there is some limit, but I’ve seen silvers and summer steelhead chase down flies and lures from over 100 feet away a few times (my first summer steelhead on the Skykomish did this to me in the tail out of the ‘Cable Hole’). Basically, if you are set on ‘dead drifting’ or ‘nymphing’ to stacked salmon, find a way to keep the fly above the fish. The argument that you just have to get your fly (or bait\lure\corkie) down to these fish to get them to bite is just not true. Yes, you can catch fish doing that, but is it worth snagging so many fish over? (Remember, I’m talking about stacked fish. Under other conditions, that kind of approach is very reasonable and effective.)

Surface flies like poppers, gurglers, pollywogs are worth looking into, but I don't have a lot of experience in that area. You can imagine that snagging and flossing would be nearly impossible, and the strikes would be very exciting to watch.

Cast and strip methods, whether with a floating line or sink tip, are very popular, but are the easiest to abuse. The key is to keep the fly above the fish at all times by stripping in line fast enough that the pauses between strips never allow the fly to sink to the fish’s level. Never let a weighted or un-weighted fly be stripped or drifted THROUGH OR UNDER the fish. This is not winter steelheading where you have to nearly bump the fish in the nose to get a strike. Salmon and Summer Steelhead in warmer water will move to your fly IF they are in the 'mood'. If they won’t move 2 or more feet to strike your fly, they probably won't move 2 to 12 inches either. If you have to get your hook that close to stacked fish, you have put yourself in the shoes of a snagger.

The other key element in the stripping technique is your presentation. Various factors, such as water conditions, fish species, etc, come in to play as to what presentation will more likely trigger strikes, but that’s beyond this discussion. Try a variety until you either get something to work, or you move on. Many frown on heavily weighted flies, and I hesitate to bring it up here, but I do believe that they can be used very effectively in the hands of a responsible angler. If the weight of the fly is used to provide action during the retrieve (an element of the presentation), these flies, and proper technique, can draw savage strikes. But in the wrong hands they can be used as effective snagging tools, so use caution when and if you decide to give it a try. Also, work the entire pool from head to tail out. Sometimes the aggressive biters will be hanging in a specific spot and you just have to find them.

There are times the fish just won't be biting. This is when you are tested as an angler. You can LOOK like you are getting into lots of action by participating with the crowds who snag and floss or you can demonstrate restraint and patience and continue to try to find an ethical, legal, and sporting way to do it. Here are some more suggestions for finding biting fish:

* On again, off again. The bite can be frustrating. But sometimes all you can do is wait it out or just come back another day. That's salmon fishing.

* Be first. I used to have a secret spot for spring Chinook in a small SW Washington river where I had one cast only to produce a fish. If I didn't entice a strike on that first cast, I knew from experience that I just had to move on, even though I could see the fish. If I did get a strike, I had to be sure to get a solid hookup, because I would not get a second chance (without resting the pool for quite a while).

* Keep moving. As noted above, sometimes you just have to keep moving to find the aggressive fish.

* Mix it up. This is contrary to the 2 points above, but under many circumstances it is true. When fish move into a pool, there is a ‘pecking order’ that has to be established. The stronger, more dominant fish will take the best spots and it will trickle down. During this ‘sorting’ process, the fish are on edge and will be more aggressive and apt to strike. Many things can naturally trigger the sorting process, including fresh fish arriving in the pool. Other ‘external’ factors can cause this as well, such as hooking one of the fish and causing the group to shuffle around due to the excitement caused by the struggling fish. I’ve seen this happen many times: we arrive at a pool, fish for several minutes without a strike, and then finally get a taker. After that, it is non-stop action since the pool has been ‘woken up’. Some argue that boats or other things that disturb the fish can cause the sorting effect to happen as well.

* Ignorance is bliss. Fresh fish from the salt are often dumb or more aggressive fish. They are more likely to chase and strike things because that is what they have been doing while feeding in the salt. After while, they settle down a little and focus on the journey and the mission. The other factor is that many times the fish are faced with hordes of anglers tossing every shiny and flashy thing you could imagine at them. After a while, they become a little less eager to give chase and become more concerned with avoiding the hooks. Fortunately they have short memories, so if you can find a quiet spot upstream from the gauntlet, you may find them more willing to bite again.

* Getting defensive. As the fish get closer to the time of spawning, they start getting more aggressive to intruders of many shapes and sizes. Fortunately for us anglers, some fish even go as far as following the old adage “the best defense is good offense”. They go out of their way to chase off and attack anything that moves.

* Admiration. Sometimes the fish just don’t bite. Each river and species has its reasons. Sometimes the fish are so tight lipped, it seems all they want to do is focus on their journey, finish their spawning, and die. You’ll see them either swimming like zombies in a pool or river\creek mouth or just holding in one spot in a trance. And like when you see them on or near their spawning redds, all you can do is watch them, admire them, and be thankful for them.

I’m sure there are many other methods, techniques, and presentations that others have figured out that help them fish effectively for stacked salmon without snagging. For those of you that have it figured out, I applaud you and ask you help share your success with others. We’ll never eliminate all snagging and snaggers, but we can do our part to be part of the solution and not the problem.