I wanted to ask if there is any particular techniques and flys that would be useful to target kings? I have yet to target this fishery and thus my knowledge is lacking. Any info helps.
Hold up where? Gorst, the skok, the nisqually, the humptulips etc............? If your fishing them while they are still in the salt and in route to the rivers I would stick with baitfish imitations.
From what I have learned Kings can be caught on fly rod but you normally need a boat to get to them. You can at times find them in shallow water around structure. You will often find them bellow bait balls but you have to get bellow the Silvers without hooking one. Rio Deep sink lines seem to be the ticket. You may have to go deep for them and spot their depth on a depth finder unit first. I find Kings to be the smarter or lazier Salmon depending on your outlook and they look for the food to come to them more and are less likley to chase prey like Silvers and even Pinks will. If you can make your fly seem like wounded bait you will increase your odds of a hook up.
Kings will push bait up against the beach as light fades and darkness falls. Baitfish patterns just might get you kinged. I think kings on a flyrod are often bycatch. A nice burly bycatch surprise.
In general, you can't go fly fishing in Puget Sound and expect to specifically target mature kings. However, you can catch immature kings (blackmouth) pretty easily in the south Sound and certain places up north. Catching mature kings from the beach happens, but it is infrequent and usually unplanned. Chinook generally feed in much deeper water, but they do come into the shallows to feed if baitfish (sandlance or herring) are plentiful. If no baitfish are in the area, it is unlikely any kings will be caught. Flies that work well for them include the traditional clouser with flashabou (olive over white with purple is good), shock&awe patterns are excellent, surf candy patterns can be deadly, other epoxy baitfish patterns that imitate sandlance, and glow in the dark squid patterns. Fishing beaches with a deep ledge close to shore will increase the odds of catching a big king, especially during low light. Standard intermediate sink tip lines will work, but you will need a faster sinking line if you are fishing a steep drop-off. Stormy, cloudy weather also seems to help keep them in the shallows. Abundant baitfish in the area is essential, and is more important than low light conditions. I once caught a nice 6 pound blackmouth at noon during a hot sunny day in shallow water (it was there due to the high numbers of sandlance). Certain local beaches (unutterable in public forums) are known to produce the occasional king each year. There are those who are pretty good at intercepting Nisqually kings in the salt too.
I suggest driving to points of land with a steep beach in Admiralty Inlet, and then fish a baitfish pattern. Fish of a thousand casts, but I hear about it happening a few times a week on Whidbey during the peak months for the Chinook run. My buddy and I were launching our kayaks at Bush Point one day when a 20 pound King grabbed his cut-plug herring while it dangled in about 2 feet of water. He and his boat were still sitting on shore preparing to push off. Again, low light/early morning fish. Low light, like, yea, I think the water is right down here, but I'm not positive. As Ed says, it's mainly a bycatch, but WOW and hang on!
I agree with Tim and Jeff. If you go out specifically to target kings, you'll likely come away disappointed more times then not. There does seem to be a few specific times and places where they are more common. All the kings I've caught have come while fishing for silvers. It is a nice surprise and fun to get your ass kicked while being under gunned with a 6 wt. When it does happen, consider it an added bonus on top of whatever else happened during your day on the water.
I believe them to be the keenest of all the salmonids in terms of their sense of smell, getting them to take a fly is going to take alot of coaxing. I still have yet to pick one up on the fly in the salt, but just last week in Westport I nearly lost my downrigger rod and mooching reel as a King saw the fluttering flasher and spoon on the surface, decided to come up and nail it while I was swapping out the lure on the starboard side rod. I caught the rod handle just in time before it went into the sink only to lift up and feel the pulsing head shakes of a Chinook at the end of the set up, just 30 yards behind the prop! I was moving along pretty quickly at 3 knots and it must've thought it was a wounded baitfish from the propwash. I've normally caught Coho on the top water, but never a King. I think Don Wakamatsu picked up a King a few years ago with Keith Robbins, must have been some battle on the 6 weight he was using that day: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2009801892_wakamatsu04.html
NICE! I wish I lived in places like Tofino or Ucluelet where there might be a good probability of getting this to happen, nice fish!
They aren't that hard to nail once they are in the river systems. Black and purple, with pink or cerise as the comeback fly. super heavy heads and use a hard strip to get the jigging action. Dead drift it with pop-strips as it falls downstream towards you.
you might start reading teh BC fishing forums before you proclaim that all is peaches and honey up that way. in fact the Harper government is intent on decimating all environmental law so Enbridge can move forward with their pipeline, either E or W. 743 river and stream crossings with virtually every world renown steelhead drainage impacted, astonishing. as you know, the Enbridge pipeline in Michigan blew out 2 years ago and dumped bitumen into the Kalamazoo river, still closed because of the difficulty in cleanup.
Well all I know is that fishing in most parts of B.C. , at least right now is far superior to that of washington in regards to saltwater fly angling.
its all a matter of perspective. if you speak with the rec anglers up N, you will hear quite a different tune. make sure you report in after your visit to BC. Coho are the bomb in Tofino but its still a bit early to intercept them on the inside with a fly.
