Today I went out fishing for sea-run cutthroat for the first time since early Nov. I fished a good sized ebb tide(11 ft. exchange) so there were plenty of locations with tidal current. However, some spots had too much. I wanted to checkout some creek mouths/estuaries since it was more likely that sea-run cutthroat would be found at those spots during this time of year. I fished a couple of locations away from creek mouths/estuaries and only landed 1 fish. Sea-run cutthroat fishing was superb at a creek mouth/estuary area for about 1 hour as fish were landed every 5 minutes or so. I only saw 2 to 3 fish swirl/jump during that period and the fish were just there. The sea-run cutthroat were sitting along a current seam as it changed to deeper water and on the down current side of a shallow shelf. The first two photos show the size of most fish and they are about 13 to 14 inches. The sea-run cutthroat were aggressively striking a Delia conehead squid pattern. I was using a Rio Outbound type 6 sinking line to get down near the bottom. I have only used this line for a couple of weeks and am pleased how far it casts. At times I used a topwater Delia"s squid pattern and had good success. The third photo shows the largest fish(approx. 17 inches) and it was caught on the top water squid pattern. The sea-run cutthroat seemed pretty fat and had some spawning color so it doesn't appear that they have migrated up creeks to spawn yet. The creeks are flowing very low so maybe that is why they have not left the saltwater environment. Right now sea-run cutthroat seem to be staging near creek mouths/estuaries. When the rains come again that will probably change quickly. Roger
I love it! It won't be long before the chum fry and pink fry are moving along our beaches all over Puget Sound! I am getting excited about that. I should be tying my spring cutthroat flies... But it is still winter steelhead season... Every fall and late winter I go through this quandary of which direction to go; south down Hood Canal and lower Puget Sound, or west to the coastal rivers out here on the Olympic Peninsula. I was fine so far, until I read Roger's report.. It will only get worse for me in the weeks ahead. http://olympicpeninsulaflyfishing.blogspot.com
Dang, nice work Roger. I avoided the beach to take the dog up to the middle fork yesterday. Didn't catch any fish up there but had a good time running around on the rocks with her. I need to get back in the salt! J
Nice report Roger. Been looking forward to getting back out on the beaches. Been going thru a tough sciatic nerve problem that loves to settle in my calf, so has cut down on my beach wading!
I tie the Delia's conehead squid fly as a tube pattern. The tube extends about 1/8 inch past the front of the pattern and a 1/4 inch length of junction tubing is pushed onto the front of the tube. One end of the junction tubing is cut at a 45 degree angle. A 10mm pearl sequin is threaded through the leader before tying the pattern onto the leader. Pearl sequins can be purchased at Jo Ann Fabric or other similar fabric/craft stores. A package of approx. 500 sequins costs about $2.00. When the pattern is retrieved the sequin snugs up against the 45 degree angle of the junction tubing which is angled off to one side. It will give the pattern 1 to 2 inches of side-to-side movement along with jigging action from the conehead. I have used the technique on clouser minnows and many other tube patterns with success. The first photo show a 10mm pearl sequin and 1/4 inch length of junction tubing with one end cut at a 45 degree angle. The second photo shows Delia's conehead squid pattern with the sequin and junction at the front of the pattern. Roger
Thanks for the report Roger. It gives me a little bit of hope after my last couple of trips which wound up being pretty dry. I haven't been out in over a week but at least the wife's happy 'cuz I've gotten some of the "honey-dos" off the list!
Excellent post as usual Roger, and it's great to hear that you're out again. Gary Knowles and I Saturday hit some beaches on the Northern part of Hood Canal. We had perfect fishing weather, overcast, some fog, little to no breeze, but the tides were not in our favor and finding some decent current was few and far in between. Nothingless we enjoyed the scenery and I met some new fellow anglers.
Thanks, Roger! I'm off to the bench. Her Ladyship has a birthday coming up in two weeks, so I'm working on convincing her we need to "get away".... Hood Canal, maybe?
