OK, I haven't figured this out yet. I'm out in my canoe paddling around Elger bay on a calm evening this week, coho are jumping all around and not a one would take my clouser or minnow patterns. I'm doing my "buzz bomb" style retrieve, I'm stripping back fast, I'm stripping back slow... I'm casting in all directons. It sure looks like they are feeding but didn't see so much as a follow. What do you do? Just keep switching colors? Use one of Leyland's poppers?
I am not sure where the bay is you mentioned but could those fish be terminal (ie lockjawed - about to go into a nearby river or creek) It sounds like you were doing the right things. mike
Mo, Are you absolutely sure they were feeding? Did you see rushing fish, feeding birds, bait in the water, or bait spray? Or are the coho simply "happy jumping?" It may be wise to begin fishing "waiting period" flies – small yellow/orange patterns on intermediate lines. See "Fly Fishing for Pacific Salmon" by Ferguson, Johnson, Trotter, or check archives. Leland.
Salmon lockjaw Ah, one of the great mysteries of salmonids during their staging phase (my term, and one I don't believe is technically correct . . .). Salmonids at this stage will go one and off the bite for no apparent reason. They aren't feeding, but staging to shoot up the freshwater source. Speculation of why they bite at this stage is because of instinct, competition, aggressiveness, territoriality, etc., but not 'feeding'. They have spawing on the brain. I've been fishing for chums out in the salt, where fish are milling around everywhere, with not one biting. However, all of a sudden they'll go on a bite, and it will be a (grand) chaos for a period of time. I've had it happen with pink and coho, too. Heck, if we knew all the time when and what they wanted to eat, it would be called 'catching' and not 'fishing'. <grin> It's one of those things that keeps you going back out there.
They have had lock jaw for months now. By this time last year I had a few in the freezer and a few in the septic tank. I do know that they are tough in the first couple miles of fresh water in the river too. Time to start hitting the rivers anyway.
I've always had good luck with flashy flies. Not big bushy ones, but one's that incorporate lots of flashabou. Stuff to reflect light. Normally I do the skater tech on it. Just a quick strip, but a PAUSE ever couple strips. Sometimes you can provoke them into a strike that way. Especially resident coho's. But like others have said, sometimes when they're lockjawed, they are LOCKJAWED!!!! Have a few inlets and coastal "tidal flux" waters I fish where I use pink or chatruese flashy muddlers with great success. I try to immulate some of the plugs I use that are so effective (these fish literally chase wiggle warts to the boats). So tied up something with alot of flash and alot of action in the water. Has been a true godsend at times.
we used to fish a run of returning coho that would stage at a creek mouth for a few weeks until we got some rain. The most effective fly we found was a simple chartuse spider in about a size four. We also used pink someimes but mainly the bright greens. good luck
I'm not 100% sure they were feeding. I did pass a seal as I paddled out. I did see groups of birds, some were feeding but not in the areas of the jumping salmon. I didn't seem very many bait signs, especially where they were the coho were jumping. I just assumed they were. Toad; Elger bay is just south of the state park on Camano Island. It's on the west side so I"m not aware of any spawning rivers or creeks nearby. Suprisingly there is a pretty good SRC population circulating in this area. I've had good luck fishing over the eel grass on outgoing tides, especially if the low is near first light. AK: I'm going to try the light blue / black clouser. I'm assuming the black goes on the up (hook) side. What do you use for the light blue? Mo
I have been having some luck with coho on small size 6 to 8 pink and white clousers in the south sound.
One thing that seems to repeat itself in all these threads about Coho is Clouser. Not the colors, but more important is just having a light belly, dark top. The other consistent factor would be the weighted eyes causing the head down dive then darting up as it’s stripped. Makes me curious about the Jiggy fly east coast surf fly fisherman use. “The Jiggy Fly is one of the latest creation from renowned fly fisherman Bob Popovics! This weighted fly is not to be confused with a clouser. Unlike a clouser, which has the weight on the underside of the fly, a jiggy fly has the weight even distributed around the front of the fly. The result is that fly darts and zig-zags when retrieved. This action drives game fish wild!!” Or so they say.
Gummy goodness? Anyone been working the "new hot fly" gummy minnow for silvers/src? http://www.orvis.com/detail.asp?subject=506&index=12&dir_id=758&cat_id=&cktst=true&group_id=&bhcp=1
I found a great light blue bucktail at wall mart and yea black on the hook side, blue on the eye side, also in between the bucktail a bit of purple black or blue flashabou, this is my favorite king fly close to the salt too other great silver flies for lockedjawed fish are, flash flies with red hackle, orange and white everglow flies, and plain purple and shell pink ESLs
thanks! thanks for the tip on the blue/black clouser. it worked this morning at my local beach, golden gardens. not on the salmon but on a FAT searun cutt. tied mine a little different -- #2 mustad 34007 and pearl krystal flash. tyler
The story of seeing all the silvers and being unable to get them to chase a fly struck a familar chord. Some years ago I decided to go after salmon off a beach that I had successfully fished for SRCs for a decade or more. Sure, in pursuing the SRCs I had hit the occasional salmon but they were almost always jacks that topped out at 20" max. The bigger salmon were there all right, very plain to see, but I was not able to get them to strike with any consistency. A good friend from B'ham joined me one day at the peak of my frustration. His first question was "Are you stripping fast?" "Yes", I replied. So I demonstrated my fast retrieve, with no response. At this, my friend took my rod, cast out over the same water with rolling fish, tucked the rod under his arm and proceeded to strip the line back, hand over hand, part way through this retrieve a 7 lb coho crushed the fly and took off with the reel screeching. On that tidal cycle we hooked several larger coho apiece. The following day I was able to do even better. In the intervening years I have found it is not necessary to tuck the rod under my arm and strip hand over hand, though I still do it from time to time whenever I am not certain that I am stripping fast enough. Tightlines :thumb:
Wakemaster are you using a sinking line? Any specific fly? Went out again last night, LOTS of bait in the water but I only saw one salmon on the way out. I saw a seal with what looked like a salmon about sunset. Next to the tidal rip there would be large areas of what sounded like Rice Crispys. I've heard that herring make that noise, is it true? I also tried a popper. It looked great in the water, but no takers.
