[Jacob Mitchell]

So I headed to the Kalama last Monday to catch some coho on the fly. The river was in great shape. I started up in the canyon(for steelhead) adn although I ddn't get any I talked to a couple of gear guys that had got fish this weekend. I moved down the river planning on ending the day fishing below beginers for Coho. When I got down there I couldn't believe how may guys were fishing the big hole below beginers. Every rock had someone on it....major combat fishing. There were probably 150 salmon swimming around but the only fish I saw caught were snagged. Most of the guys were locals and gear guys(I see a lot of them throughout the year) who pick up a flyrod for a month so they can fish this section. I even had one guy who was telling me that to get them you want to use a heavy sink tip with about 12 feet of leader attached to the cheapest fly he could find. You then strip it and floss the fish. What assholes. There were several guys with spey rods, roll casting, that I bet caouldn't do any other cast. There was one guy even float tubing out in the middle of the river snagging them. If you are heading down there expect a circus below the hatchery. There were plates from Maine, Michigan, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon there.

 

[orangeradish]

Shite. I'll be there tomorrow. The poaching hotline is on speed dial.

 

[SHARP]

What about above the hatchery? Any luck up that way? They say the big natives are farther up near the gate.....

 

[Jacob Mitchell]

What about above the hatchery? Any luck up that way? They say the big natives are farther up near the gate.....

I wasn't fishing above the second hatchery..I stayed between the hatcheries and had one tug but no fish

 

[Jim Riggins]

Crap I'm seeing this also, shouldn't be that bad on a week day. I hope I'll wear my badge and wallk around and scare everyone off

 

[jumbo215]

If your looking for a decent time dont even bother fishing below the red barn unless you got a boat if your on foot keep driving up untill you you quit seeing houses, then keep your eyes peeled for turnouts, when you find yourself rounding an extreme corner called "dead mans corner" your in the area, youll also see a rock thats been painted about 100 times "phillips rock" Thas also the area you want to be in. there are a few turnouts youll see park there, find the steepest trail you can find and prepare to decend, if its raining hard you may want a rope! Once you hit the river and recover there is hundreds of yards of perfect steelhead water that generally isnt hit very hard. There is a couple easy river entry point above this (winter steelhead hole) but by following rule applies here, the harder the access is the better youll do, and there is some extremely hard access points but they also fish alot better.

dont bother walking around with your bgade, we all know who the game warden is in the area

 

[SteelSwing]

haha

 

[Flyborg]

My head just exploded.

 

[orangeradish]

My head just exploded.

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

I just throw a 2/0 octopus hook with a 2 oz pyramid as a "dropper". You can use up to 3 flies in selective gear water, so I'm still legal, right?

 

[Backwoods Angler]

haha me and my bro were the ones with the spey rods n yes we can do alot more casts than a roll cast lol the only way you are gonna see a salmon with a flyrod there is flossing, fishing the hole at begginers or the fast water im surprised u didnt snag into one swinging the head water thats where its the easiest to get um but yah gotta get them waders on lol you were snaggin and u didnt even kno it. for flossing i think a 15ft type 8 and about 10 feet of 8lb is best so you can pop ur line if its fouled, now if you are good at flossin you can fair hook (gill plate forward) them everytime n not have to be there very long. ya it is a ugly way to fish but the fish are all hatchery and they are gonna come out of the river one way or another pref into my freezer. as for alot of the other guys there they are true flyfishermen just gettin some salmon. funny thing is that ive caught seen and heard of quite a few steelys taking peoples flys while flossing in fact my brother seen a guy catch a 18lb hen last week flossing with a black bugger and she just hammered it. u can call them all assholes but i doubt the guy with the freezer full off coho is gonna get mad

Btw the salmon do bite, you have to have the skill and dedication to get them to. That was one of the worst statements you could have chosen. BIG WOW lol

 

[SteelSwing]

Btw the salmon do bite, you have to have the skill and dedication to get them to. That was one of the worst statements you could have chosen. BIG WOW lol

oh i kno they bite ive spent some time on the mouth of the toutle river stripping heavily weighted chartruese bugs and other bright colours. but the thing is that the places that you might get them to bite are usually gang lined with bait chuckers snagging them n the kid with the fly rod is the odd man out if he hooks one and it decideds to run up river...the mouth of the kalama will work for stripping too so ive heard..when the tide goes out the fish move across a large spot of low flat unpressured water in big groups, an island forms in the middle of the mouth and ive only heard of one guy stripping a streamer out on that island during the evening and had action from coho timing it is a challenge on its own other than that i dont kno. maybe if i lived a little further north id have some dedication for trying to get them to take. flossing is an ugly thing but it works

 

[Flyborg]

Flossing is illegal, so my guess is you're pro trollin'.

 

[SteelSwing]

Flossing is illegal, so my guess is you're pro trollin'.

pro trollin thats funny. funny thing is that ive heard storys about a guy that used to guide people into salmon "flossing" back in the 80s. When few people knew about the technique n they payed thinking they were catching these fish legit, i guess he would take them in the late evening and night time and say thats when its best then he would obviously land the fish for them and put the bug in the mouth if it was fouled crazy to say the least but true. welp im gonna go fish the cowlitz. hopefully i dont get a bunch of hate posts bc i said i floss salmon