Fly Fishing for Chinook

[Saxe Point]

I don't think fishing salmon in a river is more challenging especially like u said when there stacked up like logs in a pool.its a little harder in salt water as u can't see them and chuck a fly in there face,sure the river current can be a tough battle but your making it sound like fishing for salmon in a stream is harder than in salt water,it's almost cheating

You can see them from the air, but with electronics, you can see them in the ocean too. Once you're on the bank, you'll see some surfacing, but we are talking big pools and the fish are not spawning and, with rare exceptions, you can't see them. They are moving through, and sometimes quickly. You aren't sight fishing as the fish are deep. But my main point was that once the fish is hooked, landing one in the river is a lot more challenging than when you've hooked one in the ocean from a boat. Wouldn't you agree with that? Don't get me wrong, catching a chinook, river or ocean, is both challenging and fun. Not trying to devalue anybody's experience, just making a comparison. I expect that fighting and landing a tarpon, marlin or sailfish might, comparatively speaking, be more challenging still.

 

[reelfast]

Chinook in moving water is all about finding out where they stack up. I fish an 11wt flyrod in moving water with a very simply tied black fly, heavily weighted. I tie these flies on stainless hooks as I find the biggest challenged is the presentation to the hookup. the 'fight' is more a bulldog tug of war which gets to be pretty boring after about 15 minutes with a 20-30# fish. at that point I simply tighten up and let the current take the fish until the stainless hook opens up and the fish is LDRed. then straighten the hook and look for the next one. if you know where the fish stack, you can wear yourself out having some action.

in the salt, this is a totally different game and with the right fly tackle, you can tire out any Chinook pretty quickly, far more quickly than with conventional tackle. it turns out that the fly rod is an incredible lever in this sort of fight. the trick in salt water if finding an area where you can make presentations to fish that are close to the surface, not an easy task and one that is completely fickle.

big game fish, tarpon, wahoo, bill fish...., all on the fly, are indeed quite challenging and something any fly angler needs to add to their lifetime bucket list. but be cautious in approaching this as once you start down this path, pretty much all other fishing opportunities will seem dull and boring, that how exciting it is to see tail walking tarpon and bill fish at the end of your fly line.

happy fishing to all.

 

[Jimmy]

tteel,

I do a lot of saltwater fly fishing and there is some good advice given here. There are also some good books written on this topic if you do some digging. BC Sportfishing magazine has published a few articles over the years as well.

Tip's are to follow the birds, bait and of course signs of feeding fish. If no obvious signs of bait or birds start looking for structure and kelp beds.

I use a 9ft 9wt rod with an islander reel and i use two different lines depending on the conditions a fast full sink or sinking tip.

Some good fly patterns are the clouser minnow in blues, greens and red. Epoxy candy fly's work well. try to find saltwater flys with heavier stainless hooks. I have picked up some good flys over the years from Orvis or fly shops/ outfitter shops in florida you could probably buy them on line as well.

I have found a fast retrieve works best in some cases as fast as you can retrieve it almost so the fish doesn't get a good look at the fly they just strike it.

that being said you will get fish that follow the fly until they see the boat. Polarized glasses are a must.

It is a fun way to catch salmon on the ocean and hang on when you first hook a fish!

Good luck.

 

[tteel]

Ya i have a good assortment of flies now. The picture is just a few of the baitfish patterns. I use baitfish emulator patterns for Pike up here in Yukon, but without any weight. The three flies on the bottom (White/Blue, Black, and green) are all great for pike. The others are all heavily weighted with Fish Skull head, or tungsten eyes to get them deep. I'll be adding a blue clouser and pink clouser as well.

Still havent bought a line yet as I like getting stuff in person and not online. i'll be going to Wholesale sports and cabelas in the next month so i'll be buying one very soon.

Jimmy what type of line do you use for your full sinking line on your 9wt. The Scientifc angler Bluewater express is nice, but only comes in a 11-13 wt.... lots of others i look at are 30-50 ft sink tips at 400 gr lines. Any other advise would be appreciated.

 

[Saxe Point]

I'd go with sink tip lines. Full sinking lines are nasty to cast and mend.

 

[tteel]

tteel,

I use a 9ft 9wt rod with an islander reel and i use two different lines depending on the conditions a fast full sink or sinking tip.

Jimmy what kind of full sink line do you use on your 9 wt?