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Let's talk artillery....

5K views 19 replies 4 participants last post by  juro 
#1 ·
With the silver wave heading in, I'm curious what types of gear configurations people are using out there...

If it were up to me I guess I'd separate the fishery into:

a) saltchuck / boat
b) saltchuck / shore
c) estuary / boat
d) estuary / shore
e) river mouth

(where upriver fisheries qualify for salmon in rivers)

For me, saltchuck boat fishing (not including bucktailing) was typically done using either an intermediate or a sinking line in the 9wt class. Early season would be fine with a 7wt, 8wt is good all around, but fall hooknoses warrant 9wt gear IMHO. I think the sinking line has the advantage of penetrating the currents deeper when fishing rips, and also for throwing heavier or bulky flies.

Salter shore fishing would probably need to emphasize distance and a degree of stoutness for beaching fish in waves. I would tend to reduce the size of the fly and tone down to an 8wt.

Have stripping baskets caught on yet? The whole concept of coastal FF was in it's infancy when I moved away from the PNW.

Estuaries include areas of Hood Canal, Puget Sound inlets, and bay areas associated with river mouths or channeling constrictions. Although most of these areas are popular on foot for flyfishing, I would imagine that the use of small boats would permit drift coverage with the motor cut and casting toward shore structures as opposed to away from. I recall driving past quiet areas near Bremerton or the south sound and seeing a silver rocket out of the water, also the likelihood of searun cutts in the mix would probably tempt the angler to stay with lighter gear and smaller flies. Essentially the concerns of flotsam, bigtime currents and attraction in bluewater are not of much concern, thus I would imagine an influence on the gear accordingly.

River mouth fishing is an art that guys like Eric Bigler have experience with. Knowledge of tides, channel and hold water structures, and presentation techniques play a big part as the fish are influenced by their migratory behavior as opposed to the wanton feeding frenzies of the open seas.

Once in the river itself, summer steelhead gear and even nymphing techniques (Begineer hole, Kalama) are the venue.

I am curious - what have those who fish the saltchuck found out, and what experimentation do you plan for this fall?
 
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#2 ·
My fishing areas by the fly fall into these areas

[A] Saltchuck-shore
Estuary-shore
[C] River mouth
[D] River

The shooter is a sage rplx 9wt. 9 foot 3 piece
The Reel Lamson LP 3.5
I use shooting heads starting with clear intermediate
through to approx class 5 dependent on water
conditions

The prey starts with coho, pinks, chum and chinook.

At this time of the year I am fishing areas A, B, and C.

The high time of the river fisherey will start about mid Sept in my area

Yes the Stripping Basket is appearing this year. Fished
next to a young boy who was using one because his Grand Father
told him to try it. He will never give it up and says
he wants to try it in the rivers.

My .02
saltRon
 
#3 ·
I fish in Puget Sound, one really big estuary. :) My fishing this year has been both from shore and from my boat that I bought in March.

For most of my fishing, my standard "tool" consists of a Thomas & Thomas Horizon 906S-4 rod with a Penn International 1.5G reel set up with a shooting head system. Running line is a Cortland .031 running line and shooting heads are 8wt floater and clear intermediate.

Current "big gun" is my Thomas & Thomas Horizon 908S-4 rod with Lamson LP 3.5 reel also set up with a shooting head system. Running line on this is a Scientific Anglers Mastery .035. Shooting heads are 10wt floater and clear intermediate. Since getting my boat this year I've been experimenting with LC-13 to get down deeper and actually connected with an 11lb King about 2 months ago; my first on a fly rod. Landed a 15lb Chum on the rod last year and didn't feel too overwhelmed.

If I begin to feel undergunned for the "Fall Hooknoses" this year, I have a tax refund check starting to burn a hole in my pocket - a 10wt T&T Horizon might round out the collection nicely. Of course, that would require a new reel (not to mention a few more refund checks)...something from the Abel line sure would look good on that rod. What the heck, may as well go for the gold, you only live once.

I use 5, and 9 foot hand tied leaders. They connect to the shooting head by a Kreh Loop and also terminate at the tapered section with a Kreh Loop To this, I loop my fluorocarbon tippets that are tied with 30-turn Bimini Twists. Flies are attached using and Orvis Knot.

I've noticed stripping baskets becoming more prevalent among those fishing Puget Sound's shoreline this year. I use mine religiously and consider it essential. Finally broke down and bought Orvis' and happy I did.

Most folks fishing from shore seem to be using full length clear intermediate lines like Cortland's Clear Camo. Lots of false casting going on along the shoreline.

Experiments for this year? Still getting used to flyfishing from a boat, so that experiment will continue for years to come.
 
#4 ·
(A) saltchuck/boat

either a floating line for fishing sliders or poppers, or a rio striperline in the 350-450 grain class (the line with the blueish clear intermediate running line). fishing solely 8 wt. rods because i feel that i heavier rod is not necessary... client landed a 17 lb. coho 2 days ago on an 8 wt with no problems (luckily the fish stayed away from props <G>). leaders consist of a couple feet of 40 lb butt section looped to 15 lb maxima tippet (another couple feet). the heavy test is solely so one can deal with the fish at the side of boat to minimize mortality on the wild fish that must be released (these are loose scale fish, so bringing them on board or netting them can be harmful). for flies, i fish flashtail clousers most of the time, with chartreuse and white being the best color. i find a size 1 hook (TMC 811S) the best size with the fly around 4-5 inches long. other flies work well (they are aggressively feeding silvers), but i have noticed that flies tied with lead-eyes or a cone-head (like popovics jiggy) work better than unweighted flies probably due to the up and down action the weight provides.

as for line management, i use the fly-line tamer buckets and would recommend them to all flyfishers fishing out of a boat. not only do they keep the line from tangling on everything within the boat, but one can keep the line stripped out, put their rod in the bucket and run to the next spot, and start fishing immediately without having to re-strip out line (the weighted base on the tamer allows this).

i just do the offshore fishing (over a mile offshore) so i don't know how much of this would translate to fishing along kelp beds or near-shore from a boat.

chris
 
#5 ·
Topwater,

Do you use a commercial version of the fly line tamer bucket or did you modify something else? Is it easily moveable from bow to stern or port to starboard to accomodate casting or are several needed onboard? If commercial, can you recommend a brand and source? Would a 20gal plastic trash can connected by bunji cord function similarly? Any idea of needed modifications? I liked your comment about being able to put the rod into it and having it ready to go. Only have had my boat a few months, so flycasting from it is still a learning experience for me..your input and advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
#17 ·
Thanks for the URL.

I think a stripping basket has a few advantages. It doesn't matter where you stand, for instance. It doesn't take any room on the deck. You can use it on shore too. It's cheap.

This device has a distinct advantage over the basket though - it holds the rod between spots.

In any case, thanks for the URL.

 
#16 ·
Thanks for the URL.

I think a stripping basket has a few advantages. It doesn't matter where you stand, for instance. It doesn't take any room on the deck. You can use it on shore too. It's cheap.

This device has a distinct advantage over the basket though - it holds the rod between spots.

In any case, thanks for the URL.

 
#18 ·
Thanks for the URL.

I think a stripping basket has a few advantages. It doesn't matter where you stand, for instance. It doesn't take any room on the deck. You can use it on shore too. It's cheap.

This device has a distinct advantage over the basket though - it holds the rod between spots.

In any case, thanks for the URL.

 
#20 ·
Thanks for the URL.

I think a stripping basket has a few advantages. It doesn't matter where you stand, for instance. It doesn't take any room on the deck. You can use it on shore too. It's cheap.

This device has a distinct advantage over the basket though - it holds the rod between spots.

In any case, thanks for the URL.

 
#19 ·
Thanks for the URL.

I think a stripping basket has a few advantages. It doesn't matter where you stand, for instance. It doesn't take any room on the deck. You can use it on shore too. It's cheap.

This device has a distinct advantage over the basket though - it holds the rod between spots.

In any case, thanks for the URL.

 
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