Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Carich980]

 Looking for advice on Fly fishing for Pinks and other Salmon. I mostly fish the vedder and avoid the fraser. Im using my single hand rod but i do have a Spey rod i started with this year. I went out the other day caught a couple but foul hooked more then i caught on the bite. I have  Rio Line with the Versi tip system. Using a sink tip to get down a bit with a 4 foot leader.

When I cast out my fly I aim to get it out in the seam of the current a ways then let it Drift down. At the end I strip it like 3 pulls or so and let it sink again. Should i be stripping hard and fast or slow and long or what? Also should i start stripping it after i cast it out or should i let it Drift?

I heard that using an inverted hook when tying a fly will help reduce foul hooks and get the fly down deeper for Coho they lay underneath. Any truth to this? Im going to try and tie some up this way.

Going out tomorrow and any other day i get free to try again.. Any advice is appreciated. I want to avoid foul hooking them as much as possible, but i was told due to the mass amounts gathered together it happens occasionally.

Thanks.

[HOOK]

the only 100 % way to prevent foul hooking pinks is to tie in a heavy ish peice of mono like a weed guard, tying the hook with barbell eyes so it rides upside down will lower the foul hooking considerably however if you get underneath the fish you will still snag them but it will be their bellies instead of their backs

I wil just fish a drift for pinks in the Vedder. cast out, mend the line and then let it swing. I usually start a slow retrieve a little after the line has swung and straightened out. pinks are pretty aggressive for the most part so there is no need to force feed them your fly, if your foul hooking fish then go to a lighter tip or unweighted fly or a shorter/longer leader until you find what works best because you want to swing just ABOVE the fish

[dennyman]

Agree with what Hook has said. However, don't be so quick to dismiss the Fraser River for fly fishing. Now that the sockeye fishery is closed the number of folks on the river will go down. And this being a pink season makes it a very good time to hit the Fraser for fly fishing. Also some of the bars which are now accessible are perfect spots to fish with the spey rod. More room, which will allow you to practise and lay out those spey casts.

[Sir Snag-A-Lot]

If you are fishing fast moving waters with a heavy enough line to get down to the fish you are almost guaranteed to foul hook some unless your fly swims upside down.  Try fishing slower moving waters to avoid this.  Pinks, chum and coho like to hang out there anyway.

[BNF861]

if your foul hooking fish then go to a lighter tip or unweighted fly or a shorter/longer leader until you find what works best because you want to swing just ABOVE the fish

That pretty much sums it up. Whatever tip you were using, use one lighter. Biting fish will rise for your fly.

Similar to hook, i usually just mend and let it swing but have got the ocasional fish when striping in to recast.

[Sandman]

If you are fishing fast moving waters with a heavy enough line to get down to the fish you are almost guaranteed to foul hook some unless your fly swims upside down.  Try fishing slower moving waters to avoid this.  Pinks, chum and coho like to hang out there anyway.

That is my strategy as well although, as Hook said, you can avoid snagging even in those conditions by switch things up until you find that "zone" just above the fish.  Of course, you will foul hook a few before you do find it.  I personally rarely foul hook fish and credit that with seeking out that slack water.  You will get more fish and they will be biting not flossed or snagged.  Cannot wait for that first silver chum to peel me into my backing as I wish I had tied on a heavier tippet after that last pink.

[RalphH]

for the last 2 weeks I've been fishing the lower vedder/canal with a clear intermediate tip and marabou flies weighted with bead chain or small dumbell eyes but no weed guard and about 4 feet of leader tops. My foul hook rate is less than 2%. I generally cast across and let it sink a bit then use a retrieve with short strips. I have many times been able to watch pinks rise to and chase the fly sometimes in groups of up to 6 fish. Most people use tips that are too heavy. They don't catch as many fish as I do.Don't go to a type 3 or greater tip unless the water is over 6 feet deep, its bright and sunny near mid day other wise you'll just snag fish because the fly will be under the fish and they generally don't see it or respond to it. If you do use a faster tip don't use a fly weighted with beads or what ever. That works much better.

[fishing with flies]

I was at the lower part of Vedder where the canal merges with the river. I was using a 7/8 rod with a 7/8 fly reel of course with a sink tip fly line. I had a 12 pound leader which I thought was too heavy but not too much and tied my shrimp fly to a perfection loop and add a medium sized split shot about 1-2 feet away from the fly. Just drifting the fly just above where they are and slowly pull the line just 3-5 inches at a time. I caught over 20 pinks yesterday and it was a blast. 

[HOOK]

not to be a stickler but with that setup you were most likely long lining (fancy fly lingo for flossing) your fish, this is very easy to do with a fly line if fished right in the fishes face which is what the split shot would most likely put you in.

did you tag bottom at all during your time fishing ? If so then im correct with my assumptions, I only assume this because you were basically nymph fishing with a sunk tip on and i have tried this and it isnt ideal.

When im swinging flies for salmon i dont hit bottom ever because i keep switching stuff until i find the sweet spot cruising just above the fish so they must commit to the take, I catch less fish but i dont foul hook very many if any at all. I fished the Vedder sunday for a couple hours and hooked around a dozen fish and all were fair hooked, a dozen in 2 hours is pretty good and thats not counting the ones i hooked and lost during battle. I thankfully have done enough river fishing that i can usually find the sweet zone on my first or second changeup, sunday i was spot on with the first setup 

[Sandman]

I agree with Hook that this may not be an ideal set up, but it sounds like it worked well enough.  I would not assume your fish were long lined as you did not indicate how long your leader was, but if the shot was two feet above the fly it sounds like it was probably a longer leader.  If you keep the leader to 3 feet or less then there is no need for the split shot as the fly is not riding as high as with the longer leader.  I have fished that stretch (caught a beauty silver chum there last October as the pinks were winding down) and there is no need for the split shot if you have a sink tip on already, the current is not that fast nor is the water that deep.  By removing the shot, you would be right above their heads and in a good spot to avoid flossing them. 

[Nuggy]

Hook and Sandman are correct, fly guys do floss snag fish and it`s easy to do even with a short leader. Another method to avoid floss snagging is to learn how to mend a fly line properly and keep the line in a straight position as it runs through a drift. When a sinking fly line is allowed to be carried by the current with no mends the arc it produces as it winds down stream will amplify your chances at a floss snag.

Cast straight out in front of you or quarter your cast down stream...throw a mend in the line....maybe need another mend and slowly start retrieving. Eventually you will find what works for you and just based on the angles of your line drifting straight to your rod tip floss snagging can be avoided.

[RalphH]

While I'd agree this may not be an ideal setup (a sink tip and splitshot) I wouldn't assume these fish were flossed at all. Where were your fish hooked? Pinks can be and more often than not are ready takers. In clear water they avoid sinking lines. Watch you can see them move out of the way.


What counts is you had a good time.

[Sandman]

What counts is you had a good time.

Absolutely