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[milo]

Gotta love chum openings on the Stave and Chehalis, while the Vedder remains closed to retention.
Certainly makes for a very pleasant outing, as I met hardly half a dozen other fishermen on the river all day at three different spots.

All my fishing buddies bailed out on me, so I had to rough it by myself. Oh, well, someone's got to keep the fish in check, so it might as well be me.

I took a hike to a spot I had identified as a possible coho producer earlier in the season, and the fly was the weapon of choice.
To make a long story short, I had a blast. I landed a few chum and a couple coho, one of which (a hatchery fish to boot) was so fresh that it still had a bluish ocean tinge and sea lice on it. How cool is that in November?
Of course, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here it goes:



A close up of the fly:



Needless to say, it will be dinner tomorrow night.  

Chum were also willing participants in the fly fishing game, and they liked the same fly, courtesy of a gentleman from Smithers, BC.  



While covering quite a bit of water today, I came upon a heart-warming scene in a side-channel:



Yup, the love activity was in full swing, so I quickly moved on, as I am not much of a voyeur. Good to see that chum are in in good numbers in the C/V.

Sadly, my day was marred by a little mishap in which my Sage became a three piece, so I had to call it quits at least two hours earlier than anticipated. Oh well, it's a Sage...the warranty has already been processed by the friendly folks at Fred's, so I hope to have my rod back in time for the steelhead season.

Until then, tight lines to all.

Milo

[Every Day]

Hey Milo.

Do you have a pic of that fly dry? Looks like blue hackle, black body and purple/red tail?

Thanks,
Dan

[milo]

Hey Milo.

Do you have a pic of that fly dry? Looks like blue hackle, black body and purple/red tail?

Thanks,
Dan

It's my last of those flies. I'll let it dry and take a pic and send it to your e-mail.

[minnie-me]

Sounds like an awesome way to spend a day other than the rod...thanks for the report

[FlyFishin Magician]

Nice report Milo.  That rod looks like an XP?  I've got the 796 myself and it's a perfect stick for pinks and coho.  Sorry to hear it busted - but hopefully you'll get it back soon.  Maybe Sage will upgrade it to a Z-Axis?  Yeah, right!

[bigblue]

That is beautiful coho!

[Geff_t]

It's my last of those flies. I'll let it dry and take a pic and send it to your e-mail.

  Nice looking fly, mind sending a picture my way as well.

[silver ghost]

those are awesome high quality pictures

[ICA]

Hi Milo,

Nice report. Is that fly not the famous "Christmas tree" which is a known coho "killer" figuratively speaking? Milo, were you using a clear intermediate sink tip with a fluorocarbon tippet?

[milo]

Nice report Milo.  That rod looks like an XP?  I've got the 796 myself and it's a perfect stick for pinks and coho.  Sorry to hear it busted - but hopefully you'll get it back soon.  Maybe Sage will upgrade it to a Z-Axis?  Yeah, right!

Correct. It is a 896 XP. I don't want a Z-Axis. I just want my XP back! Best blank Sage ever made.

Is that fly not the famous "Christmas tree" which is a known coho "killer" figuratively speaking? Milo, were you using a clear intermediate sink tip with a fluorocarbon tippet?

I would say this fly is a hybrid between a X-mas tree and a crystal wooly bugger. It's a KD original, so I'll let him name it.

I didn't use fluorocarbon. I always use 4-8 feet of 10# Maxima Ultragreen straight from the braided loop to the fly.

[Every Day]

It's my last of those flies. I'll let it dry and take a pic and send it to your e-mail.

Thanks man, much appreciated!
steelheadfishing@hotmail.com

Awesome report!
Hopefully I can hit a few this weekend...

[Nuggy]

Correct. It is a 896 XP. I don't want a Z-Axis. I just want my XP back! Best blank Sage ever made.

You will get your XP back as Sage keeps mandrels from at least the LL/RPL days. This is a HUGE advantage when getting rods repaired by Sage that you know in the majority of situations you will get the same blank back as you sent in. This is unlike most every other company who gives you the latest model of the discontinued warrantied rod.

Cheers
Nuggy

[Ken D]

It's my last of those flies. I'll let it dry and take a pic and send it to your e-mail.

Hio, Milo...I'll make some more of these riggins for you, over the weekend.  If folks want to clone them, they are very fast, and not too hard to do. Being a working fly, they are not complicated, so if they get lost, only a few minutes of life force wind up in the trees or the stones, not 20 minutes.

Hook: something long for steelhead or salmon, in size to suit..try 1,2, 1/0, or go smaller....I use Mustad 36890's mostly. Or Eagle Claw 1197's, or if I'm feeling flush, Tiemco 7999's. Tail: a bit of blue and purple low quality marabou plume... the stuff that's all fuzzy and full. The ones in the craft store bags, for kid's hats.

Body: medium ice, cactus, fritz, etc, sparkle chenille.  Hackle: kingfisher blue schlappen, 3-4 turns, long fronds, to veil the body,once the fly gets wet.. (You can always just rip off some, if you feel it's too full.) I like schlappen, because the stem is super thin, and the fronds are very mobile. Thread: Doesn't matter....I like to use Unithread 6/0 unwaxed in either red, or claret.

Oh yeah: somebody was asking for the name. I've been calling them "the black ones" if I do the blue ones, then I call them "the blue ones"....

[bluenoser]

Milo...that reel is the bomb.

Only ever seen pictures of them.

BN

[rickjames_2]

Yeah, i got to admit that i had not seen that reel before. I checked it out online and it is pretty cool. Most certainly one of the most unique reels i have seen on the river, way to rock it man...