Secrets to catching coho on the fly
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- In this episode of on the water, Rick busts some coho fishing myths that he's heard. These myths often deceive anglers and reduce their chances at catching these bright, feisy fish.
Rick Janzen is a fly tier with over forty year's experience flying tying and fly fishing in British Columbia. On this channel he shares his favorite flies with you that you can then copy or adapt them to your situation. He will also be doing 'on the water' episodes in which he will demonstrated the hows, whens and wheres of fishing his flies.
Rick is also a salmon fishing guide in Campbell River BC on the renowned Tyee Pool. See his website here:
www.tyeepool.com/.
#flytying, #flyfishing,#troutfishing,#sportfishing
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Awesome video. Thanks for sharing Rick
I agree with you about the rain and wind. My favorite fly for salt from shore or shallow water is a #6-#2 rolled muddler. For river it has been a green bugger with a gold bead. If the river has log booms, swing the fly under them. The coho tend to hide under the booms.
Great video! I recently got into fly fishing this past spring and your videos have been great and I have managed to do some catching not just fishing luckily. Your info is great and it is local to me which is even better thanks!
Craig, I am happy to hear that. It's what I am hoping to achieve. Thanks for the feedback.
Awesome video, i did well on the beach in front of the Nile for pinks but i am still in pursuit of my first beach coho!
Keep at it. It took me a few years between my first pink and my first coho, but it was good training. I’m sure you’ll get there quicker than I did because there was no internet when I started.
I will post observations from decades of fishing for coho in the chuck, estuaries and rivers.
I have had the most success catching summer coho with white - especially white hootchies behind a silver flasher. For me this transitioned into white flies. If I find a school of coho around some kelp they can sometimes be caught on the surface with a green or white gurgler which is a lot of fun. White still works well when coho arrive close to shore, especially hatchery fish. These fish can be extremely frustrating as they can be leaping all around you and not taking anything.
I agree with you about rainy weather turning fish on both in the salt and in freshwater.
Beach wild fish can be caught with almost anything when they first show up - especially silver flies. Later, I think that they can become picky. They seem to switch to green/blue/purple flies. When they enter estuaries they often can only be caught on surprisingly small flies such as # 10 California Neals that are green or blue. Ditto Kelsey's Hope flies. As the fish go further up the river their preference switches to pink. And even later, to red ( often a single egg fly) close to the bottom.
In estuaries, coho will often school in "frog water" - water that doesn't have much current. This is particularly so in Fraser River sloughs. If there are logs or standing tree stumps in the water be sure to cover those areas. I think coho love wood. When the fish are in frog water the first hour of the morning is worth 3 hours later in the day for productivity. Kincolith River hatchery workers had a camera in a fishway/tunnel going past a weir in the river. They told me that the majority of coho passed through this after dark and all night.
In the salt, coho seem to like a fast stripped fly but as the season progresses the speed of retrieve that has worked best for me slows down, even to a dead drift in December or January.
Coho have a peculiar and frustrating way of almost taking a fly. Quite often I have felt a barely perceptible "pluck", often repeated during a drift. I would try striking early or late for these but usually without success. One day I had a perfect perch at the head of a pool on the Tseax River and crystal clear water to watch a huge school of coho. I used flies that I could see easily in the water. Many coho rose above the school and my fly would disappear and I felt that plucking sensation simultaneously. I could never successfully set the hook with these fish unless they turned their heads to one side. I think somehow they suck the fly into their mouths but the hook doesn't touch anything solid. A downriver strike might work but usually, this type of pluck behaviour occurs when the fly is below me.
Perhaps my observations are myths, and certainly, your success might vary, but that is the mystique of fishing. For me, it is always a work in progress.
Great info here. Some of my flies do rely heavily on white as well. And I concur with smaller flies later in the season. Thanks for the comments.
I have that same rod. Different reel. Are you using floating line with a sink tip? Or are you using sinking line? I've done very little wet fly/streamer fishing and I am trying to get more into it.
I’m using a medium sink tip. I find it perfect for beach fishing in most situations.
For several years I enjoyed this kind of fishing in Saanich Inlet. Three years ago a couple of porpoises showed up with the coho. Last year a half dozen porpoises and poor fishing. This year more than a dozen porpoises were chasing salmon in chest-deep water all around me... I haven't been able to catch a fish in my favourite spot this fall. I know, porpoises have to eat too.
That’s a tough one. Love to see porpoises, but not at the cost of coho fishing.
Nice video! Do you think the recent October heavy precipitation marks the peak of coho numbers on east Island?
Yes. But having said that, I believe there are still some good weeks ahead.
I was out and I couldn't find any of the beach mid island near qualicum too many seals
Yeah the seals are a real problem.
@@rickjanzen2180 do you suggest just fishing kinda blindly and hoping to get a fish or waiting and looking for a sign of fish
@@oscarlambert3525 When it comes to coho I always look for signs of fish. Coho always reveal themselves. If there are numerous schools moving around then I will cast to blank water, but only because I already know they're in the general area. Hope that helps.