Flyfishing for coho
anyone out there with advice on flyfishing for coho? thinking of trying that on the cap river. what flies to use? and how shud the leader be set up?

Depends on the water. If you intend to fish the estuary/river mouth area as the coho mill around before they enter the river, use a 10 foot or so sink tip with a short leader (18" butt section, 18" 12-15 lb test and 12-18" of tippet 8lb test, depending on water clarity, go slightly longer in clear water) and use the usual flashy minnow pattern flies like large rolled muddlers, coho candy, epoxy minnows etc. If you are going to be fishing for them upriver, the length of sink-tip should vary to match the depth of the runs you are fishing. Now, at this point I must clarify that I haven't fished in the Cap specifically for coho (but in other lower mainland streams) and I've found that they will take small egg patterns on peachy coloured patterns. Some Coho taken out of Norrish Creek have had a stomach full of chum eggs. So if there are other fish in the river spawning, an egg pattern may be worthwhile. Cheers.

I have found small black leech pattern work particularly well for the early jack run that should be in the river soon, if they are not already in. These I fish right off the bottom of the pools on a medium slow retrieve. Try tying a couple with grizzly hackle like a wooly bugger and a couple plain with just black chenille and a black marabou tail. Add some some purple flash to a couple as well. Remember to think small, as the #8's seemed to work better than the larger hooks. Total pattern length shouldn't exceed 1 inch, even as small as 3/4". Try this in any of the upper river pools, casting slighly upstream and allowing the fly to sink right to the bottom. Postition yourself so the retrieve allows the fly to move through the fishy water. Try a slow steady retrieve and try to keep the speed constant throughout. Vary the speed on each cast if you like, but coho tend to be followers and will often be put off by a change in speed in mid retieve. For the larger coho that come in the late summer I have two flies that work well. One is a orange pearl that you will find a pattern for on this site under "Fly Patterns". The other is basically the same fly tied with chartuese wings instead of orange. These flies I also fish right off the bottom with a faster jerk retieve, again trying to keep the speed (intervals between jerks) constant. Tight lines. >----'

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