Note to self: get set up with a shooting head system.
I tried fishing my fly rod with a extra fast sinking tip, heavily weighted clouser and a couple pieces of split shot but after nearly bouncing the fly off the back of my head a couple times decided it wasn’t worth the risk. I switched over to a spinner as we slowly trolled upstream pitching at the banks and retriving. It seems there are a ton of native coho around this year and though I was hoping for one for the barbecue it was awesome to do battle with natives this bright. We caught three fish total and they all looked like this:
There were fish everywhere between Bunch bar and Sawyer’s rapids and reports indicate that coho and chinook are spread throughout the Umpqua system. The recent rain event brought rivers up enough to empty out tidewater and bring fish into the river proper and the dry spell following the rain has rivers at ideal levels for pursuing salmon with a fly rod. Both the Umpqua and Siuslaw are good bets for getting in to one of these chrome bruisers. Remember, the Siuslaw/Lake creek system is closed at the forks and above. If you can shirk work, do it!–KM
