Sea runs on the fly

F
Fred
I mainly fish wooly buggers and reverse spiders near tidal areas with the latter being on the end of my line 90% of the time. So, I’ve had my fill with those two and would like to catch decent-sized sea runs on other patterns. My goal is to get at least one sea-run 15 inches or larger on popular sea run patterns. I knocked off the muddler minnow with two 15-inch fish and a lot of small fish in the 6–11-inch range. I still haven't hooked a good one on a Borden’s special as of yet. After I get one, I'll try to get a hefty one on the female coachman. Currently on my list are October caddis, elk hair caddis, female coachman, bwo, some type of egg pattern, and Borden special. I have books on sea runs with other patterns I might add and would love to hear suggestions. I caught one on an elk hair caddis (last spring), a muddler minnow (Last week), a tiny one on a bordens (a couple weeks ago), a muddler minnow (last Friday) and a fly I bought at the Orvis fly shop in Lake Oswego. If someone can Identify it and what it imitates thanks. Mostly use 5/6 weight rods, but also an 8-weight I find they still fight hard on it and I can end the fight faster. If I fish in precious locations, I want extra insurance in case of a lucky encounter with a steelhead, salmon, or monster sea run. I use a Douglas LRS 5 wt, echo base 8 wt, and a Beulah guide series ii 6 wt. My reels are a cross water and a Lamson liquid. Floating line and sink tips. 6 to 7ft leaders for streamers and 9ft for dries. Catching big fish on small flies, especially dry flies is another pursuit of its own. I lost an 18-incher using a small caddis on opening day. The fish jumped clear out of the water and proceeded to swim off with it after breaking my line. On the Borden special, I’ve had several 16- and 18-inch fish follow in tidewater, but no takes. One time I failed to notice a large chinook jack following it until I was midway into starting another cast and pulled it away from him ugh! Last few weekends I’ve been skating or stripping muddlers near the surface and that’s produced a couple of quality fish. Another goal related to sea runs is figuring out fishing for them in estuaries and the ocean. I’ve caught sea runs in a creek 100 yards from the ocean, but never in the surf. I read someone caught one in the surf at Neskowin Beach. Keep in mind the creek itself is closed during sea run season. In bays, only one spot has been producing for me. I named it the “Thomas Spot” after my friend who showed me it. My buddies have caught three sea runs that were 19 inches here. My personal best a 17.5-inch sea run also caught there and I broke off a fish 18 inches or larger there on a reverse spider. These fish were chrome and feisty only downside was the saltwater being bad for my gear. I’ve caught juvenile lingcod, crabs, perch, and staghorn sculpin there as well. On top of that, I’ve seen sea runs chasing baitfish and salmon and steelhead passing by. Only here have I had luck in a bay setting. I hope to find success in the mud flats, sand flats, eelgrass beds, and deep waters in the bay. I have a pontoon, a kayak, and a 12 ft boat that I could use out there. My other interest is fishing new rivers and creeks and getting decent ones in those new places. Coastal cutthroat are my favorite species so they always spark ideas in me. I doubt I’ll fulfill these goals anytime soon, but perhaps over the years, I’ll get some partially completed, just ranting and thinking of them is fun. For this season I’m aiming for fishing two new rivers and getting a decent one on two patterns. I’ll likely get distracted by the salmon and other species and far-flung destinations in Oregon. Anyway sorry for any grammatical mistakes’ grammar is not my strong suit and I'm
writing this at 4 in the morning. I’ve gotten into the bad habit of staying up late on the internet and it has made me miss far too many morning bites. I’ve got to work on the sleeping schedule haha. Also added some of pics from my trip my father and I did and a october caddis that landed on my rod this friday.
 
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John3
John3
. . . patterns for SRC . . .

“Sea Run” and “Fly-Fishing Coastal Cutthroat Trout” by Les Johnson

“Sea-Run Cutthroat Flies & Fishing” by Jay Nicholas
 
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troutdude
troutdude
John3 said:
. . . patterns for SRC . . .

“Sea Run” and “Fly-Fishing Coastal Cutthroat Trout” by Les Johnson
Ding ding ding! I actually have a 1st Edition. (from 1972 if memory serves) But I don't think that edition has any color pics. Only later editions, I believe, have pics.
 
F
Fred
John3 said:
. . . patterns for SRC . . .

“Sea Run” and “Fly-Fishing Coastal Cutthroat Trout” by Les Johnson

“Sea-Run Cutthroat Flies & Fishing” by Jay Nicholas
I’ve read both of them and I loved them. I also have two others, but I haven’t read them yet.
 
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John3
John3
You might also look this book “Fly Patterns of British Columbia: The Roderick Haig-Brown Centenary Edition” . . .

Haig-Brown was the dean of Pacific N.W. fishing on the Canadian side.

His patterns bear an unparalleled knack of brevity and proportion and colour in my opinion.
 
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F
Fred
Never heard of the book or the author I'll take a look thanks!
 
F
Fred
Got the top one on a reverse spider and the bottom one on a muddler minnow.
 
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troutdude
troutdude
NICE!
 
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jaikerzjake
Fred said:
I mainly fish wooly buggers and reverse spiders near tidal areas with the latter being on the end of my line 90% of the time...
Yo where did you catch this brown trout? Thing is beautiful!! Also, I believe I saw some sea runs yesterday attacking bugs on the surface. Would this have been an October caddis hatch? I couldn’t get a look at what bugs they were eating unfortunately. I tried an elk hair caddis with no luck except coastal cutthroats
 
F
Fred
jaikerzjake said:
Yo where did you catch this brown trout? Thing is beautiful!! Also, I believe I saw some sea runs yesterday attacking bugs on the surface. Would this have been an October caddis hatch? I couldn’t get a look at what bugs they were eating unfortunately. I tried an elk hair caddis with no luck except coastal cutthroats
Hard to say without seeing them in person. Google October caddis and see if the size and color match what you saw.
 
F
Fred
I fished the coast's first significant downpour. I lost two large sea runs and landed two decent ones. I also got a dozen or so fish in the 5–10-inch range. When I left the water was no longer clear, but discolored, and the river level had risen about 5 inches. Coho and chinook swam past me in half a foot of water. The passing salmon were within arm’s reach as I was unhooking and releasing trout. Two salmon followed my fly and one took a nibble. The fishing was slow until I made an educated guess and moved spots which paid off. The first hole produced a beautifully colored juvenile cutthroat. I made my way downstream where I hooked into and lost another PB-sized (18 inches) cutthroat. I had him on for about a second or two and watched his golden headshakes. After some vulgarity, I moved to the tailout where I saw a fish jump clear out of the water. I quickly cast several feet ahead of where it had jumped in order to intercept it. About five strips into the retrieve, I see its silhouette following and soon after it inhales the fly, and I strip set. I love visual bites because they help me time the hooksets and are exhilarating. After a few photos, I released it back to its upstream journey. Further downstream I hooked one about 14 or 15 inches. I expected a fish to bite and yet I allowed slack in my retrieve which led to a bad hook set and a lost fish. After that, I fished about 6 other holes before calling it a day coinciding with the end of legal fishing time. I did some salmon and jetty fishing on two other separate days. My friend and I got some greenlings. My father and I lost a chrome coho at the bank. I also took a photo of a shrimp and was wondering if anyone has a fly pattern that would imitate this and does anyone know the species of shrimp it is? Here are some extra photos of a decent resident from a Willamette tributary and a little lingcod on the fly.
 
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F
Fred
We also found a school of colored up coho mixed in with some medium to large cutthroat but they knew we were there or had lockjaw not even a follow.
 
troutdude
troutdude
jaikerzjake said:
Yo where did you catch this brown trout?
What Brown? I only see 2 cutties.
 
F
Fred
Got them on the Borden, reverse spider, spruce, and a pink streamer that I forgot the name of. Fished higher and lower in the river system both areas produced. Got two coho jacks and 6 decent cutthroats. Also, got a ton of steelhead smolts and smaller cutthroat. I did eat it pretty badly and got soaking wet, but wet clothes and a bruised knee didn't stop me lol. The bigger fish hit the pink streamer on a dead drift. Fixing a line tangle put slack in the line and once the current made it taut, I could feel the fish on. Maybe they thought it was an egg cluster or salmon flesh? I’m aware some anglers do really well for cutthroats with egg patterns. Does anyone have tips for fishing egg patterns? Split shot placement, how much shot, and where do the cutthroats tend to set up behind spawning salmon? Has anyone tried euro nymphing egg patterns? I’m all about streamers, but I’d like to at least try this. I’ve done it in the winter and summer. Got a steelhead in February and a cutthroat in June, but I’ve never tried it in the fall.
 
Admin
Admin
What a pleasure to read this thread...
Fred, you became a real angler! (y)
 
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Fred
Admin said:
What a pleasure to read this thread...
Fred, you became a real angler! (y)
Thank you! This forum and its members have helped me greatly. Here’s a photo of the last one I got right before the end of October.
 
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