9/15/12

There are fish throughout the river almost every hole is holding a few. Fish were moving through rapids until 10:30 or so.   I was mid river today and  it is a snaggers paradise up there.   People herding, ripping and slashing with no real fear of any consequence.   I only think I saw 2 or 3 legit fisherman and the only legit hook up I saw was mine hooked onto a nice clean Ho that jumped 2 foot out of the water as soon as it felt tension.   Needless to say it was a losing battle.  All the fish I saw ripped out of the water were beat up bad with big sores on their bellies from having to ride the rocks.  There was still open water if you looked and walked far enough.  I casted to a big pod of 50 fish or so that was set up for an 1/2 hour or so without being bothered.  I really knew these fish would not bite as they were just hanging in some slow semi deep pool, but I had to try.    Now I have a newbie ??????   Those of you  who consistently get some nice hits are you fishing pockets, transition water  or pools and is it on the swing or on the drift  your best bet.   Still trying to learn the what and where that makes these salmon bite.  The 2 hits I got this year were in what I would call faster moving transition water  (rapids that were 18" or so deep).  With so many fish around I get frustrated that I only got 1 hit today.

Clint- Try high sticking  small seams or pockets that are kinda along shore and usually BEHIND the guys out knee deep slashing runs or mid river pools.
 Unmolested Kings tend to slip up into those small places and stop to rest. They often get aggressive enough even up river. Interesting cause you stand out there too and turn around and face the other way.
 Gotta be careful so as NOT to be in somebodys back cast area. You are not throwing big rope but high sticking. I only use VERY minimal weights when doing this and if the fly is a decent wet, or even a sac later on, that sinks to mid range no weight at all. Sometimes your fly line isnt even hardly in the water.
 You can learn these spots by simply walking the shore -out of the water- and spotting  resting Kings. The real good spots are those not generally too obvious to others and often open when you walk around -even with crowds.
   I find it very difficult in most places to do his from shore.
Later when Steel are far more prominent these are often great spots to drift down into from above. They pull over for a rest now and then too.
       Just one guys way---

Clint , in my also limited experience of these pacific salmoids a few things have worked well.
1, broken water instead of flat or deeper water.
2. Having a pocket that will hold fish and having new fish trying to invade that space.
3. I generally use a swing with my target on the downstream / almost dead down. Try to put your fly in front or side above the fish.
4. Down low in the river before they become adjusted to people / flies or line.
5. Anytime they are actively spawning , they will get aggressive jockeying for position.

Hope this helps and yes, thank you for your reports as well

Finally some 101 knowledge from some true old timers... nice pointers guys...it beats the O2 debate that has made it through every other thread

Oh yeah nice report clint

Thanks guy's all good stuff.  I am now thinking that due to the pressure and where I was one hook up was good.  It was tough to find good pocket water due to the flow and folk being where I wanted.   The 2 hour trips during the week in the evening are the hot ticket for me.