Mushmouth

I have always been a fan of east coast striper flies.  There are so many possibilities for not only specific patterns but of techniques (such as Bob Popovics') for west coast salmon.  I recently was spending a bit of time watching tying videos online and came across the Mushmouth by Dave Skok.  It looks to be perfect for imitating herring and I liked the use of Softex within the pattern to minimize fouling.





I decided to make an attempt and while the first try was a little rough I was pleased with the second attempt.

Right now I have confidence that this fly will work well dredging for blackmouth in the upcoming months.  Of course I find that I always have confidence in the flies when they are fresh from the vise.  We'll see if that confidence lasts on the water.

Herring

It has been a fun week fishing a local spot where the kelp is loaded with small herring.  The herring brings in the salmon, birds, seals, and porpoises.

The fishing has been a mix of coho and immature chinook salmon.  Most of the coho fishing has been deep within the kelp forests fishing surface patterns.  So much of the saltwater game is fishing subsurface that one forgets what a visual smorgasbord fishing on the surface is.  You will have many salmon follow the fly swirling multiple times at it before either taking it or turning away.  Sometimes you will have fish that come out of nowhere and mug the fly.  Landing fish deep within the kelp is a challenge as every fish seems to aim for the thick kelp.  Tangles are commonplace as the fish continue running and jumping while you are focused on trying to get your fly line untangled from a mat of kelp.

Hopefully the Puget Sound coho run is as large as forecast and the fishing holds up through the end of October.