Fly fishing question

[JerseyJoe]

On all your trips you have taken, where have you found the best fly fishing for large silver (coho) salmon, especially surface oriented fishing and
for steelhead?
Thanks for the help.
JJ

[dahlberg]

Hi J
I've caught my best ones on Alaska's "lost coast" out of Yakutat. Had a day once while filming there with 83 big silvers on the deer hair slider flies I developed for smallmouth. Nothing smaller than mid teens, several high teens and a couple in the low twenty pound class!
Plus, fish fresh out of the salt, within a hundred yards or so from the ocean.
Tsiu, Kikluch, are a couple of the good rivers.
If you're looking for big surface oriented steelheads, the Dean river in BC would be a good choice.
best
L

[JerseyJoe]

Thanks for the information Larry
I believe the Tsiu has three lodges and the Kiklulch has one. Do you have any preferences?
Also, for non-surface oriented Steelhead, any favorite rivers?
JJ

[dahlberg]

Hmmm. Favorite steelhead river is a tough one! Guess I'd have to say it's any river with a fresh run that doesn't have a bunch of other anglers stepping on their heads before I have a chance to catch 'em!
I've always enjoyed the North Umpqua because it's so beautiful and challenging. Plus, you can get up on the cliffs with binoculars and polarized glasses and get a pretty good idea of what's going on in the pools. I especially enjoy fishing the bait water with flies.
best
L

[puckfisher]

joe: I live in Oregon and have access to numerous steelhead rivers. The Deschutes River runs through my town and would be an option if you want to go somewhere in the states. The North Umpqua is a gorgeous river but technically difficult to fish. Wading is tough (bottom slick as snot) and the guys with local knowledge have a big advantage. The Skeena system (Bulkley, Morice, Copper , Babine rivers) all flow into the Skeena and are far more reliable and the average size is better. Plan to go from early September to mid- Oct. Spey casting is the rage but I'm stubborn and usually stick to my 10 ft 8 wt. singlehanders. British Columbia has taken many measures to protect the Skeena steelhead (some say not enough) from commercial incidental catch at the mouth to now limiting stateside anglers from fishing their"classified "waters" on weekends without a guide. You'll want a guide anyway on your first few trips.The primary hub for most trips is Smithers,BC and outfitters make things easy from there. Again, your past experience,pocketbook and desire for the comforts of home will steer you to an acceptable outfitter. Do not take a bargain and go outside the time window I mentioned, you'll be disappointed or freeze to death. There is a web site that the fisheries dept. has called "tyee test fishery" which you can look up and with some dilligence make sense out of their number system to get a rough prediction of the steelhead run (start looking in August). I've had some unbelievable trips on skated dry flies and multiple no fish days when rain hits and rivers "blow out". The normal trip will test your patience and endurance on some days while make you giggle like a kid on others. Ther just isn't much better than seeing a huge steelhead come to your dry, refuse, turn, miss, leave a boil then come back again and just daintily sip your pattern and tailwalk all your line to the other side of the river. That's why I'll be in Bc this September. Puckfisher