When people first learn that we chase salmon, rockfish and other species of bottom fish with flies fished offshore from our dory one of the first questions that’s asked is how, and what kind of flies do you use. As we settle into the winter months here in the Pacific Northwest I thought this may be a perfect time to review some of the more popular flies I use for Rockfish and Salmon.
Rockfish Flies –
The most common rockfish we find are Black and Blue Rockfish. We’re fortunate to have incredible reefs within minutes of the beach that are home to large numbers of Rockfish. The reefs we fish are 40 – 60′ deep and the rockfish are usually found anywhere from the surface to 30′ or 40′ making it possible to use a variety of flies with the right fly lines. Rockfish are opportunistic feeders and it’s not necessary to “match the hatch” in most cases. When we find them rolling on the surface they’re usually feeding on small crab larvae. While we’ve tried throwing small flies when we see this, the most effective is traditional bass poppers or a skater that attracts attention. There are many other times Rockfish will be feeding on baitfish but will readily take small chartreuse and pink clousers.
Fly details
- Variety of flies from poppers to different size clousers work for rockfish
- Traditional bucktail and Steve Farrar’s Blend
- Primarily fish chartreuse, pink/white combos but neutral colors work as well
- 2 – 4.5” flies
Salmon Flies –
We’re targeting Coho and occasionally Chinook salmon during the summer months off the coast here in Oregon. These fish are aggressively feeding on a variety of things from squid, many types of baitfish and crab larvae. It’s been stated that Coho salmon will gain over a pound of weight every 1-2 weeks from July until they begin their ascent up the river systems in early Fall. The upcoming journey driving the need for this heavy feeding. As I’ve stated in previous post, these salmon feed so heavily that there are many times we find them attacking our flies in the 3-4″ range having just inhaled two or three herring. There’s are large variety of patterns that will entice Coho and Chinook but some of my favorites are hollow tied flat wings in either chartreuse and white or pink. We always say that fly color doesn’t matter with Coho, as long as it’s pink. While that’s not always the case, pink definitely works more than it doesn’t. Other flies I like are smaller bucktail clousers and other baitfish patterns tied with Steve Farrar’s blend.
Fly details
- Color doesn’t matter with coho as long as it’s pink
- Other colors do work, but pink outperforms much of the time
- Hollow Flatwings, clousers and other baitfish patterns
- Small clousers
- Steve Farrar’s baitfish patterns
- 3-5” flies
These are examples of just some of the flies that work for our amazing fishery off the Oregon Coast. One of many great things about this fishery is the ability to get creative with your tying. It’s a great place to let imagination take over and see what will work with a captive audience.
If your looking to get out and experience this fishery contact me or RSVP here.