This nice coho took a fly called the Pay Dirt in the colors of black and blue. Swinging flies with two-handed rods is an effective way to catch silvers/coho, but many anglers prefer to add motion to the fly by stripping the line to make the fly jump and fall, or incorporating a fast strip retrieve at the end of the swing. 

Fly Fishing for Skagit River Silver Salmon

THE RUNDDOWN

• From the town of Sedro-Woolley to Marblemount
  
• Mid-September through mid-November
• Watch regulations closely for which sections open on certain dates. Also, the river may have sections of the river that close for a few days at a time for tribal netting. Check HERE for Emergency Closures. 
• Bank access is limited but available. Walk-in access is much easier in the Sept-Oct time of year because the river is low and gravel bars are exposed.
• Floating the Skagit River in a raft, drift boat or pontoon boat is very easy in almost all areas of the river.
• Fishing for coho in the river is usually best when fresh fish are moving in, when the river is rising, or when the river is just dropping into shape after it has been high and dirty.

WHEN TO GO

• State fishing regulations change every year so keep an eye on how those regulations may change the following dates.
• Mid-September thru mid-November – Coho will begin entering the river in August and will be around in good numbers by the beginning of September. Early October usually has the rivers full of silvers but the fishing may be tough until the rivers cool down and get enough rain to come up from summer's low levels. Usually, by the end of November, the coho fishing is over, but every year we hear of bright fish caught in December and even January.

• Try to time your trips to avoid warm weather, low water periods when fishing for coho can be tough.

TACKLE

Single-hand rods in 7wt or 8wt. Two-Handed rods of 6wt,7wt or 8wt. Use sink-tip lines and a multi-tip line system is great to have for either single-hand or your two-hand rods. Leaders should be about 6ft long for sink-tips. Most anglers like around 12lb to 16lb leaders for silvers.

Other recommended equipment: waders and boots, rain jacket, pliers, hook sharpener, polarized sunglasses and flies. 

FLIES

Silvers can be very particular about colors at times, so carry flies in purple, chartreuse, black, and pink. Most anglers prefer weighted flies for silvers, so the fly has a jigging motion when stripped. Change flies often if you aren't getting hook-ups and try to find something that triggers them. Don't be afraid to go to really small flies. 

Some of our most successful coho salmon flies on the Skagit River are the Hot Shot Comet in all colors. The Hare Ball Leech and the Dolly Llama in pink/white, chartreuse/white and purple/pink when the river is high and has some color. The Deep Six Salmon and the Chrome Magnet are effective smaller flies as well. 

WATER SELECTION

Silvers will be found in a wide variety of water types but most of these areas can be defined by the coho's instinct to stay out of the main current flow. Slow side eddies, slow river channels, inside river bends, slow water below woody debris, and deep tailouts are all places you are likely to find coho in the river.

Keep an eye out for fish jumping and rolling on the surface. Silvers will usually show themselves if there are good numbers of them in the pool. Even though it can look like it, these are not fish feeding on the surface. They are just salmon being salmon. If they are rolling around in a piece of water you can effectively fish with your fly rod, then cover the water with a variety of flies and presentations. If the fish are jumping all over the place but are in water that it is difficult to fish your fly, I would move on even though you know there are a bunch of fish there. The good fishing will be when you find both numbers of fish and in water where the fly can be fished effectively.

A favorite place to find coho, and a place where they seem more likely to take flies, is a deep tailout just above a strong rapid or riffle. The fish will stop to rest in these tailouts prior to moving on. Because tailouts are generally wide and not too deep (a deep tailout may only be four feet deep), they are an easy place to fish with a swinging fly and get the fly right in the face of numerous fish.

Another favorite place may be the water just below that same strong rapid or shallow riffle. Any kind of obstruction that slows the fish's journey upriver can create a traffic jam of silvers. If the water below that rapid isn't too fast or too shallow, it could be another good spot to look for some biters. 

Coho can also be in parts of the river so slow and with so much wood, you’d think you were more likely to find largemouth bass than salmon. Even these spots can be great for silvers but you’ll probably need to strip retrieve the fly through the slow water. Because silvers can be in a wide variety of places, it makes sense to cover a lot of water throughout the day and put your flies in front of as many fish as possible.

TECHNIQUES

Coho/Silvers like to chase things more than other salmon. Use a sink-tip with a fairly fast sink rate. Cast it directly across and perpendicular to the river current. Let the sink tip drop your fly down close to the bottom of the pool. Let the line come tight and begin swinging the fly across the pool. With the fly still in the heart of the pool, begin quickly stripping the fly to trigger the strike. Make the fly jump and fall or simply start stripping it in. The fish will hit the fly on the swing, on the fall right after you make it jump, or right as you begin stripping the fly in. Unlike steehhead, I like to always begin my strip retrieve before the fly slows down for the hang down. I don't want the fish to loose interest if the fly begins slowing down or swinging into shallow water so I make sure to begin stripping while the fly is still in the best part of the swing. 

If you are in a boat, try fishing just like you would on the Madison River in Montana fishing streamers from the boat for brown trout. As your poor buddy is stuck rowing you downriver, us a fast sinking sink-tip line to cast towards shore and rip the fly back with a fast, aggressive strip retrieve. Cover likely holding water on current seams, behind wood piles, on tailouts, and deep slow water eddies. Don’t worry about depth as much as simply putting the fly in front of as many fish as possible.

SUMMARY

Fly Fishing for coho salmon in the Skagit River is a great way to take advantage of one of the many unique opportunities we have in the Pacific Northwest. Although coho can be notoriously “lock-jaw” at times, avoiding warm, low water periods and covering lots of water with fast strip-retrieve techniques can help locate the fish. Stop by the shop for other information and all the equipment you need to enjoy the Skagit River and the feisty coho salmon!