Herman Creek

[Castaway]

Has anyone fished Herman Creek this year with success?

[eatmeat]

I went up a couple of weeks ago and it was dead... nobody was there. Last saturday I stopped in to check things out and there were three or four people wading and a couple two or three boats floating. I will be there in the morning at first light and I will post in the afternoon if I have any luck.

[Musicman]

slowwwwww...

[Chinookjinxd]

Was up there Sat seen a few fish being caught I didnt fish.
I had a few questions im very new to fly fishing just bought a setup and will be learning at herman creek mostly. I was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on the situation for me, I have read in past articles floating lines are a good idea to keep you out of the weeds any particular patterns ? looking forward to hooking my first steelhead on a fly !!! (PM's are fine)

Sincerly Old fisherman Newby fly fisher -Daniel

[Ryan Pultz]

I have had good luck in past years with a black Marabou fly’s and black woollie worms cast out and drifted or cast and striped back very slowly. rp

[Musicman]

What Ryan said, but I use a sinking line and count down and strip in slowly. Very easy but boring.....just gotta keep flinging the line out there and just keep going. Before you know it the rod will be nearly pulled from your hands, sometimes the line just comes tight. It's alot of fun, good luck.

[articulate leech]

Which Herman Creek are you all discussing?

[blazerman]

I use the same technique as Ryan and Music Man. That's pretty much how everybody fly fishes out there. Please pinch your barbs down, theres a lot of natives out there, and I've seen lot's of guys accidently snag fish while stripping in their fly.

[Ryan Pultz]

I've seen lot's of guys accidently snag fish while stripping in their fly.
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I have seen this two and it is always the guys out there stripping the fly like they are tarpon fishing. rp

[Chinookjinxd]

Dont really belive in bending barbs takes just alittle bit more of my edge away ill be gentle to the nate I promise and like Ryan says dont strip hard and you wont snag any

[Ryan Pultz]

no I said do not strip hard cause if you are you are going to snag more fish then you actually catch. nice and slow kind of swimming the bate has worked for me. rp

[Chinookjinxd]

Typo Ryan I meant to say dont strip hard

[Ryan Pultz]

Its all good just wanted to make it clear dont want anyone up there snagging fish we already have a big enough problem with that there. rp

[Stew]

Don't really believe in bending barbs takes just a little bit more of my edge away


Why does that take your edge away? Why not do something that will actually make it easier to release natives?

[SteelheadBum2]

It makes no difference. I can tail a fish and pull the hook out just as fast as I could if the hook was barbless. You just have to have your pliers handy. One thing I hate to see is people net natives; that is a way bigger issue then pinching down the barbs. Plus if I get a hatchery I really dont want to loose him because I had to pinch down the barbs. Plus your fly reel is one gauge so you loose alot of fish, when they dart at you reel hard. Now if I was fishing an all wild fishery or in alaksa where Im fly fishing and Im not keeping many fish then I pinch my barbs. Every time I got Alaska to fish the Alagnag river I pinch my barbs because im there just to have fun and not keep many fish.

[Stew]

It makes no difference. I can tail a fish and pull the hook out just as fast as I could if the hook was barbless


Yes it does make a difference! The easier and faster the hook is removed the better it is for the fish especially when dealing with natives. You can easily remove the barbless hook with out even needing to take the fish out of the water.

[SteelheadBum2]

I know it can make a difference :smash: I have fished tribal waters in alaska that require that I can not take the fish out of the water. I think the difference problem is if the person keeps the fish in water. When you hook a fish, you can tell early in the battle if its a hatchery or not, If its a native you grab your pliers and when the fihs is near the bank, tail him , leave him the water, and pop the hook out with pliers. I think it takes about 1/2 a second more if the hook is not barbless, and I would go for barbed hooks in a fishery where there is a hatchery to native ratio of 4-1. Now if I was fishing a native run or a hatchery run with a large native run I would go barbless to reduce the stress of wild fish, and if I was haveing a streak of bad luck in hooking natives I would go barbless. I think the biggest issues on native mortality is gillnets, snaggers, taking natives out of water, and netting natives.

I dont want to start a fight here because I care for the natives to because they are the genetically superior to hatchery fish and better genetics means better survival for the future of steelhead :smash:

[Gizmo Man]

Please read my post about hijacking. This thread is now being hijacked and if you want to talk about the merits of fishing barb/barbless, please start your own thread.

Otherwise go back to the original ?...anyone fishing HC.

Giz the Mod...

[Chromaflage]

What about in a drift boat - casting out and slowly trolling (rowing)? Do you think that would work?

[Ryan Pultz]

Not enough room to troll without running over the people that are wading out in the middle of the bay. Your best bet is to anchor up and fish one spot the fish are always swimming around in there so they are bound to come by you at one point or another. rp