I ventured out to Eagle Creek today with my fly rod. I hooked 4 and landed one. It was exciting to land a Coho on a fly rod. But I have a reservation or two. The fish I landed was a large, bright red, hatchery buck. It took about 10 minutes to tail and release the fish. The fish took another 10 minutes in the shallows before it finally moved out into faster water to resume its journey. My rod is a beautiful TH Custom 8 wt built with a Rainshadow blank. I was reading an earlier post where people were discussing whether or not an 8 wt was appropriate for Coho. I have to admit that that because of the size of that Coho it took me a lot longer to land it than I was comfortable with. I had the rod doubled over at times and it looked like the fish didn't even know it was hooked. Had that been a wild fish I might still be worried about if it survived. I'm beginning to think that a heavier rod may be in order.
I actually landed my first coho with my flyrod on eagle creek today also, what part of the creek were you fishing in?
I kept my battle to about 5-7 minutes using my 9 weight. I found it helps a lot of keep your rod to either side rather than up and down, once I started doing that the fish came in right away. It was about a 13lb male that was bright red.
I would think it's normal for a fish to take a break after a 10 min fight. If you revive it properly it should have a pretty good chance. That said I did bring my 9wt to the creek, but my reasoning was to have better control if I can't escape the crowds. Didn't even try fishing due to the low water though(Sat).
I actually landed my first coho with my flyrod on eagle creek today also, what part of the creek were you fishing in?
I kept my battle to about 5-7 minutes using my 9 weight. I found it helps a lot of keep your rod to either side rather than up and down, once I started doing that the fish came in right away. It was about a 13lb male that was bright red.
I was at the OFC EC #1 property. The fish were really moving yesterday. I bet I saw 500 fish go by in the 2 hours I fished. I took a spinning rod and started out by tossing various colors without a single strike. After an hour I switched to the fly rod and had 4 hookups within 20 minutes.
Congrats on your first flyrod silver! I'm new to flyrod salmon too. Hint... get your knuckles out of the way when they run.
I used an 8 wt a couple of weeks ago in Alaska and caught and released dozens of large coho and only a couple of them needed extra reviving.
Maybe the proximity to salt water made them more resilient because we were only a mile or so from tidewater. Some of those fish shooting up Eagle Creek could have been waiting in the Clackamas for several weeks, but really an 8 wt should be fine. I wish all fishermen cared as much as you do.
From another happy OFC member.
First Coho on a Fly
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