Yesterday I was fishing some smaller water with some fish stacked up, and I watched at least 15 fish follow my fly but not bite it. I had one taker which resulted in a big unclipped hen that I had to release. I tried slowing down or dropping my fly altogether when it got followed, but no dice.

How could I turn these chasedowns into bites? Downsize offering? Bait/scent?

The fly I was using was pretty similar to this. Casting and retrieving with a spinning rod.

View attachment 1075828

 

Get jiggy with it. You need that yo-yo action. More bunny or Palmered marabou on the body would probably help.

 

Get jiggy with it. You need that yo-yo action. More bunny or Palmered marabou on the body would probably help. I flip my tail over so it rides fur side up.

 

Don't slow down, be faster and more erratic. Force them to make a decision, don't let them look at it so close.

 

This makes sense, I’ll try it. Thanks

 

Yep… treat those fish like a cat chasing a string. A few years back I had one chase a twitched jig into 12” of water, twitched it in a figure 8 before the fish ate it.

 

This video or the one he put out before it shows some coho behavior pretty good. Granted this is alaska and the fish aren't pressured but still shows them charge and deny it. Changing color, size and retrieve can all make a difference to entice them. I've also fished over fresh schools that are completely uninterested but will turn on for very brief moments at a time where all of the sudden 3 or 4 will follow and then 1 will bite. Not sure what gets them excited but I could clearly see when they got more aggressive and then would go back into circling mode. Some of my favorite fishing is watching fish behavior and cracking the code, watching it real time.

 

Some of my favorite fishing is watching fish behavior and cracking the code, watching it real time.

Agreed. Sight fishing steelhead and springers is how I really learned to get fish to bite consistently.

 

This might sound crazy but a heavy main line #30 to avoid getting line tangled around your rod tip. You can go higher on your main line if you want. The bumper is mono whatever you want to use to the fly.

 

Just a question, why toss flies with your spinning setup? I primarily fly fish, basically 99% of the time. However when it comes to Coho I fish gear, twitching jigs and tossing spinners. I often locate them with gear and then switch to the fly rod. They love to follow flies right to the bank, often much more than gear, but rarely commit for me. Last week I had a fish spot my pink blue fox from 12ft away, he did a full 180 chased it down and hammered that spinner. He probably would have ate a fly too. I tried flies after that but no luck. I just think if I’ve got a gear rod in my hand I want the shine and thump of a spinner or the up and down of a jig.

 

I’ve been fishing flies with a spinning rod since I was a kid. Never used a fly rod ever. I catch lots of trout that way and also coho. I’ve never done that well with bigger jigs or spinners for coho. Small jigs, flies, small rooster tails, and spin-n-glos are what I get coho on.

 

There's the old adage, when you get a follower but a non-taker, go smaller and darker with your offering.