We asked our good friend Brett O'Connor to give us some tips to help us make our salmon fishing a little easier...over to you Brett
I’m often asked by clients about the best way to go about catching a salmon. If only I knew the answer. One of the major factors of my passion for fly fishing is the uncertainty. In comparison to trout fishing, if you find a feeding trout, and match what he’s feeding on, as long as the fly is presented correctly, the fish will take. The same can’t be said of our silver friend. Salmon don’t come into the river to eat; they come to make baby salmon. So what actually makes them take a fly in the first place? Possibly eating habits, being playful, maybe just plain old aggression? Who really knows? These little beauties always keep you guessing. That’s what makes this sport so fascinating and keeps us coming back for more.
If there are fish in the river, then reading the conditions with regards to the water depth, flow and temperature can help you approach catching fish in a certain way. The one thing I’ve come to realise is that just when you think you have it cracked, you don’t. But over the years, I think by taking in certain steps, they can help you put a few more fish on the bank.
1. Lines
2. Flies
3. Log book
4. Weather
5. Water
6. The swing
7. Retrieve
8. Backing up
9. Pheromones
10. Ask
1. Lines – Now here’s a conundrum. There are a variety of different lines out there at the moment. All performing slightly different jobs but all ranging in different lengths to different sink rates. From intermediates, slow sinks, fast sinks, extra fast sinks, sinking tips, polyleaders, shooting heads, and the newer member of the Spey casting family, Skagit lines too. Which one to choose? Well it’s down to a personal preference, and each will do a different job in helping you achieve a way of presenting a fly to a fish. Shooting heads and Skagit lines will need a slight variation on your Spey casting technique. Seek an instructor for advice. As an all round piece of equipment shooting heads could be the answer. Keeping a wallet of different heads in your fishing pocket enables you to cover varying depths, and along with polyleaders will help you cover a large variety of fishing situations.
2. Flies – The killer fly...does it exist? Well I hope not. Part of the joy of this sport is figuring out the right fly pattern and also the right size. Everybody has their favourites, and to be honest I have, along with every other salmon angler, a large variety of flies in their box. But, I have five firm favourites, which account for a large majority of the fish I catch. Willie Gunn, Red/Black Francis, Cascade, Stoat's Tail, Sunray Shadow. Admittedly I have these patterns in a variety of sizes and dressings and have confidence in all of them covering a whole variety of fishing situations. That’s not to say I don’t delve past my regulars and pull out something I haven’t fished for a while with success. I'm sure if you have confidence in a fly, for some reason it works.
3. Log book – Why not give ourselves the best chance of pulling out a bar of silver from asking other anglers what’s working for them? I always check the logbook; you might see a pattern occurring. There could be two reasons for this. Either everybody else is just copying the patterns with what people have caught from the log book, therefore keeping the catch trend going. Or, that’s really what is catching the fish’s attention so why ignore it? Try what’s in the book, but also try something different. We all get bored looking at the same thing day in day out, why would fish be any different? Offer them something different and that might just catch their attention and, hopefully, you a fish.
4. Weather – Weather and the conditions play an important part in salmon fishing. If the conditions aren’t right, I know a fair few anglers who won’t even wet a line. I suppose that comes with experience. But on the other hand, those same anglers will be the first on the bank if the conditions are right. Salmon will run on a rising of falling river, although many anglers prefer a falling river. Running fish are more likely to take a fly. Grey skies overhead, water in the river can mean good salmon weather. Keep on eye on water levels and speak to your Ghillie in advance of heading to the river. If it’s going to be a scorching day, you might want to get out extra early or late in the evening if the Ghillie allows it to give yourself the best chance of catching a fish.
5. Read the water – Being able to read the water takes time. For a fish to travel upstream and reach its intended destination is a tiring journey. The salmon isn’t daft, and would like us humans try and find an easier route. So they wouldn’t necessarily take the hard journey to work when they can travel against less of a flow. They will travel up along the creases between the slow and fast flow, they’ll sit in front and beside rocks that take the pressure off the flow enabling them to take a breather. So keep an eye on the water for rocks and boulders and cast around them. Sometimes boulders aren’t visible to the eye, but you’ll see a disturbance on top of the water meaning there’s a boulder beneath the surface, again always cast in and around these areas and wait for the draw on the line.
6. Speed of swinging the fly – The traditional way to fish for salmon is casting 45 degrees and letting the line swing around. This is okay, but what if you’re fishing a very fast piece of water, you might need to cast shallower say 30 degrees. Or on the other hand you might be fishing a slow piece of water therefore needing to cast square to 90 degrees to increase the swing speed rate. Be prepared to experiment with your angles.
7. Retrieve – Moving on from my last point of swinging the fly is now the retrieve. I know a lot of anglers who don’t like to retrieve the fly at all. They fish the river methodically down and across right throughout the pool and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this and they still catch fish. I think there is a time and place for this, but on the other hand I am a big believer in working the fly, adding extra movement to the fly to try and attract the salmon’s attention. I might strip a Sunray Shadow as fast as I possibly can, or a small slow figure of eight on other patterns. Don’t be afraid to give this a go, you might be surprised by the amount of extra takes you might get.
8. Backing up – This is a technique for when you’ve already worked your way down a pool that you know contains fish but haven’t received an offer, Backing up the pool can bring a result. In this situation, cast square across the pool and then take a few steps up river. This type of cast and movement gives less time to the fish to consider taking the fly and therefore can produce a quick take. I’d recommend putting on a larger fly than the one you fished down with to maximise results.
9. Pheromones – Now unless you’re a woman reading this piece there’s not much you can do about pheromone attraction of Salmon to a female angler and her fly. I’ve seen way too many examples of this being the case to think it's coincidence. So if you want more fish on the bank, take your girlfriend fishing with you, or the wife. A sex change won’t work.
10. Ask - Last but not least is don’t be afraid to ask for help. It doesn’t matter how good an angler you think you are, you can’t beat local knowledge. Don’t be proud; ask the ghillies or other anglers for good lies, and advice on fly patterns otherwise it could cost you a fish.
So there are my starters for 10. You’ll probably notice they are a guide and there are no definite answers or rules. So be prepared to experiment, think about where you’re fishing. Don’t stick to the one line, fly and angle of cast. Mix it up, and hopefully you’ll reap the rewards.
If you need any further advice on casting any of the lines mentioned above seek out a qualified instructor, it’ll be worth it in the long run. Why practice casting during fishing time? Use that time to figure out how you’re going to catch the fish and where you’re going to place the fly.
I hope that helps and if you have any further questions then feel free to contact me, at reeldays@mac.com and I’ll be happy to help.
Also, for more details please visit Brett's website .
