This nice sea-run cutthroat couldn't resist one of Bob Triggs' Chum Baby flies during Sunday's evening ebb tide.
Well, Chum Fry Madness is happening at many of my favorite Puget Sound and Hood Canal beaches right now, and I just can't stay away from a good tide.
I was on the way home from signing copies of my book, Fly Fishing for Sea-Run Cutthroat, at the Gig Harbor Fly Shop when I decided to stop by a new beach -- and then a beach that is an old friend. Truth is, I knew I would probably stop at one beach or another well before I got into the Subaru.
Blake Merwin and company were terrific hosts, and it was great to see old friends, such as Ned Krilich, and make new friends during my visit to this headquarters of sea-run cutt fly fishing. Years ago, it was hard to find a fly shop that carried sea-run cutthroat flies or materials to tie sea-run flies. Now, many shops --especially in the Puget Sound area -- carry scads of the right stuff. And, even better, these shops are now creative hotbeds of new sea-run cutt flies.
Local fly shops and guides have always led the way when it comes to creative tying -- after all, these anglers live close to their local waters and fish almost every day. I remember when I first started visiting Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone, Montana. I was stunned at the number of creative flies that Craig Mathews and company were tying to match specific hatches for the Yellowstone National Park and nearby rivers. Blue Ribbon Flies is still a very creative shop, and I stop by several times each summer to find new flies, tying instructions and materiels.
The fly bins at Gig Harbor Fly Shop were full of interesting, creative sea-run cutt patterns, and I learned a lot. It's important to support your local fly shop, as those places offer more knowledge -- and, often, a friendly hangout -- than can be found at a big-box store or a discount online store.
Anyway, I checked the Puget Sound tide tables at saltwatertides.com earlier that morning, and a nice falling tide dovetailed into the evening hours. The sky was clouding up a bit, and baby chum are pouringinto Puget Sound from many creeks, streams and river, so conditions were perfect for Trout-O-Rama.
I didn't find Trout-O-Rama at the two beaches I fished -- I suspect it happened at both of them while I was driving between the two spots. That's how it goes. I suspect wading anglers are usually better off picking one beach for each tide -- which is exactly what I said in my seminar earlier that afternoon -- but I couldn't resist zipping over to a beach that I've been slowly learning for the past couple of years.
The water looked pretty flat and featureless when I got to the second spot, but the water level was dropping fast and the tidal current flowed at a brisk pace. By the time I got rigged up, the water level dropped low enough to get a small rip flowing off a point. Baby chum salmon dimpled in the quiet water between the bank and the rip. My heat bumped up a notch when I saw those little fish darting around.
I expected bites right away, but that didn't happen.
I cast the Chum Baby into the rip for about 10 minutes before a nice cutt whacked the fly. I suspect that it took the cutts that long to find the rip and move in.
That first fish was handsome and fat, and it gleamed in the low light of dusk. The day felt full, and I was tempted to lope back to the car and call it good. I was tired and hungry for a good sandwich. But a nice cutt boiled in the rip, and I started casting again. Call it Chum Madness....
A few notes:
My friend Doug Rose has a bunch of great blog posts about the recent Cutts and Chum seminar in Port Townsend. Check them out, as they're a great read and full of good information for sea-run cutthroat junkies.
I'm going to join my friend Leland Miyawaki for one of his famous events at the Orvis Bellevue store during the afternoon of April 28. We'll talk sea-run cutthroat fishing, and I'll happily sign my book. Leland will talk about tying and fishing his famous popper. Fishing the Miyawaki Popper to aggressive cutts is about as fun as all this gets -- which is a lot of fun.
