Barbless Hook Fly Fishers - Fishing Reports from Washington and Baja Mexico

Skagit River,Washington:

The annual run of Chum Salmon is in full swing. The
fish started showing up in mid-November and are now
in the river in mass numbers. Map

Chum can be tough to catch at times and the fly fishers
have to adapt their presentations from day to day. The
most successful approach is a drag free drift to the
fish. At times swinging a fly will work and it's usually
the males that hit these flies, I feel from a invasion of
their space. The down side of swinging a fly to them is
they get foul-hooked very easily which almost always
results in a lost fly.

Chums are fickle on the size and colors of flies they
will bite. At times you can show the fly many times and
suddenly they will attack it. The majority of takes are
very light so I use a floating line with a short leader.
The use of a indicator is helpful for anglers just
learning this method. At times we will use weighted
flies other times we attach a split shot to sink
unweighted flies, making the presentation up stream
and line controlling the fly down to the fish.

For those who haven't tried the Chums I highly
recommend it. They are a strong fight and you'll be
hooked. Take a strong rod, at least a stiff 8 wt for these
fish.

Good Luck,

Jim

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