Category: Fly Fishing for Salmon

The Chinook salmon, which is the largest and most popular of the Great Lakes species were introduced into the system in the 1870’s. Coho, Sockeye, and Pink salmon as well as two different strains of Atlantic salmon were also introduced into the system in the years following.   Chinook which is also called the King salmon is the largest and does very well living its entire life in fresh water. They do not mature as fast as those found in the Pacific due to availability of food. Despite this, they are a hard fighting fish but rarely jump. They can be fished very well by using 9-10 weight gear. They generally run in the tributaries of the Great Lakes in August and September, but by the middle to late October the run has ended.   Sockeye salmon are also called Red salmon unless they are landlocked and then they are called Kohanee. They are usually about 16 inches long and weigh 2-3 pounds. They are normally a silver color with blue-green backs.they tend to run in schools and can be fished with 7-8 weight gear.   Coho salmon are generally caught by anglers trolling the Great Lakes system. They live for 2-4 years and can get up to 12 pounds but are usually around 6 pounds. They enter the rivers and streams in October to spawn and live there for over a year before heading into the Great Lakes. They prefer small streams and are jumpers which makes them many anglers favorite salmon. They can be fished with 8-9 weight gear.   The Pink salmon which is also called the Humpback was first introduced into Lake Superior where they reproduced and spread to all the Great Lakes. The one in Lakes Ontario and Erie declined after a couple of years while the ones in Lakes Huron and Superior just leveled off. They can be fished with a 6-7 weight rig. Perfect Fly co offer the rods, reels, fly line, backing, and a wide selection of flies to make your salmon fishing trip a success. We also offer hand tied leaders for salmon. Please visit our online store at www.perfectflystore.com or call us at 1-800-594-4726 for advice or assistance in putting your gear together.

We wished there was an easy solution to how to present a fly to a salmon but there isn’t. It depends on the species of salmon, area of water – saltwater, bays, or rivers, and often the river itself. There’s one thing that salmon generally don’t like and that’s the downstream wet fly swing. It doesn’t matter what fly you have on, salmon just don’t react to the flies like steelhead.Remember that salmon in rivers have been eating saltwater baitfish and are changing back to freshwater food. They differ in the way they eat depending on the water, how long they have been in the stream, and the species of salmon. Basically, salmon prefer a dead drift presentation. Chinook salmon are much like bass. They tend to lie in holding areas of deeper water and eat whatever comes by them. On the other hand, some species of salmon, such as the Coho, will feed in open water and tend to chase flies.If the salmon are in water that is still affected by the tides, this can greatly vary their feeding habits. You must keep track of the tides to know when the fish will take flies and when they won’t. In this case, the salmon are much like many other saltwater species of fish and rely on the movement of the water caused by the tides to catch their prey. Incoming tides seem to be best in most situations.Lighting conditions vary the feeding habits of the salmon. They prefer to feed during low light levels such as early morning and late afternoons. The only species that seem to feed anytime you can find them are the Pink Salmon.Fly color is a very important consideration. We think it has to do with the clarity of the water as much as anything. The time of day, and amount of available sunlight also affect this. In essence, you want the fly to be just visible enough to be seen by the salmon but not so good that it can detect the fly is a fake. The color of the fly affects the visibility of it.The best type of fly line to use depends on the depth of the water your fishing and the fly. Floating fly lines work fine in shallow pools but if the water is much deeper than six feet, we prefer to use a sinking tip fly line.You want to vary the retrieve of the fly. As a general rule, erratic presentations work better than steady presentations. Keep the speed of the fly slow as possible. Salmon are not steelhead and if you present the fly at too fast a speed, most of the time they will reject it.Always vary the retrieve, change the strips and pauses and continue to try various things. Keep in mind that the fly needs to remain in the strike zone, meaning the area or depth you think the salmon are holding, and use a presentation that keeps the fly in that zone of water but keep changing the way it is presented until you get some results.

The Atlantic Salmon (salmo salar) means “salmon the leaper”. They are anadromous fish. That simply means they migrate up freshwater rivers from the sea to spawn. The salmon spawn in the Fall in the same rivers they were born in. It’s usually late October or November when the actually spawning takes place. After they enter the rivers to spawn, they don’t eat. Their body chemistry is such that they deteriorate to aid in the egg and sperm production.The typical Atlantic Salmon averages between 5 to 20 pounds but they can get much larger. Atlantic Salmon enter the rivers anywhere as early as April and as late as November. Those that enter early are called Summer run salmon and those that enter the rivers late in the year are called Fall run salmon. Most of them probably enter the rivers in May and June. A big factor in the timing is the water level of the river. Generally, they enter the rivers to spawn after the water levels rise.Prior to the spawn, the male matures sexually and develops a elongated head and Kype on his lower jaw. The female digs out a redd that’s about six inches to a foot deep in loose gravel. She does this by fanning her tail. The male fertilizes the eggs with milt. When the eggs hatch into little Atlantic Salmon the following Spring, they are first called alevin. After about a month after these tiny salmon get through the gravel they begin to feed. These little salmon are usually just called fry or fingerlings. About a year after the hatch, the fingerlings change to what’s called parr and have distinctive marks on their sides. The parr are about 7 or 8 inches long.The Atlantic Salmon remain in the freshwater rivers usually from two to four years. The small parr salmon undergo another name change and are called smolt. They loose the marks along their sides and become a silver color. Their bodies begin to adapt to the saltwater environment and the smolt migrate out of the freshwater rivers into the sea. This seaward migration usually occurs during the months of May and June.Most of these salmon, from both coast of the Atlantic Ocean, migrate to the waters off Greenland although some go to other coastal areas. The mostly eat squid, prawn, and caplin and gain weight relatively fast. They may stay in the saltwater for as long as three years and as short as a year but they eventually migrate back to the same river they were born to spawn. Almost unbelievably, this can take them over 2500 miles of open seas. The fish that return to the rivers within a year are usually about two to five pounds and are usually males. These salmon are called grilse. Those that stay at sea for two or more years are called salmon. They usually weight between eight and thirty-five pounds. You will find that some rivers have both grilse and salmon that return and others have only one or the other – grilse or salmon.Most everyone knows that salmon die after spawning but not all know that Atlantic Salmon usually live after the first spawn. Some go back out to sea just as soon as they finish spawning and others stay in the river through the Winter. These salmon are called kelts and sometimes, black salmon. It is thought that these fish do not eat the entire time they are in the river, which can be up to a few months. They return to sea, get well and return to the rivers to spawn again. They can spawn as many as three or four times.