A New Fly for Salmon Trolling

After seeing endless schools of herring fry, then watching the fish I’d just caught regurgitate a bunch of the same little fish, I decided to tie some flies to imitate those baitfish.

I started with crystal flash chenille for the body.

The wing has 3 layers, starting with white marabou…

…followed by a layer of green marabou…

…topped off with green crystal flash.

I finished it with about an inch of this crystal flash that comes as a sort of tube.

Lastly, I added a bit of acrylic paint for the eyes.

I tied 4 versions of this fly; they are basically the same, except that there is a 5-layer wing on the black/blue/white fly; white marabou, silver crystal flash, black marabou, black crystal flash, topped with a little bit of blue hair. I also lightly painted the top of its head with acrylic paint.

I plan on running these behind a dodger when I’m paddling my kayak. If I were fishing from a heavier boat I would tie these on a heavier hook, It can be hard to make a good hook set in a kayak, but these light wire hooks should penetrate more easily than a standard salmon hook. I don’t have to worry about the hooks bending out because it’s nearly impossible to put that much pressure on a fish from a kayak.

Hiking and Kayaking

Didn’t mess with any of my trailcams this weekend because checking them when it’s been raining often leaves too much humidity inside them.

Watched an eagle dive into the water and grab a pink salmon that was too big for it to carry while flying, so it swam the fish to shore. I paddled to the other side of the bird to get better lighting, and was able to video the eagle landing with its catch. Bald eagles float and are good swimmers; this one had to swim about 50 yards to get its fish to shore, only to have it stolen by a mob of other eagles.

Watching the eagle catch a pink salmon on the surface helped me to catch one. Since I wasn’t having any luck fishing deep for a king, I brought my lure up near the surface and caught dinner almost immediately.

Checking 4 Cameras July 4-5

This is the first time I checked the camera I set up in this new spot, which consists of an intersection of two trails at the edge of big dark timber and some more open forest.

I’ve had a camera here for a few years; it monitors a spot where a couple of minor trails meet a main trail where deer like to feed and bed down.

This camera was overlooking a bedding area. I got some interesting pictures here, but it’s a little too open for consistent traffic, so I moved it about 100 feet to an intersection in a small feeding area.

This is the new spot. Several trails cross this opening, and it has a good variety of plants that deer like, so it should do well.

The last camera I checked has been recording 15-second video clips on a main trail. I’ve had this camera here for a couple of years.

Setting Three More Cameras

I took a few cameras to an area I haven’t been to since I first started using trail cameras about 10 years ago. Back then, this area didn’t seem like a very good spot for camera trapping, considering how long it takes me to get there by kayak; after gaining a lot of experience with trail cameras, I think poor camera placement might have been the main reason I didn’t have better results here.

Set the first camera here, where three trails intersect; two trails run parallel to the camera’s view, and one comes down the hill behind the tree on the right.

Set the second camera in a skunk cabbage patch. Sitka blacktail deer love skunk cabbage, so this camera should get a lot of action.

When scouting new areas or places I haven’t been to in a long time, I spend a lot of time trying to call deer to help me get an idea of what lives there. This doe came in really close; I was using a new call my wife gave me for my birthday, made by Drop Shot Calls.

Set the last of the three cameras overlooking this beaver dam. Beaver dams are usually great places to see a variety of creatures.