Went out again today looking for some cutties. Nice overcast day with a little drizzle and glass calm. Started out fishing my popper along a nice point. saw one 16" or so src follow but that was it so i decided to move on. I went to my favorite cuttie spot just a little further along the beach and was suprised when i didnt see a fish after about 10 casts. On my next cast though i had a great boil behind my fly in an area obscured by glare but as i retrieved my fly it moved into an area i could see better and i saw a large fish chasing it down. he swung and missed 3 times before inhaling my fly and taking off. I quickly realized this wasnt a large cuttie but rather a nice silver. He jumped about 10 times before i was able to guide him into the net. a nice hook nose buck about 7 pounds. I continued to fish along the beach and although i saw several cutties including one fish i bet would go 20" i was not able to get them to take the popper, a clouser nor a dart So off i went to another beach infront of a friends house. I landed one small cut very quickly and floated down into some deeper water when once again i had a fish engulf the fly in a slashing take, and i was into my second silver of the morning. thie one only went about 4 pounds but still great fun on the 6wt. I fished for about another hour after that before i headed for home. Hit a couple more spots that usually produce cutties but i couldnt seem to get them to take today. I landed 5 SRCs up to about 14 inches and saw many more. The popper was by far the most effective fly today. I also saw 4 more silvers but couldnt coax them up to the surface before i had to get back home.
a great couple hours on a perfect morning

very nice, did you add those eyes to the foam heads?

yes i added the eyes

Dude, nice going! I fish with a similar Sage, 697 VT-2, and a Ross Evo same color. I like the eyes and the gill. I tie very similar poppers with Icelandic sheep olive over white, UV underbody, Angel Hair, etc. and Rainy's head. I like the sandlance look to your popper. Tons of sandlance on this side and anything that looks like a sandlance becomes lunch.

I noticed the hook back by the tail. I think that helps and I've noticed a difference in strike to hookup since I did the same. What hook are you using? Thanks and may many more savage surface strikes be in your future

Justin

the hook i use is just a Gami octopus #2 or 4. Way more hook-ups with the stinger hook for sure, although the coho seem to get hooked in the gills a lot with this set up. got another one about 4 pounds tonight... again on one of my cutthroat beaches.

Thank you, D3. I run same hooks, but recently switched to a light wire drop shot hook same size as Gammy #4. I also have been using an alternative rigging that is easy to change hooks and doesn't require the doubled up mono. Red hook too, don't know if it matters, but the tine is straight, no curve to the point....sticks them consistently because it's a straight up spear! So far so good, but I've been having trouble firing out the Outbound because my elbow is about shot from 63 days straight fishing on the beach. Finally ended the streak when I left town for Labor Day weekend.

The wind chime was singing last night and early this morning, I opted for sleep followed by Seahawks. Must make up for missed opportunities and right now the wind is calm and the water looks beautiful......tomorrow morning can't get here soon enough.

Take care
Justin

That chrome is hurting my eyes. Man those would be fun to hook into on a bug rod...