Just went with the old skunk pattern with a twist. Figured some color variation couldn't hurt. Now hopefully I will get something to hit them whenever I get out next month. The ones on the left are lightly weighted and omitted the hackle to hopefully get them down deeper.

Now all I need is someone who knows how to fly fish for salmon to spend about 6 hours teaching me how to cast and fish for them. But that will be the fun of it even if I break off the first dozen I hook, if I hook anything on a fly rod and fly.

Only real thing I don't know is where to cast, quarter down stream, quarter up, staright out, or does it really depend on the water? Maybe I need to find a book or something online so I at least improve my odds a little.

Couple "wogs" if you want to call them that. Just something to try since I can spin deer pretty well but can't trim it into anything that wold ressemble art.

As far as silvers in the river are concerned, my limited experience with catching them on a fly has shown that they like chase stuff. So casting to a holding area, letting my fly sink, and then stripping it back in is what has worked. (Remember, my experience is limited in this area.) As far as the fly is concerned, I have had luck using weighted bunny leeches. Good luck!

I tied a couple but they just don't look right. I think I tied the bottom too far beyond the eyes but have seen some the same way. Any pointers on improving them?

Just a couple suggestions on things to try.
Try tying those with either a straight eye hook or a 60 degree jig hook like an Eagle Claw 413. Add a non slip loop knot and you'll get lots of jigging action.
Also, tie the Krystal Flash into the pattern in front of the eyes. You can then add bucktail over it for the top wing.
Lastly, rather then adding Krystal Flash over the bucktail belly, use silver Flashabou. Tie in the flashabou first, then the bucktail belly on top of it. Leave it longer then the belly bucktail and you'll get a nice flash tail effect that coho like.

Sounds like some good things to try. Everything is tied in front of the eyes. I think these next 2 will be better as far as tying in.

Okay, tie in the bucktail OVER the green? pink/orange or both?

I did put 3 different patterns in the water and have a slight problem, they all float point down. 1 Straight, 1 up turned and one down turned. I think my eyes are too small, 1/50th ounce isn't gonna make much difference with a salmon fly hook as far as making it turn over. Means the entire thing will be upside down the way they are tied.
I would picture the straight eye but I think my cat stole it. Hopefully it will show up before the cat gets it caught in a body part.

Tie the bucktail over the orange. I generally don't tie in any flash on the belly, which is the side the eyeballs are on where your green Krystal flash is. The only time I tie in flash there is if I'm making a flash tail with flashabou.
Here is an example of the type of clousers I like to fish for feeding salmon on Puget Sound beaches. This one is olive over pale pink with UV Krystal Flash and Krinkle Mirror Flash. The jig hook is an Eagle Claw 413.
For waiting period salmon, go smaller and sparse with less flash.
The main thing is tie a fly you have confidence in and you'll catch fish.
Good Luck,
SF

First pic= super sexy.

Thanks Stonefish, and I agree, have to have confidence in what you are fishing or it doesn't matter.

Smaller can be done, have some special ones I ordered just for smaller. Have the perfect places to use them on staging fish too. I may tie some up on some 90 degree hooks I have now that I see what you mean and have an eye location. Jigging action on a fly rod should be a lot more verticle with them. Should work well in the deep pool and deeper tail outs where the Coho seem to sit in lower water.

BigJim, thank you, I think. I think that that fly will be a big hit on early low water salmon. Hopefully they will be as enticing to the fish. Maybe it will even get a Steelhead or two.

F4A,

Re the flies in your first pic and sinking ability. Don't worry about hackle inhibiting sink rate, at least 3 or 4 turns won't slow the sinking. Chenile as a body material inhibits sink rate much more, so floss or tinsel bodies are more compatible with fast sinking.

The foam on your pink wogs will float them well, and the lip at the front really makes a good "blurp" on the water. I think clipped deer hair makes for better body material - soak it good with floatant. I think your tail material is way too conservative. Add some long strands of pink marabou, crystal flash, and flashabou. Coho in tidewater really like some bling!

The coho are coming! Have fun!

Sg

Thank you Salmo, Will add some bling to some of my next ones.

I could tie some of the first pattern weighted but they are more for swing fishing than deep pockets.

I will keep trying to tie deer hair wogs but trimming them creates something that might scare the fish away. Fish probbaly don't care if it is lop sided I know and could put a motion they will hit on the retrieve. Have to see if I have any floatant or just get the camp dry out.

This is an older one I came across so I thought I would share. The beads ride wrong side up but figured it would work for feedback before I try tying more of them. I think that is a #2 Mustad upturn fly hook, maybe a #4.

I think this may be a good pattern to try tying on a 90 degree jig hook, even better on a 30.

f4a, I have a bunch of fantastic jighooks, sickle hooks with 60 degree bends...let me know if you think you might have a use for some, I think they'd work pretty good for some of these flies I'm seeing here.

Fish on...

Todd

PM sent Todd.

f4a -
Some interesting flies however you might consider some smaller verisons as well. Over the decades my most effective flies for both coho and Chinook have been smaller than want many folks use. The majority of my success on Chinook and coho has been with size 4 flies though will step up or down a size or two depending on the situation. Also very rarely use weighted flies

My personal best Chinook was a 51 inch beast that took a size 8 black woolly worm variation. And yes I was targeting Chinook when I caught that fish - one of 15 or so I took that day while my wife added another 1/2 dozen (including her personal best of more than 30#) while taking turns with my fly rod. All those fish were caught on various black marabous and wooley worms size 4 and smaller. While black was the color of the day on that trip other times olives, oranges, etc were better choices.

Have had similar success on various PS river coho with smaller flies - pattern of choice would be #4 Knudson spiders in various color combination.

In short there seems to many ways to attack the salmon fly fishing game.

Tight lines
Curt

Smalma, how do you get a fly deep for suspended Chinook? Most of my fishing will be in the upper rivers for Chinook and the last 23 years htey have been suspended 12-18 feet down in deep pockets. I think I can eventualy get an unweughted fly to sink that far in backwashes and frog water but flowing water may be a problem. Should I use a sinking leader materail to get it down faster?

Most of them are tied on a size 1, I keep them shorter and smaller even though on a bigger hook just because my go to drifting fly is smaller than the one I was taught to tie and works really well.

f4a-
The Chinook I targeted were either in tide water and/or traveling fish so really rarely needed to get down more than 6 feet or so. Was able to do that easily with "normal" sink tips and full sinking lines (though during the 1970s I did have to splice together my own lines to accomplish what I wanted - not necessary with today's options.

While I don't target the kinds of suspended fish that you are talking about (easier to do so with convential gear) I suspect that you can put together a line that would get you down to where you want. I do fish ling cod with a fly in Puget Sound and the line I use is one I make using 28 feet of T14 follwed by a running line (there are stripper lines on the market that would probably do the trick as well). With that in the Sound I regularly fish depths of 30 feet or more. Depending on the currents and boat wind drift it would typically take a minute or so to reach the kinds of depths that you are talking about.

To fish suspend fish I would rely on my sinking line to get me to the depths wanted and steer away from weighted flies and any special leaders. I found that Chinook (and coho for that matter) often respond the best to a stripped fly (think fishing streamers for large trout). The drill would be make you cast, strip off another twenty feet of line allowing the whole line to sink to the desired depth (counting the line down will allow you repeat the same cast), and then stripping the fly back to the boat. With a sinking fly line and an unweighted fly you should be able to fish the fly horizonally through the fish (I like to my fly just above them). Fishing with such a presentation opens up a whole new world of potential fly patterns

Of course another option would be to fish the various "jig" type flies. In that case you might consider a seriously scaled up verison of lake chronomid fishing. It is at that point I just convert to my convential tackle.

Tight lines
Curt

Well I don't plan on going that technical so it is gonna be stripping and fishing as deep as I can get with what I have. I can simply target fish in shallower water than I fish float gear in. I know Chinook hold in the faster water above deep pockets so a cast and retrieve over those fish should work.

I wish I had places to target Chinook in tidal water. I should have some opportunities for Coho so that might be fun but open water gives me the willies for fisghting my first Coho or any salmon on a fly rod.

I know it would be nice to find you on the river one day and have you give me some pointers. The way I fish a fly now, on drift gear, is a hit the bottom, lift the rod high and let it drop. They usualy hit on the way down making a hook set a surprise on an already eaten fly.

Coho should be a lot easier because I have heard they will move a lot further than a Chinook will but I have seen Chinook chase that same fly quite a ways.

Either way this is gonna be fun. I hope to get into a few Coho first so I at least get an idea of fighting a larger fish on a fly rod before getting into a big 30#+ Chinook.

omg.