So you’ve put in your hours on the river, bought all the tackle, fished a float, drift fished, filled your tackle box up and now you’ve finally hooked your first fish!  That’s the moment when you see that float down, and you feel the hard tug of a big fish. Your adrenaline is pumping. You’re drag starts singing. You rod’s doubled over and you’re knee deep in the water and just holding on. Now what?

Hooking a fish is hard enough, but when you get it on you are only half way there. Lots of anglers will find that once they hook the fish, they can have a hard time getting it to shore. Let’s talk about some of the techniques that will help you get that fish on the stringer, rather than swimming around in the river 30 seconds later with a sore jaw. Nothing is more disappointing than feeling that tug and losing that fish.

Keep your Cool –

You’re first instinct when you hook a fish is to reel and reel until he gets in. You’re going to have to suppress that instinct. When you get that hook lodged deeply in the fishes jaw, yell “FISH ON!!!!” really loud. This lets the other anglers around you know to reel up and let you play out your fish. After that, take a moment before you start reeling to see what that fish is going to do. It may make a line peeling run, or it may just try to sit on the bottom, and what it does is going to dictate what you do next.

With the tackle that we’re using to hook fish, we’re probably going to be fishing with light line and a lighter rod than you’d think would be capable of bringing in such a big fish. This is when playing out the fish is going to be important, because if you just try to yank it in, you’re looking at broken leaders and bent hooks. Let the rod do the work.

Let the Drag and your Rod do the Work

It’s important that you set your drag for about half the breaking strength of your leader. This is going to keep you from breaking off. When that fish runs, your drag is your defense against a broken line. You’re going to use the flexibility if your rod as a cushion against the violent headshakes, taking the force of a powerful fish and spreading it out to your rod likes a spring. Every time the fish pulls against the rod, he’s using up a little bite more of the energy that he has, and the length and taper of the rod is going to help you tire him out. A tired fish is a docile fish and much easier to net.

Your rod is going to have the most power when it’s kept at a 45 degree angle to the water. If you hold your rod straight up, you’re putting all of the pressure of the fish on the tip of your rod rather than pulling against the entirety of the rod. The main strength of your rod is going to be in the butt or lower section of your rod. Keeping your rod at 45 is going to use all of that power to your advantage.

Directing Traffic

You’re going to look at the river and get the lay of the land. Across the way there may be some stumps in the water. You don’t want the fish to head that way. Downstream from you, you have the tail out, which includes a large riffle with swift current and large rapids that will drag that big fish downstream and spool you in seconds flat. At your feet Are some large boulders, upstream you have fellow anglers with their floats still out. You need to take control of that fish and direct him into the one place he doesn’t want to go: your net!

When that fish starts to run downstream, the first thing you want to do is bring your rod down and lay it against the water upstream. That will pull its head around and send him towards you and turn him upstream. You’re going to want to pull against the direction that the fish wants to go. When he heads back upstream, turn your rod and pull in the opposite direction. Putting pressure against the fish parallel to the surface of the water is going to encourage that fish to stay in the water, rather than jumping up and out.  

Try to avoid pulling straight up on the fish, because this is going to pull his head up and out of the water. As cool as it is to see that fish tail walk across the top of the water, there is a reason why they’re jumping. It’s the best way for them to gain slack in the line to shake that hook. Tension on the line is the most important part of the fight. If you lose the connection between you and the fish, that split second is when the fish is going to have the leverage to get the hook out of its mouth.  Jumping is the best way for it to get that leverage. A good technique for subduing a jumping fish is to lower your rod tip and pull down on the fish, sending him back down into the water.

Pump the Rod and Keep Tension

You’re going to want to bring that fish closer to you. That can be hard if you’re just reeling him in, he’s pulling too hard against the drag and you’re still losing line. The way that you’re going to gain line on the fish is by pumping him in. Raise your rod up to the 45, and as you bring is back down, reel up fast on it ensuring that you don’t lose tension on the fish. As you’re pumping him in, you’re going to continue directing the fish with your rod angle. When the fish makes a run, you’re going to have to let it run. Reeling against a running fish is going to twist your line up, and isn’t going to do much to gain any ground on it.

Palming or Thumbing the Spool

There will be circumstances where that fish is going to make a run towards the sticks that you just can’t stop with the drag alone. This is when the knowledge of the breaking strength of your line and rod are going to be the key. To slow the fish you’re going to have to palm the spool, gently pushing on it to add that additional drag on the fish to slow him down. A lot of times that additional and sudden force on the fish can stop it dead in its tracks and send him in the opposite direction. The danger here is that that additional drag is going to have the ability to break your line. Knowing how much pressure you can put on a fish before the line breaks is something that you’re going to have to be able to feel out, and with a little time you’re going to have a feel for your gear and know that lines breaking strength. Of course this is going to be your last resort when trying to stop the fish, because the risk of breaking off is going to be pretty high.

Take your Time and Tire Him Out

The object is to tire that fish out so that you can bring him to shore and get him in the net. Don’t try and net the fish until its good and tired out, because as soon as it sees the net, it’s going to run again, and often that first glimpse of shore is going to summon the strength to escape that the fish didn’t even know he had. You’ll often times get the most exciting runs out of the fish the moment that he sees the gravel, and you’ll have to hold on. Take your time and tire him out so that the fish is not going to be thrashing around when that net comes for him.

Banking and Netting

When netting the fish, net it head first, and don’t net until you know you’re going to get it. Missed lunges are going to knock that leader free, and fish lost at the net are the worst type of fish. Have your netter ready with the net halfway in the water, direct the fishes head towards the net and use a fluid swift stroke to engulf the entire fish in the bag. When the fish is in the bag, you’re going to pull it straight back and up, folding the net around the fish, making sure that he can’t escape. Get the net and fish up on dry land before you unhook him, and if you’re going to keep the fish, give him a quick whack on the head to calm that flopping. When you’re looking at nets, make sure that you get one that is bigger than you think you need, because if you’ve got a bag that is too short and you have the fish only half way in, he’s going to slide right out and break your leader.

With these techniques, you’re going to be able to bring that fish to shore quick, and you’ll have more fish on the card than in the water. Playing a fish is simple: keep tension, take your time, direct its movements and pump him in.

It’s been a while since I posted an update, so I figured I better let you know where we’re at this summer. I say summer, even though we’d like it to be fall, as we wait and hope for rain, we’ve still been enjoying the heat. We’re getting great weather, but the drawback is that the fish don’t enjoy it nearly as much as we do! Even so, this is an exciting time of year, with the summer runs trailing off we have some great new opportunities on the Olympic Peninsula, the Skagit and  the Cowlitz.

As a lot of you have already experienced this summer has been tough with the arrival of the silvers coinciding with low clear water. We’ve been finding conditions on the Duwamish, Snohomish and Stilliguamish less than favorable for these finicky fish to turn aggressive. With these fish locked down and nervous, it can feel like you’re slamming your head against the brick as you see rollers on front and feel nothing on the end all day.

All is not lost however, and we have been able to find fish that are willing to come out and play, even in these dry and bright summer conditions. We’ve spent a lot of time on the water in these past few weeks and have found that a few things have helped to bring more fish to shore. Here are a few tips that have been effective for us.

As traditional logic dictates, you don’t leave fish to find fish, especially if you don’t have a guarantee that you’re going to find anything somewhere else. This hasn’t been working for us lately. The fish are starting to fill up the rivers, and as more fish come in behind, they’re pushing out those fish that would like to sit in that bigger lower water and moving them upstream. This means that there are fish collecting throughout the system, and so you can find them in a lot of different spots. When we see a big school sitting in a hole, it’s tempting to throw at them all day in the hopes that one will break down and bite. However, what we’ve found is that if they aren’t in the mood, they’re not going to be in the mood all day.

Covering water and showing our bait to a lot of different fish has given us the opportunity to seek out those aggressive and willing players that others have passed over. We’ve also found the the higher the concentration of fish, the fewer willing players we’ve found. When we come up on a nice little pocket that may only have a couple of stragglers witting in it, these guys have been our best bet. The majority of the fish we’ve touched have not even showed themselves, not really rolling around or hitting the top of the water at all. We’ll hit one of these holes for 15 to 20 minutes, and then we’ll move on. Some of these fish want to eat, but most of them don’t, so seeking out the biters has been the key.

As some of you know, I’m a big advocate for light tackle, and that has been paying off. We’ve been using a lighter presentation, with less weight, smaller hooks and not a lot of flash. When drifting, we’ve had our best luck running 10 lbs. main with 8 lbs. fluorocarbon leader. Small beads or corkies will impress those wary fish while not giving them a reason to run when they see a big black slinky running across the rocks next to your bait. Natural colors in pink and egg orange have worked, green infertile egg bead imitations with a small tuft of purple yarn has been a favorite for these Coho.  

When float fishing, we’ve been using jigs, Dick Nites and bait under a small clear drift floats have been. With water like this, stealth is key right now. Small 1/8 ounce jigs with a healthy amount of marabou to give a sweet little tail twitch have actually been working quite well. Add a tiny bit of prawn to the tip for scent and you’ll have a good chance. When you can use bait, small sand shrimp tails have been working the best. Drift them under a float like a jig for the proper presentation. We’ve been working right on the bottom, an inch or two above. Getting that bait to bump right into their head has been our best bet. I know that we all love the hard hit of a big Coho on hardware, but we’ve found that if they don’t hit it right away, they’re not going to hit it. We follow a protocol, float bait through, jigs and drift fishing water depending, and then we hit it with a spinner. If that doesn’t work, we move on.

While the fishing has been tough, the big fish are in! We’ve had the opportunity to play with some teeners lately, so it’s totally worth the extra effort.

On the more optimistic front, we have been having spectacular luck on the trout front. Summer steelhead, Dolly Varden and sea run cutthroat have been more than willing to play, and with most of the angling pressure focused on the Coho in the lower river, it has made for a great change of pace. Stealth again is key, sneak up on your favorite hole, go light on your tackle and give a proper presentation and you’re going to be pleasantly surprised.

There is something to be excited about though. My favorite spots on the Olympic Peninsula are starting to fill up with fall Chinook! I’m booking trips out there for the first week of October, and it’s a time of year I look forward to from January. If you’re tired of fighting the crowds on the Puget Sound area rivers, these may be the trips for you. Learning the river early in the season will give you the edge when the run is in full swing later on, and you don’t want to miss these wild and scenic fish. Some of the biggest fish I’ve caught have come from these rivers, the Humptulips, Queets and Wynoochee offer relief from the shoulder to shoulder days on the Snohomish.

If you don’t mind hanging out with some fellow anglers, the Cowlitz system is probably one of the best places to learn to salmon fish with a high chance to bring in our favorite fall kings. With big numbers, both in the return of fish and pounds on the scale, the Cowlitz can quickly become your favorite river relatively close to home.

So if you’re looking to get into fish this year, now is the perfect time to get out and hone your skills. Book an early trip on the Oly Pen to get the edge when that run is in full swing! I have some openings in the next few weeks, but they’re filling up fast. Good luck on the water, and I look forward to fishing with you in the coming weeks.