Anyone try trolling flies for springers?

Wet flies and soft hackles have a long history in fly angling, and are not to be dissed!

Wouldn't dream of dissing the wet flies! If it weren't for egg-sucking leeches, bunny bugs and muddler minnows, I probably wouldn't have caught a tenth of the fish that I have. My dry fly boxes stay closed unless there are grayling about or the season is just starting.

I think I would like to go fishing with you ConeHeadMuddler.

Getting back to my original question, sans any mention of gravy, it looks like I am heading into rarely traveled waters with this quest. So, being an optimist and wanting to be prepared in the event I actually catch a springer, specifically a native, I ask those who have caught one from their kayak: What are your recommendations on nets and handling fish, especially natives?

I have caught and netted several stealhead in a kayak with my fly rod, landed a 25-plus pound salmon on a fly from the shore, and netted several in the boat. However, I have yet to net a big salmon in my kayak. I am not too worried about sub-15 pounders but in the event of a larger native I want to make sure I can safely and quickly release the fish, especially with power boats around. I have a standard salmon net with both a long a short handle, but netting and releasing a fresh springer in a boat is not the same as from a kayak, even one as stable as the Hobie Outback.

Any tips on this would be greatly appreciated.

Step 1:  Don't forget the net. DAMHIK.

Step 2:  Don't make you leader too long so that you can't get fish within range of the net.

Step 3:  get the fish in the net.

That is about all I got for advice.  I have successfully netted 66% of the salmon I caught last year or 100% of the fish caught when I had a net.  For the other 33%, see step one.  Also, have the handle on an extendable handled net extended prior to hooking up.  It makes the ordeal easier.

Not the best video, but you can kind of see. Click on the picture for the link:


If you skip to 4:43 of this video you can see Nate land one.  If you want you can watch the whole thing and see all his attempts.

Thanks for the tip! Sorry I missed the Spot's seminar. I expect it was great. I just received some flies for my springer quest. I have a couple more a little more realist coming soon. I also picked up some 80-pound powerpro braided line to help get the heads down quicker. Now, if those fish would hurry up...

Hey KFA...not intending to hi-jack your thread, but have a question for you. What sized leaders and tippet material are you using in water that big, and for fish that agressive?

My plan is to run 2-4 foot leaders with dual hooks as regs allow (standard spring salmon gear but with a fly instead of a herring). The leaders that came with the flies seem old so I plan on replacing them with standard mooching rigs, likely 20-30 pound test. I may tie some myself so I can use floro.

I have caught fall kings, steelhead and coho on a fly rod with smaller flies and lighter leaders. Springers are not typically as big as the fall kings so I am not worried about my setup. And, with the way this year's river flows are going, the 850 grain Deep Water Express should do fine but I need to do more experimenting.

I recently went to Hagg and started playing with the mirage drive in reverse (you can see a video link on my blog, www.kayakflyangler.com). I found it worked great for my purpose. As I figure, if I can mark a group of fish, I can backtroll over them giving them a longer look at the fly and if they strike (and I can control myself and let the fish hit it a couple times), I should have a decent chance.

I also need to see if these big flies spin. If they do, that will improve my chances even more. If they don't I need to figure out how to make them spin. And, I plan on having a swivel between my DWE shooting head and the leader so the leader, and line, doesn't get twisted up and break (I lost a nice king last August because of that very problem). Anyway, all this keep me entertained even if it doesn't work as planned.