Sea-Run Cutthroat are very similar to the
striped bass that I fished for in Maine. Find
the food source and you’ll find cutthroat.
Like their landlocked cousins, sea-run
cutthroat tend not to be too selective
when it comes to their next meal. Baitfish,
invertebrates and insects are all on the
menu depending on the season.
Spring in Puget Sound signals the time
when salmon fry exit their natal stream to
begin their life in the salt. Just look on the
map for any estuary and you’ll likely find
cutties slashing at these silvery snacks with
reckless abandon! That’s why surface flies
like the Leland Miyawaki’s Beach Popper
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Top: Bob Trigg’s Chum Baby
Middle: Miyawaki Beach Popper
Bottom: Half & Half
Right: Cutthroat caught with Clouser Minnow
are such an effective pattern during the
salmon fry migration. There’s nothing quite
like seeing a cutthroat boil on a surface fly
to wake you up on a gray Seattle morning.
Other effective fly patterns include Bob
Trigg’s Chum Baby, Clouser Minnows, Half
& Halfs and other baitfish patterns in sizes
6-8.
Fishing these flies is very straightforward.
All you need is 6-8 weight outfit with a
floating or intermediate line and a standard
nine foot leader tapered to 1X. You’ll want
to start your casts parallel to the shoreline
and work your way out in a clockwise
motion. Sea runs are most commonly
found in shallow water, so no need to wade
much past your knees. When stripping the
fly, you’ll want to vary your retrieve with
short, erratic strips. When you get a strike,
keep stripping the fly with your rod tip near
the water until your almost dragging the fish
in. I can’t tell you how many fish I’ve seen
lost because of typical “trout sets” where
the angler just raises the rod tip when they
get a strike, thus pulling the fly away from
an attacking cutthroat.
Even though I now live in Spokane, I
always try to make a couple trips to the
sound every year to fish for sea runs. If you
ever find yourself traveling to the Seattle
area, be sure to pack your fly fishing gear
because this phenomenal fishery awaits
just beyond the traffic jams of I-5!
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