It has been a very memorable past 10 days here on Paradise Island! We have experienced all sorts of weather, from sunny flat calm days to thick fog, rain and high winds. It seems the weather Gods are still making us pay this August for the tropical weather we had throughout all of May and June. As long as there are fish around though, that’s all that matters!

The guests on the past 3 trips have had excellent Coho fishing. The fly guys have done exceptionally well fishing top water patterns tight to the kelp and often times inside the kelp. The jack herring seemed to be holding right inside the kelp at most locations, thus the Coho were also inside the kelp feeding. Most anglers had the best success casting into the kelp and stripping back. Watching a big Coho come shooting out from underneath the kelp and smash your gurgler is the most exhilarating feeling any saltwater fly-fishing angler could possibly experience – if you ask me! It is very difficult to hold back on setting the hook when you see a big swirl on your fly, however if you wait that extra second or two, your hookup ratio will be much better when fishing a dry fly.

Some guests spent the majority of their time buck tailing and did very well too. Trolling at speeds of 3-4mph worked best for enticing these silver missiles to come racing up and slam your presentation right below the surface. Buck tailing is also a great method for finding where the fish are and choosing a spot to anchor and cast. When you troll 3-4mph you can cover lots of water and observe all the surface activity, if you are getting strikes every pass in front of a certain kelp bed or off a point, that usually is an area you can have success anchoring and casting.

This past weekend trip, the majority of guests mooched with herring and hammered them! Along with the large numbers of Cohos, 9 Chinook salmon were caught which – was a very nice surprise. The largest was a beautifulchrome 27lber caught by Gary. This was also Gary’s largest salmon ever and he plans on getting a replica made. Congrats Gary, a very memorable fish!

Guests wishing for a change of pace from salmon have also targeted Black Rockfish a.k.a “Black Bombers” with great success. There are certain kelp beds which hold large populations of these aggressive rockfish and are a blast to catch. Once you have locked on to the school, you can expect to have a customer every cast, and get ready because the takes are extremely aggressive! Whether you are fly-fishing or vertical jigging, they are a real treat to catch and tasty to eat.

One of my favourite memories from the past 10 days was watching first time fly-fisher, Grace, hook her first Coho on a gurgler! The fish made such a loud splash when it grabbed the fly, that I heard it when I was facing the opposite direction proceeded by “holy @#$#@”!!! The Coho was a large 12-13lb fish and unfortunately broke off later in the battle however it was a very spirited tussle and she was more than happy to hook her first salmon on a dry fly. While she was walking up the ramp to board the floatplane she said the first thing she is going to buy when she gets home is a fly rod! Another angler hooked.

The Coho are ranging from 8-14lbs with the occasional 14+. I’m sure in the next few trips we will see some larger hogs brought in!

Tight Lines,

Nugget