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Pink Flies

5K views 40 replies 25 participants last post by  JayB 
#1 ·
This will be my first year going after pinks so I apologize for the noob question. I am going to be 100% beach/river fishing. I want to eliminate as many variables as possible so I just picked up a few clousers like this and plan to only fish these unless I get skunked day after day then I'll change it up:

Plant Purple Violet Petal Grass


I have read about pink flies and as a kid I did throw some buzz bombers up at deception pass for them. What I'm asking is what would be the best way to fish this fly? I will be using an 8 wt WF outbound short line with a fast or extrafast sinking poly leader with a few feet of maxima ultragreen 10lb on the end of the poly leader. I figure I should just bomb it out, let it sink a bit with a poly leader, then strip all the way in with varying speed/distances (similar to fishing a clouser for SRC's)? Not to over simplify the process but I have a lot to learn and don't want to have 1,000,000 things to think about each time out.

Thanks guys
 
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#2 ·
Key is to make a fly that drops after the strip. The fish will eat it on the drop. No drop, then you'll have less success. I spent a whole lot of time on the water the past few runs experimenting, and that's what produced consistently. Unweighted flies on sinking lines got almost no love. I run a floating line, long leader, and a heavily weighted fly.

here's what I'm tying up for a fly. Super simple... Tie flash in as a tail, then wrap the excess in as the body, and tie back whatever is left and finish it. No need to get fancier than that.
Plant Arthropod Organism Ingredient Insect
 
#5 ·
Key is to make a fly that drops after the strip. The fish will eat it on the drop. No drop, then you'll have less success. Unweighted flies on sinking lines got almost no love. I run a floating line, long leader, and a heavily weighted fly.
Evan speaks gospel here. Think one notch shy of a jig. Not only the attack on the drop, the run is often straight down. So in deep water, say you're on a kayak, the run may be almost vertical. Really really interesting if you are in deep water...
 
#4 ·
This will be my first year going after pinks so I apologize for the noob question. I am going to be 100% beach/river fishing. I want to eliminate as many variables as possible so I just picked up a few clousers like this and plan to only fish these unless I get skunked day after day then I'll change it up:

View attachment 30423

I have read about pink flies and as a kid I did throw some buzz bombers up at deception pass for them. What I'm asking is what would be the best way to fish this fly? I will be using an 8 wt WF outbound short line with a fast or extrafast sinking poly leader with a few feet of maxima ultragreen 10lb on the end of the poly leader. I figure I should just bomb it out, let it sink a bit with a poly leader, then strip all the way in with varying speed/distances (similar to fishing a clouser for SRC's)? Not to over simplify the process but I have a lot to learn and don't want to have 1,000,000 things to think about each time out.

Thanks guys
That fly will work but you need to trim it up to the shank. You will get a lot of short bites and no hook ups if you leave it long.
 
#6 ·
Like Evan, I prefer a floating line with long leader and "jiggy" fly for pinks, intermediate line with lightly weighted flies stripped pretty fast for coho. Think size 1 to 1/0 hook with relatively sparse pattern and short tail past the hook (as Caveman mentioned). You'd be surprised how small a fly a pink salmon will attack in the salt water. Sometimes a very small or sparse pattern is key when the sun is super bright and the pinks aren't hitting larger patterns like clousers.

However, some folks like Steve Saville (if I remember correctly) fish intermediate lines with moderately weighted flies to great success for pinks. I find the floating line and heavy fly much easier to fish, but obviously some of it comes down to personal preference.
 
#9 ·
I am going to fish a WF7FS1, splitting the difference, and killing two birds with one stone. Adding a magic fly to the business end, I'll hopefully wear-out my arm and my Evan inspired "Humpy Hauler". After the fish with sea lice are gone, I'll just wear out my arm.:)
 
#10 ·
Unlike Evan, I prefer an intermediate line. We have fished together on several occasions so I would say that either method works; floating line with heavy fly or intermediate with a moderately weighted fly? I would skip the heavy poly-tip but that's just me. You have to find your groove. I would try some other flies than the clouser. I have had better luck with other flies. Most of mine have metal beads so they move up and down in the water as they are stripped. I have and use very few unweighted flies when fishing for pinks.
 
#12 ·
+1, euphausid.

Pinks feed predominately on krill. Simple, small, flashy, sparse shrimp, krill, euphausid type patterns are top producers for pinks.

Off the beach I prefer an WF6S1 Outbound Short with a Eagle Claw 413 #4, medium black bead chain eyes above the hook point shrimp pattern on the business end.

GG
 
#15 ·
Little turd flies were my go-to for chum last year. They are super easy to tie! I bet many of these flies might benefit from being tied on jig hooks (not weighted jigs, just the hook) to give them a more exaggerated jigging motion.
 
#14 ·
I'm curious if most of you are fishing for pinks closer to the terminal end of the saltwater run when they are in more of a "staging mode" or if you are fishing them in transit as they're still actively feeding and if that makes any difference in your fly choice and general approach to how you fish for them. For example, are you fishing one of the many fishy points around the sound or are you fishing the mouth of a river, etc and does this matter in your presentation?

Edit: To be more clear, many of the flies and techniques for pinks that are often discussed on here sound very similar to what you'd use for staging coho or chum. Is this because the majority of people are targetting pinks in "staging mode" or is that what you find works best no matter what?
 
#16 ·
I'm with y'all. I'd ditch the clouser and go small. I like Pink Turds: conehead, crystal chenille, and marabou for the tail. It has movement, a little flash and that marabou tail really moves. I tend to use an intermediate tip and a lighter weighted fly, that way I can get lots of drop time and strip it a little slower, not fast like for coho or src. Strip too fast= no drop time, strip too slow = on the bottom. Those little flies will outfish the big ones (and buzzbombs) everyday.
 
#20 ·
Ditto on that. The cerise flash-a-bou comets incorporate just about every design element in the consensus opinion (sparse, flashy, jiggy) and can be fished effectively off of an intermediate line or a floater. Might be worth stopping by Patrick's and picking up a dozen or more to set yourself up for a run.

I've also found that keeping the same design elements in play but switching to darker colors when they're staging and won't touch pink flies (most of the time pink works fine) can help induce strikes.
 
#21 ·
Personally, I'd fish that pink clouser especially if you are fishing the north sound.
I've seen lots of pinks fall to buzz bombs, rotators, jigs, clousers etc over the years. The north sound pinks don't seem as picky about your offering size just as long as it has a good jiggy motion. Perhaps the fact they just turned the corner into the sound makes them not as selective as when they move further south.
Coho also love pink clousers so you can effectively be fishing for two species at the same time in a 2 + 2 year. Besides chartreuse, pink is the second best coho color in my opinion.
Good luck out there,
SF
 
#24 ·
I've only ever fished for these guys in a river setting, but I've always just swung for them on a sink tip with a heavy marabou pattern of a different color and done exceptionally well. Last run I did have some success with a stripped retrieve, and I'm sure if I stuck with it more I'd have done equally well. Besides the first few humpies I caught on fly, I've never used a pink colored pattern.
 
#25 ·
I follow Evan's line of fishing, the jig movement with smallish, pink produces well. My other experience: when my fishing buddy was scoring pinks fishing next to me and I wasn't, I just walked over and touched my rod to his (fishing rod for you sex pervs), walked back to my spot and had an immediate hookup.
 
#29 ·
Do the math. A gear guy throws his buzz bomb out about a hundred or so feet and then starts yanking it in. Rarely do they hook something on the first or second yank. They average about 8 - 10 feet per by the time they drift down. That's around 16 - 20 feet. You are out about thigh deep, maybe 20 - 30 feet off shore. That means if you cast 70 feet which is easily done by most, you are about 90 feet off shore with your fly. Subtract the 16 - 20 feet off the gear cast and you are in the same vacinity.

My experience is that pinks hug the shoreline, maybe 40 to 80 feet off shore. If you are calm and quiet, you're in the ballgame with a 60 - 70 foot cast.
 
#31 ·
Do the math. A gear guy throws his buzz bomb out about a hundred or so feet and then starts yanking it in. Rarely do they hook something on the first or second yank. They average about 8 - 10 feet per by the time they drift down. That's around 16 - 20 feet. You are out about thigh deep, maybe 20 - 30 feet off shore. That means if you cast 70 feet which is easily done by most, you are about 90 feet off shore with your fly. Subtract the 16 - 20 feet off the gear cast and you are in the same vacinity.

My experience is that pinks hug the shoreline, maybe 40 to 80 feet off shore. If you are calm and quiet, you're in the ballgame with a 60 - 70 foot cast.
Was at my honey hole last humpy season and were were catching easy 10 fish per 1 buzz bombers.
 
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