Deeter: The Best Salmon of All on a Fly… Silvers

As you may have noted in the last few blogs, I’ve been up in Alaska fly fishing the very late season for the last runs of silver salmon, and some steelhead to boot.

I was particularly glad to be on the silvers, especially so late in the season. In my mind, there is no better salmon species (at least Pacific salmon) to be caught on a fly rod. And here’s why:
Kings are huge, but kings are stupid. They pull hard, and make great photos, but it’s kinda like fighting a tractor… I’d rather pull on a fighter jet. Sockeyes… well they taste great and all, but they aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed either… and there are often so darn many of them. I mean, fishing reds can be lights-out, but it’s production fishing. Pinks… humpies… c’mon, take off the training wheels.

But ah…the Coho….the silver salmon. Nothing beats a topwater bite on a skating wog. And even a late-run fish is pound-for-pound, a dogged foe on the receiving end of a fly rod.

I’m not just talking about Alaska…I’m talking Great Lakes too. I’d rather catch smaller tougher Cohos than Chinooks. Okay…shoot me down, I know you’re itching to do so.

–Deeter