First Coho of 2019!
The title of this week's report should be "It was over before it started." Our annual First Juneau Coho on the Fly Contest had barely even started when Will Murray landed this bright coho at Sheep Creek on July 30th! That is a full week earlier than last year. Will came in the shop, got himself a new free hat for being the winner.......and then went back out to Sheep Creek on July 31st and stuck a dime bright king. Seriously! Talk about being on a hot streak.
One day later a bright king!
So if you are dying to get into an early coho, there are a few out front of Sheep Creek. That being said, there are also about a billion chum out there, too. So getting your fly in front of a coho is a bit of a challenge. We have not heard of a second coho being caught yet, but it won't be long. And once the chum out front move up into freshwater the coho will be easier to target. Our advice is to go ahead and give it a shot out there but don't wear yourself out doing it. The really good coho fishing is likely a week or two off.
Cowee at prime Dolly fishing flow.
The Dolly fishing in the creeks continues to be excellent. Beads are still the ticket and fishing in the neighborhood of any chum you run across is the preferred tactic. Dollies are behind the humpies more or less, but they really like chum eggs. So look for those purple and green striped bombers and drop your bead right in behind them.
Dolly on Soft Bead
Cowee Creek, Montana Creek (though it is quite low) and Sheep Creek are the best bets. And in case you were wondering, yes, the new Soft Beads are killer for Dolly fishing. Roe Light, 50-50 Roe Natural, Standard Roe Natural are all working really well. The weather looks great coming up so get out there and have some fun!
