Jari Koski – Chasing Silver Fly Fishing Magazine

Posted on 2015/03/032015/03/03 by Jari Koski — 1 Comment

Put some brake on that sucker!

The sentence on the headline was said to me by a great teacher and friend on one of my first saltwater trips and it has ever since echoed in my head when I’m playing a fish.

Even though there is a big difference in fishing for saltwater predators like Tuna, Tarpon or Sailfish to fishing on the river for salmonids, the same basic laws of physics apply for salmon too.

If you’re in the gym riding an exercise bike and turn more resistance on it, you will tire faster than if you just let the bike run free, right? The same thing works with fish. If you apply steady resistance on a fish it will tire a lot quicker to get your hands on it then without resistance. A no brainer, right? The emphasis is on steady pressure. Don’t jerk around, it will only lead to pissed off fish and broken leaders.

So, how much is enough pressure and how do you apply it? Setting your drag on your reel is the number one thing to do. A good drag setting for different salmon species on a river is something between 800 grams to 3 kilograms. 3 kilograms being a pretty extreme setting on a river as bad things usually start to happen when you’re hitting that magic number. I am not personally comfortable using reels that have less than 2,5 kg of drag even for river fishing. A quality reel with a good drag is just so nice to use and a powerful tool to fight a fish!

One of my quality reels with a solid drag

If you’re fishing with small flies and thin leaders you are limited to the lower end of the drag spectrum. Also smaller fish like Atlantic salmon grilse and pink salmon have a very soft, small mouth that does not take a lot of force to rip. If you’re using thick leaders and strong hooks you can pump up the volume. Remember to set the drag tight enough right away. Don’t let the fish run that first crucial run on a light drag and take an excessive amount of line on the water. A “dog” is always easiest to walk on a short leash.

A successful "Dog" walk — A successful “Dog” walk

Also things like rod angle affect the resistance and depending on which line you use the friction from the rod guides. Don’t overdo it but remember to put the brakes on them, especially if you are releasing the fish. Nothing more of a sad sight than watching a fish “drowned” to its last breath and then trying to revive it. Much rather lose a fish mid fight then kill it unintentionally on a prolonged fight. When compared to saltwater, fighting a salmon on the river is not as straight forward. Positioning yourself on the river bank and playing in different kind of currents give the fight a different tone. But still, I urge you to put some heat on the fish. It has worked wonders for my landing percentage, even though I’m not that bothered with things like that anymore. The important thing is to return the fish in its prime back to the river (that is, if it’s not going to the smoker) and to have fun in the progress. Even though many, especially in the Atlantic salmon fishing world don’t believe in it, putting some break on those suckers have worked for me on all 5 species of Pacific Salmon, Steelhead and of course the mighty Atlantic Salmon. Not to mention all the saltwater species that I’ve fished for. Not saying it will necessarily do it for you, but give it a try…

Have fun and catch a big one!

Posted on 2014/08/152014/08/16 by Jari Koski — Leave a comment

The two rod system

Like many silver chasers I too like to carry around two rods when I’m fishing. There are several reasons to do this and I’m going write a few lines about this subject on the following post.

Backup rod

When you carry two rods, you will always have a backup ready to go if something goes horribly wrong. This is especially important if you are fishing a river that requires a lot of walking to reach the pools. I personally don’t want to lose one day in my fishing season because I did not have a backup rod with me.

Short rod, Long rod…

I usually carry two different length rods with me. For example a 13’6” and a 15’ on a big river or a 13’ and a switch on a smaller one. If the fishing requires a lot of precision, then it’s a switch rod and a single hander. Bigger rods are nicer on wide open pools and if you have to wade deep. Shorter ones are excellent if your back is against the bush or if you have to “work” the fly during the swing. I can also fish the fly differently with a different length rod.

Set of different lenght rods ready to go

Different lines…

I always rig my rods with different lines. I think that many times it can make a huge difference when you fish through a pool with a different line. My most used set up is to rig two multi tip shooting heads, one with a floating body, the other with an intermediate body. This way I can change the tips on both lines to fine tune my swing. I love to use heads that have an Skagit label on them. This does not however mean I use them as a “real” Skagit… I use them both as a “normal” scandi shooting head and in other places like a “real” Skagit. That’s a whole other story, so I won’t go any deeper on that subject. All and all the line choices are always dictated by the conditions on the water and the spot I’m fishing at. So there are endless combinations that I use.

MY favourite Atlantic salmon set up for summer fishing. 15′ Meiser Highlander with a F/I/sink2 line and 13′ Echo TR with a 420gr skagit rigged up with a 12′ clear tip.

Having fun…

This is something that I always emphasis in all things fishing related. It has to be fun! Using different rods during a slow day of fishing is a great source of motivation. A little change always brightness up a slow day.

So remember to have fun! Tight lines, not tight faces.

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Posted on 2014/07/182014/08/16 by Jari Koski — Leave a comment

Dreaming about my home away from home

I’m sure that many of you have a similar place where you just feel like your home. For me this place is British Columbia in western Canada, to be more precise the Lower Mainland area and Vancouver Island. The fishing is awesome, the people are the nicest people you will find anywhere and it is very easy to move around and do things. The scenery is pretty nice also.

The mix of all these things makes it just a darn nice place to be and with the current euro vs CAD currency rate, pretty much the cheapest world class fishery there is.

My friend Pekka fighting a fish of a lifetime. A big chrome Chinook is taking him for a ride

I know that the renowned steelhead waters of the Skeena area get most of the media hype, but there really is world class fishing in the south as well. I’ve caught all 5 species of salmon, trout and steelhead there and I just love fishing there. What could be more fun then catching chrome Chinook and Chum on the fly? In my book not many things.

Especially the Chum fishing is very underrated and carry a bad rep. They just are super fun when you target the fish that are pushing in with the tide. For me they are more of a fly fishers fish then the mighty Chinook as you can target them in slower and shallower water and don’t need heavy sinking heads to catch them. Many times have I fished tidal areas where you see a school of Chums come in and then you just put the fly in front of them and get ready for one hell of a ride. It’s like sight fishing for Bonefish in a river! In my book they are also the toughest fighting fish that swim in freshwater. I have caught Atlantic salmon and Chinook up to 40lb and several saltwater species including Tarpon, Tuna and Bones and have to say that the fresh Chums are right up there with the best. When you hook a fresh, 20-25lb male Chum you are in to the best ride there is in freshwater. They will test your gear and fish fighting ability’s with their brute strength and unpredictable behavior.

When you hit brutes like this you know your going to get a workout.

Big fresh Chum putting a deep bend on my rod

So, if you have nothing planned for this fall, go ahead and book your flights to Vancouver. They are predicting a huge run of salmon this year. I’m going for sure!

When you start catching fish like this, it is very addicting. My friend Janis with a silver chum

Perry throws some mean line on a twohander

Contact my friend and super guide Perry Wilson for more info on Vancouver island fishing and me if you want to hook up with a good guide on the Lower Mainland. No, I’m not guiding there, but can recommend someone to you if your looking. You can find Perry’s website here: http://www.northlandfly.com/index.htm

Tight lines!

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Posted on 2014/06/302014/08/16 by Jari Koski — Leave a comment

A dream week in Gaula

First of all the headline contains a lot of sarcasm… We had a nice but fishing wise quiet week on the Gaula ending to midsummers. The bites were few and far between. It was one of those weeks that if I had to market Atlantic salmon fishing to someone it would be a pretty tough job. It was certainly not a trip for a beginner.

All and all the season on the Gaula has been a disaster and the low water levels contributed to the fact that our fishing area on the lower Gaula did not stop the few fish running. So there was a lot empty casts made between bites and. Even the weather which is normally very nice on the Gaula was not cooperating. It was cold and very windy most of the trip. The positive side to the low water levels was that we got most of our action with floating lines and light tips.

The highlights of the trip where, my friends beautiful hen salmon of about 11kg that was safely released and salmon sashimi that we made from a smaller fish. We also had a great crew and a lot of laughs on our week there. I do have to say though that all the other things could not save the trip as it’s all about the fish. The slow fishing and very low returns to the whole river did not leave a positive feel. I am very concerned about the state of that river and hope all the best for it. I just love to fish on that river and it would brake my heart if it’s downward spiral does not come to a stop.

Thanks to everyone and hopefully I’ll be back again on the golden river soon. Additional photo credits to Ilkka Neva and Joonas Saarikko.

Gaula catch statistics and water level at Gaulfossen.

Joonas Saarikko with he’s perfect salmon

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Posted on 2014/06/012014/06/02 by Jari Koski — Leave a comment

Making simple things from quality materials

You know how nice and easy it is to tie flies from quality materials. They just make things very simple. Now days when I see quality materials that I might have use for somewhere in the near future I buy it right away. Even if I still have some of the old left. Bucktail, saddle hackles and Templedog are always on my shopping list as they are hard to find at highest level of quality and those materials I use a lot. I can tell you that it hasn’t been easy to finding “the good stuff”. Sometimes it feels almost impossible. Thankfully it seems that fly shops are stepping up on this subject. It seems like the quality of the product gets more attention then before and that’s a very, very good thing! Even though many suitable materials for example for my tubes aren’t expensive, I will always put in a few euros more for quality. It pays to do so in the long run.

Now to the subject and enough of the “bitching”… Even though I like to use quality stuff, my fishing flies have become simpler and simpler. Simple flies that move well and have a clean look to them are my thing. Form follows function.

So does this mean I will throw flies that look like they were tied by a 5-year old? Maybe, but at least I’m using quality materials to make them☺ . I just like to strip out all the non-essential stuff out. I follow a three step “rule” on the flies that I tie:

The fly must have a shape and form that the fish like. That’s rule number one. Even if a fly looks kinda funny to a human eye, it’s the fish that matter.
The fly must be as foul proof as possible. Remember, good proportions and taper makes a big difference in this. So does material choices.
The fly must be tied well no matter how simple the pattern is. That’s a big confidence factor.

A good underwing is the key in making this type of tubes

I’ll be back with some tying instructions on these “Simpleton” flies and maybe even a vid or two.

Ps. If any of you have some ideas on color combos for The Gaula I’m all ears. I’m heading that way in a few weeks. Use the comment form below!

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Posted on 2014/05/23 by Jari Koski — Leave a comment

Searching for the perfect angle…

The more you fish the less you know, right? You can never really know anything when it comes to fish and fishing. The fish are always unpredictable. There are however things that make a difference in catching fish. One of the most important ones is the angle that you present your fly to the fish. This is one of those universal things that is a thing to think about regardless which species you are pursuing. When you start hitting fish at the right angle most other things become trivial.

So what is the perfect angle? Unfortunately I don’t know. I’m going to leave that for the more experienced writers. I can however offer some insights on the subject…

The length and direction of your cast will of course affect how the fish sees your fly. Long cast at a shallow angle will give the fish a pretty straight forward angle to the fly as it swims across the stream. Normally the fish will have plenty of time to react on this type of presentation. A shorter cast with a wider angle will give a much more aggressive angle to the fish with less time to react. A long cast with a wide, or wideish, angle that you make in front and over the fishes “line” and then mend, makes the fly swim, and usually sink, towards the fish and then turn and moves away. That is actually my favourite angle to present my fly to a river fish. In my point of view that is the most natural way to get a reaction, as the fly (bait) swims towards the fish and then turns away and swims from the fish.

That’s the most effective way to present a fly in saltwater fishing as well. You cast the fly just over the line where the fish is moving and then strip it across and away from the predator. So, casting distance and angle makes a difference on the angle that the fly gets to the fish.

This cast was right on the "sweet spot" — This cast was right on the “sweet spot”

What else? Your line choice affects it, but more than that, the way you position yourself on the river. Positioning yourself correctly makes a big difference in catching fish. Sometimes you have to wade out to get the right angle and sometimes not. Even though unnecessary wading should always be avoided, there are millions of spots around the world that fish better when you get out a bit and get your fly swinging in the right angle. Even though some disagree about this, you can’t compensate your positioning with casting. Sure you can do it a bit, but never enough to fully compensate.

Waded out a bit to get my I/S3 line to swing slowly across the deeper part

Positioning myself right on the edge and upstream of where the fish are allows me to have a very precise presentation with a short line

So next time when the fish are not biting think about your angles before changing anything else. It might be the reason why the fish are lock mouth.

Tight lines!

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Posted on 2014/05/162014/05/23 by Jari Koski — Leave a comment

Is summer really that close?

I have spend all my time this spring chasing predators that roam the seas and the up and coming salmon and trout season got me really off guard this time. Even this whole endeavor of having the privilege of writing on this blog really hit me in the face like a 20lb salmon!

Before I can even start thinking about fishing salmon I have to get my stuff together. I have to do a inventory on my flies, have to check that all my lines and tippet materials are in order and make sure my wife hasn’t thrown away my rods when I was out chasing saltwater torpedos.

All I can hope for is that my salmon season will be as successful as my spring chase for other predators.

Stay tuned as I will be back with more on the subject once I get my chit together.

-Japi-

We’re proud to introduce a priceless addition to our blogging crew Jari Koski. “Japi” is an experienced fly fishing maniac with extensive experience in both salmon fishing and saltwater fishing. You are going to love his gear reviews, fly tying articles, fishing reports, and maybe some fly casting magic.

-Editorial staff-

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